3D video coding and transmission

The capture, transmission, and display of 3D content has gained a lot of attention in the last few years. 3D multimedia content is no longer con fined to cinema theatres but is being transmitted using stereoscopic video over satellite, shared on Blu-RayTMdisks, or sent over Internet technologies. Stereoscopic displays are needed at the receiving end and the viewer needs to wear special glasses to present the two versions of the video to the human vision system that then generates the 3D illusion. To be more e ffective and improve the immersive experience, more views are acquired from a larger number of cameras and presented on di fferent displays, such as autostereoscopic and light field displays. These multiple views, combined with depth data, also allow enhanced user experiences and new forms of interaction with the 3D content from virtual viewpoints. This type of audiovisual information is represented by a huge amount of data that needs to be compressed and transmitted over bandwidth-limited channels. Part of the COST Action IC1105 \3D Content Creation, Coding and Transmission over Future Media Networks" (3DConTourNet) focuses on this research challenge.peer-reviewe

Towards a Scalable Hardware/Software Co-Design Platform for Real-time Pedestrian Tracking Based on a ZYNQ-7000 Device

Currently, most designers face a daunting task to research different design flows and learn the intricacies of specific software from various manufacturers in hardware/software co-design. An urgent need of creating a scalable hardware/software co-design platform has become a key strategic element for developing hardware/software integrated systems. In this paper, we propose a new design flow for building a scalable co-design platform on FPGA-based system-on-chip. We employ an integrated approach to implement a histogram oriented gradients (HOG) and a support vector machine (SVM) classification on a programmable device for pedestrian tracking. Not only was hardware resource analysis reported, but the precision and success rates of pedestrian tracking on nine open access image data sets are also analysed. Finally, our proposed design flow can be used for any real-time image processingrelated products on programmable ZYNQ-based embedded systems, which benefits from a reduced design time and provide a scalable solution for embedded image processing products

Optical network technologies for future digital cinema

Digital technology has transformed the information flow and support infrastructure for numerous application domains, such as cellular communications. Cinematography, traditionally, a film based medium, has embraced digital technology leading to innovative transformations in its work flow. Digital cinema supports transmission of high resolution content enabled by the latest advancements in optical communications and video compression. In this paper we provide a survey of the optical network technologies for supporting this bandwidth intensive traffic class. We also highlight the significance and benefits of the state of the art in optical technologies that support the digital cinema work flow

Multimedia delivery in the future internet

The term “Networked Media” implies that all kinds of media including text, image, 3D graphics, audio and video are produced, distributed, shared, managed and consumed on-line through various networks, like the Internet, Fiber, WiFi, WiMAX, GPRS, 3G and so on, in a convergent manner [1]. This white paper is the contribution of the Media Delivery Platform (MDP) cluster and aims to cover the Networked challenges of the Networked Media in the transition to the Future of the Internet. Internet has evolved and changed the way we work and live. End users of the Internet have been confronted with a bewildering range of media, services and applications and of technological innovations concerning media formats, wireless networks, terminal types and capabilities. And there is little evidence that the pace of this innovation is slowing. Today, over one billion of users access the Internet on regular basis, more than 100 million users have downloaded at least one (multi)media file and over 47 millions of them do so regularly, searching in more than 160 Exabytes1 of content. In the near future these numbers are expected to exponentially rise. It is expected that the Internet content will be increased by at least a factor of 6, rising to more than 990 Exabytes before 2012, fuelled mainly by the users themselves. Moreover, it is envisaged that in a near- to mid-term future, the Internet will provide the means to share and distribute (new) multimedia content and services with superior quality and striking flexibility, in a trusted and personalized way, improving citizens’ quality of life, working conditions, edutainment and safety. In this evolving environment, new transport protocols, new multimedia encoding schemes, cross-layer inthe network adaptation, machine-to-machine communication (including RFIDs), rich 3D content as well as community networks and the use of peer-to-peer (P2P) overlays are expected to generate new models of interaction and cooperation, and be able to support enhanced perceived quality-of-experience (PQoE) and innovative applications “on the move”, like virtual collaboration environments, personalised services/ media, virtual sport groups, on-line gaming, edutainment. In this context, the interaction with content combined with interactive/multimedia search capabilities across distributed repositories, opportunistic P2P networks and the dynamic adaptation to the characteristics of diverse mobile terminals are expected to contribute towards such a vision. Based on work that has taken place in a number of EC co-funded projects, in Framework Program 6 (FP6) and Framework Program 7 (FP7), a group of experts and technology visionaries have voluntarily contributed in this white paper aiming to describe the status, the state-of-the art, the challenges and the way ahead in the area of Content Aware media delivery platforms

