METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING 3D IMAGE DATA STREAM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PLAYING 3D IMAGE DATA STREAM

• US 20150350624A1
• Filed: 07/02/2013
• Published: 12/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: CHOI, Byeong-doo, KIM, Jae-hyun, PARK, Jeong-hoon, KIM, Chan-yul
• Application Number:
  US14/412,553
• Publication Number:
  US 20150350624A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/161 Encoding, multiplexing or demultiplexing different image signal components for multi-view video sequence encoding H04N19/597
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/178 Metadata, e.g. disparity information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2013/0096 Synchronisation or controlling aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234327 by decomposing into layers, e.g. base layer and one or more enhancement layers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/236 Assembling of a multiplex stream, e.g. transport stream, by combining a video stream with other content or additional data, e.g. inserting a URL [Uniform Resource Locator] into a video stream, multiplexing software data into a video stream; Remultiplexing of multiplex streams; Insertion of stuffing bits into the multiplex stream, e.g. to obtain a constant bit-rate; Assembling of a packetised elementary stream multiplexing of data packets for data networks, e.g. RTP/UDP H04L65/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/434 Disassembling of a multiplex stream, e.g. demultiplexing audio and video streams, extraction of additional data from a video stream; Remultiplexing of multiplex streams; Extraction or processing of SI; Disassembling of packetised elementary stream demultiplexing of data packets for data networks, e.g. RTP/UDP H04L65/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/816 involving special video data, e.g 3D video

Abstract

A method of generating a 3-dimensional (3D) image data stream includes encoding a first partial image including half of data of a 3D image including a first viewpoint image in full resolution and a second viewpoint image in full resolution; encoding a second partial image including a remaining half of the data of the 3D image; generating streams of the encoded first partial image and the encoded second partial image based on a stream generating method determined from among a first stream generating method that inserts information about the first partial image and information about the second partial image into one stream, and a second stream generating method that inserts the information about the first partial image into a basic layer stream and the information about the second partial image into an enhancement layer stream; and generating an information stream including information indicating the determined stream generating method.

Claims

1. A method of generating a three-dimensional (3D) image data stream, the method comprising:

encoding a first partial image comprising half of data of a 3D image comprising a first viewpoint image in full resolution and a second viewpoint image in full resolution;

encoding a second partial image comprising a remaining half of the data of the 3D image, the remaining half of the data not being included in the first partial image;

generating streams of the encoded first partial image and the encoded second partial image based on a stream generating method determined from among a first stream generating method that inserts information about the first partial image and information about the second partial image into one stream, and a second stream generating method that inserts the information about the first partial image into a basic layer stream and the information about the second partial image into an enhancement layer stream; and

generating an information stream comprising information indicating the determined stream generating method, information indicating whether image data included in a current stream among the generated streams corresponds to the first partial image or the second partial image, and information indicating whether the image data included in the current stream corresponds to the first viewpoint image or the second viewpoint image.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first partial image and the second partial image are respectively provided with half of the data of the 3D image according to one of a side-by-side method, a top-bottom method, a column interleaving method, a row interleaving method, a temporal interleaving method, and a checkerboard interleaving method.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first stream generating method distinguishes the information about the first partial image and the information about the second partial image included in the one stream by using a temporal identifier (ID).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating of the information stream comprises inserting the information indicating the determined stream generating method, the information indicating whether the image data included in the current stream corresponds to the first partial image or the second partial image, and the information indicating whether the image data included in the current stream corresponds to the first viewpoint image or the second viewpoint image, into a supplemental enhancement information (SEI) message.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the information stream comprises, if the current stream is generated based on the first stream generating method, a flag indicating whether to insert the encoded first partial image and the encoded second partial image into different temporal layers that are included in the current stream and distinguished by using a temporal ID, a flag indicating whether data included in the different temporal layers corresponds to the first partial image or the second partial image, and a flag indicating whether the data included in the different temporal layers corresponds to the first viewpoint image or the second viewpoint image.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the information stream comprises, if the current stream is generated based on the second stream generating method, a flag indicating whether data included in the current stream corresponds to the first partial image or the second partial image, and a flag indicating whether the data included in the current stream corresponds to the first viewpoint image or the second viewpoint image.

