Fisheye video coding using elastic motion compensated reference frames

Fisheye cameras have become extremely popular in applications where the goal is to capture large fields of view with only one camera. However, the wide-angle fisheye imagery has special characteristics that may not be very well suited for modern video codecs that employ block-based translational motion model. This model fails to describe complex deformable motion which is often present in fisheye videos. In this paper, we advocate for the usage of elastic motion model in compensating such a complex motion. The presented design enables the re-use of existing codecs, such as HEVC, without modifications in low-level coding tools. Experimental results show that a savings in bit rate of up to 6.54% is achievable over standalone HEVC if the elastic motion compensated prediction is used as an additional reference frame.