Method and apparatus for filtering video data using a programmable graphics processor

• US 7,733,419 B1
• Filed: 12/14/2007
• Issued: 06/08/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
• Original Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
• Inventors: Amann, Garry W., Azar, Hassane S., Lew, Stephen D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran; Trang U
• Application Number:
  US11/957,363
• Time in Patent Office: 907 Days
• Field of Search: 348/441, 348449-458, 348/556, 348/443, 348/447, 348/E5.055, 348/E7.003, 345/531, 345/557, 345/559, 345/419, 345/629
• US Class Current: 348/441
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/86 involving reduction of coding artifacts, e.g. of blockiness
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/01 Conversion of standards , e.g. involving analogue television standards or digital television standards processed at pixel level
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/012 Conversion between an interlaced and a progressive signal for graphics images G09G2310/0229

Abstract

Video filtering using a programmable graphics processor is described. The programmable graphics processor may be programmed to complete a plurality of video filtering operations in a single pass through a fragment-processing pipeline within the programmable graphics processor. Video filtering functions such as deinterlacing, chroma up-sampling, scaling, and deblocking may be performed by the fragment-processing pipeline. The fragment-processing pipeline may be programmed to perform motion adaptive deinterlacing, wherein a spatially variant filter determines, on a pixel basis, whether a “bob”, a “blend”, or a “weave” operation should be used to process an interlaced image.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for performing video filtering, the method comprising:

generating codewords for shader program instructions, wherein the codewords specify performing a scaling function;

receiving pixel data associated with a pixel within a video frame into a shading pipeline within a programmable graphics processor;

extracting fractional portions from texture coordinates associated with the pixel to use as a filter kernel phase;

accessing a plurality of filter values using the filter kernel phase; and

applying the plurality of filter values to the pixel data to produce scaled pixel data within a scaled video frame.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the video filtering method further comprises:

applying at least one of a chroma up-sampling function, a deblocking function, and a color space conversion function within the shading pipeline.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the video filtering method further comprises:

applying at least one of a chroma up-sampling function, a deblocking function, and a color space conversion function within the shading pipeline in a single pass of the shading pipeline.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the deblocking function is a spatially dependent function.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the deblocking function is a data dependent function.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the video filtering method further comprises:

applying at least one of a reverse gamma correction function and a gamma correction function within the shading pipeline.

7. A method for performing video filtering, the method comprising:

receiving pixel data associated with a pixel within a video frame into a shading pipeline within a programmable graphics processor;

extracting fractional portions from texture coordinates associated with the pixel to produce a filter kernel phase within the shading pipeline using a shader program;

accessing a plurality of filter values using the filter kernel phase using the shader program; and

applying the plurality of filter values to the pixel data to produce scaled pixel data within a scaled video frame using the shader program.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the video filtering method further comprises:

applying at least one of a chroma up-sampling function, a deblocking function, and a color space conversion function within the shading pipeline using the shader program.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the deblocking function is a spatially dependent function.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the deblocking function is a data dependent function.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the video filtering method further comprises:

applying at least one of a reverse gamma correction function and a gamma correction function within the shading pipeline.

12. A computing system comprising:

a host processor;

a host memory, the host memory storing programs for the host processor;

a system interface configured to interface with the host processor; and

a programmable graphics processor for performing video filtering configured to;

generate codewords for shader program instructions, wherein the codewords specify performing a scaling function,

receive pixel data associated with a pixel within a video frame into a shading pipeline within a programmable graphics processor,

extract fractional portions from texture coordinates associated with the pixel to use as a filter kernel phase,

access a plurality of filter values using the filter kernel phase, and

apply the plurality of filter values to the pixel data to produce scaled pixel data within a scaled video frame.

13. The computing system of claim 12, wherein the programmable graphics processor is further configured to apply at least one of a chroma up-sampling function, a deblocking function, and a color space conversion function within the shading pipeline.

14. The computing system of claim 12, wherein the programmable graphics processor is further configured to apply at least one of a chroma up-sampling function, a deblocking function, and a color space conversion function within the shading pipeline in a single pass of the shading pipeline.

15. The computing system of claim 12, wherein the programmable graphics processor is further configured to apply at least one of a reverse gamma correction function and a gamma correction function within the shading pipeline.