Survey of perceptual quality issues in three-dimensional television systems Lydia Meesters, Wijnand IJsselsteijn and Pieter Seunti¨ ens TU/e, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands ABSTRACT Three-dimensional television (3DTV) is often mentioned as a logical next step following high-definition televi- sion (HDTV). A high quality 3-D broadcast service is becoming increasingly feasible based on various recent technological developments combined with an enhanced understanding of 3-D perception and human factors issues surrounding 3DTV. In this paper, perceptually relevant issues, in particular stereoscopic image quality and visual comfort, in relation to 3DTV systems are reviewed. We discuss how the principles of a quantita- tive measure of image quality for conventional 2-D images, based on identifying underlying attributes of image quality and quantifying the perceived strengths of each attribute, can be applied in image quality research for 3DTV. In this respect, studies are reviewed that have focussed on the relationship between subjective attributes underlying stereoscopic image quality and the technical parameters that induce them (e.g. parameter choices in image acquisition, compression and display). More specifically, artifacts that may arise in 3DTV systems are addressed, such as keystone distortion, cross-talk, cardboard effect, puppet theatre effect, and blur. In conclusion, we summarize the perceptual requirements for 3DTV that can be extracted from the literature and address issues that require further investigation in order for 3DTV to be a success. Keywords: 3DTV, stereoscopic artifacts, image quality, visual comfort, measurement paradigms 1. INTRODUCTION Three-dimensional television (3DTV) is often mentioned as a logical next step following high-definition television (HDTV). Although the idea of stereoscopic television was already demonstrated in the 1920’s by John Baird, it took until the 1980’s before experimental 3DTV was presented to a large audience in Europe. The public was highly interested despite the fact that glasses were needed to view the programmes and the image quality was poor due to the applied red/green anaglyph technique. 1 Over the years a consensus has been reached that the introduction of 3DTV can only be a lasting success if the perceived image quality and the viewing comfort is at least comparable to conventional television. In addition, 3DTV technology should be compatible with conventional television to ensure a gradual transition from one system to the other. 2, 3 This is becoming increasingly feasible because of recent technological developments, as well as an enhanced understanding of 3-D perception through human factor studies. In this paper we present the state of the art of perceptual quality issues in 3DTV technology. First, a brief overview is presented of the currently applied technology in stereoscopic image content generation (stereoscopic image acquisition and 2D-to-3D image conversion algorithms), 3-D compression methods, and (auto)stereoscopic displays. Secondly, we discuss perceptually relevant issues in relation to 3DTV systems, with a particular emphasis on perceived image quality and visual comfort. With regard to this we review measurement paradigms used to identify and measure perceived attributes underlying image quality in 3DTV (e.g. focus groups or psychophysical scaling methods such as proposed in the ITU-R 500-10 and ITU-R BT.1438 recommendations). Next, we discuss how an image quality model for conventional 2-D images can be modified to suit image quality research for 3DTV. Such an image quality model is intended as a tool to describe the effect and the relationship between technical image parameters and the perceived attributes underlying image quality. Related to this model we discuss artifacts in 3DTV systems (e.g. keystone distortion, cross-talk, cardboard Send correspondence to Lydia Meesters, e-mail: l.m.j.meesters@tue.nl, telephone: +31-(0)40-2473531.