Point Cloud Decoding Using Occupancy Maps for Patch Boundary Smoothing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Point clouds require significant bandwidth for transmission due to their large size and complexity, leading to delays in rendering, and existing compression methods result in visible artifacts at patch boundaries during reconstruction.
Innovation Solution
A decoding device and method that smooths color values near patch boundaries to reduce visible artifacts in reconstructed point clouds, using a video codec to project and compress point clouds onto multiple 2D frames, and then reconstruct them for display.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If point clouds are compressed using mapping onto 2D texture patches and depth patches, then bandwidth requirement is reduced, but visible artifacts appear at patch boundaries during reconstruction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and identifies boundary points at patch boundaries separately from interior points. By isolating boundary points through occupancy map analysis, the method applies targeted smoothing operations only where needed, removing the harmful artifacts without affecting the overall compression efficiency of the patch-based approach.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different processing treatments to different regions of the point cloud. Boundary points receive color smoothing operations using centroid calculations from neighboring points, while interior points maintain their original compression treatment. This localized quality enhancement resolves artifacts at critical boundary regions without compromising the efficiency of the overall compression scheme.
2Manufacturing precision
If point clouds are transmitted uncompressed, then visual quality is maintained, but large bandwidth and rendering delays occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary smoothing operations on boundary points during the decomposition phase, before the point cloud is transmitted. By pre-processing boundary points to smooth color values and remove potential artifacts, the method ensures high visual quality is maintained in the compressed representation, eliminating the need for uncompressed transmission while preserving visual fidelity.
3Productivity
If patch-based compression is used, then transmission efficiency is improved, but compression artifacts appear at boundaries
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces centroid calculations as an intermediary mechanism between patch boundaries. By computing centroids from neighboring points and using them to smooth boundary point colors, the method creates a transitional buffer that mediates the discontinuities between adjacent patches, maintaining transmission efficiency while eliminating boundary artifacts.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A decoding device, an encoding device and a method for point cloud decoding is disclosed. The method includes receiving a compressed bitstream. The method also includes decoding the compressed bitstream into 2D frames that represent a 3D point cloud, each of the 2D frames including a set of patches representing a cluster of pixels of the 3D point cloud. The method further includes identifying an occupancy map included in the compressed bitstream. The method additionally includes identifying valid boundary points located at a boundary of a patch of the set of patches based on the occupancy map and identifying valid neighboring points of each of the valid boundary points of the patch. The method also includes generating the 3D point cloud using the 2D frames based on the valid neighboring points and the valid boundary points.