Symmetrical frame discard method for 3D video over IP networks

Three dimensional (3D) video is expected to be an important application for broadcast and IP streaming services. One of the main limitations for the transmission of 3D video over IP networks is network bandwidth mismatch due to the large size of 3D data, which causes fatal decoding errors and mosaic-like damage. This paper presents a novel selective frame discard method to address the problem. The main idea of the proposed method is the symmetrical discard of the two dimensional (2D) video frame and the depth map frame, which enables the efficient utilization of the network bandwidth. Also, the frames to be discarded are selected after additional consideration of the playback deadline, the network bandwidth, and the inter-frame dependency relationship within a group of pictures (GOP). The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method enhances the media quality of 3D video streaming even in the case of bad network conditions. The proposed method is expected to be used for Internet protocol (IP) based 3D video streaming applications such as 3D IPTV.