Sampling-based robust multi-lateral filter for depth enhancement

Depth maps are an integral component of 3D video processing. They have a number of uses, including view synthesis for multi-view video, human computer interaction, augmented reality, and 3D scene reconstruction. However, depth maps are often captured at low quality or low resolution due to sensor hardware limitations or estimation errors. In this paper, we propose a new method to enhance noisy or low-resolution depth maps using high-resolution color images. Our method is based on sample selection and refinement in conjunction with multi-lateral filtering, a method derived from joint bilateral filtering using a new weighting metric. Our experimental results verify that the proposed method performs very well in comparison to existing methods.