Method and apparatus for generating steroscopic image using MPEG data

• US 6,377,625 B1
• Filed: 12/06/1999
• Issued: 04/23/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Soft4d Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Soft4d Company Limited
• Inventors: Kim, Man Bae
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Vu
• Application Number:
  US09/455,157
• Time in Patent Office: 869 Days
• Field of Search: 375/240.08, 375/240.26, 375/240.29, 348/42-43, 348/51, 348/425.1, 345/419, 382/154
• US Class Current: 375/240.08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/167 Synchronising or controlling image signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/189 Recording image signals; Reproducing recorded image signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/261 with monoscopic-to-stereoscopic image conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/503 involving temporal prediction adaptive coding with adaptive selection between spatial and temporal predictive coding H04N19/107; adaptive coding with adaptive selection among a plurality of temporal predictive coding modes H04N19/109
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/597 specially adapted for multi-view video sequence encoding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/61 in combination with predictive coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2013/0085 Motion estimation from stereoscopic image signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2013/0096 Synchronisation or controlling aspects

Abstract

A stereoscopic image generation apparatus generates a stereoscopic image using MPEG encoded data containing I, B and P pictures. A picture extractor extracts each picture data from the MPEG encoded data. A motion vector generator generates motion vectors individually corresponding to macroblocks in the picture and supplies the generated motion vectors to a motion vector field former. A picture storing unit stores pictures reproducted from the encoded picture data by the picture number K. A motion type determiner determines a motion type corresponding to a current picture using the motion vectors supplied from the motion vector field former. A stereoscopic image generator generates a mixed picture corresponding to the current picture using the previous pictures stored in the picture storing unit and the motion type determined in the motion type determiner and outputs the current picture and the mixed picture. A left/right picture determiner receives the current picture and the mixed picture output from the stereoscopic image generator and determines the received current picture into one of the left picture and the right picture forming a stereoscopic image and the mixed picture into the other thereof. Here, the motion type of the picture is determined as one of a still picture, a non-horizontal motion picture, a horizontal motion picture, and a fast motion picture, generates an optimal stereoscopic image adaptively to each determined motion type, determines the left/right picture of the stereoscopic image, thereby obtaining a natural and stable stereoscopic sense even in a variety of motion types of a picture.

Claims

1. A stereoscopic image generation method for generating a stereoscopic image from image data, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) determining a motion type of a current picture into one of a still picture, a non-horizontal motion picture, a horizontal motion picture and a fast motion picture, using motion vectors in each picture according to the image data;

(b) generating a mixed picture corresponding to the current picture using previous pictures according to the image data and the determined motion type and outputting the current picture and the mixed picture; and

(c) receiving the output current picture and mixed picture and determining the current picture into one of the left picture and the right picture forming a stereoscopic image and the mixed picture into the other thereof, in accordance with the motion type determined in step (a).

2. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 1, wherein said step (a) comprises the step of determining the motion type of the current picture based on a ratio occupied by the macroblocks having a motion feature corresponding to said each motion type among the entire macroblocks of the current picture.

3. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 1, wherein said step (b) uses at least one of:

a first method of allocating depth information differently from each other based on a brightness of predetermined each block in the current picture and/or the standard deviation thereof, converting the allocated depth information into a horizontal parallax, and generating the mixed picture, if the motion type of the current picture is determined as a still picture in step (a);

a second method of generating the mixed picture adaptively to the motion kind of a camera and/or an object in the current picture if the motion type of the current picture is determined as a non-horizontal motion picture in step (a);

a third method of replacing the motion vectors of the fast macroblocks in the current picture by the maximum horizontal parallax value and generating the mixed picture, if the motion type of the current picture is determined as a fast motion picture in step (a); and

a fourth method of generating the previous picture as the mixed picture, based on the maximum horizontal parallax threshold value and a predetermined horizontal motion velocity of the motion vectors in the current picture, if the motion type of the current picture is determined as a horizontal motion picture in step (a).

4. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 1, wherein said step (c) comprises the steps of:

selecting a first mode in the case of the motion types where the motion type of the determined current picture is not a horizontal motion picture; and

adaptively selecting one of the first mode and a second mode according to the motion kind of a camera and/or an object in the horizontal motion current, in the case that the motion type of the determined current picture is the horizontal motion picture,

in which the first mode is a stereoscopic image display mode where the current picture is determined as a left picture and the corresponding mixed picture is determined as a right picture, and the second mode is a stereoscopic image display mode where the current picture is determined as a right picture and the corresponding mixed picture is determined as a left picture.

5. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 1, wherein said step (a) further comprises the step of adaptively redetermining the motion type of the determined current picture, based on combination of each motion type of the current picture and the previous picture, in order to reduce the picture trembling between the temporally successive stereoscopic images remarkably.

6. A stereoscopic image generation method for generating a stereoscopic image using MPEG encoded data containing I, B and P pictures, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving the picture data and generating and storing motion vectors corresponding to macroblocks in the picture;

(b) storing the pictures rerproducted from the encoded picture data by the number K of pictures;

(c) determining a motion type corresponding to a current picture using the motion vectors stored in step (a);

(d) generating a mixed picture corresponding to the current picture using the previous pictures stored in step (b) and the motion type determined in step (c) and outputting the current picture and the mixed picture; and

(e) receiving the current picture and the mixed picture output from step (d) and determining the current picture into one of the left picture and the right picture forming a stereoscopic image and the mixed picture into the other thereof.

7. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 6, wherein said step (a) comprises the steps of parsing the bitstream containing the picture data, extracting data of the I, B and P pictures, and extracting and generating the motion vector of the macroblock of each picture using the extracted I, B and P pictures, thereby forming the motion vector field of the corresponding picture.

8. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 7, wherein said step (a) comprises the steps of extracting the motion vector contained in the picture data for each macroblock, scaling the extracted result considering picture interval M applied at the time of predictive encoding, applying an interpolation method to a macroblock having no motion vector to obtain the motion vector of a corresponding macroblock, and forming a motion vector field of a B picture with the scaled motion vector and the interpolated motion vector, in the case that the extracted picture data is the B picture data.

9. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 7, wherein said step (a) comprises the steps of extracting the motion vector contained in the picture data for each macroblock, scaling the extracted result considering a picture interval M between an I/P picture and a P picture applied at the time of predictive encoding, applying an interpolation method to a macroblock having no motion vector to obtain the motion vector of a corresponding macroblock, and forming a motion vector field of the P picture with the scaled motion vector and the interpolated motion vector, in the case that the extracted picture data is the P picture data.

10. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 7, wherein said step (a) comprises the step of forming the motion vector of the I picture using at least one motion vectors of the B picture which has been backward predicted prior to the I picture, in the case that the extracted picture data is the I picture data.

11. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 10, wherein the motion vector of the I picture is obtained by using the motion vectors of the macroblocks in the B picture corresponding to each macroblock in the I picture, and the motion vector of the I picture is obtained by using one of a first method considering the motion vectors of the macroblocks corresponding to the B picture and the whole directions of the motion vectors, a second method considering only the motion vectors of the corresponding macroblocks, and a third method considering only an area of the corresponding macroblocks.

12. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 6, wherein said step (c) comprises the step of determining the motion type of the current picture into one of a still picture, a non-horizontal motion picture, a horizontal motion picture and a fast motion picture, using the motion vectors obtained in step (a).

13. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 12, wherein said step (c) comprises the step of determining the motion type of the current picture based on a ratio occupied by the macroblocks having the motion feature corresponding motion type among the whole macroblocks in the current picture.

14. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 13, wherein said step (c) comprises the steps of determining the motion type of the current picture into one of a still picture and a motion picture, based on a ratio occupied by the still macroblocks among the whole macroblocks of the current picture,

determining the motion type of the current picture into one of a non-horizontal motion picture and a horizontal motion picture, based on a ratio occupied by the non-horizontal macroblocks based on the maximum vertical fusion threshold angle and the maximum vertical parallax threshold value among the whole macroblocks of the current picture, and

determining the motion type of the current picture into one of a fast motion picture and a horizontal motion picture, based on a ratio occupied by the fast motion macroblocks based on the maximum horizontal parallax threshold value among the whole macroblocks of the current picture.

15. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 12, wherein said step (d) comprises the steps of allocating depth information differently from each other based on a brightness of predetermined each block in the current picture and/or the standard deviation thereof, converting the allocated depth information into a horizontal parallax, and generating the mixed picture, if the motion type of the current picture is determined as a still picture in step (c).

16. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 12, wherein if the motion type of the current picture is determined as a non-horizontal motion picture in step (c), said step (d) comprises the steps of allocating a parallax value differently from each other between the macroblocks whose motion directions are same as the camera motion direction and the macroblocks whose motion directions are not same as the camera motion direction, in the case that both the camera and the object move in the current picture and generating the mixed picture,

said step (d) comprises the steps of allocating a parallax value differently from each other between the motion macroblocks and the still macroblocks, in the case that only the object moves in the current picture and generating the mixed picture, and

said step (d) comprises the steps of obtaining a parallax value corresponding to a current macroblock using at least one motion vector of peripheral edge macroblock according to the edge feature of the current macroblock and the motion vector of the previous picture macroblock, in the case that only the camera moves in the current picture and generating the mixed picture.

17. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 12, wherein said step (d) comprises the steps of converting the motion vector of the fast motion macroblocks in the current picture into the maximum horizontal parallax value, so that the macroblocks is moved by the maximum horizontal parallax value, mixing the horizontally moved macroblocks with the just previous picture to thereby generate the mixed picture, if the motion type of the current picture is determined as a fast motion picture in step (c).

18. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 12, wherein said step (d) comprises the steps of generating the previous picture as mixed picture based on the maximum horizontal parallax threshold value, the average horizontal motion velocity or the maximum horizontal motion velocity of the motion vectors in the current picture, if the motion type of the current picture is determined as a horizontal motion picture in step (c), and wherein if the horizontal motion velocity in the current picture is relatively fast, a temporally close previous picture is selected, while if the horizontal motion velocity in the current picture is relatively slow, a temporally far previous picture is selected.

19. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 12, wherein said step (e) comprises the steps of:

selecting the first mode in the case that the motion type of the current picture is determined as the motion types which are not the horizontal motion picture in said step (c); and

adaptively selecting one of the first mode and the second mode according to the motion kind of the camera and/or the object in the current picture in the case that the motion type of the current picture is determined as the horizontal motion picture in said step (c),

in which the first mode is a stereoscopic image display mode where the current picture is determined as a left picture and the corresponding mixed picture is determined as a right picture, and the second mode is a stereoscopic image display mode where the current picture is determined as a right picture and the corresponding mixed picture is determined as a left picture.

20. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 19, wherein if the motion type of the current picture is a horizontal motion picture, the motion vector field of the current picture is analyzed, so as to select the first mode in the cases that only the camera moves to the left, only the object moves to the right, both the camera and the object move to the right, or the camera moves to the left and the object moves to the right, in the current picture and to select the second mode in the cases that only the camera moves to the right, only the object moves to the left, the camera moves to the right and the object moves to the left, both the camera and the object move to the left, the camera moves to the right and the objects move to the left and right, or the camera moves to the left and the objects move to the left and right, in the current picture.

21. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 19, wherein if the motion type of the current picture is a horizontal motion picture, the current picture is bisected into a first area being an edge area and a second area being a central area, and the motion kind of the camera and/or the object in the current picture is determined based on the each horizontal motion vector directions and the macroblocks belonging to each of the first area and the second area, and the number and the distribution thereof.

22. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 12, further comprising the step of adaptively redetermining the motion type of the determined current picture, based on the combination of each motion type of the current picture and the previous picture, in order to remarkably reduce the picture trembling between the temporally successive stereoscopic images.

23. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 22, wherein the motion types of the picture considered in the motion type redetermination step are classified into a still picture, a non-horizontal motion picture and a horizontal motion picture, in which the horizontal motion picture comprises a fast motion picture and a horizontal motion picture which are considered in the initial determination, and if the motion type of the previous picture is a still picture, the motion type which has been determined initially does not change irrespective of the motion type of the current picture.

24. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 23, wherein said motion type redetermination step comprises the steps of adaptively readjusting the threshold values used at the time of the initial determination of the motion type of the current picture according to the combination of each motion type of the current picture and the previous picture, and redetermining the motion type of the current picture, if the motion types of the previous picture and the current picture are different from each other.

