Solution:
In July 2006 Point Grey began shipping Ladybug cameras with improved calibration. This calibration better accounts for the high distortion of the Ladybug lenses and consequently allows better stitching results. Calibration is very important when generating panoramic images because it is used to determine which pixels from 2 of the individual camera sensors within the camera head map to the same output pixel in the panoramic image. At the same time we began shipping as default a panorama sphere radius of 20m (see Related Article below regarding image stitching).
Attached are 3 sample images that show the results of the improved calibration and also the importance of the sphere radius for best results. The images are a cropped region from the panoramic images available on the PGR Ladybug Demo DVD (request DVD) and are of an outdoor scene in downtown Vancouver.
Image1 - shows the pre-July 2006 result, using a 5m sphere that is unsuitable for outdoor use
Image2 - shows the post-July 2006 calibration result with a 5m sphere
Image3 - shows the post-July 2006 calibration result with a 20m sphere; there is noticeable improvement
If there are any concerns about your camera calibration, or you wish to upgrade to the latest calibration, please contact the support team at Point Grey Research.