Systems and methods for image enhancement in multiple dimensions

• US 7,444,034 B1
• Filed: 08/13/2004
• Issued: 10/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Z Microsystems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Digivision, Inc.
• Inventors: Graham, Melissa, Hier, Richard, Coleman, Terry, Millar, Randy, Thistle, Richard, Eccles, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Ahmed; Samir A
• Assistant Examiner(s): TORRES, JOSE
• Application Number:
  US10/917,858
• Time in Patent Office: 1,537 Days
• Field of Search: 382/152, 382/254, 382/264, 348/14.01
• US Class Current: 382/254
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/40 Scaling of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. expanding or contracting
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/75 Unsharp masking

Abstract

A multi-dimensional data enhancement system can be embedded within a video cable for providing enhanced video images from a video signal source to a display. The multi-dimensional data enhancement system can also be provided in a switching box that allows a user to connect multiple video signal sources to the box and then select a particular video signal source from the group. The selected signal is then enhanced by the switching box before the signal is shown on a display.

Claims

1. An active cable, comprising:

an interface configured to receive a video signal comprising a certain format; and

processing circuitry configured to process the received video signal, wherein the processing circuitry comprises a multi-dimensional image data enhancement device, the multidimensional image data enhancement device comprising;

a convolutional low pass filter configured to convolutionally filter image data in a plurality of dimensions;

a feedback loop coupled to an output of the convolutional low pass filter, the feedback loop configured to receive filtered data from the output of the convolutional low pass filter; and

a multiplexer, coupled to the feedback loop and an input of the convolutional low pass filter, the multiplexer configured to multiplex image data and filtered data under the control of a control signal, the control signal configured to indicate when the image data comprises blanking data and to control the operational rate of the convolutional low pass filter.

2. The active cable of claim 1, further comprising a power source.

3. The active cable of claim 2, wherein the power source comprises a transformer, and wherein the active cable further comprises a power distribution circuit coupled with the transformer and the processing circuitry, the power distribution circuit configured to receive power signals from the transformer and to distribute power to the processing circuitry.

4. The active cable of claim 2, wherein the power source is a DC power source.

5. The active cable of claim 1, further comprising a power source interfaced with the processing circuitry, the power source configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

6. The active cable of claim 5, wherein the power source is a battery.

7. The active cable of claim 5, wherein the power source is a fuel cell.

8. The active cable of claim 1, wherein the control signal is configured to cause the operational rate of the convolutional filter to speed up in order to add fictional blanking data to the blanking data.

9. The active cable of claim 1, wherein convolutionally filtering the image data further comprises low pass filtering and decimating the image data and using the resulting processing overhead to effectively increase the operational rate of the convolutional filter.

10. The active cable of claim 9, wherein the convolutional filtering is performed in a plurality of dimensions.

11. The active cable of claim 1, wherein convolutionally filtering the pixel data during vertical blanking time comprises vertical low pass filtering the pixel data and horizontally decimating the pixel data to produce vertical blanking lines that comprise horizontally decimated data, and thereby increasing the number of vertical lines that can be processed during vertical blanking time.

12. The active cable of claim 1, wherein the convolutional filtering comprises performing low pass filtering in a plurality of dimensions.

13. The active cable of claim 1, wherein the feedback loop is configured to provide artificial data for the blanking data including the fictional blanking data, such that the artificial data is used when processing image data near the edge of a current frame.

14. The active cable of claim 13, wherein the feedback loop is further configured to iteratively provide artificial data for the blanking area including the fictional blanking area.

15. The active cable of claim 14, wherein iteratively providing artificial data comprises feeding back the convolutionally filtered data and multiplexing the convolutionally filtered data with newly received image data during blanking intervals under the control of the control signal.

16. The active cable of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry comprises a de-interlacer.

17. The active cable of claim 1, wherein the multi-dimensional image data enhancement device further comprises an image data processor configured, for each of a plurality of dimensions, to perform a sub-application sampling operation that reduces the amount of image data in each of the plurality of dimensions.

