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Research: Artifact Analysis

An important factor in analyzing the quality of 3D images is what kind of errors are introduced into the data as a result of processing or compression. We study artifacts in stereo images, the stereo counterparts to 2D artifacts, and how these degradations can be mitigated.

Shine Artifact

When a stereo image pair is compressed using a block-based technique such as JPEG or H.264, corresponding blocks, particularly in uniform regions, may get quantized differently in each image. For instance, a block in the left view may be quantized to a lower value whereas its corresponding block in the right view may be assigned to a higher quantization level. This mismatch causes a disturbing, extremely salient effect when viewed in 3D. This "shine" artifact, so called because of the lustrous, glinting quality of the offending block, can be explained by a phenomenon know as binocular luster. When an object is darker than the background in one view but lighter than the background in the other view, the object appears shiny when fused by both eyes. This contrast polarity difference between the two views causes the binocular luster effect, which explains the shine artifact in compressed stereo imagery.

Processing

Based on the contrast polarity model for binocular luster, we can detect blocks that exhibit the shine artifact in compressed stereo images. Correcting these blocks is a matter of adjusting their luminance until there is no difference in contrast polarity between the two views. To view detection and processing results, please visit this link.

Code

All of our code can be downloaded here. Feel free to use/modify our code, but please cite our paper if you do.