Improved disparity estimation algorithm with MPEG-2's scalability for stereoscopic sequences

The disparity vectors are used for the reconstruction of the right image sequence from the left one (vice versa) in a 3DTV transmission system. An improved matching algorithm for disparity compensated stereoscopic video coding is presented in this paper. The algorithm requires transmitting the same amount of disparity data as the conventional block matching algorithm (BMA) while achieving much higher prediction accuracy by a refinement scheme that captures the fine disparity variation between left and right image sequences.