Efficient Compression for Server-Side G-Buffer Streaming in Web Applications

Remote rendering methods enable devices with low computing power like smart phones or tablets to visualize massive data. By transmitting G-Buffers, Depth-Image-Based Rendering (DIBR) methods can be used to compensate the artefacts caused by the latency. However, the drawback is that a G-Buffer has at least twice as much data as an image. We present a method for compressing G-Buffers which provides an efficient decoding suitable for web applications. Depending on the computing power of the device, software methods, which run on the CPU, may not be fast enough for an interactive experience. Therefore, we developed a decoding which runs entirely on the GPU. As we use only standard WebGL for our implementation, our compression is suitable for every modern browser.