Method and Apparatus for Encoding and Decoding a Texture Block Using Depth Based Block Partitioning

A method for decoding an encoded texture block of a texture image, comprising:

• determining a partitioning mask for the encoded texture block based on depth information associated with the encoded texture block, wherein the encoded texture block comprises a rectangle, a plurality of partitions, and a texture block element, and wherein the determining comprises:
• defining the plurality of partitions, wherein the partitions divide the rectangle into a plurality of irregular shapes;
• and
• associating the texture block element to a partition of the partitions of the encoded texture block based on a comparison of a depth information value associated to the texture block element with a determined threshold value;
• and
• decoding the partitions based on the partitioning mask, wherein the threshold value is adaptively determined based on depth information values for an area associated with the encoded texture block.

A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising a program code—that when executed by a processor cause an apparatus to be configured to:

• determine a partitioning mask for an encoded texture block based on depth information associated with the encoded texture block, wherein the encoded texture block comprises a rectangle and a texture block element, and wherein the partitioning mask is configured to:
• define a plurality of partitions, wherein the partitions divide the rectangle into a plurality of irregular shapes;
• and
• associate the texture block element with a partition of the partitions of the encoded texture block based on a comparison of a depth information value associated to the texture block element with a determined threshold value;
• and
• decode the partitions based on the partitioning mask, wherein determining the threshold value comprises adaptively determining the threshold value based on depth information values for an area associated with the texture block.

An apparatus for encoding a texture block of a texture image, comprising:

• a processor configured to determine a partitioning mask for the texture block based on depth information associated with the texture block, wherein the texture block comprises a rectangle and a texture block element, and wherein the partitioning mask is configured to:
• define a plurality of partitions of the texture block, wherein the partitions divide the rectangle into a plurality of irregular shapes;
• and
• associate the texture block element to a partition of the partitions;
• and
• wherein the processor is configured to encode the texture block by encoding the partitions based on the partitioning mask, and
• wherein the processor is further configured to:
• adaptively determine a threshold value based on depth information values for an area associated with the texture block;
• and
• associate the texture block element to one of the partitions based on a comparison of a depth information value associated to the texture block element with the threshold value.

A method for encoding a texture block of a texture image, comprising:

• determining a partitioning mask for the texture block based on depth information associated with the texture block, wherein the texture block comprises a rectangle and a texture block element, and wherein the determining comprises:
• defining a plurality of partitions of the texture block, wherein the partitions divide the rectangle into a plurality of irregular shapes;
• and
• associating the texture block element to a partition of the partitions based on a comparison of a depth information value associated with the texture block element with a determined threshold value;
• and
• encoding the texture block by encoding the partitions based on the partitioning mask, wherein the threshold value is adaptively determined based on depth information values for an area associated with the texture block.