Summary of S4-251880: Work Plan for Beyond 2D Video Phase 2 Study

Document Overview

This contribution proposes a work plan for the Study Item "Beyond 2D Video Phase 2" (FS_Beyond2D_Ph2), which focuses on dynamic mesh technologies for mobile applications. The document has been revised from an earlier version (S4-260139) with updated timelines and refined objectives.

Study Item Objectives

The study encompasses five main technical areas:

1. Dynamic Mesh Content Generation for Prosumer Use Cases

• Focus on offline production scenarios (e.g., social media services)
• Limited camera setup (less than 5 cameras)
• Offline production and compression workflows

2. Dynamic Mesh for Real-Time Services

• Live applications (e.g., concerts, sports training on social media)
• Real-time compression requirements
• Note: Avatar-mesh-based real-time communication is explicitly out of scope

3. Evaluation of Dynamic Mesh Formats

• Assessment of existing and emerging compression technologies (e.g., MPEG V-DMC with HEVC as underlying 2D codec)
• Objective and subjective testing methodology similar to TR 26.956 approach for V-PCC
• Use V-PCC as baseline for comparison
• Reuse of existing performance results from MPEG or other SDOs where applicable
• Option for independent 3GPP evaluation if suitable results unavailable

4. Implementation Aspects Study

• Number of required video decoders
• Pixel rate limitations

5. Comparative Analysis and AI Quality Assessment

• Compare dynamic mesh with other formats
• Derive recommendations for format selection under different conditions
• New: Develop framework for assessing quality of AI-generated dynamic meshes without requiring reference or original model

Proposed Timeline

SA4#134 (November 2025, Dallas)

• Target: Agreement/Endorsement of Study Item
• Completion: 0%

SA#110 (December 2025, Baltimore)

• Target: Approval of Study Item
• Completion: 0%

SA4#135 (February 2026, India)

• Activities: Initiate work on Objectives 1a-c, 2, and 3a-b
• Priority documents: Time Plan, TR Skeleton and Scope, Draft Use Cases/Scenarios
• Target Completion: 20%

SA4#135-bis-e (April 2026)

• Activities:
• Progress work on Objectives 1a-c, 2, 3a-b
• Initial work on Objective 1d (evaluation) and 3c-d (implementation aspects and comparison)
• Target Completion: 45%

SA4#136 (May 2026, Montreal)

• Activities:
• Progress Objectives 1d and 3c-d
• Initiate potential normative work and conclusions
• Communication with other 3GPP WGs and external organizations
• Identify remaining open issues
• Agree on TR 26.xxx for SA information
• Target Completion: 75%

SA#112 (June 2026, Singapore)

• Activities: Present TR 26.xxx to SA for information
• Target Completion: 75%

SA4#137-e (August 2026, online)

• Activities:
• Complete Objectives 1d and 3c-d
• Complete identification of potential normative work
• Complete all remaining open issues
• Agree on TR 26.xxx for SA approval
• Present TR 26.xxx to SA for information
• Target Completion: 100%

SA4#138 (November 2026, Calgary)

• Activities:
• Complete evaluation work
• Complete implementation aspects study
• Complete comparative analysis
• Finalize conclusions and normative work identification
• Agree on TR 26.xxx for SA approval

SA#114 (December 2026, Boston)

• Activities: Send TR 26.xxx to SA for Approval

Key Changes from Previous Version

• Timeline extended and adjusted (meetings shifted from 2025-2026 to 2025-2026 with different completion targets)
• Refined objective descriptions with clearer sub-categorization (Objectives 1a-d, 2, 3a-d)
• Added explicit framework development for AI-generated dynamic mesh quality assessment
• Clarified priority document types for initial meetings
• Updated meeting locations and dates