18. The active cable of claim 17, wherein the image data processor comprises a large kernel low pass filter, and wherein sub-sampling comprises low pass filtering the image data in each of the plurality of dimensions using the large kernel low pass filter.

19. The active cable of claim 18 wherein the image data processor further comprises a decimator, and wherein sub-sampling further comprises decimating the low pass filtered image data in each of the plurality of dimensions using the decimator.

20. The active cable of claim 19, wherein the large kernel low pass filtering for at least some of the plurality of dimensions is performed serially.

21. The active cable of claim 18, wherein the large kernel low pass filtering for at least some of the plurality of dimensions is performed in parallel.

22. The active cable of claim 18, wherein the large kernel low pass filter is configured to low pass filter the image data in the same order that the image data is scanned by the image processor.

23. The active cable of claim 17, wherein the image data processor further comprises an interpolator configured, for each of the plurality of dimensions, to interpolate the sub-sampled image data.

24. The active cable of claim 17, wherein the image data processor is further configured to process the interpolated image data.

25. The active cable of claim 24, wherein processing the interpolated image data comprises subtracting the interpolated image data from the original image data to generate a high frequency version of the original image data.

26. The active cable of claim 25, wherein processing the interpolated image data further comprises amplifying the high frequency version of the original data.

27. The active cable of claim 26, wherein processing the interpolated image data further comprises combining the amplified high frequency version of the original data with the original data to generate an enhanced version of the original data.

28. The active cable of claim 24, wherein processing the interpolated image data further comprises separating high frequency image data from low frequency image data, wherein the sub-sampling occurs in relation to the low frequency image data, and wherein processing the interpolated image data comprises combining the interpolated low frequency image data with associated high frequency image data.

29. The active cable of claim 1, further comprising an output interface coupled with processing circuitry, the output interface configured to interface the active cable with a display device, and wherein the processing circuitry is configured to deliver processed video signals to the display device via the output interface.

30. The active cable of claim 29, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to convert the format of the received video signals to a format required by display device when generating the processed video signals.

31. A power distribution device, comprising:

a power input configured to receive a power signal;

a power output coupled to the power input, the power output configured to supply power to a device;

an interface configured to receive a video signal comprising a certain format; and

processing circuitry configured to process the received video signal, wherein the processing circuitry comprises a multi-dimensional image data enhancement device, the multidimensional image data enhancement device comprising;

a convolutional low pass filter configured to convolutionally filter image data in a plurality of dimensions;

a feedback loop coupled to an output of the convolutional low pass filter, the feedback loop configured to receive filtered data from the output of the convolutional low pass filter; and

a multiplexer, coupled to the feedback loop and an input of the convolutional low pass filter, the multiplexer configured to multiplex image data and filtered data under the control of a control signal, the control signal configured to indicate when the image data comprises blanking data and to control the operational rate of the convolutional low pass filter.

32. The power distribution device of claim 31, further comprising a plurality of power outputs each coupled with the power input and each configured to supply power to a device.

33. The power distribution device of claim 31, wherein the power distribution device is a power strip.

34. The power distribution device of claim 31, wherein the power distribution device is a power outlet.

35. The power distribution device of claim 31, wherein the power distribution device comprises a transformer coupled with the power input and a power distribution circuit coupled with the transformer and the processing circuitry, the power distribution circuit configured to receive power signals from the transformer and to distribute power to the processing circuitry.

36. The power distribution device of claim 31, wherein the control signal is configured to cause the operational rate of the convolutional filter to speed up in order to add fictional blanking data to the blanking data.

37. The power distribution device of claim 31, wherein convolutionally filtering the image data further comprises low pass filtering and decimating the image data and using the resulting processing overhead to effectively increase the operational rate of the convolutional filter.

38. The power distribution device of claim 37, wherein the convolutional filtering is performed in a plurality of dimensions.

