Fast view prediction for stereo images based on Delaunay triangular mesh model

The view prediction is an important step in stereco /rnultiview video coding, wherein, disparity estimation (DE) is a key and difficult operation. DE algorithms usually require enormous computing power. A fast DE algorithm based on Delaunay triangulation (DT) is proposed. First, a flexible and content adaptive DT mesh is established on a target frame by an iterative split-merge algorithm. Second, DE on DT nodes are performed in a three-stage algorithm, which gives the majority of nodes a good estimate of the disparity vectors (DV), by removing unreliable nodes due to occlusion, and forcing the minority of 'problematic nodes' to be searched again, within their umbrella-shaped polygon, to the best. Finally, the target view is predicted by using affine transformation. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can give a satisfactory DE with less computational cost.