A METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ENCODING/DECODING THE GEOMETRY OF A POINT CLOUD REPRESENTING A 3D OBJECT

The present principles relate to a method and device for encoding the geometry of a point cloud representing a 3D object. The method comprises: a) obtaining (210) at least one candidate octree-based structure (O k ) with a maximum depth level (´ k ) from the points of said point cloud, each candidate octree-based structure (O k ) approximating the geometry of the point cloud by points associated with leaf cubes, each leaf cube being associated with a leaf node of said candidate octree-based structure (O k ); b) obtaining (230) a coding cost (C k ) for said at least one candidate octree-based structure (O k ) with a maximum depth level (´ k ); c) encoding (250) an optimal octree-based structure (O opt ) with a maximum depth level (´ opt ) obtained by optimizing (240) said coding cost obtained for said at least one candidate octree-based structure (O k ); and d) encoding (260) a depth information data (DID opt ) representative of the maximum depth level (´ opt ) of said optimal octree-based structure (O opt ). The present principles also relate to a decoding method and device.