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Understanding Requirements for High-Quality 3D Video: A Test in Stereo Perception

[Philip Lelyveld comment: this article contains many useful graphs]

[3D Roundaout]

Initial questions

My company’s main interests are stereo correction, stereo conversion to multiview and 2D-to-stereo 3D conversion using depth maps. From a practical perspective, the following initial questions arise when developing algorithms and software for 3D video conversion and quality improvement:

• How significant is the difference in stereo perception among different people? What does the stereo perception ‘distribution’ function look like?
• Which characteristics of a stereo image are important for subjective perceived quality?
• In which cases are stereo artefacts (due to imperfect 2D-to-3D conversion, stereo mismatch or a distorted depth or disparity map) noticeable, and when are they not so noticeable? When are perfectly-detailed depth maps important, and when are they superfluous?

A number of tests were conducted to find partial answers to these questions, and the work is still ongoing. The following issues were studied first:

• Stereo sensitivity, ability to perceive 3D.
• Subjective stereo acuteness.

Conclusion

On the basis of these stereo sensitivity and acuteness tests, several conclusions can be drawn and common-knowledge opinions confirmed:

• Variance in subjective stereo perception is very large. Up to 30% of test participants are barely susceptible to stereo for, apparently, various reasons – even in the case of close-to-normal 2D vision. Weak 2D vision is not the only cause of bad stereo vision, although it does have an influence. Thus, the question arises, to what extent is it conditioned by the particulars of artificial digital stereo, and to what degree is it due to the individual properties of eyes and the brain’s sensory system?

The second question relates to whether there is a strong relationship between stereo sensitivity and comfort when viewing the same stereo video. If such a relationship exists, how should 3D video be prepared for people with different stereo perception characteristics?

• Subjective stereo perception is adaptive. This conclusion does not relate only to the latency of proper eye convergence; some brain learning is involved. After training, people notice more 3D details under the same conditions. This result is related to the assertion that drastic depth changes over time should be avoided in stereo video, as they ‘defocus’ stereo vision.

• For depth map construction and stereo generation, an important conclusion is that roughness and deviations in depth that are irrelevant to the underlying 2D image are noticeable as unpleasant artefacts only in highly-detailed areas with sharp edges. So, the masking effect of rough surfaces in 2D images, when artefacts in detailed areas are often imperceptible, works in the opposite way with stereo. Likely, very irregular textures are still less revealing because the brain must match numerous random-looking features that are hard to discern.

• 2D-to-3D conversion and stereo correction artefacts in flat uniform areas are invisible to nearly all viewers; only the borders of such areas should be accurately processed.

If you have a 3D display or a pair of red/cyan glasses (red for left eye, cyan for right) you can check your stereo vision using the methods described in this article by watching the following video:  …

Read the full article here: http://3droundabout.com/2011/12/5788/understanding-requirements-for-high-quality-3d-video-a-test-in-stereo-perception.html

Applied Optics Focus Issue: Digital Holography and 3-D Imaging

[Press Release]

Research into digital holography (DH), the process of electronically recording and numerically reconstructing an optical field, has made tremendous strides in recent years. To highlight breakthroughs in this area, the editors of the Optical Society’s (OSA) journal Applied Opticshave teamed with the editors of the journal Chinese Optics Letters to publish a special Focus Issue on Digital Holography and 3-D Imaging.  …

Key Findings and Select Papers

The following papers are some of the highlights of the Applied Optics and Chinese Optics Letters Focus Issue on Digital Holography and 3-D Imaging. See Volume 50, Issue 34 for the Applied Optics papers, accessible online at http://www.opticsinfobase.org/ao/issue.cfm. The Chinese Optics Letters papers will be accessible online at http://www.opticsinfobase.org/col/home.cfm.

  • In this paper, the authors discuss a novel technique called digitized holography. The wave field of real objects is captured in a wide area by synthetic digital holography, which is then incorporated in virtual 3-D scenes. The end result of the reconstructed 3-D images can be digitally editable, achievable and transmittable.

    Paper: “Digitized holography: modern holography for 3D imaging of virtual and real objects,” Applied Optics, Vol. 50, Issue 34, pp. H278-H284 (2011).

  • Compressing sensing is a technique to recover a sparse signal in the most efficient possible way. The technique has been used widely in signal and image processing as well as in computational mathematics. Compressive sensing applied to the reconstruction of holograms is a recent novel trend in digital holography and is called compressive holography. This article is a tutorial for general readers to understand compressive holography.

    Paper: “Sampling and processing for compressive holography,” Applied Optics, Vol. 50, Issue 34, pp. H75-H86 (2011).

  • Platforms of tomographic imaging using digital holography typically have relatively complex optical and mechanical setups. The present authors have recently developed lens-free optical tomography based on on-axis digital holography, which has relatively simple on-chip architectures and can be particularly useful for lab-on-a-chip applications with submicron-resolution. The article reviews this recently developed technique.

    Paper: “Partially coherent lensfree tomographic microscopy,” Applied Optics, Vol. 50, Issue 34 pp. H253-H264 (2011)

  • Conventional multiplex holograms are composed of a series of long thin individual holograms, which inevitably cause the reconstructed images overlaid with a picket-fence structure. The authors discuss a disk-type multiple hologram which is free from the picket-fence effect. In addition, the disk-type multiplex hologram has the advantage of commercial mass production owing to the utilization of the well-developed CD technology.

    Paper: “Image design for normal viewing image-plane disk-type multiplex hologram,” Chinese Optics Letters, Vol. 9, Issue 12, pp. 120003 (2011).

Read the full press release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20111207006220/en/Applied-Optics-Focus-Issue-Digital-Holography-3-D

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Specification for Naming VFX Image Sequences Released

ETC’s VFX Working Group has published a specification for best practices naming image sequences such as plates and comps. File naming is an essential tool for organizing the multitude of frames that are inputs and outputs from the VFX process. Prior to the publication of this specification, each organization had its own naming scheme, requiring custom processes for each partner, which often resulted in confusion and miscommunication.

The new ETC@USC specification focuses primarily on sequences of individual images. The initial use case was VFX plates, typically delivered as OpenEXR or DPX files. However, the team soon realized that the same naming conventions can apply to virtually any image sequence. Consequently, the specification was written to handle a wide array of assets and use cases.

To ensure all requirements are represented, the working group included over 2 dozen participants representing studios, VFX houses, tool creators, creatives and others.  The ETC@USC also worked closely with MovieLabs to ensure that the specification could be integrated as part of their 2030 Vision.

A key design criteria for this specification is compatibility with existing practices.  Chair of the VFX working group, Horst Sarubin of Universal Pictures, said: “Our studio is committed to being at the forefront of designing best industry practices to modernize and simplify workflows, and we believe this white paper succeeded in building a new foundation for tools to transfer files in the most efficient manner.”

This specification is compatible with other initiatives such as the Visual Effects Society (VES) Transfer Specifications. “We wanted to make it as seamless as possible for everyone to adopt this specification,” said working group co-chair and ETC@USC’s Erik Weaver. “To ensure all perspectives were represented we created a team of industry experts familiar with the handling of these materials and collaborated with a number of industry groups.”

“Collaboration between MovieLabs and important industry groups like the ETC is critical to implementing the 2030 Vision,” said Craig Seidel, SVP of MovieLabs. “This specification is a key step in defining the foundations for better software-defined workflows. We look forward to continued partnership with the ETC on implementing other critical elements of the 2030 Vision.”

The specification is available online for anyone to use.

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