7. A method of reproducing a three-dimensional (3D) image data stream, the method comprising:

obtaining a current stream comprising at least one of a first partial image that comprises half of data of a 3D image comprising a first viewpoint image in full resolution and a second viewpoint image in full resolution, and a second partial image that comprises a remaining half of the data of the 3D image, the remaining half of the data not being included in the first partial image;

obtaining an information stream comprising information indicating a stream generating method used to generate the current stream from among a first stream generating method that inserts information about the first partial image and information about the second partial image into one stream, and a second stream generating method that inserts the information about the first partial image into a basic layer stream and the information about the second partial image into an enhancement layer stream, information indicating whether image data included in the current stream corresponds to the first partial image or the second partial image, and information indicating whether the image data included in the current stream corresponds to the first viewpoint image or the second viewpoint image;

obtaining the first partial image and the second partial image from the current stream or from the current stream and another stream obtained separately from the current stream, based on the information indicating the stream generating method, the information indicating whether the image data included in the current stream corresponds to the first partial image or the second partial image, and the information indicating whether the image data included in the current stream corresponds to the first viewpoint image or the second viewpoint image, included in the information stream; and

reproducing the 3D image in full resolution by using the obtained first partial image and the obtained second partial image.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first partial image and the second partial image are respectively provided with half of the data of the 3D image according to one of a side-by-side method, a top-bottom method, a column interleaving method, a row interleaving method, a temporal interleaving method, and a checkerboard interleaving method.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the first stream generating method distinguishes the information about the first partial image and the information about the second partial image included in the one stream by using a temporal identifier (ID).

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the information stream is transmitted through a supplemental enhancement information (SEI) message.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the information stream comprises, if the current stream is generated based on the first stream generating method, a flag indicating whether to insert the first partial image and the second partial image into different temporal layers that are included in the current stream and distinguished by using a temporal ID, a flag indicating whether data included in the different temporal layers corresponds to the first partial image or the second partial image, and a flag indicating whether the data included in the different temporal layers corresponds to the first viewpoint image or the second viewpoint image.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the information stream comprises, if the current stream is generated based on the second stream generating method, a flag indicating whether data included in the current stream corresponds to the first partial image or the second partial image, and a flag indicating whether the data included in the current stream corresponds to the first viewpoint image or the second viewpoint image.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the reproducing comprises:

decoding the first viewpoint image in full resolution and the second viewpoint image in full resolution by using the obtained first partial image and the obtained second partial image; and

reproducing the 3D image in full resolution by using the decoded first viewpoint image and the decoded second viewpoint image in full resolution.

14. An apparatus configured to generate a three-dimensional (3D) image data stream, the apparatus comprising:

a first image encoder configured to encode a first partial image comprising half of data of a 3D image comprising a first viewpoint image in full resolution and a second viewpoint image in full resolution;

a second image encoder configured to encode a second partial image comprising a remaining half of the data of the 3D image, the remaining half of the data not being included in the first partial image;

an image data stream generator configured to generate streams of the encoded first partial image and the encoded second partial image based on a stream generating method determined from among a first stream generating method that inserts information about the first partial image and information about the second partial image into one stream, and a second stream generating method that inserts the information about the first partial image into a basic layer stream and the information about the second partial image into an enhancement layer stream; and

an information stream generator configured to generate an information stream comprising information indicating the determined stream generating method, information indicating whether image data included in a current stream among the generated streams corresponds to the first partial image or the second partial image, and information indicating whether the image data included in the current stream corresponds to the first viewpoint image or the second viewpoint image.

15. An apparatus configured to reproduce a three-dimensional (3D) image data stream, the apparatus comprising:

an image data stream obtainer configured to obtain a current stream comprising at least one of a first partial image that comprises half of data of a 3D image comprising a first viewpoint image in full resolution and a second viewpoint image in full resolution, and a second partial image that comprises a remaining half of the data of the 3D image, the remaining half of the data not being included in the first partial image;

an information stream obtainer configured to obtain an information stream comprising information indicating a stream generating method used to generate the current stream from among a first stream generating method that inserts information about the first partial image and information about the second partial image into one stream, and a second stream generating method that inserts the information about the first partial image into a basic layer stream and the information about the second partial image into an enhancement layer stream, information indicating whether image data included in the current stream corresponds to the first partial image or the second partial image, and information indicating whether the image data included in the current stream corresponds to the first viewpoint image or the second viewpoint image;

an image decoder configured to obtain the first partial image and the second partial image from the current stream or from the current stream and another stream obtained separately from the current stream, based on the information indicating the stream generating method, the information indicating whether the image data included in the current stream corresponds to the first partial image or the second partial image, and the information indicating whether the image data included in the current stream corresponds to the first viewpoint image or the second viewpoint image, included in the obtained information stream, and decode the obtained first partial image and the obtained second partial image; and

a 3D image de-multiplexer configured to generate the 3D image in full resolution by reconstructing the decoded first partial image and the decoded second partial image based on the information indicating the stream generating method, the information indicating whether the image data included in the current stream corresponds to the first partial image or the second partial image, and the information indicating whether the image data included in the current stream corresponds to the first viewpoint image or the second viewpoint image, included in the obtained information stream.