3D format

3D Tile Format for Broadcasters

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Introduction
Frame packing is the key technology that is being adopted in the first generation of 3DTV broadcasting services. Squeezing the Left and Right images in a single High Definition frame allows the service provider to reuse part of the existing production infrastructure and the whole of the existing distribution infrastructure. In most cases, the set top boxes already deployed at the user’s premises for HD services can also be reused. A new frame packing arrangement, called Tile Format, has been proposed. This new frame packing format is designed to overcome the disadvantages of the known formats, providing a satisfactory quality for both 3D and 2D decoding and display: in the first case, the Tile Format is displayed as a couple of 720p videos, providing the Right and Left views, in the second case, it is possible to let a 2D decoder selectively display only the area of the decoded frame containing the Left view. In this document the technical details for implementing a production chain for a Tile Format service are provided, outlining the format specifications and the technical implications of the setup.

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Technical description of the Tile Format
The Tile Format is a frame compatible solution that allows the composition of two videos of a stereoscopic pair, images for Left and Right eye, (L and R hereinafter) in a container video. The two videos representing the right and left views have width of x pixels and height of y pixels, the only limitation being that x and y shall be even. The frame composition is illustrated in the following picture (Figure 1), where the image L, representing the left view, is unchanged and the image R, representing the right view, is divided in two vertically. The right section of the image is further divided in two horizontal slices.

Figure 1 - Frame compatible Tile Format

The resulting image will have the following horizontal and vertical sizes (as expressed in terms of