APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ENCODING A STEREOSCOPIC 3D IMAGE

摘要

An apparatus and a method for compressing a 3D(Three Dimensional) stereoscopic image are provided to increase compression efficiency by using a characteristic that similarity of left and right images is high in the stereoscopic image, thereby minimizing an operation amount and reducing even a transmission amount during transmission of compression data. Two image input units are mounted as being spaced from each other at a predetermined interval, and output first and second images corresponding to left and right images of one subject. A difference estimating unit searches an overlapped image with smallest disparity by comparing search areas where boundary portions between the first and second images are zoomed in. After that, the difference estimating unit obtains and stores a location difference between the overlapped image and the second image, and performs location arrangement of the overlapped image to obtain a residual image between the overlapped image and the first image. An encoder encodes the residual image and the location difference, from the difference estimating unit, together with the first image inputted from the image input unit.