Table tennis table distortion?

beyond the blue

beyond the blue

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Neil
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OK, you real photographers will be able to answer this no doubt but it goes against what my brain wants to see. On the Olympic coverage of the table tennis when there is a semi overhead view from one end of the table how come the far end of the table looks wider and slightly bigger than the foreground end?
 
Keystone correction makes things look weird. You know that in the real world the far end of the table is slightly narrower so when they fiddle and make the sides parallel, your brain see it as wrong.
 
Nod said:
Keystone correction makes things look weird. You know that in the real world the far end of the table is slightly narrower so when they fiddle and make the sides parallel, your brain see it as wrong.
Click to expand...

The sides of that table aren't parallel.....
 
You're right but they certainly look as though they're diverging rather than the expected (and, actually occurring!) converging.
 
JonathanRyan said:
The sides of that table aren't parallel.....
Click to expand...

Nod said:
You're right but they certainly look as though they're diverging rather than the expected (and, actually occurring!) converging.
Click to expand...

It's an optical illusion. If you actually measure the table in the above image, you will find the sides are in fact converging (the table is narrower at the blue player's end), just not as much as you'd normally expect. The brain is confusing what it expects to see with the 'corrected' image.
 
They aren't shooting parallel to the middle line. The camera is lined up on the right hand side so the left hand side gets shrunk and your brain goes huh?

Good thing it's not an important sport ;) I'm still amazed that during the road cycling (which has excellent commentary) the video feed it so terrible that the commentators often have no idea what's going on. Also on track the bikes are being buggered up by having to carry GoPros but we very rarely see the "great" shots these give.
 
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