Depth-Map Compression using Directional Wavelets Transform

In this work, a new coding scheme for depth-map compression in multiview video application is presented. The specialstructure of these images with sharp edges and large gradient smooth regions, distinguishes them from natural images.Normal quantization in coders employing conventional transforms may result in the information spread close to sharpedges. Here, we propose a sharp variant of the well-known directional wavelet transform which prevents the waveletsupport from cutting depth-map sharp edges. This has been achieved by estimating the location of edges using thecorresponding texture frames in a multiview system. We call the coding algorithm as sharp directional wavelet (SDIW)transform and we numerically show that a significant decrease in the energy of wavelet coefficients improvesperformance compared to the other coding schemes using for instance separable wavelets.

Keywords:

Directional Wavelet Transform , Depth-map coding , Multiview video , Lifting scheme