Restoration of image burnout in 3D-stereoscopic media using inter-view gradient interpolation

Correcting colour imbalances between stereo views is a major task in the production of high quality 3D stereoscopic content. This paper addresses extreme cases of colour imbalance where the intensity range of one view exceeds the valid range causing image burnout in the degraded view. We propose a comprehensive framework for restoring the degraded view by using the other well-exposed view to interpolate both colour and texture information. The texture copy is done in the gradient domain by solving the Poisson equation and using the disparity map to guide the interpolation. We also propose a method of detecting burnout inspired by a technique for detecting poorly exposed regions in image stills. Our results show that it is possible to get a good restoration in stereo pairs with a significant degree of image burnout.