This paper explores the transmission of MPEG-2 compressed stereoscopic (3-D) video over broadband networks and digital television (DTV) broadcast channels. A system has been developed to perform 3-D (stereoscopic) MPEG-2 video encoding, transmission and decoding over broadband networks in real- time. Such a system can benefit applications where a depiction of the relative positions of objects in 3-dimensional space is critical, by providing visual cues along the sight axis. Applications such as tele-medicine, remote surveillance, tele- education, entertainment and others could benefit from such a system since it conveys an added viewing experience. For simplicity and cost efficiency the system is kept as simple as possible while offering a certain degree of control over the encoding and decoding platforms. Data exchange is done with TCP/IP for control between the server and client and with UDP/IP for the MPEG-2 transport streams delivered to the client. Parameters such as encoding rate can be set independently for the left and right viewing channels to satisfy network bandwidth restrictions, while maintaining satisfactory quality. Using this system, transmission of stereoscopic MPEG-2 transport streams (video and audio) has been performed over a 155 Mbps ATM network shared with other video transactions between server and clients. Preliminary results have shown that the system is reasonably robust to network impairments making it useable in relatively loaded networks. An innovative technique for broadcasting Standard Definition Television 3-D video using an ATSC compatible encoding and broadcasting system is also presented. This technique requires a simple video multiplexer before the ATSC encoding process, and a slight modification at the receiver after the ATSC decoding.

Date Published: 22 June 2001
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 4297, Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems VIII, (22 June 2001); doi: 10.1117/12.430827

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4297:
Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems VIII
Mark T. Bolas; Andrew J. Woods; Mark T. Bolas; John O. Merritt; Stephen A. Benton, Editor(s)