Three-dimensional image evaluation unit and display device using the unit

• US 7,372,987 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2002
• Issued: 05/13/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Original Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Inventors: Tokuhashi, Yuki, Tanaka, Yoshinobu
• Primary Examiner(s): CHAWAN, SHEELA C
• Application Number:
  US10/482,316
• Publication Number:
  US 20040208357A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,251 Days
• Field of Search: 382/154, 382/199, 382/209, 348/345, 348/432, 348/355, 348/348, 348/E13.016, 348/E13.024, 348/E13.025, 348/E13.008, 348/E13.02, 348/E13.023, 348/E13.066, 348/347, 348/47, 348/42, 250/201.2, 396/101
• US Class Current: 382/154
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10012 Stereo images
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/97 Determining parameters from multiple pictures depth or shape recovery from multiple images G06T7/55; stereo camera calibration G06T7/85
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/147 Details of sensors, e.g. sensor lenses fingerprint or palmprint sensors G06V40/13; vascular sensors G06V40/145; eye sensors G06V40/19
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/128 Adjusting depth or disparity
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/144 for flicker reduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/161 Encoding, multiplexing or demultiplexing different image signal components for multi-view video sequence encoding H04N19/597
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 17/04 for receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2213/002 Eyestrain reduction by processing stereoscopic signals or controlling stereoscopic devices

Abstract

A three-dimensional image evaluation unit (100) for evaluating an input image. The parallax statistic is calculated by measuring the parallax included in the input image by a parallax measuring means (3), the static parallax evaluation value for the calculated parallax statistic and/or a dynamic parallax evaluation value for a temporal change in the parallax statistic is determined by a static parallax evaluating means (4-1) and/or a dynamic parallax evaluating means (4-2) of an evaluating means (4) to evaluate parallax information on the image. An abrupt change in the parallax can be evaluated thereby, and countermeasures against errors in measurement and noise of the image can be taken, so that parallax information on the image can be suitably evaluated.

Claims

1. A three-dimensional image evaluation device for evaluating an input image that comprises information of a right side image and a left side image for constructing a three-dimensional image, said three-dimensional image evaluation device comprising:

parallax measuring means for measuring parallax included in the input image and calculating values of parallax statistics of the measured parallax; and

evaluating means for setting an evaluation value according to the calculated values of the parallax statistics,

wherein the evaluating means comprises at least one of static parallax evaluating means for setting an evaluation value based on the values of the parallax statistics and a dynamic parallax evaluating means for setting an evaluation value based on a temporal change in the values of the parallax statistics.

2. A three-dimensional image evaluation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the dynamic parallax evaluating means sets a constant value as the evaluation value when the temporal change exceeds a specified value.

3. A three-dimensional image evaluation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the dynamic parallax evaluating means accumulates the parallax change while the parallax change is consecutive, and the dynamic parallax evaluating means sets the evaluation value according to the accumulated value, when a series of change breaks off.

4. A three-dimensional image evaluation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the dynamic parallax evaluating means accumulates the parallax change, and a constant evaluation value is set when the accumulated value exceeds a default.

5. A three-dimensional image evaluation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the parallax measuring means makes a histogram by measuring the parallax included in the input image, and calculates the values of the parallax statistics based on parallax values appearing in the histogram with a frequency exceeding a threshold.

6. A three-dimensional image evaluation device as claimed in any one of claims 1-5, further comprising:

image recognition means for recognizing a kind of an image displayed by an image display means; and

preprocessing means for performing picture processing to the input image according to the recognized kind of the image,

wherein the image processed by the preprocessing means is supplied to the parallax measuring means.

7. A three-dimensional image evaluation device as claimed in any one of claims 1-5, further comprising error code setting means for setting an error code based on the parallax measurement by the parallax measuring means, wherein the evaluating means changes the evaluation value according to the set error code.

8. A three-dimensional image evaluation device as claimed in any one of claims 1-5, further comprising display mode recognizing means for recognizing a display mode of an image in an image display means, wherein the evaluating means sets the evaluation value according to the recognized display mode.

9. A display device comprising:

image display means for displaying the input image,

the three-dimensional image evaluation device as claimed in any one of claims 1-5, for evaluating the input image, and

display control means for controlling the display of the input image by the image display means based on the evaluation value set by the three-dimensional image evaluation device.

10. A three-dimensional image evaluation device for evaluating an input image that comprises information of a right side image and a left side image for constructing a three-dimensional image, said three-dimensional image evaluation device comprising:

parallax measuring means for measuring parallax included in the input image and calculating values of parallax statistics of the measured parallax; and

evaluating means for setting an evaluation value according to the calculated values of the parallax statistics,

wherein the evaluating means comprises at least one of static parallax evaluating means for setting an evaluation value based on the values of the parallax statistics and dynamic parallax evaluating means for setting an evaluation value based on a temporal change in the values of the parallax statistics,

wherein the parallax measuring means measures the parallax by dividing the input image into a plurality of blocks, measuring a parallax amount of each of the blocks, and excluding a parallax amount obtained from at least one blocks for which it is determined that the parallax amount could not be measured, and

wherein the parallax measuring means calculates the values of the parallax statistics by making a histogram of the measured parallax amounts, and disregarding data of the parallax amounts appearing in the histogram with a frequency that is lower than a predetermined threshold.