Subband decomposition techniques for adaptive channel equalisation

In this contribution, the convergence behaviour of the adaptive linear equaliser based on subband decomposition technique is investigated. Two different subband-based linear equalisers are employed, with the aim of improving the equaliser's convergence performance. Simulation results over three channel models having different spectral characteristic are presented. Computer simulations indicate that subband-based equalisers outperform the conventional fullband linear equaliser when channel exhibit severe spectral dynamic. Convergence rate of subband equalisers are governed by the slowest subband, whereby different convergence behaviour in each individual subband is observed. Finally, the complexity of fullband and subband equalisers is discussed

User perception evaluations of 3D video telephony as compared to actual experience for face-to-face immersive communications

User perception evaluations of an experimental 3D video communication system are conducted utilizing bilateral experimental setup. Subjective assessment method together with the 5-grade ITU-R quality and impairment scales are adopted in these evaluations. Two sets of experimental system are installed in two evaluation booths to emulate video communication between two users at two different locations. Evaluation items are categorized into two namely 3D effects related and system related. The results indicate that video communication through the system shows positive closeness to natural face-to-face communication and the eye contact level during video communication is the only significant limitation of the experimental system thus requires improvement

Multi-view video plus depth representation with saliency depth video

Saliency represents a region where viewers tend to put more focus on compared to other regions in an image or video. Although there are many saliency models available, very few exploit the saliency model based on depth video sequences. This paper proposed a saliency depth based video by utilizing selected saliency maps and fusing it into depth video sequences. The proposed saliency depth based model is used with multi-view video plus depth (MVD) and compressed using the latest High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) compression method. The proposed method showed a notable quality improvement on the virtual view video compared to other saliency model such as the frequency-tuned saliency model

An error resilience method for depth in stereoscopic 3D video

Error resilience stereoscopic 3D video can ensure robust 3D video communication especially in high error rate wireless channel. In this paper, an error resilience method is proposed for the depth data of the stereoscopic 3D video using data partitioning. Although data partitioning method is available for 2D video, its extension to depth information has not been investigated in the context of stereoscopic 3D video. Simulation results show that the depth data is less sensitive to error and should be partitioned towards the end of the data partitions block. The partitioned depth data is then applied to an error resilience method namely multiple description coding (MDC) to code the 2D video and the depth information. Simulation results show improved performance using the proposed depth partitioning on MDC compared to the original MDC in an error prone environment

Reduced resolution depth coding for stereoscopic 3D video

In this paper, Reduced Resolution Depth Compression (RRDC) is proposed for Scalable Video Coding (SVC) to improve the 3D video rate distortion performance. RRDC is applied by using Down-Sampling and Up-Sampling (DSUS) of the depth data of the stereoscopic 3D video. The depth data is down-sampled before SVC encoding and up-sampled after SVC decoding operation. The proposed DSUS method reduces the overall bit rates and consequently: 1) improves SVC rate distortion for 3D video, particularly at lower bit rates in error free channels; and 2) improves 3D SVC performance for 3D transmission in error prone channels. The objective quality evaluation of the stereoscopic 3D video yields higher PSNR values at low bit rates for SVCDSUS compared to the original SVC (SVC-Org), which makes it advantageous in terms of reduced storage and bandwidth requirements. Moreover, the subjective quality evaluation of the stereoscopic 3D video further confirmed that the perceived stereoscopic 3D video quality of the SVC-DSUS is very similar to the stereoscopic 3D video of the SVC-Org by up to 98.2%

Multiple description coding with side information for stereoscopic 3D

Stereoscopic video as the simplest form of 3D video is already being used in consumer devices such as 3DTV and 3D mobile phone. When the 3D video from the 3D mobile phone is compressed and transmitted over error prone channels, error propagation due to packet loss leads to poor 3D visual quality. The objective of the paper is to provide error resilience 3D video using the well known multiple description coding (MDC) technique. Specifically, the MDC is modified for 2D plus depth stereoscopic video with the addition of spatially reduced resolution of the side information. The proposed method reduces the depth bit rates and consequently: 1) improves their rate distortion, particularly at higher bit rates in error free channels; and 2) improves their performance in ideal MDC channel

