Introduction - 3DTV: Processing and Transmission of 3D Video Signals - page 21

Table 1.2 Summary of 3D video formats and their respective advantages
and disadvantages

Format name Description Advantages Disadvantages

Frame
compatible
stereoscopic
video

Two views are
combined into a
single view by
down-sampling
horizontally and
placing side-by-side

Compatible with
existing 2D
transmission
systems, video
decoders and
3DTVs

Involves loss of
spatial resolution

Service
compatible
stereoscopic
video

Two stereo views are
transmitted jointly,
but in separate
frames, e.g. in
consecutive frames

Compatible with
existing 2D
transmission
systems, video
decoders and
3DTVs. No spatial
resolution loss

Double the bit-rate
of frame
compatible stereo

Colour-plus-
depth

The depth is used to
render two stereo
views for the display

Depth can be
compressed to a
fraction of the size
of a colour view

A single colour
view means that
occluded areas are
unavailable during
rendering

Multi-view
video

Multiple views are
captured usually
from multiple
cameras arranged in
an array

Provides support
for multi-view and
holographic
displays, in
addition to
free-viewpoint
applications

Large bit-rate
requirements.
Depth information
must be estimated
at the renderer

Multi-view
video plus
depth

Similar to
multi-view video,
but with added
depth information

Depth information
makes rendering
easier, and can
mean fewer colour
views are needed

Accurate depth
information may
be hard to generate

Layered depth
video

Similar to colour
plus depth, but with
additional colour
and depth data to
compensate for
occlusions

Improved quality
over colour plus
depth video

Additional
band-width
required