[3D Roundabout – By Alan Chalmers, University of Warwick]

….3D-HDR, also known as Stereoscopic High Dynamic Range (SHDR), has the potential of bringing the diverse HDR and 3D technologies together, exploiting the advantages of both. This novel imaging method with an unprecedented level of realism has the potential to deliver both improved depth perception and a realistic representation of the scene lighting. There is even an added advantage of 3D-HDR when using glasses to deliver the 3D content: HDR images are much brighter than LDR images, so that the loss of contrast from the glasses is less noticeable.

Challenges

The major challenge with HDR video is the huge amount of data that is generated. By using 32 bits to represent each colour channel, a single uncompressed HDR frame at HD resolution requires 24MB. Capturing at 30 frames per second generates approximately 42GB for a minute of footage. This is equivalent to a CD worth of data a second. 3D-HDR only makes the problem worse. The key to HDR (and thus 3D-HDR) being successful is compression. At goHDR, we have developed a novel compression algorithm, based on in-depth knowledge of HDR, that is able to achieve at least 150:1 compression ratios with a <2% perceptual loss compared to the real scene. This enables all lighting information to be fully preserved and passed from capture to display on existing ICT (Information and Communication Technology) infrastructure.

Applications

3D-HDR video enables previously unattainable situations to be faithfully recorded and displayed. In addition to the obvious benefits to the film and television industries, such as the ability to clearly see the soccer ball as it is kicked from the sunshine into the shadow of the stadium, or the advertising board which is in the shadow in a tennis match etc., there are a number of niche applications as well. These include the filming of surgical operations, with its range of lighting, from the dark deep body cavities to the reflections of the bright operating theatre lights on the metal medical instruments, and security applications, especially in extreme lighting conditions. …

See the full story here: http://3droundabout.com/2012/05/7094/technology-improving-depth-perception-with-3d-hdr.html