# US 9,519,994 B2 · Systems and methods for rendering 3D image independent of display size and viewing distance > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 9,519,994 B2 - Document ID: US9519994B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 14/111,591 - Filed: 2012-04-10 - Published: 2014-02-13 - Granted: 2016-12-13 - Earliest claimed: 2011-04-15 - Assignees: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation - Applicants: Richard J. Welsh; Christian Ralph - Inventors: Richard J. Welsh; Christian Ralph - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9519994B2 ## CPC - G06T 15/08: Volume rendering - H04N 13/10: Processing, recording or transmission of stereoscopic or multi-view image signals - H04N 13/128: Adjusting depth or disparity - H04N 19/132: Sampling, masking or truncation of coding units, e.g. adaptive resampling, frame skipping, frame interpolation or high-frequency transform coefficient masking - H04N 19/61: in combination with predictive coding - G06T 15/405: {using Z-buffer} - H04N 13/398: Synchronisation thereof; Control thereof - H04N 19/46: Embedding additional information in the video signal during the compression process (H04N19/517, H04N19/68, H04N19/70 take precedence) - H04N 19/597: specially adapted for multi-view video sequence encoding - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION ## Abstract Methods and systems for providing and rendering 3D depth information are described. Specifically, the 3D depth information includes z-axis values provided in a normalized percentage format, that defines the position of an object relative to an infinity plane, a display screen, and a viewer, and can be used to render one or more images independent of display screen size and viewing distance. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of rendering 3D images, comprising: receiving a profile comprising a profile header, from a source device and independent of display screen size, a depth map, and 3D depth metadata, wherein the 3D depth metadata comprises data for multiple target display resolutions from a source device and said 3D depth metadata is independent of display screen size; using the depth map to derive depth data that is independent of display screen size and viewing distance, wherein the depth data comprises normalized z-axis values based on a plurality of depth points, the normalized z-axis values defining the relative position of an imaged object with respect to a human viewer, wherein the profile header comprises a layer identifier, a set identifier, and a subset identifier, and provides target resolution information for which the profile was created; and providing in their entirety over-scanned left and right eye images of the 3D images; wherein the plurality of depth points is based at least in part on a location where a human viewer is located, a display screen plane, and an infinity plane; providing the depth map in the form of a first block depth map having m rows and n columns, wherein m does not equal n; and converting the first block depth map having m rows and n columns into a reduced block depth map having p rows and q columns wherein m>p and n>q; wherein a first normalized z-axis value of the normalized z-axis values is defined as substantially equal to zero when the imaged object is perceived as to be located on the display screen plane, and a second normalized z-axis value of the normalized z-axis values is defined as approximately equal to −100 when the object is perceived to be located on the infinity plane; wherein the depth map is represented as a primary depth map and a secondary depth map, wherein the primary depth map provides depth values of an image at a pixel level or a sub-pixel level; and the secondary depth map is a block depth map that provides depth values at a greater-than-a-pixel level; wherein the converting comprises: partitioning the first block depth map having m rows and n columns into p×q partitions, wherein each partition comprises a plurality of depth values; and using the foremost depth values contained in each of the p×q partitions to identify corresponding depth values in the reduced block depth map having p rows and q columns, wherein the foremost value within a partition is used even when it traverses a boundary of the partition. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the 3D depth metadata comprises: maximum depth data comprising a first normalized z-axis value derived from a foremost part of the image; minimum depth data comprising a second normalized z-axis value derived from a rearmost part of the image; and average depth data comprising an average normalized z-axis value derived from substantially all parts of the image. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the 3D depth metadata further comprises: a region of interest depth data that indicates an average depth in at least one of a) a primary object in the image or b) a portion of interest in the image. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: analyzing the primary depth map for extracting the 3D depth metadata. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: using at least one of the first block depth map or the reduced block depth map to avoid occlusion violation when inserting a new object into the image. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further comprising: using the 3D depth metadata contained in the profile to avoid occlusion violation when inserting a new object into the image. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein the new object is at least one of a caption, a subtitle, or a graphic. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the depth data provided by the depth map includes a first parameter based on a percentage of a width of the image; a second parameter based on a percentage of a height of the image; and a third parameter based on a percentage of an object distance with respect to at least one of a screen and/or a human viewer. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for executing a method with one or more processors in accordance with claim 1.