Three dimensional television (3DTV) is believed to be the future of television broadcasting that will replace current 2D HDTV technology. In the future, 3DTV will bring a more life-like and visually immersive home entertainment experience, in which users will have the freedom to navigate through the scene to choose a different viewpoint. A desired view can be synthesized at the receiver side using depth image-based rendering (DIBR). While this approach has many advantages, one of the key challenges in DIBR is generating high quality synthesized views. This work presents novel methods to measure and enhance the quality of 3D videos generated through DIBR. For quality measurements we describe a novel method to characterize and measure distortions by multiple cameras used to capture stereoscopic images. In addition, we present an objective quality measure for DIBR-based 3D videos by evaluating the elements of visual discomfort in stereoscopic 3D videos. We also introduce a new concept called the ideal depth estimate, and define the tools to estimate that depth. Full-reference and no-reference profiles for calculating the proposed measures are also presented. Moreover, we introduce two innovative approaches to improve the quality of the synthesized views generated by DIBR. The first approach is based on hierarchical blending of the background and foreground information around the disocclusion areas which produces a natural looking, synthesized view with seamless hole-filling. This approach yields virtual images that are free of any geometric distortions, unlike other algorithms that preprocess the depth map. In contrast to the other hole-filling approaches, our approach is not sensitive to depth maps with high percentage of bad pixels from stereo matching. The second approach further enhances the results through a depth-adaptive preprocessing of the colored images. Finally, we propose an enhancement over depth estimation algorithm using the depth monocular cues from luminance and chrominance. The estimated depth will be evaluated using our quality measure, and the hole-filling algorithm will be used to generate synthesized views. This application will demonstrate how our quality measures and enhancement algorithms could help in the development of high quality stereoscopic depth-based synthesized videos.

In this thesis the main objectives were to improve the liquid crystal shutters and to develop a stereoscopic vision application called 3D Dual View. The vision quality of a 3D system based on active glasses is direct related to the performance of the liquid crystal shutters. There are a lot of parameters that plays an important role in the quality of 3D glasses. Thus, efforts were concentrated in the organization of the liquid crystal molecules between the substrates and in the liquid crystal itself. We studied different configurations of shutters using nematic liquid crystal and ferroelectric liquid crystal (smectic), with and without polymer. Furthermore, the ferroelectric samples were analyzed using a full optical snapshot matrix Mueller polarimenter made by UBO (Université de Bretagne Occidentale) in partnership with Télécom-Bretagne. The second part was the development of 3D Dual View System. It is a stereoscopic vision system based on a mixture of active and passive 3D solution which displays a 3D image that can be viewed simultaneously by two spectators, but from different perspectives. To allow two different points-of-view of a scene or object in three dimensions, the system has to multiplex four images, one pair to form the 3D image for one viewer in one perspective and the other pair for the second viewer in other perspective. We describe different techniques to multiplex and demultiplex the video streams taking into account the physiological aspects, market, image quality and the crosstalk. The crosstalk between the images leads to an effect called ghosting, which the viewer sees a low intensity image that belongs to the other viewer. Then, we also characterized the ghosting effect (crosstalk) and proposed an algorithm of ghostbusting to compensate it.

