Method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving 3D video pictures

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention provides a method of transmitting video pictures which contain depth information.
Signals from at least two sources are provided, each signal being derived from a different representation of the same scene.
The signal from a first source is correlated with the signals from each other source to give a plurality of peak correlation values which relate to vectors representative of depth information.
Each elementary area of the picture is tested with each vector to find which gives the best fit in terms of deriving one picture from another.
The vector which gives the best fit is assigned to the corresponding area of the picture.
The signal from the first source is then transmitted and the derived vectors are transmitted as difference information indicating how the first signal needs to be changed to form a display containing depth.
The invention also provides apparatus to implement the above method.