A depth map rate control algorithm for HEVC Multi-View Video plus Depth

In this paper, we present a depth map rate control algorithm for the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) Multi-View Video plus Depth (MVD) representation. The proposed algorithm is based on a bit allocation refinement technique for key frames together with a depth-map inspired R-λ model coupled with an adaptive clipping algorithm designed to exploit the depth map characteristics. This results in improved video quality of the synthesized views while maintaining depth map rate control accuracy. This scheme was tested using various standard test sequences and has shown efficacy with an average improvement of the synthesized view Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) and Bjøntegaard Delta PSNR (BD-PSNR) of 1.15% and 0.45dB respectively, whilst achieving a bit rate error reduction of 0.2% when compared to the reference rate control algorithm implemented in MV-HEVC.