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Des optiques à longue focale ont été souvent utilisées dans le cinéma 2D et la télévision, soit dans le but de se rapprocher de la scène, soit dans le but de produire un effet esthétique grâce à la déformation de la perspective. Toutefois, dans le cinéma ou la télévision 3D, l'utilisation de longues focales crée le plus souvent un "effet carton” ou de la divergence oculaire.Pour résoudre ce problème, les méthodes de l'état de l'art utilisent des techniques de transformation de la disparité, qui sont une généralisation de l'interpolation de points de vue.Elles génèrent de nouvelles paires stéréoscopiques à partir des deux séquences d'images originales. Nous proposons d'utiliser plus de deux caméras pour résoudre les problèmes non résolus par les méthodes de transformation de la disparité.Dans la première partie de la thèse, nous passons en revue les causes de la fatigue visuelle et de l'inconfort visuel lors de la visualisation d'un film stéréoscopique. Nous modélisons alors la perception de la profondeur de la vision stéréoscopique d'une scène filmée en 3D avec deux caméras, et projetée dans une salle de cinéma ou sur un téléviseur 3D. Nous caractérisons mathématiquement cette distorsion 3D, et formulons les contraintes mathématiques associées aux causes de la fatigue visuelle et de l'inconfort. Nous illustrons ces distorsions 3D avec un nouveau logiciel interactif, la “salle de projection virtuelle".Afin de générer les images stéréoscopiques souhaitées, nous proposons d'utiliser le rendu basé image. Ces techniques comportent généralement deux étapes. Tout d'abord, les images d'entrée sont transformées vers la vue cible, puis les images transformées sont mélangées. Les transformations sont généralement calculés à l'aide d'une géométrie intermédiaire (implicite ou explicite). Le mélange d'images a été largement étudié dans la littérature et quelques heuristiques permettent d'obtenir de très bonnes performances.Cependant, la combinaison des heuristiques proposées n'est pas simple et nécessite du réglage manuel de nombreux paramètres.Dans cette thèse, nous proposons une nouvelle approche bayésienne au problème de synthèse de nouveaux points de vue, basé sur un modèle génératif.Le modèle génératif proposé tient compte de l'incertitude sur la transformation d'image. Le formalisme bayésien nous permet de déduire l'énergie du modèle génératif et de calculer les images désirées correspondant au maximum a posteriori. La méthode dépasse en termes de qualité les techniques de l'état de l'art du rendu basé image sur des jeux de données complexes. D'autre part, les équations de l'énergie fournissent une formalisation des heuristiques largement utilisés dans les techniques de rendu basé image.Le modèle génératif proposé aborde également le problème de la super-résolution, permettant de rendre des images à une résolution plus élevée que les images de départ.Dans la dernière partie de cette thèse, nous appliquons la nouvelle technique de rendu au cas du zoom stéréoscopique et nous montrons ses performances. / Optics with long focal length have been extensively used for shooting 2D cinema and television, either to virtually get closer to the scene or to produce an aesthetical effect through the deformation of the perspective. However, in 3D cinema or television, the use of long focal length either creates a “cardboard effect” or causes visual divergence. To overcome this problem, state-of-the-art methods use disparity mapping techniques, which is a generalization of view interpolation, and generate new stereoscopic pairs from the two image sequences. We propose to use more than two cameras to solve for the remaining issues in disparity mapping methods.In the first part of the thesis, we review the causes of visual fatigue and visual discomfort when viewing a stereoscopic film. We then model the depth perception from stereopsis of a 3D scene shot with two cameras, and projected in a movie theater or on a 3DTV. We mathematically characterize this 3D distortion, and derive the mathematical constraints associated with the causes of visual fatigue and discomfort. We illustrate these 3D distortions with a new interactive software, “The Virtual Projection Room”.In order to generate the desired stereoscopic images, we propose to use image-based rendering. Those techniques usually proceed in two stages. First, the input images are warped into the target view, and then the warped images are blended together. The warps are usually computed with the help of a geometric proxy (either implicit or explicit). Image blending has been extensively addressed in the literature and a few heuristics have proven to achieve very good performance. Yet the combination of the heuristics is not straightforward, and requires manual adjustment of many parameters.In this thesis, we propose a new Bayesian approach to the problem of novel view synthesis, based on a generative model taking into account the uncertainty of the image warps in the image formation model. The Bayesian formalism allows us to deduce the energy of the generative model and to compute the desired images as the Maximum a Posteriori estimate. The method outperforms state-of-the-art image-based rendering techniques on challenging datasets. Moreover, the energy equations provide a formalization of the heuristics widely used in image-based rendering techniques. Besides, the proposed generative model also addresses the problem of super-resolution, allowing to render images at a higher resolution than the initial ones.In the last part of this thesis, we apply the new rendering technique to the case of the stereoscopic zoom and show its performance.

3D television using multiple views rendering is receiving increasing interest. In this technology a number of video sequences are transmitted simultaneously and provides a larger view of the scene or stereoscopic viewing experience. With two views stereoscopic rendition is possible. Nowadays 3D displays are available that are capable of displaying several views simultaneously and the user is able to see different views by moving his head. The thesis work aims at implementing a demonstration system with a number of simultaneous views. The system will include two cameras, computers at both the transmitting and receiving end and a multi-view display. Besides setting up the hardware, the main task is to implement software so that the transmission can be done over an IP-network. This thesis report includes an overview and experiences of similar published systems, the implementation of real time video, its compression, encoding, and transmission over the internet with the help of socket programming and finally the multi-view display in 3D format.  This report also describes the design considerations more precisely regarding the video coding and network protocols.

This research presents a novel framework for automatic chroma keying and the optimizations for real-time and stereoscopic 3D processing. It first simulates the process of human perception on isolating foreground elements in a given scene by perceptual analysis, and then predicts foreground colours and alpha map based on the analysis results and the restored clean background plate rather than direct sampling. Besides, an object level depth map is generated through stereo matching on a carefully determined feature map. In addition, three prototypes on different platforms have been implemented according to their hardware capability based on the proposed framework. To achieve real-time performance, the entire procedures are optimized for parallel processing and data paths on the GPU, as well as heterogeneous computing between GPU and CPU. The qualitative comparisons between results generated by the proposed algorithm and other existing algorithms show that the proposed one is able to generate more acceptable alpha maps and foreground colours especially in those regions that contain translucencies and details. And the quantitative evaluations also validate our advantages in both quality and speed.

