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.

The paper deals with multiview video coding using the new technology of High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). Implementation of multiview video coding in the framework of HEVC is described together with new specific tools proposed by the authors. Extensive experimental results are reported for compression performance comparison of MVC (ISO 14496-10), HEVC simulcast and two versions of proposed “multiview HEVC”. For “multiview HEVC” the results indicate significant bitrate reduction of about 50%, as compared to the state-of-the-art MVC technology standardized as a part of AVC (MPEG-4, H.264).

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.

The paper deals with efficient coding of motion data for compression of multiview video with depth maps. This research was done in the context of the new compression technology called High Efficiency Video Coding. In the proposed approach, motion vectors and reference frame indices are predicted from reference view for each pixel using the Depth-Based Motion Prediction (DBMP). The new codec with DBMP compression tool was compared to the multiview HEVC-based codec i.e. a set of HEVC codecs augmented with inter-view texture prediction tools adopted from classic multiview codec (MVC) based on the AVC technology. Extensive experiments show the potential of the new DBMP predictor to reduce bitrate up to 12% against the multiview HEVC-based codec.

This paper presents a novel compression tool that improves compression performance of Multiview Video Coding when depth information is available for the reference view. This tool is proposed as a new Extended Inter-View Direct mode of macroblock coding and exploits improved inter-view prediction of motion information. For this prediction, the idea is to use depth information in order to predict motion vectors more accurately, as it is possible in the classic Multiview Video Coding. The Extended Inter-View Direct mode is designed especially for the purpose of joint video and depth coding, where depth information for coded view is not available. Extensive experiments show the potential of the new mode to reduce bitstream by 2% to 11% depending on test sequence, compression scenario and variant of the state-of-the-art multiview compression reference technique used.

The original idea of the paper is to exploit depth maps in order to increase compression efficiency for multiview video. Depth information is used to establish a 3D mapping between each pixel in an encoded frame and its counterpart in the reference view. With this mapping motion vectors and reference frame indices can be obtained independently for each pixel in a coded picture by a simple derivation of the motion information assigned to the corresponding pixel in the reference view. The goal of the paper is to explore a practical way to use this idea in multiview video coding. This goal has been achieved by experimental testing of various sets of direct and skip modes with and without inter-frame motion prediction. It was shown that either “all modes” have to be used or “all but not classic direct mode” should be used. The respective experimental results have been provided in the paper.

Motion estimation is an indispensable stage of motion pictures encoding used in all common video coding standards, such as MPEG-2 [3] or AVC [4]. At the same time it is the most complex operation both in software and hardware implementation of an encoder that makes the choice of the appropriate motion estimation algorithm crucial in terms of increasing the entire coding process efficiency. This should be taken into consideration especially in case of real time processing. In this paper, a novel scalable multilevel algorithm for motion estimation is proposed. It is a fast motion estimation algorithm, using the block-matching mechanism, provided the motion vectors accuracy equal ¼ of the sampling period. Proposed algorithm is modular and scalable. First feature enables structure scalability, second provides mechanism to control of clock cycles number spend for motion estimation process. As a result the global clock-rate required for real-time processing can be adjusted.