Real-Time 2D-to-3D Conversion for 3DTV using Time-Coherent Depth-Map Generation Method

Depth-image-based rendering is generally used in real-time 2D-to-3D conversion for 3DTV. However, inaccurate depth maps cause flickering issues between image frames in a video sequence, resulting in eye fatigue while viewing 3DTV. To resolve this flickering issue, we propose a new 2D-to-3D conversion scheme based on fast and robust depth-map generation from a 2D video sequence. The proposed depth-map generation algorithm divides an input video sequence into several cuts using a color histogram. The initial depth of each cut is assigned based on a hypothesized depth-gradient model. The initial depth map of the current frame is refined using color and motion information. Thereafter, the depth map of the next frame is updated using the difference image to reduce depth flickering. The experimental results confirm that the proposed scheme performs real-time 2D-to-3D conversions effectively and reduces human eye fatigue.