This thesis deals with turbulent flows in 90 degree curved pipes of circular cross-section. The flow cases investigated experimentally are turbulent flow with and without an additional motion, swirling or pulsating, superposed on the primary flow. The aim is to investigate these complex flows in detail both in terms of statistical quantities as well as vortical structures that are apparent when curvature is present. Such a flow field can contain strong secondary flow in a plane normal to the main flow direction as well as reverse flow. The motivation of the study has mainly been the presence of highly pulsating turbulent flow through complex geometries, including sharp bends, in the gas exchange system of Internal Combustion Engines (ICE). On the other hand, the industrial relevance and importance of the other type of flows were not underestimated. The geometry used was curved pipes of different curvature ratios, mounted at the exit of straight pipe sections which constituted the inflow conditions. Two experimental set ups have been used. In the first one, fully developed turbulent flow with a well defined inflow condition was fed into the pipe bend. A swirling motion could be applied in order to study the interaction between the swirl and the secondary flow induced by the bend itself. In the second set up a highly pulsating flow (up to 40 Hz) was achieved by rotating a valve located at a short distance upstream from the measurement site. In this case engine-like conditions were examined, where the turbulent flow into the bend is non-developed and the pipe bend is sharp. In addition to flow measurements, the effect of non-ideal flow conditions on the performance of a turbocharger was investigated. Three different experimental techniques were employed to study the flow field. Time-resolved stereoscopic particle image velocimetry was used in order to visualize but also quantify the secondary motions at different downstream stations from the pipe bend while combined hot-/cold-wire anemometry was used for statistical analysis. Laser Doppler velocimetry was mainly employed for validation of the aforementioned experimental methods. The three-dimensional flow field depicting varying vortical patterns has been captured under turbulent steady, swirling and pulsating flow conditions, for parameter values for which experimental evidence has been missing in literature. / QC 20120425

I den här rapporten undersöks stereoskopisk 3D. Vi utreder hur ett spel ska anpassas för att tafram en så bra och tydlig stereoskopisk 3D-effekt som möjligt och så att betraktaren upplever etttydligt djup utan att uppleva ett obehag på grund av effekten. Rapporten tittar djupare på vilkatekniska aspekter man behöver ta hänsyn till vid spelutveckling i stereoskopisk 3D. Samt vilkaprestandabegränsningar som man bör ta hänsyn till vid stereoskopisk 3D. Vi beskriver hurprocessen och framtagandet av prototypen Kodo med anaglyfisk stereoskopisk 3D såg ut.Prototypen togs fram för att testa och analysera resultatet av stereoskopisk 3D-effekten. / In this report we investigate the technique of stereoscopic 3D. This report investigates the stepsneeded to create a game adapted for an improved stereoscopic 3D effect. Furthermore weinvestigate what improvements one should make to avoid the beholder to experience anydiscomfort due to the effect. The report talks about technical aspects one needs to considerwhen using stereoscopic 3D, as well as performance issues we might need to take intoconsideration. The process of developing the prototype of the game Kodo using anaglyphstereoscopic 3D and OpenGL is described in this report. The prototype was then used for testingand analyzing the stereoscopic 3D effects.

