Patent ID: 8189034

Claim:
A method of combined exchange of image data and related depth data, comprising: converting an input image signal, representing the image data, comprising a predetermined number of input color components comprising a red, a green and a blue color component, (R,G,B) into an output image signal comprising a luminance component and a chrominance component; combining the output image signal with the related depth data into a combined signal, comprising the luminance component, the chrominance component and a depth component (D) which is based on the depth data; and transmission of the combined signal over a physical connection using serial transport wherein bits representing consecutive samples being transported are put in a time sequence series, the physical connection comprising a number of channels ( 108 - 112 ) which is equal to the predetermined number of input color components (R,G,B) and wherein the luminance component is transmitted over a first one of the channels, the chrominance component is transmitted over a second one of the channels and the depth component is transmitted over a third one of the channels.