The performance of depth map coding in 3D videos mainly depends on the subjective quality of the rendering view. Traditional quality metric

the mean square error(MSE)

doesnot characterize the human visual system (HVS)well. In this paper

we present a depth map coding method based on virtual view rendering distortion using structural similarity index (SSIM)as a quality metric. By analyzing the relationship between distortions in the coded depth map and distortions using SSIM as quality metric in the rendered view

a distortion model that estimates the rendering distortions caused by depth changes on depth coding is proposed. The rendering distortion estimation model is applied to the perceptual rate-distortion optimization (RDO)framework based on SSIM which decides the best mode in depth map coding. Experimental results with the proposed method show higher SSIM and better subjective quality for the rendered views

while reducing objects boundary’s distortion and artifacts in rendered view.