Les recommandations (normes) élaborées par l'UIT (l'Union Internationale de Télécommunications) précisent avec rigueur les conditions dans lesquelles les tests subjectifs de qualité visuelle doivent avoir lieu: la salle de test, les conditions de visualisation, le protocole d'évaluation, les méthodes de post-traitement des scores accordées par les évaluateurs, etc... Pourtant, les études de l'état de l'art mettent en évidence que des nombreuses inadvertances perdurent au niveau théorique et expérimental: (1) la modélisation statistique précise des scores attribués par les observateurs humains à un certain type de contenu reste encore inconnue, (2) la différence théorique et applicative entre les évaluations sur des échelles discrètes et continues ne fait pas encore l'objet d'une étude dédiée et (3) l'impact sémantique (psycho-cognitif) des étiquettes associées à l'échelle d'évaluation est toujours invoqué mais jamais évalué. Notre thèse offre un cadre méthodologique et expérimental permettant de: 1. Modéliser avec précision statistique la distribution des scores attribués par les observateurs et évaluer l'impact pratique d'une telle modélisation, 2. Établir la relation théorique entre les scores attribués par les observateurs sur une échelle continue et une échelle discrète, 3. Établir le cadre statistique permettant de quantifier l'impact sémantique induit par les étiquettes sémantiques associées à l'échelle d'évaluation, 4. Spécifier et réaliser un cadre expérimental de référence, à vocation d'utilisation ultérieure par les instances de l'UIT / Quality evaluation is an ever-fascinating field, covering at least a century of research works emerging from psychology, psychophysics, sociology, marketing, medicine… While for visual quality evaluation the IUT recommendations pave the way towards well-configured, consensual evaluation conditions granting reproducibility and comparability of the experimental results, an in-depth analysis of the state-of-the-art studies shows at least three open challenges related to the: (1) the continuous vs. discrete evaluation scales, (2) the statistical distribution of the scores assigned by the observers and (3) the usage of semantic labels on the grading scales. Thus, the present thesis turns these challenges into three research objectives: 1. bridging at the theoretical level the continuous and the discrete scale evaluation procedures and investigating whether the number of the classes on the discrete scales is a criterion meaningful in the results interpretations or just a parameter; studying the theoretical influence of the statistical model of evolution results and of the size of the panel (number of observers) in the accuracy of the results are also targeted; 2. quantifying the bias induced in subjective video quality experiments by the semantic labels (e.g. Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor and Bad) generally associated to the discrete grading scales; 3. designing and deploying an experimental test-bed able to support their precision and statistical relevance. With respect to these objectives, the main contributions are at theoretical, methodological and experimental levels

La multiplication des contenus stéréoscopique augmente les risques de piratage numérique. La solution technologique par tatouage relève ce défi. En pratique, le défi d’une approche de tatouage est d'atteindre l’équilibre fonctionnel entre la transparence, la robustesse, la quantité d’information insérée et le coût de calcul. Tandis que la capture et l'affichage du contenu 3D ne sont fondées que sur les deux vues gauche/droite, des représentations alternatives, comme les cartes de disparité devrait également être envisagée lors de la transmission/stockage. Une étude spécifique sur le domaine d’insertion optimale devient alors nécessaire. Cette thèse aborde les défis mentionnés ci-dessus. Tout d'abord, une nouvelle carte de disparité (3D video-New Three Step Search- 3DV-SNSL) est développée. Les performances des 3DV-NTSS ont été évaluées en termes de qualité visuelle de l'image reconstruite et coût de calcul. En comparaison avec l'état de l'art (NTSS et FS-MPEG) des gains moyens de 2dB en PSNR et 0,1 en SSIM sont obtenus. Le coût de calcul est réduit par un facteur moyen entre 1,3 et 13. Deuxièmement, une étude comparative sur les principales classes héritées des méthodes de tatouage 2D et de leurs domaines d'insertion optimales connexes est effectuée. Quatre méthodes d'insertion appartenant aux familles SS, SI et hybride (Fast-IProtect) sont considérées. Les expériences ont mis en évidence que Fast-IProtect effectué dans la nouvelle carte de disparité (3DV-NTSS) serait suffisamment générique afin de servir une grande variété d'applications. La pertinence statistique des résultats est donnée par les limites de confiance de 95% et leurs erreurs relatives inférieurs er <0.1 / The explosion in stereoscopic video distribution increases the concerns over its copyright protection. Watermarking can be considered as the most flexible property right protection technology. The watermarking applicative issue is to reach the trade-off between the properties of transparency, robustness, data payload and computational cost. While the capturing and displaying of the 3D content are solely based on the two left/right views, some alternative representations, like the disparity maps should also be considered during transmission/storage. A specific study on the optimal (with respect to the above-mentioned properties) insertion domain is also required. The present thesis tackles the above-mentioned challenges. First, a new disparity map (3D video-New Three Step Search - 3DV-NTSS) is designed. The performances of the 3DV-NTSS were evaluated in terms of visual quality of the reconstructed image and computational cost. When compared with state of the art methods (NTSS and FS-MPEG) average gains of 2dB in PSNR and 0.1 in SSIM are obtained. The computational cost is reduced by average factors between 1.3 and 13. Second, a comparative study on the main classes of 2D inherited watermarking methods and on their related optimal insertion domains is carried out. Four insertion methods are considered; they belong to the SS, SI and hybrid (Fast-IProtect) families. The experiments brought to light that the Fast-IProtect performed in the new disparity map domain (3DV-NTSS) would be generic enough so as to serve a large variety of applications. The statistical relevance of the results is given by the 95% confidence limits and their underlying relative errors lower than er<0.1