Image quality of up-converted 2D video from frame-compatible 3D video

In the stereoscopic frame-compatible format, the separate high-definition left and high-definition right views are reduced in resolution and packed to fit within the same video frame as a conventional two-dimensional high-definition signal. This format has been suggested for 3DTV since it does not require additional transmission bandwidth and entails only small changes to the existing broadcasting infrastructure. In some instances, the frame-compatible format might be used to deliver both 2D and 3D services, e.g., for over-the-air television services. In those cases, the video quality of the 2D service is bound to decrease since the 2D signal will have to be generated by up-converting one of the two views. In this study, we investigated such loss by measuring the perceptual image quality of 1080i and 720p up-converted video as compared to that of full resolution original 2D video. The video was encoded with either a MPEG-2 or a H. 264/AVC codec at different bit rates and presented for viewing with either no polarized glasses (2D viewing mode) or with polarized glasses (3D viewing mode). The results confirmed a loss of video quality of the 2D video up-converted material. The loss due to the sampling processes inherent to the frame-compatible format was rather small for both 1080i and 720p video formats; the loss became more substantial with encoding, particularly for MPEG-2 encoding. The 3D viewing mode provided higher quality ratings, possibly because the visibility of the degradations was reduced.