25. The stereoscopic image generation method of claim 23, wherein if the motion types of the previous picture and the current picture are same,

said motion type redetermination step comprises the steps of redetermining the motion kind of the camera and/or the object in the non-horizontal motion picture and generating the corresponding stereoscopic image based on the redetermined result, in the case that both the motion types of the previous picture and the current picture are non-horizontal motion pictures, and

said motion type redetermination step comprises the steps of determining the previous picture corresponding to the mixed picture considering the horizontal motion velocities of both the previous and current pictures, redetermining the motion kind of the camera and/or the object in the current picture and determining a stereoscopic image display mode based on the redetermined result, in the case that both the motion types of the previous picture and the current picture are horizontal motion pictures.

26. A stereoscopic image generation apparatus for generating a stereoscopic image from image data, the apparatus comprising:

a motion type determiner for determining a motion type of a current picture into one of a still picture, a non-horizontal motion picture, a horizontal motion picture and a fast motion picture, using motion vectors in each picture according to the image data;

a stereoscopic image generator for generating a mixed picture corresponding to the current picture using previous pictures according to the image data and the determined motion type and outputting the current picture and the mixed picture; and

a left/right picture determiner for receiving the current picture and mixed picture output from the stereoscopic image generator and determining the current picture into one of the left picture and the right picture forming a stereoscopic image and the mixed picture into the other thereof, in accordance with the motion type determined in the motion type determiner.

27. The stereoscopic image generation apparatus of claim 26, wherein said motion type determiner determines the motion type of the current picture based on a ratio occupied by the macroblocks having a motion feature corresponding to said each motion type among the entire macroblocks of the current picture.

28. The stereoscopic image generation apparatus of claim 26, wherein said stereoscopic image generator comprises at least one of a mixed still picture generator, a mixed non-horizontal motion picture generator, a mixed fast motion picture generator, and a mixed horizontal motion picture generator,

if the motion type of the current picture is determined as a still picture in said motion type determiner, said mixed still picture generator allocating depth information differently from each other based on a brightness of predetermined each block in the current picture and/or the standard deviation thereof, converting the allocated depth information into a horizontal parallax, and generating the mixed picture,

if the motion type of the current picture is determined as a non-horizontal motion picture in said motion type determiner, said mixed non-horizontal motion picture generator allocating a parallax value differently from each other between the macroblocks whose motion directions are same as the camera motion direction and the macroblocks whose motion directions are not same as the camera motion direction, in the case that both the camera and the object move in the current picture and generating the mixed picture, allocating a parallax value differently from each other between the motion macroblocks and the still macroblocks, in the case that only the object moves in the current picture and generating the mixed picture, and obtaining a parallax value corresponding to a current macroblock using at least one motion vector of peripheral edge macroblock according to the edge feature of the current macroblock and the motion vector of the previous picture macroblock, in the case that only the camera moves in the current picture and generating the mixed picture.

if the motion type of the current picture is determined as a fast motion picture in said motion type determiner, said mixed fast motion picture generator converting the motion vector of the fast motion macroblocks in the current picture into the maximum horizontal parallax value, so that the macroblocks is moved by the maximum horizontal parallax value, mixing the horizontally moved macroblocks with the just previous picture to thereby generate the mixed picture, and

if the motion type of the current picture is determined as a horizontal motion picture in said motion type determiner, said mixed horizontal motion picture generator generating the previous picture based on the maximum horizontal parallax threshold value and the predetermined horizontal motion value of the motion vectors in the current picture, as mixed picture.

29. The stereoscopic image generation apparatus of claim 26, wherein said left/right picture determiner comprises the steps of:

selecting the first mode in the case that the motion type of the current picture is determined as the motion types which are not the horizontal motion picture in said motion type determiner; and

adaptively selecting one of the first mode and the second mode according to the motion kind of the camera and/or the object in the current picture in the case that the motion type of the current picture is determined as the horizontal motion picture in said motion type determiner,

in which the first mode is a stereoscopic image display mode where the current picture is determined as a left picture and the corresponding mixed picture is determined as a right picture, and the second mode is a stereoscopic image display mode where the current picture is determined as a right picture and the corresponding mixed picture is determined as a left picture.

30. The stereoscopic image generation apparatus of claim 26, further comprising a motion type redeterminer for adaptively redetermining the motion type of the current picture determined in said motion type determiner, based on the combination of each motion type of the current picture and the previous picture, in order to remarkably reduce the picture trembling between the temporally successive stereoscopic images, in which the redetermined motion type of the current picture is used for generation of the corresponding stereoscopic image and/or determination of the left/right picture.

