The rectilinear Perspective projection produces natural-looking results on the condition that the degree of field of view (FoV) is narrow, as raising it causes an exponential increase in visual distortion. Curvilinear perspective projection methods that counter this issue exist in photography, but unlike the rectilinear Perspective projection, these are neither used nor technically documented in computer graphics. This paper contributes by presenting results from a perceptual experiment comparing the rectilinear Perspective projection method to the curvilinear Panini and Stereographic projection methods. These are commonly used with wide-angle lenses in photography and have been digitally recreated for use in computer graphics. The experiment shows a clear preference for the two curvilinear projection methods at high degrees of FoV, as not a single participant prefers the rectilinear Perspective projection at degrees of FoV approaching the human breadth of vision. © 2020, Vaclav Skala Union Agency. All rights reserved.
open access