Systems and methods for encoding light field image files

A method for encoding light field image data as a light field image file, comprising:

• synthesize a higher resolution image of a scene from a reference viewpoint and a depth map that describes depths of pixels in the synthesized image using an encoding device and light field image data, where the light field image data comprises a plurality of low resolution images of a scene captured from different viewpoints and synthesizing the higher resolution image includes creating a depth map that specifies depths from the reference viewpoint for pixels in the higher resolution image;
• encoding the higher resolution image using the encoding device, where the higher resolution image has a higher resolution than the low resolution images;
• and
• creating a light field image file including the encoded image and metadata describing the encoded image using the encoding device, where the metadata includes the depth map.

A non-transitory machine readable medium containing processor instructions, where execution of the instructions by a processor causes the processor to perform a process comprising:

• synthesizing a higher resolution image of a scene from a reference viewpoint using light field image data, where the light field image data comprises a plurality of low resolution images of a scene captured from different viewpoints and synthesizing the higher resolution image includes creating a depth map that specifies depths from the reference viewpoint for pixels in the higher resolution image;
• encoding the higher resolution image, where the higher resolution image has a higher resolution than the low resolution images;
• and
• creating a light field image file including the encoded image and metadata describing the encoded image, where the metadata includes the depth map.