39. The power distribution device of claim 31, wherein convolutionally filtering the pixel data during vertical blanking time comprises vertical low pass filtering the pixel data and horizontally decimating the pixel data to produce vertical blanking lines that comprise horizontally decimated data, and thereby increasing the number of vertical lines that can be processed during vertical blanking time.

40. The power distribution device of claim 31, wherein the convolutional filtering comprises performing low pass filtering in a plurality of dimensions.

41. The power distribution device of claim 31, wherein the feedback loop is configured to provide artificial data for the blanking data including the fictional blanking data, such that the artificial data is used when processing image data near the edge of a current frame.

42. The power distribution device of claim 41, wherein the feedback loop is further configured to iteratively provide artificial data for the blanking area including the fictional blanking area.

43. The power distribution device of claim 42, wherein iteratively providing artificial data comprises feeding back the convolutionally filtered data and multiplexing the convolutionally filtered data with newly received image data during blanking intervals under the control of the control signal.

44. The power distribution device of claim 31, wherein the processing circuitry comprises a de-interlacer.

45. The power distribution device of claim 31, wherein the multi-dimensional image data enhancement device further comprises an image data processor configured, for each of a plurality of dimensions, to perform a sub-sampling operation that reduces the amount of image data in each of the plurality of dimensions.

46. The power distribution device of claim 45, wherein the image data processor comprises a large kernel low pass filter, and wherein sub-sampling comprises low pass filtering the image data in each of the plurality of dimensions using the large kernel low pass filter.

47. The power distribution device of claim 46, wherein the image data processor further comprises a decimator, and wherein sub-sampling further comprises decimating the low pass filtered image data in each of the plurality of dimensions using the decimator.

48. The power distribution device of claim 47, wherein the large kernel low pass filtering for at least some of the plurality of dimensions is performed serially.

49. The power distribution device of claim 46, wherein the large kernel low pass filtering for at least some of the plurality of dimensions is performed in parallel.

50. The power distribution device of claim 46, wherein the large kernel low pass filter is configured to low pass filter the image data in the same order that the image data is scanned by the image processor.

51. The power distribution device of claim 45, wherein the image data processor further comprises an interpolator configured, for each of the plurality of dimensions, to interpolate the sub-sampled image data.

52. The power distribution device of claim 45, wherein the image data processor is further configured to process the interpolated image data.

53. The power distribution device of claim 52, wherein processing the interpolated image data comprises subtracting the interpolated image data from the original image data to generate a high frequency version of the original image data.

54. The power distribution device of claim 53, wherein processing the interpolated image data further comprises amplifying the high frequency version of the original data.

55. The power distribution device of claim 54, wherein processing the interpolated image data further comprises combining the amplified high frequency version of the original data with the original data to generate an enhanced version of the original data.

56. The power distribution device of claim 52, wherein processing the interpolated image data further comprises separating high frequency image data from low frequency image data, wherein the sub-sampling occurs in relation to the low frequency image data, and wherein processing the interpolated image data comprises combining the interpolated low frequency image data with associated high frequency image data.

57. The power distribution device of claim 35, further comprising an output interface coupled with processing circuitry, the output interface configured to interface the power distribution device with a display device, and wherein the processing circuitry is configured to deliver processed video signals to the display device via the output interface.

58. The active cable of claim 57, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to convert the format of the received video signals to a format required by display device when generating the processed video signals.

59. An interface unit, comprising:

an interface configured to receive a plurality of connections, each of the plurality of connections configured to receive video signals in a certain format; and

a video enhancement device coupled with the interface, the video enhancement device configured to enhance the video signals and to generate an output video signal, wherein the video enhancement device comprises a multi-dimensional image data enhancement device, the multi-dimensional image data enhancement device comprising;

a convolutional low pass filter configured to convolutionally filter image data in a plurality of dimensions;

a feedback loop coupled to an output of the convolutional low pass filter, the feedback loop configured to receive filtered data from the output of the convolutional low pass filter; and

a multiplexer, coupled to the feedback loop and an input of the convolutional low pass filter, the multiplexer configured to multiplex image data and filtered data under the control of a control signal, the control signal configured to indicate when the image data comprises blanking data and to control the operational rate of the convolutional low pass filter.

