Splitting the backbone: A novel hierarchical method for assessing light field image quality

Abstract

The rising popularity of light field imaging underscores the pivotal role of image quality in user experience. However, evaluating the quality of light field images presents significant challenges owing to their high-dimensional nature. Current quality assessment methods for light field images predominantly rely on machine learning or statistical analysis, often overlooking the interdependence among pixels. To overcome this limitation, we propose an innovative approach that employs a universal backbone network and introduces a dual-task framework for feature extraction. Specifically, we integrate a staged “primary-secondary” hierarchical evaluation mode into the universal backbone networks, enabling accurate quality score inference while preserving the intrinsic information of the original image. Our proposed approach reduces inference time by over 75% compared to existing methods, simultaneously achieving state-of-the-art results in terms of evaluation metrics. By harnessing the efficiency of neural networks, our framework offers an effective solution for the quality assessment of light field images, providing superior accuracy and speed compared to current methodologies.