This paper presents a novel method for accurately encoding 3D range geometry within the color channels of a 2D RGB image that allows the encoding frequency—and therefore the encoding precision—to be uniquely determined for each coordinate. The proposed method can thus
be used to balance between encoding precision and file size by encoding geometry along a normal distribution; encoding more precisely where the density of data is high and less precisely where the density is low. Alternative distributions may be followed to produce encodings optimized for
specific applications. In general, the nature of the proposed encoding method is such that the precision of each point can be freely controlled or derived from an arbitrary distribution, ideally enabling this method for use within a wide range of applications.