The demonstration is aimed at presenting a simple free-viewpoint television system that is under development at Poznań University of Technology, Poznań, Poland. Video acquisition using sparsely distributed pairs of video cameras, the depth estimation from video, the virtual video rendering on a server feature the perspective FTV system. The original depth estimation and view synthesis algorithms ensure good quality of the virtual views generated during virtual walks around a scene. The system is developed for broadcasting sport (e.g. judo, karate, volleyball) and cultural (e.g. amateur or professional theater performances) events, as well as for interactive courses and manuals (medical, cosmetics, dancing, technical etc.).

Recently, stereoscopic video systems are studied in the context of many new applications. This paper addresses the question how the road traffic surveillance may benefit from stereoscopic video analysis. In particular, we propose a novel method for estimating vehicle dimensions using stereoscopic video analysis. This method is based on active appearance model (AAM), a technique already used, e.g. for face detection. Experimental results are provided in the paper in order to demonstrate satisfactory precision of the measurements.

We propose a new coding technology for 3D video represented by multiple views and the respective depth maps. The proposed technology is demonstrated as an extension of the recently developed high efficiency video coding (HEVC). One base views are compressed into a standard bitstream (like in HEVC). The remaining views and the depth maps are compressed using new coding tools that mostly rely on view synthesis. In the decoder, those views and the depth maps are derived via synthesis in the 3D space from the decoded baseview and from data corresponding to small disoccluded regions. The shapes and locations of those disoccluded regions can be derived by the decoder without any side information transmitted. To achieve high compression efficiency, we propose several new tools such as depth-based motion prediction, joint high frequency layer coding, consistent depth representation, and nonlinear depth representation. The experiments show high compression efficiency of the proposed technology. The bitrate needed for transmission of two side views with depth maps is mostly less than 50% than that of the bitrate for a single-view video.

In this paper, we present the most efficient coding tools that are used in a new video compression technology for multiple views with the depth maps. This very well performing technology was designed and developed in response to MPEG Call for Proposals on 3D Video Coding Technology. The proposed technology exploits a tool that reduces the side views and the side depth maps to small disoccluded regions. This way only one central view and one depth map are coded in the HEVC syntax while the remaining views and the depth maps are synthesized in the decoder from the small disoccluded regions and from the central-view data. Therefore, the bitrate needed for a side view is mostly below 20% of the bitrate for single-view video.

During the last two decades, a new technology generation of video compression was introduced about each 9 years. Each new compression-technology generation provides halving of necessary bitrates as compared to the last previous generation. This increasing single-view compression performance is related to increasing compression performance of multiview video coding. For multiview video with associated depth maps, additional significant bitrate reduction may be achieved. The paper reports the original compression technology that was designed and developed at Poznań University of Technology in response to MPEG Call for Proposals on 3D Video Coding Technology. The main idea of this technique is to predict very efficiently the side views and the depth maps from the base view.