A method and apparatus for three-dimensional video encoding and decoding using disparity derived depth prediction are disclosed. Embodiments of the present invention determine a disparity vector related to a collocated texture block in the dependent view and generate converted depth samples from the disparity vector. The generated converted depth samples are used as a predictor or Merge candidate for the current depth block. The Merge candidate corresponding to the converted depth samples can be placed in the merging candidate list at a location before TMVP (temporal motion vector predictor) merging candidate. The converted depth samples can be generated from the disparity vector according to a function of the disparity vector. Information associated with the function can be signaled explicitly to a decoder or derived implicitly by the decoder. One aspect of the present invention addresses simplified disparity to depth conversion, specifically division-free disparity-to-depth conversion.