Stereoscopic Parallax Modulation for Viewer Comfort
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current stereoscopic content, especially pre-rendered content, lacks mechanisms to protect viewers from excessive parallax, which can cause uncomfortable viewing experiences, as there are no direct analogs to volume safety cutoffs found in audio devices.
Innovation Solution
A system and method to limit excessive parallax by modulating depth, compressing it, or transitioning to 2D in stereoscopic content, using a Parallax Calculator to determine safe parallax thresholds and employing a Stereo Source Buffer and Stereo Mixer to smooth transitions, ensuring viewer comfort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If pre-rendered stereoscopic content is used, then content quality and visual effects are improved, but viewer comfort is worsened due to excessive parallax that cannot be controlled
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary analysis of the stereoscopic video sequence to identify frames with excessive parallax before playback. By pre-calculating which frames need modification and preparing adjustment parameters in advance, the system can quickly apply corrections during playback without compromising content quality or causing noticeable delays.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts parallax parameters of identified frames by modifying the disparity between left and right eye images. It changes the depth indicator values to bring excessive parallax within comfortable viewing thresholds while preserving the overall visual quality and artistic intent of the original content.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If parallax is reduced to improve viewer comfort, then viewing comfort is improved, but the three-dimensional effect is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies parallax reduction selectively only to specific frames that exceed comfort thresholds, rather than uniformly reducing parallax across the entire video sequence. This localized approach preserves the three-dimensional effect in frames that are already comfortable while correcting only those that cause viewer discomfort.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies partial parallax reduction by adjusting only the excessive portions of depth indicators in problematic frames, rather than reducing all parallax. This maintains adequate three-dimensional effect while eliminating the harmful excessive parallax that causes viewer discomfort.
3Productivity
If abrupt transitions are made between normal and corrected frames, then processing speed is improved, but visual quality is worsened due to depth transitions
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies periodic smoothing transitions between corrected and uncorrected frames, gradually adjusting depth indicators over multiple frames rather than making abrupt changes. This periodic transition approach maintains processing efficiency while eliminating jarring depth shifts that would degrade visual quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The system prepares transition smoothing in advance by calculating intermediate depth indicator values for frames surrounding corrected frames. This beforehand cushioning ensures that transitions are pre-planned and executed smoothly, preventing abrupt depth changes that would harm visual quality.
Data Source
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AI summary
Various implementations provide techniques to prevent excessive parallax, depth, or disparity from being passed through to a viewer. In one particular implementation, it is determined that a depth indicator for an object in a stereoscopic image pair of a video sequence is outside of a target range. One or more images of the stereoscopic image pair is modified so that the depth indicator for the object is within the target range. In other implementations, a depth transition between the object and another portion of the video sequence is smoothed. In further implementations, the stereoscopic image pair is replaced with a 2D image pair that includes the object. In yet further implementations, a resulting video sequence includes (i) one or more stereoscopic image pairs having non-zero disparity and for which the depth indicator is within the target range for the entire image pair, and (ii) one or more 2D image pairs.