Reduced complexity multi-view video coding scheme for 2D camera arrays

Abstract

As the number of views comprised in multi-view videos increases, some challenging problems emerge. Besides the bandwidth problems caused by the huge data flow, the calculation power needed by the multi-view encoder is an even higher burden than that of a single view encoder. In this paper, a complexity efficient way to encode a single-time instant of 5×3 view frames is presented. Some of the P frames known from the traditional encoding schemes have been replaced by a new type of frame called the D frame, in which the disparity vector of a block in a view can be derived from the other views due to the strong geometrical correspondence existing between adjacent views. Experimental results show that 20.2% complexity gain is achieved without compromising quality and bit-rate by wisely selecting threshold values at different QPs.