Coding Methods for Depth Videos

This chapter presents the different methods or tools that have been developed to code depth videos. A section presents an analysis of depth maps and their specific characteristics. It also includes a discussion of different types of redundancies, which may be exploited in order to maximize compression levels of depth videos. Three main categories of depth coding tools are defined in the next section: (i) methods using the intrinsic characteristics of depth maps such as high-level coding tools and block-based coding tools; (ii) methods exploiting correlation with associated textures such as inheritance/selection of prediction modes and inheritance of prediction information; and (iii) methods optimizing depth coding for the quality of synthesized views such as view synthesis optimization and distortion models.