Evaluation of further reduced resolution depth coding for stereoscopic 3D video

This paper presents the results and analysis of the objective and subjective quality evaluations of Further Reduced Resolution Depth Coding (FRRDC) method for stereoscopic 3D video. FRRDC is developed based on the Scalable Video Coding (SVC) reference software and the result are objectively evaluated using rate distortion curve and subjectively evaluated using LCD and auto-stereoscopic video displays. FRRDC uses the Down-Sampling and Up-Sampling (DSUS) method of the depth data of the stereoscopic 3D video. The emergence of numerous auto-stereoscopic displays in the market confirms the growth of 3DTV services. It is essential that the coding method of stereoscopic 3D videos produces high quality 3D videos on both stereoscopic displays and emerging auto-stereoscopic 3D video displays to ensure the interoperability and compatibility among all the different display devices. In this paper, the stereoscopic 3D videos are compressed using the H.264/SVC codec with Reduced Resolution Depth Coding (RRDC) and compared with H.264/SVC-FRRDC. The experimental results indicate good 3D depth perception of FRRDC on both stereoscopic and auto-stereoscopic display devices with lesser bit rates compared to H.264/SVC-RRDC

Human Interface and ATM Network Impairment Evaluations of An Experimental 3D Videophone

New technologies are being developed for the next generation telecommunication systems. This is referred to as Virtual Reality Telecommunication System (VRTS). The system requires the development of new devices for sensor, processing module and actuator to enhance the accuracy and amount of information that is commonly exchangedin face-to-face communication. The concept of #D videophone is proposed to realise video communication that is much closer to natural face-to face conversation. Various system evaluations are conducted for the experimental 3D videophone set-up by adopting the subjective assessment method recommended by ITU-R. Human visual interface evaluations are conducted to confirm the display choice for the visual information presentation and the suitable terminal configuration for the system core hardware. The results show that 3D display is the preferred choice for visual information representation actuator of the 3D videophone since the representation of visual information by this display is closer to natural face-to-face conversation. On the other hand, a notebook PC is chosen as 3D videophone core hardware configuration because sufficient level of eye contact can be maintained during video communication. Evaluation of the degradation and delay of audio and 3D visual signals due to ATM network impairments is performed to verify the suitability of ATM network for handling the transmission of 3D videophone signals. The effects of the impairments are evaluated by comparison between unimpaired and impaired signals. The results demonstrate that ATM network impairments effects at the ITU-T ATM performance objective values on the signals can maintain the scale 4 of ITU-R five-grade scale. Therefore, good quality of audio and 3D visual signals transmission can be performed for ITU-T ATM performance objective. Based on the results of all evaluations conducted, the specifications of the future 3D videophone prototype are summarised

Subjective Evaluations of an Experimental Gesturephone

This paper presents the findings of our subjective evaluations on the integration of gestures in telecommunication. The experimental setup for tracking and imitating, the human arm gesture are described. Our research investigates the possibility of transferring this often overlooked communication medium in our daily communication, for its application in telecommunication using robotics. Based on the subjective evaluation, a maximum allowable delay for an imperceptible gesture reconstruction in the lateral setup is suggested

Multiview plus depth video using high effiency video coding method

The main problem associated with 3D video delivery is huge data transmission rate especially when the data to be submitted are large video files such as multiview plus depth videos. This paper describes a new method of compression for multiview videos with depth data by using the new High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) technology. We propose a new compression method by applying the Reduced Resolution Depth Coding (RRDC) method to the depth videos. RRDC is applied by Down-Sampling and Up-Sampling (DSUS) the depth data of the multiview videos. The depth data is down-sampled before HEVC encoding and up-sampled after HEVC decoding operation. The proposed depth compression method used with HEVC showed a 20% savings at low bit rate when tested with 2 views plus depth video sequence