TNO has produced the largest digital panoramic photo in the world. So, what do we mean by large? After all, modern consumer cameras can easily take a picture with 5 million pixels. Well, we are talking about a photo of completely different dimensions. One with 2.5 billion pixels - that's 500 times more pixels. If this photo were printed, it would measure 6.67 m by 2.67 m (300 dpi). The photograph shows Delft and its surroundings in the autumn of 2004. It was taken from the top of the Electrical Engineering faculty of Delft University, at a height of about 100 m, by TNO.

Below are some facts and figures about the gigapixel image:

    * Final image dimensions: 78.797 x 31.565 pixels
    * Number of pixels in final image: 2,487,227,305 (2.5 gigapixel)
    * Final image file format: 24-bit colour bitmap
    * Final image file size: 7.5 GBytes
    * Number of source images: 600
    * Number of pixels in source images: 3,537,408,000 (600 images * 3008*1960)
    * Lens focal length: 400 mm (equivalent to 600 mm on a 35 mm camera)
    * Aperture: F22, Shutter speed: 1/100, ISO: 125
    * Horizontal field of view of final image: 93 degrees
    * Time required to capture component images: 1 hour and 12 minutes
    * Time required to match overlapping images: 20 hours
    * Time required to optimise project: 4 hours
    * Time required to compose the image: 3 full days using 5 high-end pcs
    * Time required to blend seams / correct misalignments / finalise image: 2 days