Mobile 3DTV on Youtube

We have prepared a couple of short movies about our project. The movies are available on our youtube channel, and also at http://mobile3dtv.eu/publicity, our publicity webpage. Currently there are two movies available, with more to come soon. We hope you like them!
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Project meeting in Saariselkä

Third Mobile3DTV project meeting was held in Saariselkä, in the Finnish Lapland, from 4th to 6th of April.

Representatives of all workpackages of the project met to discuss the progress of the project and to agree about a roadmap of workpackage interaction in the system development process. All work was inspired by the beautiful winter landscape of northern Finland.

The most important outcome of the project meeting is a roadmap that coordinates the work between the workpackages for the rest of the project. This roadmap is a result of a productive review meeting in Brussels and the comments given by the reviewers.

Beside the hard work of the meeting, the participants enjoyed the great winter in Lapland. Especially the 1200m long sledge slope was as good alternative to relax in meeting breaks.


The project meeting was a success for the project and the outcome of the meeting in combination with the developed roadmap will direct the project towards a successful second year.
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MOBILE3DTV at GSMA Mobile World Congers 2009 in Barcelona

MOBILE3DTV demonstration was presented at GSMA Mobile World Congers on 16-19 February 2009 in Barcelona (http://www.mobileworldcongress.com/). We presented the current state of the development on the project with very spectacular demonstration. Participants in the demonstration from MMSolutions site were Nikolay Daskalov – CEO, Radoslav Ibrishimov and Gjorgji Rosikopulos.

We shared some space at the OMAP zone with Texas Instruments, which are our long term partners in many projects, and exchanged few ideas and impressions from the congress . We also met few of the partners in the MOBILE3DTV project and discussed some new concepts about the evolution of the project. During the exhibition we had the opportunity to see the “beyond tomorrow” vision of the mobile technology. We also demonstrated our achievements in the mobile image capturing technology, such as 8MP camera framework, stereo-capture module, ect.

The kit for the demonstration was developed by MMSolutions. It was based on standard TI development platform, widely spread among the mobile application developers. The content was delivered by both MMSolutions and Tampere University of Technology. The videos were specially prepared for the congress, and were of a great interest for the visitors, who saw the demonstration.

We previewed the spectators the true 3-D effect and the possibility of implementing this future technology in multimedia mobile device. Every observer shared a positive opinion for the demonstration. They confirmed that they will keep an eye on the progress of the project in Internet with interest. Based on our observations and the conversations with every spectator of the demonstration, we think that all of them will be consumers of the device in future.

In the end we would like to thank all the visitors, interested in the project, for sharing their opinion about the demonstration. We would like also to thank Atanas Gotchev and Atanas Boev for helping us with the preparation of the content and the preparation of the brochures and ad materials. Special thanks to all the other participants in the project for their help in achieving this level of the technology.

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NEC provides 3.1'' 3D TFT LCD Module for Mobile3DTV terminal prototype

NEC LCD Technologies announced that it will provide samples of its 3.1-inch-diagonal 3D polysilicon thin-film-transistor (TFT) liquid crystal display (LCD) module for the MOBILE3DTV terminal prototype. The MOBILE3DTV prototype will be on public display at the Mobile World Congress 2009 (MWC2009), the world’s largest mobile technologies-related event, in Barcelona February 16– 19.

MOBILE3DTV is one of the projects funded by the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007–2013) in the context of its Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) Cooperation theme. The three-year project began in January 2008 and aims to demonstrate the feasibility of mobile 3D TV broadcasting.

The MOBILE3DTV terminal prototype is being developed by a project consortium partner, MM Solutions AD, and shall be displayed at the Texas Instruments booth (Hall 8, Booth 8A 84), which provides the prototype’s CPU.

A sample of the 3.1-inch diagonal LCD module with wide quarter video graphics array (WQVGA) resolution and excellent 3D picture image for bare-eyes viewing will also be displayed in cooperation with NEC Electronics in the NEC booth (Hall 8, Booth 8A 125).

