Multi-View Synthesis in Real-Time With Fallback to 2D from 3D to Reduce Flicker in Low or Unstable Stereo-Matching Image Regions
First Claim
1. A multi-view synthesizer comprising:
- a first depth generator that generates a first depth map by stereo-matching a first stereo image to a second stereo image;
a consistency checker that generates a stereo-matching rate indicating a quality of the first depth map, the consistency checker comparing matched pixel locations when starting with the first stereo image to pixel locations when starting with the second stereo image to generate the stereo-matching rate;
a second depth generator that generates a second depth map from no more than one single view image;
a disparity fallback selector that selects the second depth map as a selected depth map instead of the first depth map when the stereo-matching rate is below a matching threshold;
a forward mapper that shifts sub-pixels from a source image by an offset to generate a destination image, the offset being read from or generated from the selected depth map, wherein the offset is scaled to a different value for each view image in a plurality of multi view images output as the destination image; and
a backward mapper that reads a plurality of view masks to locate a selected view mask that generates a sub-pixel location in the destination image, and locates a source sub-pixel in the source image using a view offset for the selected view mask, the backward mapper generating the destination image by copying the source sub-pixel to the sub-pixel location in the destination image.
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Abstract
Multi view images are generated with reduced flickering. A first depth map is generated from stereo images by stereo-matching. When stereo-matching is poor or varies too much from frame to frame, disparity fallback selects a second depth map that is generated from a single view without stereo-matching, preventing stereo-matching errors from producing visible artifacts or flickering. Flat or textureless regions can use the second depth map, while regions with good stereo-matching use the first depth map. Depth maps are generated with a one-frame delay and buffered. Low-cost temporal coherence reduces costs used for stereo-matching when the pixel location selected as the lowest-cost disparity is within a distance threshold of the same pixel in a last frame. Hybrid view synthesis uses forward mapping for smaller numbers of views, and backward mapping from the forward-mapping results for larger numbers of views. Rotated masks are generated on-the-fly for backward mapping.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A multi-view synthesizer comprising:
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a first depth generator that generates a first depth map by stereo-matching a first stereo image to a second stereo image; a consistency checker that generates a stereo-matching rate indicating a quality of the first depth map, the consistency checker comparing matched pixel locations when starting with the first stereo image to pixel locations when starting with the second stereo image to generate the stereo-matching rate; a second depth generator that generates a second depth map from no more than one single view image; a disparity fallback selector that selects the second depth map as a selected depth map instead of the first depth map when the stereo-matching rate is below a matching threshold; a forward mapper that shifts sub-pixels from a source image by an offset to generate a destination image, the offset being read from or generated from the selected depth map, wherein the offset is scaled to a different value for each view image in a plurality of multi view images output as the destination image; and a backward mapper that reads a plurality of view masks to locate a selected view mask that generates a sub-pixel location in the destination image, and locates a source sub-pixel in the source image using a view offset for the selected view mask, the backward mapper generating the destination image by copying the source sub-pixel to the sub-pixel location in the destination image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for generating an output depth map from a first view image and a second view image comprising:
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generating a first depth map from the first and second view images, wherein depth values in the first depth map are generated based on disparities generated by matching pixels in the first view image with pixels in the second view image, a disparity indicating a shift in position of a matching pixel in the first view image and in the second view image; determining a stereo-matching rate when generating the first depth map, the stereo-matching rate indicating a consistency of results when the first view image and the second view image are reversed as inputs during generation of the first depth map; generating a second depth map from the first view image, wherein depth values in the second depth map are generated based on visual cues in the first view image without any input from the second view image; selecting the first depth map as the output depth map when the stereo-matching rate is above a match threshold; and selecting the second depth map as the output depth map when the stereo-matching rate is not above the match threshold. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A multi-view system comprising:
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a first map generator that receives a first view image and a second view image, the first view image and the second view image being different view perspectives of a same captured image, the first map generator generating a first map having disparity or depth values for pixels, the disparity values indicating a shift in pixel position between the first view image and the second view image, wherein the disparity values are inversely proportional to the depth values; a second map generator that receives the first view image and not the second view image, the second map generator using a non-stereo technique to generate depth values or disparity values for inclusion in a second map; wherein the first map is generated using a stereo image technique while the second map is generated using a non-stereo technique; a stereo-matching rate generator that generates a stereo-matching rate when the first map generator generates the disparity or depth values; a disparity fallback selector that selects values from the second map for inclusion in an output map when the stereo-matching rate is below a rate threshold, and selects values from the first map for inclusion in the output map when the stereo-matching rate is above the rate threshold; a cost generator that generates matching costs for pixels in the first view image being matched to pixels in the second view image; an optimizer that selects a winning pixel location having a lowest matching cost; and a low-cost temporal coherence adjustor that adjusts the matching costs when the winning pixel location for a current frame is within a distance threshold of the winning pixel location for a prior frame. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification