Systems and methods are provided for generating a viewport for display. A user preference for a character and/or a genre of a scene in a spherical media content item is determined, wherein the spherical media content item comprises a plurality of tiles. A tile of the plurality of tiles is identified based on the determined user preference. A viewport to be generated for display at a computing device is predicted, based on the identified tile. A first tile to be transmitted to a computing device at a first resolution is identified, based on the predicted viewport to be generated for display. The tile is transmitted, to the computing device, at the first resolution.

Systems and methods are provided for generating a viewport for display. A user preference for a character and/or a genre of a scene in a spherical media content item is determined, wherein the spherical media content item comprises a plurality of tiles. A tile of the plurality of tiles is identified based on the determined user preference. A viewport to be generated for display at a computing device is predicted, based on the identified tile. A first tile to be transmitted to a computing device at a first resolution is identified, based on the predicted viewport to be generated for display. The tile is transmitted, to the computing device, at the first resolution.

There is provided an encoding apparatus, an encoding method, a decoding apparatus, and a decoding method that make it possible to acquire two-dimensional image data of a viewpoint corresponding to a predetermined display image generation method and depth image data without depending upon the viewpoint upon image pickup. A conversion unit generates, from three-dimensional data of an image pickup object, two-dimensional image data of a plurality of viewpoints corresponding to a predetermined display image generation method and depth image data indicative of a position of each of pixels in a depthwise direction of the image pickup object. An encoding unit encodes the two-dimensional image data and the depth image data generated by the conversion unit. A transmission unit transmits the two-dimensional image data and the depth image data encoded by the encoding unit. The present disclosure can be applied, for example, to an encoding apparatus and so forth.

There is provided an encoding apparatus, an encoding method, a decoding apparatus, and a decoding method that make it possible to acquire two-dimensional image data of a viewpoint corresponding to a predetermined display image generation method and depth image data without depending upon the viewpoint upon image pickup. A conversion unit generates, from three-dimensional data of an image pickup object, two-dimensional image data of a plurality of viewpoints corresponding to a predetermined display image generation method and depth image data indicative of a position of each of pixels in a depthwise direction of the image pickup object. An encoding unit encodes the two-dimensional image data and the depth image data generated by the conversion unit. A transmission unit transmits the two-dimensional image data and the depth image data encoded by the encoding unit. The present disclosure can be applied, for example, to an encoding apparatus and so forth.

A file generation apparatus generates a file which includes material data used for generation of a virtual viewpoint image that is based on a multi-viewpoint image and type information for specifying a type of the material data, and outputs the generated file.

A file generation apparatus generates a file which includes material data used for generation of a virtual viewpoint image that is based on a multi-viewpoint image and type information for specifying a type of the material data, and outputs the generated file.

A method for encoding a volumetric video content representative of a 3D scene is disclosed. The method comprises obtaining a reference viewing box and an intermediate viewing box defined within the 3D scene. For the reference viewing bounding box, the volumetric video reference subcontent is encoded as a central image and peripheral patches for parallax. For the intermediate viewing bounding box, the volumetric video intermediate sub-content is encoded as intermediate central patches which are differences between the intermediate central image and the reference central image.

A method for encoding a volumetric video content representative of a 3D scene is disclosed. The method comprises obtaining a reference viewing box and an intermediate viewing box defined within the 3D scene. For the reference viewing bounding box, the volumetric video reference subcontent is encoded as a central image and peripheral patches for parallax. For the intermediate viewing bounding box, the volumetric video intermediate sub-content is encoded as intermediate central patches which are differences between the intermediate central image and the reference central image.

Provided is an image processing apparatus including: a virtual viewpoint image generating unit that generates a virtual viewpoint image which is a video, based on captured images captured by image capturing apparatuses from different directions; an electronic sign information obtaining unit that obtains information indicating a timing at which a content displayed on an electronic sign changes, the electronic sign being contained in the virtual viewpoint image and configured to change the content to be displayed on a time basis; and a control unit that performs control to cause a display unit to display the virtual viewpoint image having a virtual content inserted, the virtual content being a content that is virtual and not contained in the captured images. Based on the information, the control unit controls how the virtual content is displayed on the virtual viewpoint image.

Provided is an image processing apparatus including: a virtual viewpoint image generating unit that generates a virtual viewpoint image which is a video, based on captured images captured by image capturing apparatuses from different directions; an electronic sign information obtaining unit that obtains information indicating a timing at which a content displayed on an electronic sign changes, the electronic sign being contained in the virtual viewpoint image and configured to change the content to be displayed on a time basis; and a control unit that performs control to cause a display unit to display the virtual viewpoint image having a virtual content inserted, the virtual content being a content that is virtual and not contained in the captured images. Based on the information, the control unit controls how the virtual content is displayed on the virtual viewpoint image.