Description

SMPTE ST 2068 – Stereoscopic 3D Frame Compatible Packing and Signaling for HDTV

This standard defines a 3D Frame Compatible (3DFC) ancillary data packet that enumerates various frame packing methods in a manner compatible with Recommendation ITU-T H.264 (H.264) and ISO/IEC 14496-10 MPEG-4 AVC (MPEG-4 AVC), Frame Packing Arrangement SEI message.

This ancillary data packet provides information for the frame compatible transport of 10-bit stereoscopic image pairs (Left eye and Right eye images) – as defined in dual 1.5 Gb/s and 3 Gb/s serial digital interfaces for stereoscopic image transport that are temporally or spatially sub-sampled and combined to form a frame compatible serial data stream in accordance with 1.5 Gb/s and 3 Gb/s serial digital interfaces.

The ancillary data packet is carried in the vertical ancillary (VANC) data space of the frame compatible serial data stream having the same pixel array structure as the originating stereoscopic image pair, and is used to signal the frame packing method utilized in order to facilitate interchange of Stereoscopic Frame Compatible signals.

The information contained in this ancillary data packet could then be used to set the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Frame Packing Arrangement SEI message prior to delivery to a subsequent transmission delivery device.

The precise translation between the 3DFC ancillary data packet and the Frame Packing Arrangement SEI message is not within the scope of this standard. Nor does this standard address other additional H.264/MPEG-4 AVC SEI messages that may be required for transmission delivery of a 3D Frame Compatible signal.

Definition of the filtering mechanism is not within the scope of this standard since implementers can employ a variety of standard or proprietary filtering methods to improve image quality.

It is not necessary for implementations to include support for all frame packing arrangements defined in Table 4 to conform to this standard. Implementers should indicate supported frame packing arrangements in commercial publications.