Perceived Picture Quality of Frame-Compatible 3DTV Video Formats

In the stereoscopic high-definition (HD) frame-compatible formats, the separate left and right views are reduced in resolution and packed to fit within the same video frame as a conventional two-dimensional high-definition signal. Since they do not require additional transmission bandwidth and entail limited changes to the existing broadcasting infrastructure, these formats have been suggested for 3DTV. However, the convenience of frame-compatible formats comes at the expense of lower picture quality of the 3D signal. In this study, we evaluated the loss in picture quality of two frame-compatible formats: 1080i Side-by-Side and 720p Top/Bottom, using a subjective assessment experiment.