3D stereo rendering challenges and techniques

The advent of 3D to the home raises a number of challenges beyond the basic display of an available stereo pair. A number of them are technical challenges, as for example the adaptation of various 3D content types to different display technologies. Other aspects relate to the Quality of Experience, involving observation conditions and observers. Indeed, a correct 3D perception for everyone cannot be taken for granted for any of the current 3D display technologies. Fatigue, eye strain, or variability of perception are phenomena of importance and they cannot be neglected when developing a 3D chain. "3D Stereo Rendering" is a short for "Adapting decoded 3D content to each target 3D display technology - taking into account Video Quality and Human Factors". This topic gathers perceptual understanding and know-how, algorithms and video processing techniques. 3D Stereo Rendering can be implemented as a Set Top, Gateway or software processing block, getting its input signals from 3D decoder(s) and providing output signals to various 3D display technologies. A range of processing blocks need to be developed and assembled. These include disparity or depth map extraction, view interpolation, subtitle and graphic insertion, color and disparity processing, resampling, etc., depending on observer characteristics and observation conditions. This paper will introduce the 3D Stereo Rendering topic, the related technical and perception challenges and elements to address them.