The present invention relates to a device and method for handling stereo images, comprising the processes of: acquiring a first image and a second image through a first camera module and a second camera module provided a fixed distance apart; alternately sampling the first image and second image at predetermined time intervals when photographing the stereo image; and encoding at least one first image and at least one second image resulting from the sampling, which gives the advantage that stereo images can be compressed with less complexity than when stereo images are compressed using two-dimensional image compression techniques.