60. The interface unit of claim 59, wherein the control signal is configured to cause the operational rate of the convolutional filter to speed up in order to add fictional blanking data to the blanking data.

61. The interface unit of claim 59, wherein convolutionally filtering the image data further comprises low pass filtering and decimating the image data and using the resulting processing overhead to effectively increase the operational rate of the convolutional filter.

62. The interface unit of claim 61, wherein the convolutional filtering is performed in a plurality of dimensions.

63. The interface unit of claim 59, wherein convolutionally filtering the pixel data during vertical blanking time comprises vertical low pass filtering the pixel data and horizontally decimating the pixel data to produce vertical blanking lines that comprise horizontally decimated data, and thereby increasing the number of vertical lines that can be processed during vertical blanking time.

64. The interface unit of claim 59, wherein the convolutional filtering comprises performing low pass filtering in a plurality of dimensions.

65. The interface unit of claim 59, wherein the feedback loop is configured to provide artificial data for the blanking data including the fictional blanking data, such that the artificial data is used when processing image data near the edge of a current frame.

66. The interface unit of claim 65, wherein the feedback loop is further configured to iteratively provide artificial data for the blanking area including the fictional blanking area.

67. The interface unit of claim 66, wherein iteratively providing artificial data comprises feeding back the convolutionally filtered data and multiplexing the convolutionally filtered data with newly received image data during blanking intervals under the control of the control signal.

68. The interface unit of claim 59, further comprising a de-interlacer.

69. The interface unit of claim 68, wherein the multi-dimensional image data enhancement device further comprises an image data processor configured, for each of a plurality of dimensions, to perform a sub-sampling operation that reduces the amount of image data in each of the plurality of dimensions.

70. The interface unit of claim 69, wherein the image data processor comprises a large kernel low pass filter, and wherein sub-sampling comprises low pass filtering the image data in each of the plurality of dimensions using the large kernel low pass filter.

71. The interface unit of claim 70, wherein the image data processor further comprises a decimator, and wherein sub-sampling further comprises decimating the low pass filtered image data in each of the plurality of dimensions using the decimator.

72. The interface unit of claim 71, wherein the large kernel low pass filtering for at least some of the plurality of dimensions is performed serially.

73. The active cable of claim 70, wherein the large kernel low pass filtering for at least some of the plurality of dimensions is performed in parallel.

74. The active cable of claim 70, wherein the large kernel low pass filter is configured to low pass filter the image data in the same order that the image data is scanned by the image processor.

75. The active cable of claim 69, wherein the image data processor further comprises an interpolator configured, for each of the plurality of dimensions, to interpolate the sub-sampled image data.

76. The interface unit of claim 69, wherein the image data processor is further configured to process the interpolated image data.

77. The interface unit of claim 76 wherein processing the interpolated image data comprises subtracting the interpolated image data from the original image data to generate a high frequency version of the original image data.

78. The interface unit of claim 77, wherein processing the interpolated image data further comprises amplifying the high frequency version of the original data.

79. The interface unit of claim 78, wherein processing the interpolated image data further comprises combining the amplified high frequency version of the original data with the original data to generate an enhanced version of the original data.

80. The interface unit of claim 76, wherein processing the interpolated image data further comprises separating high frequency image data from low frequency image data, wherein the sub-sampling occurs in relation to the low frequency image data, and wherein processing the interpolated image data comprises combining the interpolated low frequency image data associated with high frequency image data.

81. The interface unit of claim 59, further comprising an output interface coupled with the video enhancement device, the output interface configured to interface the interface unit with a display device, and wherein the video enhancement device is configured to deliver the output video signals to the display device via the output interface.

82. The interface unit of claim 81, wherein the video enhancement device is configured to convert the format of the received video signals to a format required by display device when generating the output video signals.