The MOBILE3DTV terminal prototype is being featured at MWC2009 to demonstrate real-time decoding and displaying of 3D video content. The 3D LCD module has been adopted because of its wide viewing areas and high-performance display which features high-resolution 3D images based on NEC LCD Technologies’ unique horizontal double-density pixel (HDDP) system.

Looking forward, NEC LCD Technologies will continue to promote research and development in pursuit of practical uses and mass production of 3D LCDs.
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www.mobile3dtv.eu updated

The website www.mobile3dtv.eu has been updated recently. On the website you can find interesting news about the project research, conference papers, technical reports, and software about mobile 3D television and video.
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Standards related with coding of Mobile 3DTV content

Standardization of digital audio and video is investigated by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), a working group of ISO/IES and the corresponding standards are issued with ISO/IES designations [1].

MPEG-C, Part 3
The purpose of ISO/IEC 23002-3 Auxiliary Video Data Representations (MPEG-C part 3) is to support all those applications where additional data needs to be efficiently attached to the individual pixels of a regular video. In ISO/IEC 23002-3 it is described how this can be achieved in a generic way by making use of existing (and even future) video codecs available within MPEG. ISO/IEC 23002-3 consists of an array of N-bit values which are associated with the individual pixels of a regular video stream. These data can be compressed like conventional luminance signals using already existing (and even future) MPEG video codecs. The format allows for optional subsampling of the auxiliary data in both the spatial and temporal domain. This can be beneficial depending on the particular application and its requirements and allowing for very low bitrates for the auxiliary data.

The specification is very flexible in the sense that it defines a new 8-bit code word aux_video_type that specifies the type of the associated data, e.g., currently a value of 0x10 signals a depth map, a value of 0x11 signals a parallax map. New values for additional data representations can be easily added to fulfill future demands. The specification is directly applicable to 3D video as it allows specifying such video in the format of single view + associated depth, where the single channel video is augmented by the per-pixel depth attached as auxiliary data. As such, it is susceptible to efficient compression. Rendering of virtual view (at least one in case of stereo) is required at the receiver side. The specification has been standardized since 2007 [2], [3], [4].

MVC
3D video (3DV) and free viewpoint video (FVV) are new types of visual media that expand the user’s experience beyond what is offered by 2D video. 3DV offers a 3D depth impression of the observed scenery, while FVV allows for an interactive selection of viewpoint and direction within a certain operating range. A common element of 3DV and FVV systems is the use of multiple views of the same scene that are transmitted to the user. Multiview Video Coding (MVC, ISO/IEC 14496-10:2008 Amendment 1) is an extension of the Advanced Video Coding (AVC) standard that provides efficient coding of such multiview video. The overall structure of MVC defines the following interfaces: The encoder receives N temporally synchronized video streams and generates one bitstream. The decoder receives the bitstream, decodes and outputs the N video signals. The video representation format is based on N views. For the case of stereo-video, that is two separate views coded together. A promising extension is to study view subsampling, i.e. one full resolution view + one subsampled view. The idea behind this approach is that the human visual system is capable to retrieve the stereo with the quality of the better channel. MVC is standard since 2008 (version 1) [5], [6].

3D Video Coding
3D Video Coding (3DVC) is a standard that targets serving a variety of 3D displays. Such displays here in focus present N views (e.g. N = 9) simultaneously to the user, so-called multi-vied displays. For efficiency reasons only a lower number K of views (K = 1,..,3) shall be transmitted. For those K views additional depth data shall be provided. At the receiver side the N views to be displayed are generated from the K transmitted views with depth by depth image based rendering (DIBR). This application scenario imposes specific constraints such as narrow angle acquisition (<>K out of N views, augmented with K depth sequences. This representation related to stereo-video generalizes the possibilities of MPEG-C, Part 3 and MVC, i.e. the two separate views can be coded together or can be reduced to single view + depth with the second view to be synthesized at the receiver. 3DVC is an ongoing MPEG activity, and a standard is expected in 2011 [7], [8], [9].

References:

1. Moving Pictures Experts Group, http://www.chiariglione.org/mpeg/
   
2. ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11, “Text of ISO/IEC FDIS 23002-3 Representation of Auxiliary Video and Supplemental Information”, Doc. N8768, Marrakech, Morocco, January 2007.
   
3. ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11, “Text of ISO/IEC 13818-1:2003/FDAM2 Carriage of Auxiliary Data”, Doc. N8799, Marrakech, Morocco, January 2007.
   
4. ITU T and ISO/IEC JTC 1, “Advanced video coding for generic audiovisual services”, ITU-T Rec. H.264 and ISO/IEC 14496-10 AVC, 2003, most recent Version: 2005.
   
5. ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11, “Text of ISO/IEC 14496-10:200X/FDAM 1 Multiview Video Coding”, Doc. N9978, Hannover, Germany, July 2008.
   
6. ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11, “Joint Multiview Video Model (JMVM) 8”, Doc. N9762, Archamps, France, May 2008.
   
7. ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11 “Overview of 3D Video Coding”, Doc. N9784, Archamps, France, May 2008.
   
8. ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11 “Description of Exploration Experiments in 3D Video Coding”, Doc. N9783, Archamps, France, May 2008.
   
9. ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11 “Applications and Requirements of FTV”, Doc. N9466, Shenzhen, China, Oct. 2007.

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Interesting talk: "Our cell phones, ourselves"

What does your cell phone mean for you? Here is an interesting talk of Jan Chipchase who works as researcher at Nokia about the way we interact with our mobile phones.

See Jan Chipchase on TED.

Enjoy this interesting talk about Jan's research and his results and learn about you and your mobile phone. And feel free to leave a comment...
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Technical Report: Adaptation and optimization of coding algorithms for mobile 3DTV

Adaptation and optimization of coding algorithms for mobile 3DTV
Philipp Merkle, Heribert Brust, Kristina Dix, Yongzhe Wang, Aljoscha Smolic, Technical report, November 2008

We achieved up to 35% bitrate savings from inter-view prediction compared to stereo simulcast. Inter-view prediction whether as H.264 SEI or MVC does not add substantial complexity. A representation as video plus depth is an interesting alternative for 3D video. It allows to adjust the stereo rendering at the decoder and to optimally adapt the 3D impression for any given display. However, this extended functionality comes at the cost of an increased complexity. MPEG-C Part 3 is suitable for encoding of video plus depth data. Good depth quality is essential for good overall quality.

The publication is available on www.mobile3dtv.eu.
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Conference Paper: Mobile 3DTV System: Quality and User Perspective

Mobile 3DTV System: Quality and User Perspective
A. Gotchev, S. Jumisko-Pyykkö, A. Boev, D. Strohmeier, "Mobile 3DTV System: Quality and User Perspective", European Workshop of Media Delivery (EUMOB’08), Oulu, Finland, July 2008.

While mobile 3DTV system components such as stereo video compression techniques, transmission channels and auto-stereoscopic displays are available and with good level of maturity, their joint work crucially depend on the quality and user acceptance. We address these two key factors by rigorously investigating all possible artifacts appearing at all processing stages and influencing different layers of the human 3D vision, and by applying a novel user-centered design to the critical components of the system.

The publication is available on www.mobile3dtv.eu.
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Conference Paper: Designing for User Experience: What to Expect from Mobile 3D TV and Video?

Designing for User Experience: What to Expect from Mobile 3D TV and Video?
S. Jumisko-Pyykkö, M. Weitzel, D. Strohmeier: "Designing for User Experience: What to Expect from Mobile 3D TV and Video?", uxTV Con 2008, Silicon Valley, USA, October 2008.

A long path has been taken in the side of technology to develop 3D video for consumer products, but user studies to underline the actual users’ needs and expectations are disregarded. The object of this study is to examine users’ needs, expectations and requirements for mobile 3D television and video. We conducted three user studies applying a methodological triangulation of the extensive survey, focus groups and probe studies to gather the requirements. The results are presented in the form of the requirement guideline which highlights the aspects of users, desired system and service including the interesting contents and usage contexts. Both academia and industry can benefit from these requirements when designing the further studies and development work in the user experience of 3D television and video.

The publication is available on www.mobile3dtv.eu.
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