Providing 3D video services: the challenge from 2D to 3DTV quality of experience

Recently, three-dimensional (3D) video has decisively burst onto the entertainment industry scene, and has arrived in households even before the standardization process has been completed. 3D television (3DTV) adoption and deployment can be seen as a major leap in television history, similar to previous transitions from black and white (B&W) to color, from analog to digital television (TV), and from standard definition to high definition. In this paper, we analyze current 3D video technology trends in order to define a taxonomy of the availability and possible introduction of 3D-based services. We also propose an audiovisual network services architecture which provides a smooth transition from two-dimensional (2D) to 3DTV in an Internet Protocol (IP)-based scenario. Based on subjective assessment tests, we also analyze those factors which will influence the quality of experience in those 3D video services, focusing on effects of both coding and transmission errors. In addition, examples of the application of the architecture and results of assessment tests are provided

Three-dimensional media for mobile devices

Cataloged from PDF version of article.This paper aims at providing an overview of the core technologies enabling the delivery of 3-D Media to next-generation mobile devices. To succeed in the design of the corresponding system, a profound knowledge about the human visual system and the visual cues that form the perception of depth, combined with understanding of the user requirements for designing user experience for mobile 3-D media, are required. These aspects are addressed first and related with the critical parts of the generic system within a novel user-centered research framework. Next-generation mobile devices are characterized through their portable 3-D displays, as those are considered critical for enabling a genuine 3-D experience on mobiles. Quality of 3-D content is emphasized as the most important factor for the adoption of the new technology. Quality is characterized through the most typical, 3-D-specific visual artifacts on portable 3-D displays and through subjective tests addressing the acceptance and satisfaction of different 3-D video representation, coding, and transmission methods. An emphasis is put on 3-D video broadcast over digital video broadcasting-handheld (DVB-H) in order to illustrate the importance of the joint source-channel optimization of 3-D video for its efficient compression and robust transmission over error-prone channels. The comparative results obtained identify the best coding and transmission approaches and enlighten the interaction between video quality and depth perception along with the influence of the context of media use. Finally, the paper speculates on the role and place of 3-D multimedia mobile devices in the future internet continuum involving the users in cocreation and refining of rich 3-D media content

Hybrid Sequencing of Uncompressed and Compressed 3D Stereoscopic Video: A Preliminary Quality Evaluation

The use of 3D stereoscopic technology with high quality videos can provide visual entertainment to viewers. However, the bandwidth of typical communication channels cannot transmit uncompressed 3D videos, resulting in the need for video quality compression. This paper presents a series of preliminary studies to investigate the subjective perception of uncompressed and compressed video sequences, and proposes the ‘hybrid’ sequencing of uncompressed and compressed content in a single stereoscopic 3D video as an alternative approach for limited bandwidth transmission. However, the hybrid uncompressed/compressed sequencing of stereoscopic 3D video may affect the correlation between the left and right views of the stereoscopic videos required for depth perception, potentially leading to lower Quality of Experience (QoE) of viewers. This paper therefore investigates both the objective and subjective quality evaluation of the proposed hybrid sequencing of stereoscopic video sequences. Initial investigations into objective metrics to measure the difference in quality of the two stereoscopic views due to the proposed hybrid sequencing of uncompressed and compressed videos were also conducted

From Capture to Display: A Survey on Volumetric Video

Volumetric video, which offers immersive viewing experiences, is gaining increasing prominence. With its six degrees of freedom, it provides viewers with greater immersion and interactivity compared to traditional videos. Despite their potential, volumetric video services poses significant challenges. This survey conducts a comprehensive review of the existing literature on volumetric video. We firstly provide a general framework of volumetric video services, followed by a discussion on prerequisites for volumetric video, encompassing representations, open datasets, and quality assessment metrics. Then we delve into the current methodologies for each stage of the volumetric video service pipeline, detailing capturing, compression, transmission, rendering, and display techniques. Lastly, we explore various applications enabled by this pioneering technology and we present an array of research challenges and opportunities in the domain of volumetric video services. This survey aspires to provide a holistic understanding of this burgeoning field and shed light on potential future research trajectories, aiming to bring the vision of volumetric video to fruition.Comment: Submitte

Metrics for Stereoscopic Image Compression

Metrics for automatically predicting the compression settings for stereoscopic images, to minimize file size, while still maintaining an acceptable level of image quality are investigated. This research evaluates whether symmetric or asymmetric compression produces a better quality of stereoscopic image. Initially, how Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) measures the quality of varyingly compressed stereoscopic image pairs was investigated. Two trials with human subjects, following the ITU-R BT.500-11 Double Stimulus Continuous Quality Scale (DSCQS) were undertaken to measure the quality of symmetric and asymmetric stereoscopic image compression. Computational models of the Human Visual System (HVS) were then investigated and a new stereoscopic image quality metric designed and implemented. The metric point matches regions of high spatial frequency between the left and right views of the stereo pair and accounts for HVS sensitivity to contrast and luminance changes in these regions. The PSNR results show that symmetric, as opposed to asymmetric stereo image compression, produces significantly better results. The human factors trial suggested that in general, symmetric compression of stereoscopic images should be used. The new metric, Stereo Band Limited Contrast, has been demonstrated as a better predictor of human image quality preference than PSNR and can be used to predict a perceptual threshold level for stereoscopic image compression. The threshold is the maximum compression that can be applied without the perceived image quality being altered. Overall, it is concluded that, symmetric, as opposed to asymmetric stereo image encoding, should be used for stereoscopic image compression. As PSNR measures of image quality are correctly criticized for correlating poorly with perceived visual quality, the new HVS based metric was developed. This metric produces a useful threshold to provide a practical starting point to decide the level of compression to use

Subjective quality study of adaptive streaming of monoscopic and stereoscopic video

Nowadays, HTTP adaptive streaming (HAS) has become a reliable distribution technology offering significant advantages in terms of both user perceived Quality of Experience (QoE) and resource utilization for content and network service providers. By trading-off the video quality, HAS is able to adapt to the available bandwidth and display requirements so that it can deliver the video content to a variety of devices over the Internet. However, until now there is not enough knowledge of how the adaptation techniques affect the end user's visual experience. Therefore, this paper presents a comparative analysis of different bitrate adaptation strategies in adaptive streaming of monoscopic and stereoscopic video. This has been done through a subjective experiment of testing the end-user response to the video quality variations, considering the visual comfort issue. The experimental outcomes have made a good insight into the factors that can influence on the QoE of different adaptation strategies