VERSATILE 3-D PICTURE FORMAT

A 3-D picture signal is provided as follows. An image and depth components comprising a depth map for the image are provided, the depth map comprising depth indication values, a depth indication value relating to a particular portion of the image and indicating a distance between an object at least partially represented by that portion of the image and the viewer. The signal conveys the 3-D picture according to a 3D format having image frames encoding the image. Extra frames (D, D') are encoded that provide the depth components and further data for use in rendering based on the image and the depth components. The extra frames are encoded using spatial and/or temporal subsampling of the depth components and the further data, while the extra frames are interleaved with the image frames in the signal in a Group of Pictures coding structure (GOP).