On the bandlimitedness of the plenoptic function

Abstract

Image based-rendering (IBR) can be seen as the sampling and reconstruction of the plenoptic function. The question of the minimum sampling rate in IBR can be addressed via spectral analysis of the plenoptic function. We study a model of the scene where bandlimited images are "painted" on surfaces (e.g. of objects or walls). We show that, in general, the plenoptic function is not bandlimited unless the surfaces are flat. We then characterize the spectral decay of the plenoptic function for this model.