Disparity Vector Correction for View Synthesis Prediction-Based 3-D Video Transmission

View synthesis prediction (VSP) is an important tool for enhancing the coding efficiency in the next-generation three- dimensional (3-D) video systems. However, VSP will lead to prediction position errors when the depth maps are corrupted by packet losses during transmission. In order to mitigate the prediction position errors, a novel disparity vector correction algorithm is proposed in this paper. Firstly, we investigate the relationship between the rendering position errors and the depth errors according to the VSP procedure. The depth map errors due to packet losses are then recursively estimated at the decoder without the use of the error-free reconstructed frames. Finally, based on the estimation of the reconstructed depth errors, the received disparity vectors can be corrected to find the matching synthesized pixels as those used at the encoder, and thereby the view synthesis-based inter-view error propagation can be effectively stopped. Experimental results show that the proposed methods with the estimated and actual depth errors can provide significant improvements in terms of both objective and subjective evaluations.