Efficient Compression of Multi-view Video Using Hierarchical B Pictures

3D and free viewpoint video are new types of natural video media that expand the user's sensation far beyond what is offered by traditional media. As video compression is a key issue in traditional video communications and the use of multi video streams makes it even more important for such applications. In this paper, we presented an investigation of the multi- view video coding structures with focus on exploiting hierarchical B pictures. We demonstrate hierarchical B pictures prediction structures, and present the advantage of several multi-view video coding prediction schemes. This demonstration will show the benefits of using hierarchical B pictures based on H.264/AVC. The simulation results demonstrate that the objective quality can be improved with the advanced MVC prediction structures in comparison to the simulcast coding structures.