Section: Application Domains

Compression with advanced functionalities

Compression of images and of 2D video (including High Definition and Ultra High Definition) remains a widely-sought capability for a large number of applications. The continuous increase of access network bandwidth leads to increasing numbers of networked digital content users and consumers which in turn triggers needs for higher core bandwidth and higher compression efficiencies. This is particularly true for mobile applications, as the need for wireless transmission capacity will significantly increase during the years to come. Hence, efficient compression tools are required to satisfy the trend towards mobile access to larger image resolutions and higher quality. A new impulse to research in video compression is also brought by the emergence of new formats beyond High Definition TV (HDTV) towards high dynamic range (higher bit depth, extended colorimetric space), super-resolution, formats for immersive displays allowing panoramic viewing and 3DTV.

Different video data formats and technologies are envisaged for interactive and immersive 3D video applications using omni-directional videos, stereoscopic or multi-view videos. The "omni-directional video" set-up refers to 360-degree view from one single viewpoint or spherical video. Stereoscopic video is composed of two-view videos, the right and left images of the scene which, when combined, can recreate the depth aspect of the scene. A multi-view video refers to multiple video sequences captured by multiple video cameras and possibly by depth cameras. Associated with a view synthesis method, a multi-view video allows the generation of virtual views of the scene from any viewpoint. This property can be used in a large diversity of applications, including Three-Dimensional TV (3DTV), and Free Viewpoint Video (FTV). The notion of "free viewpoint video" refers to the possibility for the user to choose an arbitrary viewpoint and/or view direction within a visual scene, creating an immersive environment. Multi-view video generates a huge amount of redundant data which need to be compressed for storage and transmission. In parallel, the advent of a variety of heterogeneous delivery infrastructures has given momentum to extensive work on optimizing the end-to-end delivery QoS (Quality of Service). This encompasses compression capability but also capability for adapting the compressed streams to varying network conditions. The scalability of the video content compressed representation, its robustness to transmission impairments, are thus important features for seamless adaptation to varying network conditions and to terminal capabilities.

In medical imaging, the large increase of medical analysis using various image sources for clinical purposes and the necessity to transmit or store these image data with improved performances related to transmission delay or storage capacities, command to develop new coding algorithms with lossless compression algorithms or almost lossless compression characteristics with respect to the medical diagnosis.