Optimized mesh and texture multiplexing for progressive textured model transmission

An optimized scheme of multiplexing coded mesh and texture data to facilitate progressive transmission of 3D textured models is proposed in this work. The mesh and texture data of a 3D textured model are fed into their respective compression modules and represented by a series of levels of details. Then, for a given viewpoint, a rate-distortion surface can be generated based on the multiplexing of mesh and texture data in different details. The distortion is calculated by measuring the visual quality of rendered images. Furthermore, an optimal path over the rate-distortion surface is determined by the steepest descent algorithm. When the mesh and texture data streams are transmitted in a certain ratio along the optimal path, it is guaranteed that the rendered images have the best visual quality perceived from the given viewpoint. To deal with an arbitrary viewpoint, we propose a hierarchical sampling algorithm so that the optimal path can be interpolated from finite sampling points. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can provide the best visual quality of a 3D textured model for any observation point at any bit rate.