Quality-controlled view interpolation for multiview video

Multiview video coding systems are characterized by their high encoding complexity. In this paper, we propose to reduce the encoding complexity by omitting frames at the encoder in a pattern that keeps the ability to reconstruct an interpolated version of each omitted frame, by motion-compensated and inter-view interpolation. Since our goal is maintaining good visual quality, we propose a method to estimate the quality of the interpolated frames at the decoder by transmitting a small amount of error control information in lieu of an omitted frame. This information is obtained from a projection of the frame on a suitable low-dimensional basis. The projection coefficients can be compressed by conventional techniques or, more efficiently, by Slepian-Wolf coding. Based on the quality estimate, the decoder can adaptively detect the interpolation technique that results in better visual quality. Moreover, it can suppress occasional frames for which interpolation yields noticeable artifacts. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach eliminates most interpolation artifacts and achieves much better visual quality at a very small increase in bit-rate.