31. The stereoscopic image generation apparatus of claim 26, wherein said stereoscopic image generator comprises at least one of a mixed still picture generator, a mixed non-horizontal motion picture generator, a mixed fast motion picture generator, and a mixed horizontal motion picture generator,

if the motion type of the current picture is determined as a still picture in said motion type determiner, said mixed still picture generator allocating depth information differently from each other based on a brightness of predetermined each block in the current picture and/or the standard deviation thereof, converting the allocated depth information into a horizontal parallax, and generating the mixed picture corresponding to the still picture,

if the motion type of the current picture is determined as a non-horizontal motion picture in said motion type determiner, said mixed non-horizontal motion picture generator allocating a parallax value differently from each other between the macroblocks whose motion directions are same as the camera motion direction and the macroblocks whose motion directions are not same as the camera motion direction, in the case that both the camera and the object move in the current picture and generating the mixed picture, allocating a parallax value differently from each other between the motion macroblocks and the still macroblocks, in the case that only the object moves in the current picture and generating the mixed picture, and obtaining a parallax value corresponding to a current macroblock using at least one motion vector of peripheral edge macroblock according to the edge feature of the current macroblock and the motion vector of the previous picture macroblock, in the case that only the camera moves in the current picture and generating the mixed picture corresponding to the non-horizontal motion picture,

if the motion type of the current picture is determined as a fast motion picture in said motion type determiner, said mixed fast motion picture generator converting the motion vector of the fast motion macroblocks in the current picture into the maximum horizontal parallax value, so that the macroblocks is moved by the maximum horizontal parallax value, mixing the horizontally moved macroblocks with the just previous picture to thereby generate the mixed picture corresponding to the fast motion picture, and

if the motion type of the current picture is determined as a horizontal motion picture in said motion type determiner, said mixed horizontal motion picture generator generating the previous picture based on the maximum horizontal parallax threshold value and the predetermined horizontal motion value of the motion vectors in the current picture, as mixed picture corresponding to the horizontal motion picture.

32. A stereoscopic image generation apparatus for generating a stereoscopic image using MPEG encoded data containing I, B and P pictures, the apparatus comprising:

a motion vector generation and storing unit for receiving the encoded picture data and generating and storing motion vectors corresponding to macroblocks in the picture;

a picture storing unit for storing pictures reproducted from the encoded picture data by the number K of pictures;

a motion type determiner for determining a motion type corresponding to a current picture using the motion vectors stored in the motion vector generation and storing unit;

a stereoscopic image generator for generating a mixed picture corresponding to the current picture using the previous pictures stored in the picture storing unit and the motion type determined in the motion type determiner and outputting the current picture and the mixed picture; and

a left/right picture determiner for receiving the current picture and the mixed picture output from the stereoscopic image generator and determining the current picture into one of the left picture and the right picture forming a stereoscopic image and the mixed picture into the other thereof.

33. The stereoscopic image generation apparatus of claim 32, wherein said motion vector generation and storing unit comprises:

a picture extractor for extracting data of the I, B and P pictures from the MPEG encoded data;

a B picture motion vector generator for extracting and generating each macroblock motion vector of the B picture from the B picture encoded data in said picture extractor;

a P picture motion vector generator for extracting and generating each macroblock motion vector of the P picture from the P picture encoded data in said picture extractor;

an I picture motion vector generator for generating the I picture motion vector using the B picture motion vector generated in said B picture motion vector generator; and

a motion vector field former for forming a motion vector field of each picture corresponding to the motion vectors respectively input from said B picture motion vector generator, said P picture motion vector generator and said I picture motion vector generator.

34. The stereoscopic image generation apparatus of claim 32, wherein said motion type determiner analyzes the motion vectors corresponding to the current picture generated in said motion vector generation and storing unit, and determines the motion type of the current picture as one of a still picture, a non-horizontal motion picture, a horizontal motion picture and a fast motion picture.

35. The stereoscopic image generation apparatus of claim 34, wherein said motion type determiner determines the motion type of the current picture based on a ratio occupied by the macroblocks having a motion feature corresponding to said each motion type among the entire macroblocks of the current picture.

