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The Image panel renders camera image streams from your recording. It supports raw and compressed image formats, multi-camera grid layouts, synchronized playback across all panels, and LiDAR point overlay when calibration data is available.

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Supported Formats

SchemaFormatNotes
sensor_msgs/ImageROS raw imageUncompressed pixel data
sensor_msgs/CompressedImageROS compressedJPEG, PNG, WebP
foxglove.RawImageFoxglove rawUncompressed pixel data
foxglove.CompressedImageFoxglove compressedJPEG, PNG, WebP

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Auto-Detection

A topic is assigned to the Image panel when:
  • Its schema matches one of the formats above, or
  • Its topic name contains image or camera

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Features

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Multi-Camera Grid

When your recording includes multiple camera topics, the viewer arranges Image panels in an optimized grid layout:
Camera CountLayout
1Full width, single panel
2Side-by-side, equal width
3Two panels on top, one spanning the bottom
4+2x2 grid
Each camera panel operates independently for zoom and pan, while sharing the same playback timeline.

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Synchronized Playback

Image panels are synchronized with all other panels through a shared timeline. When you:
  • Seek to a timestamp, every Image panel displays the frame closest to that time
  • Step forward or backward, all panels advance together
  • Play the recording, all panels stream at the original frame rate
Cameras with different publishing rates are handled automatically — each panel displays the most recent frame at or before the current timeline position.

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LiDAR Overlay

When camera calibration data is present in the recording (intrinsics from camera info messages, extrinsics from TF transforms), LiDAR points can be projected onto the camera image as a colored overlay.
1

Calibration is detected

The viewer reads camera intrinsic parameters and resolves the transform chain between the LiDAR frame and each camera frame.
2

Points are projected

3D LiDAR points are projected onto the camera image plane using the pinhole or double-sphere camera model.
3

Overlay is rendered

Projected points are drawn on top of the camera image, colored by the active visualization mode (intensity, depth, label, etc.).
The LiDAR overlay is one of the most effective ways to verify 3D annotation quality and camera-LiDAR calibration. Misaligned overlays indicate calibration errors.

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Zoom and Pan

Each Image panel supports independent zoom and pan:
  • Scroll to zoom in and out
  • Click and drag to pan the zoomed view
  • Double-click to reset to the default fit-to-panel view
Zoom state is preserved when stepping through frames, so you can zoom into a region of interest and scrub through the recording without losing your view.

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Common Use Cases

Visual inspection

Review camera feeds alongside other sensor data to understand the full scene context.

Annotation verification

Use LiDAR overlay to verify that 3D annotations align correctly with objects visible in camera images.

Multi-camera review

Compare views from multiple cameras simultaneously to check spatial consistency.

Calibration validation

Check LiDAR-to-camera projection alignment to verify extrinsic and intrinsic calibration accuracy.