Motion adaptive vertical scaling for interlaced digital image data

• US 5,671,018 A
• Filed: 02/07/1995
• Issued: 09/23/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Inventors: Ohara, Kazuhiro, Gove, Robert J., Markandey, Vishal
• Primary Examiner(s): Kostak, Victor R.
• Application Number:
  US08/384,986
• Time in Patent Office: 959 Days
• Field of Search: 348/704, 348/709, 348/458, 348/451, 348/452, 348/699, 348/700, 348/701, 348/702, 348/703, 348/431, 348/435, 348/439, 348/446, 348/441, 348/448
• US Class Current: 348/452
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/012 Conversion between an interlaced and a progressive signal for graphics images G09G2310/0229
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0137 dependent on presence/absence of motion, e.g. of motion zones H04N7/014 takes precedence; movement detection in television signals H04N5/144
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/64 Circuits for processing colour signals H04N9/77 takes precedence; camera processing pipelines for processing colour signals H04N23/84

Abstract

A motion adaptive method for vertically scaling an image. The image data is analyzed to obtain a motion magnitude value for each pixel (31). The pixel data is then processed with two scaling processes (35, 36), performed in parallel. One scaling process is better suited for low motion images and the other is better suited for high motion images. The motion magnitude value is used to select between or combine (38) the pixel data outputs of the two scaling processes (35, 36).

Claims

1. A method of generating new pixel values for vertical scaling an image represented by a digital video signal and having interlaced fields, comprising the steps of:

determining a motion magnitude value that indicates the extent to which the portion of the image to be represented by a new pixel is in motion;

generating an intra-field pixel value of said new pixel using pixel values of neighboring pixels in the same field wherein said step of generating said intra-field pixel value is performed by calculating a weighted average value of pixel values of neighboring pixels, and wherein the weighting coefficients of neighboring pixels in pairs of adjacent fields are centered to accommodate interlaced fields;

generating an inter-field pixel value of said new pixel, using pixel values of neighboring pixels in time-separated fields; and

selecting between said intra-field pixel value and said inter-field pixel value, on the basis of said motion magnitude value, to generate a new pixel value; and

repeating the above steps for each pixel of said image.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the interpolation is bi-linear interpolation.

3. A method of generating new pixel values for vertical scaling an image represented by a digital video signal and having interlaced fields, comprising the steps of:

determining a motion magnitude value that indicates the extent to which the portion of the image to be represented by a new pixel is in motion;

generating au inter-field pixel value of said new pixel, using pixel values of neighboring pixels in the same field;

generating an inter-field pixel value of said new pixel using pixel values of neighboring pixels in the time-separated fields wherein said step of generating said inter-field pixel value is performed by calculating a weighted average value of pixel values of neighboring pixels, and wherein the weighting coefficients of neighboring pixels in pairs of adjacent fields are centered to accommodate interlaced fields; and

selecting between said intra-field pixel value and said inter-field pixel value, on the basis of said motion magnitude value, to generate a new pixel value;

And

repeating the above steps for each pixel of said image.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the interpolation is bi-linear interpolation.

5. A method of generating new pixel values for vertical scaling an image represented by a digital video signal and having interlaced fields, comprising the steps of:

determining a motion magnitude value that indicates the extent to which the portion of the image to be represented by a new pixel is in motion;

generating an intra-field pixel value of said new pixel, using pixel values of neighboring pixels in the same field;

generating an inter-field pixel value of said new pixel, using pixel values of neighboring pixels in time-separated fields; and

selecting between said intra-field pixel value and said inter-field pixel value, on the basis of said motion magnitude value, to generate a new pixel value wherein said selecting step is performed by calculating a weighted average of said intra-field pixel value and said inter-field pixel value, with the weighting values being determined by said motion magnitude value; and

repeating the above steps for each pixel of said image.

6. A processor system for generating new pixel values for vertical scaling, used in a digital image display system, comprising:

a motion detector for determining a motion magnitude value that indicates the extent to which the portion of the image represented by each new pixel is in motion;

a intra-field pixel generator for generating an intra-field pixel value of said each new pixel, using pixel values of neighboring pixels in the same field, wherein said intra-field pixel generator interpolates weighted values of said neighboring pixels, and wherein the weighting values of the neighboring pixels in pairs of adjacent fields are centered to accommodate interlaced fields;

an inter-field pixel generator for generating an inter-field pixel value of said each new pixel, using pixel values of neighboring pixels in time-separated fields; and

a mixer for selecting between said intra-field pixel value and said inter-field pixel value, on the basis of said motion magnitude value, to generate said each new pixel value.

7. The processor of claim 6, wherein said motion detector is implemented with a serial video processor.

8. The processor of claim 6, wherein said intra-field pixel generator is a serial video processor.

9. The processor of claim 6, wherein said inter-field pixel generator is a serial video processor.

10. The processor of claim 6, wherein the interpolation is bi-linear interpolation.

11. A processor system for generating new pixel values for vertical scaling, used in a digital image display system, comprising:

a motion detector for determining a motion magnitude value that indicates the extent to which the portion of the image represented by each new pixel is in motion;

a intra-field pixel generator for generating an intra-field pixel value of said each new pixel, using pixel values of neighboring pixels in the same field;

an inter-field pixel generator for generating an inter-field pixel value of said each new pixel, using pixel values of neighboring pixels in time-separated fields wherein said inter-field pixel generator interpolates weighted values of said neighboring pixels, and wherein the weighting values of the neighboring pixels in pairs of adjacent fields are centered to accommodate interlaced fields; and

a mixer for selecting between said intra-field pixel value and said inter-field pixel value, on the basis of said motion magnitude value, to generate said each new value.

12. The processor of claim 11, wherein the interpolation is bi-linear interpolation.