Image size limitations


The Panorama Factory imposes no specific image size limitations.  In practice, however, image size is limited by the amount of physical and virtual memory available to The Panorama Factory.  The following factors affect the image size limitation:

·         System RAM size.

·         Free disk space available for virtual memory swapping.

·         Operating system policies on memory allocation.

Operating system virtual memory policies may vary among the various versions of Windows and OS X.  For example, Windows 98/ME memory allocation policies appear to limit the maximum image size to approximately 50 million pixels (e.g. 5000 high by 10000 wide) in 24-bit mode.  Windows NT/2000/XP appear to permit somewhat larger images.

In 45-bit mode, the maximum image size is somewhat smaller due to larger memory requirements for each image pixel.

For extremely large panoramas it may be necessary to upgrade to a 64-bit computer (e.g. AMD Athlon 64 or Intel XEON EM64T) with Windows XP x64.  This combination provides 1 terabyte (1000 gigabytes) of virtual memory and makes it possible to create panoramas that are hundreds of times larger than with 32-bit Windows.



© 1999-2009, Smoky City Design, LLC
Updated: March 6, 2009