Chapter 10 - A study on the relationship between depth map quality and stereoscopic image quality using upsampled depth maps

Abstract

Recent advances in 3D technology have made the need for reliable quality evaluation of synthesized virtual views. Using RGB image and the corresponding depth map, a synthesized view can be constructed. Depth map upsampling has gained much interest following the release of time-of-flight cameras. As upsampling can yield artifacts on sharp edges like ringing artifacts and jagged edges near the depth map boundaries, it will degrade the final reconstructed stereoscopic image quality. In this article, several upsampling methods are applied to depth maps. Then, diverse full-reference and no-reference quality assessment tools are utilized to measure the quality of depth maps obtained from selected upsampling approaches. Furthermore, subjective test is performed to determine the quality of stereoscopic images reconstructed from upsampled depth maps. Finally, the relation between subjective assessment and each objective quality assessment is investigated using correlation coefficients. The evaluation results introduce the objective quality assessment tools that can correctly render human judgement.