View synthesis error analysis for selecting the optimal QP of depth map coding in 3D video application

In 3D video communication, how to select the appropriate quantization parameter (QP) for depth map coding is very important for obtaining the optimal view synthesis quality. This paper first analyzes the depth uncertainty induced two kinds of view synthesis errors, namely the original depth error induced view synthesis error and the depth compression induced view synthesis error, and then proposes a quadratic model to characterize the relationship between the view synthesis quality and the depth quantization step size. The proposed model can find the inflexion point in the curve of the view synthesis quality with the increasing depth quantization step size. Experimental results show that, given the rate constraint for depth map, the proposed model can accurately find the optimal QP for depth map coding.