<p>There will be no distortion as long as you project the scene properly onto your virtual camera.</p>

<p>In traditional raster graphics the scene is projected onto a plane.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/UfSMS.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/UfSMS.png" alt="Projection"></a></p>

<p>This makes it so that two equal solid angles to the camera can take up vastly different amounts of space on the screen.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/QPxQH.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/QPxQH.png" alt="Distortion"></a></p>

<p>Thus, the distortion does not come from the screen itself but from the projection used. Now, if you render your scene using a hemisphere projection, you should have no warping whatsoever. However, rendering using such projection might prove to be non trivial or straight up imposible using common methods (an exception to this is ray-tracing/marching/casting where all you need to change is how you generate your camera rays).</p>

<p>An alternative is to render various views (one facing the front, one facing upwards, etc) rendered in the classic flat projection and then "stitch" those together by mapping them to the screen somehow.</p>

<p>Here is a github repository of such a thing: <a href="https://github.com/shaunlebron/blinky" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://github.com/shaunlebron/blinky</a></p>

<p><strong>TL;DR</strong> : The display has little to do with how distorted an image appears. It is the projection used by the software that creates warping. Therefore, Even when using a curved display, the image will still appear distorted, unless this is compensated for in software.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-22T05:16:05.400Z
I see. So, one way to make a scene not appear distorted on a hemisphere is to render the scene with a fish-eye camera at 180 degrees?
Armend Veseli
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-22T23:03:05.080Z
Indeed, that would be a way to eliminate distortion.
Sebastián Mestre
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-21T18:44:29.263Z
2018-07-21T18:52:47.007Z
2018-07-21T18:52:47.007Z
Sebastián Mestre
<p>Assuming each pixel is the same size then each pixel would cover the same viewing angle whether it is in the centre or towards the edge. So no, there would be no distortion. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-21T04:29:57.783Z
2018-07-21T04:29:57.783Z
PaulHK
<p>When a 3D scene is rendered to a 2D display, the image is distorted near the edges of the display.</p>

<p>If a 3D scene is rendered onto a hemispherical display, will there still be warping?</p>

<3d><projections><hemisphere>
If a 3D scene is rendered onto a hemispherical display, will there still be warping near the edges?
Armend Veseli
# If a 3D scene is rendered onto a hemispherical display, will there still be warping near the edges?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-07-20)

When a 3D scene is rendered to a 2D display, the image is distorted near the edges of the display.

If a 3D scene is rendered onto a hemispherical display, will there still be warping?

**Tags:** 3d, projections, hemisphere


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-07-21. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

There will be no distortion as long as you project the scene properly onto your virtual camera.

In traditional raster graphics the scene is projected onto a plane.

[![Projection](https://i.sstatic.net/UfSMS.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/UfSMS.png)

This makes it so that two equal solid angles to the camera can take up vastly different amounts of space on the screen.

[![Distortion](https://i.sstatic.net/QPxQH.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/QPxQH.png)

Thus, the distortion does not come from the screen itself but from the projection used. Now, if you render your scene using a hemisphere projection, you should have no warping whatsoever. However, rendering using such projection might prove to be non trivial or straight up imposible using common methods (an exception to this is ray-tracing/marching/casting where all you need to change is how you generate your camera rays).

An alternative is to render various views (one facing the front, one facing upwards, etc) rendered in the classic flat projection and then "stitch" those together by mapping them to the screen somehow.

Here is a github repository of such a thing: <https://github.com/shaunlebron/blinky>

**TL;DR** : The display has little to do with how distorted an image appears. It is the projection used by the software that creates warping. Therefore, Even when using a curved display, the image will still appear distorted, unless this is compensated for in software.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I see. So, one way to make a scene not appear distorted on a hemisphere is to render the scene with a fish-eye camera at 180 degrees?  
> **username_1**: Indeed, that would be a way to eliminate distortion.  

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### Answer by username_2 on 2018-07-21. Score: 1

Assuming each pixel is the same size then each pixel would cover the same viewing angle whether it is in the centre or towards the edge. So no, there would be no distortion.


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