Occlusion Data Compression for 3D Video Coding Efficiency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current 3D video coding techniques are inefficient in handling occlusion data, which is infrequently referenced and typically only small areas are used in the rendering process, leading to limitations in transmission bandwidth, storage capacity, and processing capacity, especially with the growing demand for affordable 3D content.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution involves indicating occlusion format, converting occlusion data into a sparse data format, filling non-occlusion areas with a defined characteristic, rearranging 2D data within the reference picture list, using proximity to depth boundaries to detect occlusion and non-occlusion areas, employing skip mode coding for non-occlusion areas, and coding a single occlusion frame while skipping the next n-1 occlusion frames to improve coding and transmission efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If occlusion data is coded using conventional video coding techniques, then the data can be transmitted and stored, but the transmission bandwidth, storage capacity, and processing capacity are inefficiently utilized due to the large amount of data
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and identifies occlusion areas from the video data using depth information and boundary detection. By separating occlusion areas from non-occlusion areas, the system applies different coding strategies to each region, coding only the essential occlusion information rather than treating all pixels uniformly, thus reducing overall data volume while maintaining coding efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different coding quality and detail levels to different regions of the video data. Occlusion areas are coded with specific attention to boundaries and depth transitions, while non-occlusion areas use simplified coding. This local differentiation optimizes the balance between data reduction and rendering quality, improving productivity without sacrificing essential visual information
2Reliability
If all occlusion data is coded and transmitted, then complete rendering information is available, but transmission bandwidth and storage capacity are excessively consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential occlusion information needed for accurate rendering - specifically depth values and boundary locations in occlusion areas - rather than transmitting complete pixel data for all regions. This extraction approach maintains rendering accuracy by preserving critical geometric information while dramatically reducing bitstream size through selective data transmission
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial coding action by focusing computational and transmission resources only on occlusion areas where they are most needed, rather than uniformly processing all video data. This partial action approach ensures rendering accuracy is maintained in critical regions while avoiding redundant transmission of non-occlusion data, optimizing the trade-off between reliability and data volume
3Ease of operation
If conventional coding methods are used for occlusion data, then the coding process is straightforward, but processing capacity is insufficient to handle the huge amount of data in real-time applications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the video data processing into distinct stages: depth boundary detection, occlusion area identification, and selective coding. This segmentation transforms a complex monolithic processing task into manageable sub-tasks that can be executed efficiently, improving processing speed while maintaining coding simplicity through modular, standardized operations for each segment
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatuses for coding occlusion layers, such as occlusion video data and occlusion depth data in 3D video, are disclosed. A decoding method comprising the steps of: extracting an indicator representative of an original format for received occlusion data, the original format selected from one of a sparse occlusion data format and a filled occlusion data format; decoding the received occlusion data to produce decoded occlusion data; and when the indicator indicates the original format as a filled occlusion data format, converting the decoded occlusion data from a sparse occlusion data format to the filled occlusion data format, the converting further including; replacing non-occlusion area data, which is represented with a defined characteristic, by respective collocated samples from 2D data in the video data frame associated with the occlusion data; outputting the decoded occlusion data and, when present, converted decoded occlusion data.