BlenDR
Bandwidth-efficient RGB-D Representation and Delivery for Live 3D Video Streaming
Summary
Live volumetric streaming is experiencing rapid growth due to the availability of depth sensors and 3D cameras. The RGB-D format that utilizes 2D video codecs has emerged as a promising solution for streaming. However, it falls short in delivering high-quality volumetric capture scenes at Internet-friendly bitrates due to inefficient compression, stemming from the unique challenges of adapting the live RGB-D data format to video codecs. In response, we introduce BlenDR, a novel RGB-D representation and delivery method for live 3D streaming that redefines how RGB and depth channels are multiplexed into 2D video streams. By exploiting the inherent similarities between RGB and depth, BlenDR maximizes bandwidth efficiency for RGB-D streams and delivers superior RGB and depth quality given the same bandwidth. With the proposed new delivery scheme, BlenDR reduces bandwidth usage by up to 63% while achieving 4.6×/4.3× higher sender/receiver FPS compared to state-of-the-art system and sustains near-30 FPS even for full-scene depth (6 m) under network-constrained settings.
Publications
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MobiSysBlenDR: Bandwidth-efficient RGB-D Representation and Delivery for Live 3D Video Streaming (Conditionally accepted, under shepherding)In In Proceedings of the 24th Annual International Conference on Mobile Systems, Applications and Services 2026
