Depth enhancement considering just noticeable difference in depth

Recent advances in 3-D technologies draw an interest on the just noticeable difference in depth (JNDD) that describes a perceptual threshold of depth differences. In this letter, we address a new application of the JNDD to the depth image enhancement. In the proposed algorithm, a depth image is first segmented into multiple layers and then the depth range of the layer is expanded if the depth difference between adjacent layers is smaller than the JNDD. Therefore, viewers can effectively perceive the depth differences between layers and thus the human depth perception can be improved. The proposed algorithm can be applied to any depth-based 3-D display applications.