A method for decoding a compressed image stream, the image stream having a plurality of frames, each frame consisting of a merged image including pixels from a left image and pixels from a right image. The method involves the steps of receiving each merged image; changing a clock domain from the original input signal to an internal domain; for each merged image, placing at least two adjacent pixels into an input buffer and interpolating an intermediate pixel, for forming a reconstructed left frame and a reconstructed right frame according to provenance of the adjacent pixels; and reconstructing a stereoscopic image stream from the left and right image frames. The invention also teaches a system for decoding a compressed image stream.

Methods and apparatus for stereoscopic image encoding and decoding are described. Left and right eye images are encoded following an entropy reduction operation being applied to one of the eye images when there is a difference between the left and right images of an image pair. Information about regions of negative parallax within the entropy reduced image of an image pair is encoded along with the images. Upon decoding a sharpening filter is applied to the image in an image pair which was subjected to the entropy reduction operation. In addition edge enhancement filtering is performed on the regions of the recovered entropy reduced image which are identified in the encoded image data as regions of negative parallax. Interleaving of left and right eye images at the input of the encoder combined with entropy reduction allows for efficient encoding, storage, and transmission of 3D images.

A wearable apparatus may include an image display; a content receiver; and a processor configured to process image data received through the content receiver to generate an image frame, and control the image display to display the image frame. The processor may be configured to compare a vertical pixel line of a left edge portion of the image frame with a vertical pixel line of a right edge portion of the image frame, and when it is determined that the image frame is a 360-degree Virtual Reality (VR) image, process the 360-degree VR image.

A system is provided for use with a video input signal and a video unit. The video input signal can be one of a two dimensional video signal and a three dimensional video signal. The video unit can display a three dimensional video and a two dimensional video. The system includes a receiver portion, a processing portion, a switching portion and an output portion. The receiver portion can receive the video input signal. The processing portion can output a first signal in a first mode of operation and can output a second signal in a second mode of operation, wherein the first signal is based on the video input signal and the second signal is based on the video input signal. The switching portion can switch the processing portion from the first mode of operation to the second mode of operation. The output portion can provide an output signal to the video unit, wherein the output signal is based on the first signal when the processing portion operates in the first mode of operation and wherein the output signal is based on the second signal when the processing portion operates in the second mode of operation. The first signal includes a two dimensional video signal, whereas the second signal includes a three dimensional video signal.

A depth generation system with adjustable light intensity includes at least one light source, at least one image capturer, a depth map generator, and a controller. Each light source of the at least one light source is used for generating emitted light. Each image capturer of the at least one image capturer is used for capturing an image including at least one reflected light generated by at least one object reflecting the emitted light. The depth map generator is coupled to the each image capturer for generating a corresponding depth map according to the image or the at least one reflected light. The controller is coupled to the depth map generator for determining whether to adjust intensity of the emitted light according to information of the corresponding depth map or intensity of the at least one reflected light.

Methods and apparatus for stereoscopic image encoding and decoding are described. Left and right eye images are encoded following an entropy reduction operation being applied to one of the eye images when there is a difference between the left and right images of an image pair. Information about regions of negative parallax within the entropy reduced image of an image pair is encoded along with the images. Upon decoding a sharpening filter is applied to the image in an image pair which was subjected to the entropy reduction operation. In addition edge enhancement filtering is performed on the regions of the recovered entropy reduced image which are identified in the encoded image data as regions of negative parallax. Interleaving of left and right eye images at the input of the encoder combined with entropy reduction allows for efficient encoding, storage, and transmission of 3D images.

The disclosure provides a method, a processing device, and a computer system for video preview. An exemplary method is applicable to a processing device and includes the following steps. A video file is received and decoded to obtain video frames. Each of the video frames is converted into texture data. Shading computations are performed on the texture data to respectively generate render video outputs for video preview, where each of the shading computations corresponds to a different designated video viewing mode.

A system is provided for use with a video input signal and a video unit. The video input signal can be one of a two dimensional video signal and a three dimensional video signal. The video unit can display a three dimensional video and a two dimensional video. The system includes a receiver portion, a processing portion, a switching portion and an output portion. The receiver portion can receive the video input signal. The processing portion can output a first signal in a first mode of operation and can output a second signal in a second mode of operation, wherein the first signal is based on the video input signal and the second signal is based on the video input signal. The switching portion can switch the processing portion from the first mode of operation to the second mode of operation. The output portion can provide an output signal to the video unit, wherein the output signal is based on the first signal when the processing portion operates in the first mode of operation and wherein the output signal is based on the second signal when the processing portion operates in the second mode of operation. The first signal includes a two dimensional video signal, whereas the second signal includes a three dimensional video signal.

A reconfigurable imaging apparatus, a computer-implemented method, and an imaging system are described. Generally, the apparatus includes platforms. Each platform houses one or more optical sensors. A pivotal connector is connected with at least two platforms and supports a relative movement of such platforms with respect to one another. Hence, the platforms can be arranged and switched between different arrangements based on the pivotal connector, thereby allowing a reconfiguration of the apparatus. In an example, arrangement, the optical sensors are pointed in different directions to cover different fields of views, thereby supporting monoscopic imagery. In another example arrangement, the optical sensors are pointed in substantially a same direction to cover substantially a same field of view, thereby supporting stereoscopic imagery.

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a media processor having a controller to record stereoscopic media content supplied by a multimedia system, receive from a communication device a request for the recorded stereoscopic media content, determine rendering capabilities of the communication device, generate transcoded content by transcoding the recorded stereoscopic media content according to the rendering capabilities of the communication device, and transmit to the communication device the transcoded content. Other embodiments are disclosed and contemplated.