When clients ask for a panorama, most picture a cylindrical projection—the wide, horizontal view you’d get from an iPhone pano. But for architectural visualization and VR applications, there’s another option: spherical projection. Understanding the difference helps you request the right format for your needs.

What’s the Difference?

Cylindrical: Captures 360° horizontally but crops the top and bottom. The vertical field of view varies depending on the specific capture. We’ll discuss the right crop for your needs when booking. The image maintains straight lines and familiar proportions. When viewed flat, it looks like a wide panorama.

Spherical: Captures everything: 360° x 180°, including what’s directly above (zenith) and below (nadir). Delivered in equirectangular projection format with a 2:1 aspect ratio. When viewed flat, you’ll see warping at the top and bottom. Straight lines curve, buildings distort near the edges. That’s normal. Spherical panoramas are meant to be viewed in a 360° viewer or VR environment, not as flat images.

When to Use Cylindrical

Cylindrical projections work well for marketing websites and view documentation. They’re easier to navigate on a website. Left and right panning only, no disorienting vertical spin. They also represent what you’d actually see looking out a window better than spherical. When you’re standing in a unit, you naturally crop the ceiling and floor from your view. Cylindrical does the same.

This is the format most clients expect when they request a panorama. Clean, wide, recognizable.

When to Use Spherical

Illustrators prefer spherical projections for architectural visualization. The full 360° x 180° coverage allows them to wrap the panorama around their 3D model as an environment map. With cylindrical, you’re restricted to what’s in frame. With spherical, the entire scene is available.

Spherical also works well for VR applications and interactive virtual tours where users can look in any direction, including up and down.

Delivery Formats

Cylindrical panoramas are typically delivered as high-resolution JPEGs or TIFFs with varying aspect ratios depending on the vertical field of view captured.

Spherical panoramas are delivered in equirectangular (EQ) format with a 2:1 aspect ratio. For aerial spherical, manual stitch delivers 31,796 x 15,898 pixels (505MP), while auto-stitch produces 14,400 x 7,200 JPEG (104MP). Manual stitch files are delivered as TIFFs for maximum quality.

Can You Get Both?

Yes. A spherical panorama can be cropped to cylindrical after capture. If you’re working with illustrators who need spherical but also want cylindrical versions for marketing, we can deliver both from the same shoot.