Process and system for encoding and playback of stereoscopic video sequences

• US 7,844,001 B2
• Filed: 04/20/2010
• Issued: 11/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: 3DN, LLC
• Original Assignee: SENSIO Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Routhier, Nicholas, Belzile, Jean, Malouin, Daniel, Dallaire, Martin, Carpentier, Pierre-Paul, Thibeault, Claude
• Primary Examiner(s): Rao; Andy S
• Application Number:
  US12/764,071
• Publication Number:
  US 20100188482A1
• Time in Patent Office: 224 Days
• Field of Search: 37524001-24029, 348 42- 60
• US Class Current: 375/240.25
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2200/04 involving 3D image data
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/20 Analysis of motion motion estimation for coding, decoding, compressing or decompressing digital video signals H04N19/43, H04N19/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/139 Format conversion, e.g. of frame-rate or size
• 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 13/167 Synchronising or controlling image signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/189 Recording image signals; Reproducing recorded image signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/339 using spatial multiplexing H04N13/337 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/341 using temporal multiplexing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/344 with head-mounted left-right displays
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/398 Synchronisation thereof; Control thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/597 specially adapted for multi-view video sequence encoding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2013/0096 Synchronisation or controlling aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2213/002 Eyestrain reduction by processing stereoscopic signals or controlling stereoscopic devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2213/007 Aspects relating to detection of stereoscopic image format, e.g. for adaptation to the display format

Abstract

A method for decoding a compressed image stream, the image stream having a plurality of frames, each frame consisting of a merged image including pixels from a left image and pixels from a right image. The method involves the steps of receiving each merged image; changing a clock domain from the original input signal to an internal domain; for each merged image, placing at least two adjacent pixels into an input buffer and interpolating an intermediate pixel, for forming a reconstructed left frame and a reconstructed right frame according to provenance of the adjacent pixels; and reconstructing a stereoscopic image stream from the left and right image frames. The invention also teaches a system for decoding a compressed image stream.

Claims

1. A method for encoding a stereoscopic image stream comprised of a plurality of right-eye and left-eye image frames into a standard compressed digital stream containing merged video frames each containing spatially compressed subimages, the method comprising:

spatially compressing in a processor said plurality of right-eye and left-eye image frames by keeping complementary mosaics of pixels according to different spatial subsampling patterns to form field subimages so as to have pixels sampled from different spatial coordinates;

concatenating in a processor said subimages to form merged video frames; and

encoding in a processor said merged video frames according to said compressed digital format.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said mosaics are checkerboard mosaics.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein said subimages are concatenated side-by-side to contain one left-eye image field and one right-eye image field.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein said encoding comprises MPEG encoding of said merged video frames.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein said encoding comprises MPEG-2 encoding of said merged video frames.

6. A method for decoding a stereoscopic digital image stream containing merged right-eye and left-eye image frames having a plurality of field subimage areas of pixels subsampled from right-eye and left-eye image frames, the method comprising:

decompressing said digital image stream to obtain said merged image frames;

arranging in a processor pixels from said merged image frames in accordance with a first spatial decoding pattern of pixels to form a portion of the pixels of decoded right-eye image frames;

arranging in a processor pixels from said merged image frames in accordance with a second spatial decoding pattern of pixels to form a portion of the pixels of decoded left-eye image frames, wherein coordinates of the portion of pixels of decoded left-eye image frames are different from coordinates of the portion of pixels of decoded right-eye image frames; and

interpolating in a processor pixels obtained from said merged image frames to complete pixels in said decoded right-eye image frames and to complete pixels in said decoded left-eye image frames.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein a first spatial subsampling pattern is a checkerboard mosaic and said first decoding pattern arranges said portion of the pixels of decoded right-eye images into a checkerboard mosaic, and a second spatial subsampling pattern is a checkerboard mosaic opposite said first spatial subsampling pattern and said second decoding pattern arranges said portion of the pixels of decoded left-eye images into a checkerboard mosaic opposite said portion of the pixels of decoded right-eye images.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein said merged image frames comprise a pair of side-by-side field areas.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein said decompressing comprises MPEG decoding.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein said decompressing comprises MPEG-2 decoding.

11. An encoder for processing a stereoscopic image stream comprised of a plurality of right-eye and left-eye image frames into a standard compressed digital stream containing merged video frames each containing spatially compressed subimages, the encoder comprising at least one processor configured to perform:

spatially compressing said plurality of right-eye and left-eye image frames by keeping complementary mosaics of pixels according to different spatial subsampling patterns to form field subimages so as to have pixels sampled from different spatial coordinates;

concatenating said subimages to form merged video frames; and

encoding said merged video frames according to said compressed digital format.

12. The encoder as claimed in claim 11, wherein said mosaics are checkerboard mosaics.

13. The encoder as claimed in claim 12, wherein said subimages are concatenated side-by-side to contain one left-eye image field and one right-eye image field.

14. The encoder as claimed in claim 13, wherein said encoding comprises MPEG encoding of said merged video frames.

15. The encoder as claimed in claim 14, wherein said encoding comprises MPEG-2 encoding of said merged video frames.