Microsoft Research Image Composite Editor
Encyclopedia
Microsoft Image Composite Editor is an advanced panoramic image stitcher
made by the Microsoft Research
division of Microsoft Corporation.
The application takes a set of overlapping photograph
s of a scene shot from a single camera
location and creates a high-resolution panorama incorporating all the source images at full resolution. The stitched panorama can be saved in a wide variety of file format
s, from common formats like JPEG
and TIFF to multi-resolution tiled formats like HD View
and Silverlight DeepZoom, as well as allowing multi-resolution upload to the Microsoft Photosynth
site.
Image stitching
Image stitching or photo stitching is the process of combining multiple photographic images with overlapping fields of view to produce a segmented panorama or high-resolution image. Commonly performed through the use of computer software, most approaches to image stitching require nearly exact...
made by the Microsoft Research
Microsoft Research
Microsoft Research is the research division of Microsoft created in 1991 for developing various computer science ideas and integrating them into Microsoft products. It currently employs Turing Award winners C.A.R. Hoare, Butler Lampson, and Charles P...
division of Microsoft Corporation.
The application takes a set of overlapping photograph
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
s of a scene shot from a single camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
location and creates a high-resolution panorama incorporating all the source images at full resolution. The stitched panorama can be saved in a wide variety of file format
File format
A file format is a particular way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file.Since a disk drive, or indeed any computer storage, can store only bits, the computer must have some way of converting information to 0s and 1s and vice-versa. There are different kinds of formats for...
s, from common formats like JPEG
JPEG
In computing, JPEG . The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10:1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality....
and TIFF to multi-resolution tiled formats like HD View
HD View
HD View is an image viewer to aid in the display of very large images. Advances in techniques for stitching digital images together has led to the creation of images of gigapixel size. Many of these images are panoramic or in full 360 degree fields of view...
and Silverlight DeepZoom, as well as allowing multi-resolution upload to the Microsoft Photosynth
Microsoft Photosynth
Photosynth is a software application from Microsoft Live Labs and the University of Washington that analyzes digital photographs and generates a three-dimensional model of the photos and a point cloud of a photographed object. Pattern recognition components compare portions of images to create...
site.
Features
- Stitching algorithms automatically place source images and determine panorama type
- Advanced orientation adjustment view allows planar, cylindrical, and spherical projections
- Support for different types of cameraCameraA camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
motion - Panorama stitching from video
- ExposureExposure (photography)In photography, exposure is the total amount of light allowed to fall on the photographic medium during the process of taking a photograph. Exposure is measured in lux seconds, and can be computed from exposure value and scene luminance over a specified area.In photographic jargon, an exposure...
blending using Microsoft Research fast Poisson algorithm - Automatic lens vignetteVignettingIn photography and optics, vignetting  is a reduction of an image's brightness or saturation at the periphery compared to the image center. The word vignette, from the same root as vine, originally referred to a decorative border in a book. Later, the word came to be used for a photographic...
removal - Automatic cropping to maximum image area
- No image size limitation - stitch Gigapixel imageGigapixel imageA gigapixel image is a digital image bitmap composed of one billion pixels , 1000 times the information captured by a 1 megapixel digital camera...
s - Constrained assembly of image sets taken on a known regular grid, e.g. with a GigapanGigapanGigaPan is a collaborative project between Carnegie Mellon University and NASA Ames Intelligent Systems Division's Robotics Group with support from Google...
head - Native support for 64-bit operating systems
- Output in a wide variety of image formats:
- HD ViewHD ViewHD View is an image viewer to aid in the display of very large images. Advances in techniques for stitching digital images together has led to the creation of images of gigapixel size. Many of these images are panoramic or in full 360 degree fields of view...
- DeepZoom
- TIFF, JPEGJPEGIn computing, JPEG . The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10:1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality....
, PNG, and more - Layered Photoshop format
- HD View
- Panorama publishing to Microsoft PhotosynthMicrosoft PhotosynthPhotosynth is a software application from Microsoft Live Labs and the University of Washington that analyzes digital photographs and generates a three-dimensional model of the photos and a point cloud of a photographed object. Pattern recognition components compare portions of images to create...