Microsoft patents method to shrink 3D depth data for faster streaming
Microsoft describes a way to compress depth maps, which store the distance of objects in a 3D scene, for transmission over a network. The system breaks the image into small sections called tiles and uses mathematical curves to estimate the depth range in each area, allowing the data to be reduced significantly before being sent to a remote device.
In the filing’s own words
A high dynamic range (HDR) depth buffer is received at a remote computer. The HDR depth buffer is formed into a plurality of tiles. For each tile, a respective maximum and minimum value of the HDR depth buffer in a region greater than a width of the respective tile is determined. An initial pair of piecewise bilinear bounding functions for the HDR depth buffer is determined using the determined maximum and minimum depth values. For each tile, the initial pair of piecewise bilinear bounding functions is iteratively adjusted to move the respective minimum and maximum depth value of each tile closer to the HDR depth buffer, wherein no adjacent tile is adjusted in the same iteration. Using the adjusted pair of piecewise bilinear bounding functions, a low dynamic range (LDR) depth buffer and tile data are generated and encoded using a video encoder and a lossless compressor respectively.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. One or more computer-readable storage media having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for causing a computer system, when programmed thereby, to perform operations comprising: receiving a high dynamic range (“HDR”) depth image; decomposing the HDR depth image into a low dynamic range (“LDR”) depth image and tile data, wherein the decomposing the HDR depth image comprises: segmenting the HDR depth image into tiles; determining upper and lower bounding functions that envelop HDR depth values of the HDR depth image, wherein the upper bounding function defines upper bounds above the respective HDR depth values, and wherein the lower bounding function defines lower bounds below the respective HDR depth values; using the upper and lower bounding functions, generating the LDR depth image from the HDR depth image; compressing the LDR depth image; compressing the tile data, wherein the tile data indicates the upper and lower bounding functions; and transferring, to a data network or storage, the compressed LDR depth image and the compressed tile data.
Facts
- Company
- Microsoft (Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC)
- Official title
- REMOTE DEPTH BUFFER COMPRESSION
- Publication number
- US20260278845A1
- Application number
- 19670475
- Filed
- May 7, 2026
- Published
- Sep 17, 2026
- Inventors
- 2
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
G06T 9/00 Physics & computingMore from Microsoft in AR, VR & displays
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.