36. The stereoscopic image generation apparatus of claim 35, wherein said motion type determiner comprises at least one of a motion/still picture determiner, a horizontal/non-horizontal motion picture determiner and a horizontal/fast motion picture determiner,

said motion/still picture determiner determining the motion type of the current picture into one of a still picture and a motion picture, based on a ratio occupied by the still macroblocks among the whole macroblocks of the current picture,

said horizontal/non-horizontal motion picture determiner determining the motion type of the current picture into one of a non-horizontal motion picture and a horizontal motion picture, based on a ratio occupied by the non-horizontal macroblocks based on the maximum vertical fusion threshold angle and the maximum vertical parallax threshold value among the whole macroblocks of the current picture, and

said horizontal/fast motion picture determiner determining the motion type of the current picture into one of a fast motion picture and a horizontal motion picture, based on a ratio occupied by the fast motion macroblocks based on the maximum horizontal parallax threshold value among the whole macroblocks of the current picture.

37. The stereoscopic image generation apparatus of claim 34, wherein said stereoscopic image generator comprises at least one of a mixed still picture generator, a mixed non-horizontal motion picture generator, a mixed fast motion picture generator, and a mixed horizontal motion picture generator,

if the motion type of the current picture is determined as a still picture in said motion type determiner, said mixed still picture generator allocating depth information differently from each other based on a brightness of predetermined each block in the current picture and/or the standard deviation thereof, converting the allocated depth information into a horizontal parallax, and generating the mixed picture,

if the motion type of the current picture is determined as a non-horizontal motion picture in said motion type determiner, said mixed non-horizontal motion picture generator allocating a parallax value differently from each other between the macroblocks whose motion directions are same as the camera motion direction and the macroblocks whose motion directions are not same as the camera motion direction, in the case that both the camera and the object move in the current picture and generating the mixed picture, allocating a parallax value differently from each other between the motion macroblocks and the still macroblocks, in the case that only the object moves in the current picture and generating the mixed picture, and obtaining a parallax value corresponding to a current macroblock using at least one motion vector of peripheral edge macroblock according to the edge feature of the current macroblock and the motion vector of the previous picture macroblock, in the case that only the camera moves in the current picture and generating the mixed picture,

if the motion type of the current picture is determined as a fast motion picture in said motion type determiner, said mixed fast motion picture generator converting the motion vector of the fast motion macroblocks in the current picture into the maximum horizontal parallax value, so that the macroblocks is moved by the maximum horizontal parallax value, mixing the horizontally moved macroblocks with the just previous picture to thereby generate the mixed picture, and

if the motion type of the current picture is determined as a horizontal motion picture in said motion type determiner, said mixed horizontal motion picture generator generating the previous picture based on the maximum horizontal parallax threshold value and the predetermined horizontal motion value of the motion vectors in the current picture, as mixed picture.

38. The stereoscopic image generation apparatus of claim 34, wherein said left/right picture determiner selects the first mode in the case that the motion type of the current picture is determined as the motion types which are not the horizontal motion picture in said motion type determiner, and adaptively selects one of the first mode and the second mode according to the motion kind of the camera and/or the object in the current picture in the case that the motion type of the current picture is determined as the horizontal motion picture in said motion type determiner, in which the first mode is a stereoscopic image display mode where the current picture is determined as a left picture and the corresponding mixed picture is determined as a right picture, and the second mode is a stereoscopic image display mode where the current picture is determined as a right picture and the corresponding mixed picture is determined as a left picture.

39. The stereoscopic image generation apparatus of claim 34, further comprising a motion type redeterminer for adaptively redetermining the motion type of the current picture determined in said motion type determiner, based on the combination of each motion type of the current picture and the previous picture, in order to remarkably reduce the picture trembling between the temporally successive stereoscopic images, in which the redetermined motion type of the current picture is used for generation of the corresponding stereoscopic image and/or determination of the left/right picture.

40. The stereoscopic image generation apparatus of claim 39, wherein said motion type redeterminer does not change the motion type of the current picture if the motion type of the previous picture is a still picture,

said motion type redeterminer adaptively readjusts the threshold values used at the time of the initial determination of the motion type of the current picture according to the combination of each motion type of the current picture and the previous picture, and redetermines the motion type of the current picture, if the motion types of the previous picture and the current picture are different from each other, and

said motion type redeterminer redetermines the motion kind of the camera and/or the object in the non-horizontal motion picture or the horizontal motion picture and determines the previous picture corresponding to the horizontal motion picture considering the horizontal motion velocities of both the previous and current pictures, if the motion types of the previous picture and the current picture are same.