360 degrees video is a new way of experiencing immersive video using devices such as GearVR. 360 degrees video enables immersive “real life,” “being there” experience for consumers by capturing the 360 degree view of the world. Users can change their viewpoint and dynamically view any part of the captured scene they desire. 360 degrees videos require higher bitrates than conventional videos due to increased video resolution (4K and beyond) needed to support the wider field of view. Bitrate increase is a limiting factor in providing high quality 360 degrees immersive video viewing experience to consumers.
Hence, the bitrate requirements are also higher necessitating the need for efficient compression. 360 degrees video has unique characteristics that can be exploited to improve compression efficiency. Due to the warping present in the video, the motion in the video is frequently non-translational.