Rendering, Adaptation and 3D Displays - 3DTV: Processing and Transmission of 3D Video Signals - page 126

5

Rendering, Adaptation
and 3D Displays

Visualization of 3D media can be realized in a variety of ways, in contrast to
the traditional 2D media. A number of 3D display technologies are available,
all of which differ in terms of applied image processing and rendering
techniques and the requirements for input media size and format. Thus, the
mode of displaying the reconstructed 3D scene also differs. A standard 3D
display on the market can display two fixed views at a time, regardless of the
viewing angle from the screen, whereas multi-view displays usually have
the capability of displaying more than two views simultaneously, so that
different viewers looking from different viewing angles would see different
pictures. This necessitates a series of specific processing tasks within the
display or the display driver dedicated to the 3D mode of viewing.
This chapter explains the stages of 3D video rendering and outlines the
details of various 3D display technologies. Adaptation, on the other hand,
is another subject that needs special attention in the context of 3D and
multi-view applications. This chapter also emphasizes several elements of
various adaptation schemes devised for 3D media systems, while outlining
the inherent differences from the 2D media adaptation.

5.1 Why Rendering?

Rendering refers to the process of generating a display image from a binary
model. A binary scene model contains objects with a particular data structure,
such as the geometry, texture and lighting comprising the description of the
scene. This data is processed within the rendering engine to output a
digital image, or graphics. Rendering is an inherent part of the majority