Development of depth-image-based three-dimensional mobile broadcasting system in terrestrial digital media broadcasting

Abstract

We present a 3-D mobile broadcasting system based on a depth-image-based rendering (DIBR) technique in terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting (T-DMB). It is well known that a 3-D mobile broadcasting service based on the DIBR technique can be one of the solutions to meet service requirements, because the required bit rates of depth images in DIBR schemes are less than additional video bit rates of other 3-D formats, while keeping good 3-D quality and guaranteeing backward compatibility with conventional broadcasting systems. We propose an implementation of a DIBR-based 3-D T-DMB system that supports real-time rendering with good image quality and realistic depth effect at the receiver, verifying that it could be perfectly applicable in mobile broadcasting. Specifically, the proposed 3-D T-DMB receiver adopts a look-up table (LUT)-based simultaneous method to accomplish the real-time implementation of DIBR algorithms, including warping, hole filling, and interleaving. Moreover, we establish the parameter values that are needed for generating the LUT based on theoretical analysis. The verification is accomplished through objective and subjective evaluations, based on simulation and real-time implementation of the system under actual service conditions.