This product overview on Digital Photogrammetric Workstations (DPW) provides an update on that published exactly two years ago, in December 2007.  

Mathias Lemmens, senior editor, GIM International

Today DPWs are software systems that run on off-the-shelf consumer PCs to which may be attached a special mouse, stereo-viewing hardware, and sometimes other devices supporting specialised (mapping) tasks. All systems listed are based on Microsoft operating systems. All manufacturers provide training, varying from one day to one week or longer in duration.

The best choice of a DPW depends on end-user scope and application, the main considerations being functionality and value for money. For example, CartoData's AU4 has been developed for bulk mapping purposes and automatic creation of Digital Elevation Models (DEM), and derived products such as contour maps. The images are supposed to be aerotriangulated in a previous step. Similarly, Summit Evolution from Datem has been developed for 3D feature collection for direct input into GIS systems, particularly AutoCAD, MicroStation or ArcGIS. The system does not include, but can interact with, aerotriangulation software. The type of imagery which can be processed by the system, e.g. aerial, very high-resolution satellite or radar imagery is also an important selection criterion. Other important matters include whether or not integration with airborne Lidar points should be possible, e.g. to automatically create (true) orthoimages; and which method of stereoviewing is used, because operators should feel comfortable with the ‘glasses' through which they look all day long.

For the first time, Erdas is listed. Established in 1978 as remote-sensing image processing developer, the company was taken over by Leica in 2001, which in turn was acquired by Hexagon in 2005. In April 2008 Leica Geosystems Geospatial Imaging was rebranded Erdas, because it was felt it needed to be dissociated from software solutions and linked instead with opto-mechanical photogrammetric systems. Basically, the DPW listed is the Leica Photogrammetry Suite (LPS).

Most manufactures deliver scalable solutions by offering separate modules, each focused on a different photogrammetric task, varying from aero-triangulation to automatic DEM creation, orthophoto production and mosaicking, (stereoscopic) 3D mapping to processing of georeferenced airborne Lidar data. The DPW can thus be personalised according to needs.