Abstract
In asymmetric stereoscopic video compression, the views are coded with different qualities. According to the binocular suppression theory, the perceived quality is closer to that of the higher-fidelity view. Hence, a higher compression ratio is potentially achieved through asymmetric coding. Furthermore, when mixed-resolution coding is applied, the complexity of the coding and decoding is reduced. In this paper, we study whether asymmetric stereoscopic video coding achieves the mentioned claimed benefits. Two sets of systematic subjective quality evaluation experiments are presented in the paper. In the first set of the experiments, we analyze the extent of downsampling for the lower-resolution view in mixed-resolution stereoscopic videos. We show that the lower-resolution view becomes dominant in the subjective quality rating at a certain downsampling ratio, and this is dependent on the sequence, the angular resolution, and the angular width. In the second set of the experiments, we compare symmetric stereoscopic video coding, quality-asymmetric stereoscopic video coding, and mixed-resolution coding subjectively. We show that in many cases, mixed-resolution coding achieves a similar subjective quality to that of symmetric stereoscopic video coding, while the computational complexity is significantly reduced.
Highlights
Stereoscopic video compression has gained importance during the recent years thanks to the recent advances in display technology
The inter-view prediction enabled by the Multiview Video Coding (MVC) [1] annex of the widely used Advanced Video Coding (H.264/AVC) standard [2] has been shown to improve compression efficiency significantly compared to independent coding of the views
The confidence intervals overlap for the two highest bitrates in Fig. 6c, the average subjective ratings of the highest bitrate are slightly lower than the second highest bitrate
Summary
Asymmetric stereoscopic video is perceived by the HVS in such a way that the lower quality of one view, due to compression artifacts, might be masked by the higher quality view. We seek to assess the subjective quality of asymmetric stereoscopic videos with different quality combinations. For single-view video, there are a number of objective quality measures which can be used [28]. When it comes to stereoscopic video, objective quality assessment metrics may face some ambiguity as how to perform the joint assessment fairly, since there are two views involved with different qualities. We seek an answer to the following question: “Does asymmetric stereoscopic video coding make sense from a subjective quality point of view?” The approach to reach a conclusion is based on subjective quality assessment of symmetric and asymmetric stereoscopic videos having the same bitrate. This section further extends our preliminary results in [29]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
