Compression of IP images for autostereoscopic 3D imaging applications

An autostereoscopic 3D viewing system that operates on the principles of integral photography (IP) provides a unique sense of depth, full parallax and multi-view functionality. The inherent redundancy of these images results into great amounts of data that should be efficiently coded for transmission or storage operations. In this communication, a method for efficient coding of such images is presented targeting 3D imaging and video applications. The method is based on common techniques broadly used in image compression and properly adjusted in order to take advantage of the spatial redundancies of IP images. The generality and flexibility of the proposed approach along with the stability for a wide range of bit rates constitutes the basic characteristics of the technique. The proposed technique can be easily realized in software or hardware for computer based or standalone applications.