brad,
any 360 or 180 degree device will distort straight lines.just like a 180 degree fisheye lense distorts.3d laser scanners scan what they see,shadows,lighting,objects,everything that your eyes can see plus even more that you dont see.works just like a flatbed scanner.scans more detail then you can see with the naked eye.then renders it as a 3d image,better then any 2d photo.what you see on your computer monitor is 2D.unless you have a high end video card that reads 3D.3D is amazing to see.i know.one of my machines here does 3D on the monitor,but then again its a $30,000 machine made by quantum 3D made to do real time flight sims.