Light field image coding with flexible viewpoint scalability and random access

This paper proposes a novel light field image compression approach with viewpoint scalability and random access functionalities. Although current state-of-the-art image coding algorithms for light fields already achieve high compression ratios, there is a lack of support for such functionalities, which are important for ensuring compatibility with different displays/capturing devices, enhanced user interaction and low decoding delay. The proposed solution enables various encoding profiles with different flexible viewpoint scalability and random access capabilities, depending on the application scenario. When compared to other state-of-the-art methods, the proposed approach consistently presents higher bitrate savings (44% on average), namely when compared to pseudo-video sequence coding approach based on HEVC. Moreover, the proposed scalable codec also outperforms MuLE and WaSP verification models, achieving average bitrate saving gains of 37% and 47%, respectively. The various flexible encoding profiles proposed add fine control to the image prediction dependencies, which allow to exploit the tradeoff between coding efficiency and the viewpoint random access, consequently, decreasing the maximum random access penalties that range from 0.60 to 0.15, for lenslet and HDCA light fields.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Image interpolation using Shearlet based iterative refinement

This paper proposes an image interpolation algorithm exploiting sparse representation for natural images. It involves three main steps: (a) obtaining an initial estimate of the high resolution image using linear methods like FIR filtering, (b) promoting sparsity in a selected dictionary through iterative thresholding, and (c) extracting high frequency information from the approximation to refine the initial estimate. For the sparse modeling, a shearlet dictionary is chosen to yield a multiscale directional representation. The proposed algorithm is compared to several state-of-the-art methods to assess its objective as well as subjective performance. Compared to the cubic spline interpolation method, an average PSNR gain of around 0.8 dB is observed over a dataset of 200 images

Scalable light field representation and coding

This Thesis aims to advance the state-of-the-art in light field representation and coding. In this context, proposals to improve functionalities like light field random access and scalability are also presented. As the light field representation constrains the coding approach to be used, several light field coding techniques to exploit the inherent characteristics of the most popular types of light field representations are proposed and studied, which are normally based on micro-images or sub-aperture-images. To encode micro-images, two solutions are proposed, aiming to exploit the redundancy between neighboring micro-images using a high order prediction model, where the model parameters are either explicitly transmitted or inferred at the decoder, respectively. In both cases, the proposed solutions are able to outperform low order prediction solutions. To encode sub-aperture-images, an HEVC-based solution that exploits their inherent intra and inter redundancies is proposed. In this case, the light field image is encoded as a pseudo video sequence, where the scanning order is signaled, allowing the encoder and decoder to optimize the reference picture lists to improve coding efficiency. A novel hybrid light field representation coding approach is also proposed, by exploiting the combined use of both micro-image and sub-aperture-image representation types, instead of using each representation individually. In order to aid the fast deployment of the light field technology, this Thesis also proposes scalable coding and representation approaches that enable adequate compatibility with legacy displays (e.g., 2D, stereoscopic or multiview) and with future light field displays, while maintaining high coding efficiency. Additionally, viewpoint random access, allowing to improve the light field navigation and to reduce the decoding delay, is also enabled with a flexible trade-off between coding efficiency and viewpoint random access.Esta Tese tem como objetivo avançar o estado da arte em representação e codificação de campos de luz. Neste contexto, são também apresentadas propostas para melhorar funcionalidades como o acesso aleatório ao campo de luz e a escalabilidade. Como a representação do campo de luz limita a abordagem de codificação a ser utilizada, são propostas e estudadas várias técnicas de codificação de campos de luz para explorar as características inerentes aos seus tipos mais populares de representação, que são normalmente baseadas em micro-imagens ou imagens de sub-abertura. Para codificar as micro-imagens, são propostas duas soluções, visando explorar a redundância entre micro-imagens vizinhas utilizando um modelo de predição de alta ordem, onde os parâmetros do modelo são explicitamente transmitidos ou inferidos no decodificador, respetivamente. Em ambos os casos, as soluções propostas são capazes de superar as soluções de predição de baixa ordem. Para codificar imagens de sub-abertura, é proposta uma solução baseada em HEVC que explora a inerente redundância intra e inter deste tipo de imagens. Neste caso, a imagem do campo de luz é codificada como uma pseudo-sequência de vídeo, onde a ordem de varrimento é sinalizada, permitindo ao codificador e decodificador otimizar as listas de imagens de referência para melhorar a eficiência da codificação. Também é proposta uma nova abordagem de codificação baseada na representação híbrida do campo de luz, explorando o uso combinado dos tipos de representação de micro-imagem e sub-imagem, em vez de usar cada representação individualmente. A fim de facilitar a rápida implantação da tecnologia de campo de luz, esta Tese também propõe abordagens escaláveis de codificação e representação que permitem uma compatibilidade adequada com monitores tradicionais (e.g., 2D, estereoscópicos ou multivista) e com futuros monitores de campo de luz, mantendo ao mesmo tempo uma alta eficiência de codificação. Além disso, o acesso aleatório de pontos de vista, permitindo melhorar a navegação no campo de luz e reduzir o atraso na descodificação, também é permitido com um equilíbrio flexível entre eficiência de codificação e acesso aleatório de pontos de vista