Method and apparatus for determining a video compression standard in a 3DTV service

An apparatus for determining an image compression format, the apparatus comprising:

• a high-quality image encoding unit to encode a high-quality image comprised in a 3-dimensional (3D) stereo image, wherein the 3D stereo image comprises the high-quality image and a quality image, and to transmit the encoded high-quality image through a first channel;
• an image compression format determining unit to determine an image compression format in which a resolution of the encoded low-quality image is higher than or equal to a reference value based upon a resolution of the encoded the high-quality image;
• and
• a low-quality image encoding unit to encode the low-quality image according to the determined image compression format and to transmit the encoded high-quality image through a second channel.

A method of synthesizing a 3-dimensional (3D) stereo image, the method comprising:

• separating a high-quality image packet, a low-quality image packet, and an additional information packet by demultiplexing the transmission stream;
• restoring a high-quality image by decoding the high-quality image packet;
• restoring a low-quality image by decoding the low-quality image packet;
• synthesizing the restored high-quality image and the restored low-quality image;
• and
• displaying the 3D stereo image restored through the synthesizing,
• wherein the restored high-quality image is used as first view image of the 3D stereo image and the restored low-quality image is used as a second view image of the 3D stereo image, and
• wherein the first view image is different from the second view image.

An apparatus for synthesizing a 3-dimensional (3D) stereo image, the apparatus comprising:

• a demultiplexing unit to separate a high-quality image packet, a low-quality image packet, and an additional information packet by demultiplexing the transmission stream;
• a high-quality image decoding unit to restore a high-quality image by decoding the high-quality image packet;
• a low-quality image decoding unit to restore a low-quality image by decoding the low-quality image packet;
• an image synthesizing unit to synthesize the restored high-quality image and the restored low-quality image;
• and
• a 3D audio and video (A/V) display unit to display the 3D stereo image generated through the synthesizing,
• wherein the restored high-quality image is used as first view image of the 3D stereo image and the restored low-quality image is used as a second view image of the 3D stereo image, and
• wherein the first view image is different from the second view image.