Metadata generating method and apparatus and image processing method and apparatus using metadata

• US 8,294,754 B2
• Filed: 09/10/2009
• Issued: 10/23/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Jung, Kil-soo, Jun, Hye-young, Lee, Dae-jong
• Primary Examiner(s): Won, Michael
• Application Number:
  US12/556,678
• Publication Number:
  US 20100225740A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,139 Days
• Field of Search: 348/43, 348/46, 348/51, 348/60
• US Class Current: 348/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/178 Metadata, e.g. disparity information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/261 with monoscopic-to-stereoscopic image conversion

Abstract

A metadata generating method including: receiving sub-region dividing information to divide an object into a plurality of sub-regions; and generating sub-region indicating information to indicate each of the plurality of sub-regions divided according to the sub-region dividing information.

Claims

1. A sub-region indicating information generating method for a two-dimensional (2D) image comprising a background and an object, the method comprising:

receiving sub-region dividing information to divide the object into a plurality of sub-regions, wherein the sub-region dividing information comprises information to divide the object into a transparent region through which the background is visible and an opaque region through which the background is not visible; and

generating, by a generating apparatus, sub-region indicating information to separately identify each of the plurality of sub-regions divided according to the sub-region dividing information, wherein the generating of the sub-region indicating information comprises generating the sub-region indicating information to separately identify the transparent region and the opaque region,

wherein the generated sub-region indicating information is used to convert the 2D image of the object into a three-dimensional (3D) image of the object relative to the background,

wherein the generating of the sub-region indicating information to separately identify the transparent region and the opaque region comprises;

generating a transparent region indicating mask to identify the transparent region; and

generating an opaque region indicating mask to identify the opaque region, and

wherein the generating of the opaque region indicating mask comprises generating a mask in which the opaque region has a first color and a remaining region of the 2D image other than the opaque region has a second color, different from the first color.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a portion of an edge of the transparent region meets the opaque region, and the generating of the transparent region indicating mask comprises generating a mask in which a portion of the edge of the transparent region that does not intersect with the opaque region has the first color, and the portion of the edge of the transparent region that intersects with the opaque region has the second color.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, further comprising generating metadata to convert the 2D image into the 3D image,

wherein the generated metadata comprises information about the transparent region indicating mask and the opaque region indicating mask and depth values to be respectively applied to the corresponding sub-regions identified by the transparent region indicating mask and the opaque region indicating mask.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the generating of the sub-region indicating information to separately identify the transparent region and the opaque region comprises generating coordinate information to separately identify the transparent region and the opaque region.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein a portion of an edge of the transparent region meets the opaque region, and the generating of the coordinate information comprises generating transparent region coordinate information to separately identify the transparent region, the generated transparent region coordinate information indicating only a portion of the edge of the transparent region that does not intersect with the opaque region.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, further comprising generating metadata to convert the 2D image into the 3D image,

wherein the generated metadata comprises coordinate information to indicate the transparent region, coordinate information to indicate the opaque region, and respective depth values to be applied to the corresponding coordinate information.

7. A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon metadata used by an image processing apparatus to convert a two-dimensional (2D) image into a three-dimensional (3D) image, wherein the metadata comprises:

depth information to add depth to a background included in the 2D image; and

object depth information to add depth to an object included in the 2D image, wherein the object depth information comprises sub-region indicating information to separately identify a transparent region of the object through which the background is visible and an opaque region of the object through which the background is not visible, a transparent depth value to be applied by the image processing apparatus to the transparent region, and an opaque depth value to be applied by the image processing apparatus to the opaque region,

wherein the sub-region indicating information comprises an opaque region indicating mask to identify the opaque region, and

wherein the opaque region indicating mask is a mask in which the opaque region has a first color and a remaining region of the 2D image other than the opaque region has a second color, different from the first color.

8. The computer-readable recording medium as claimed in claim 7, wherein the sub-region indicating information further comprises a transparent region indicating mask to identify the transparent region.

9. The computer-readable recording medium as claimed in claim 8, wherein:

the opaque region indicating mask is a mask in which the opaque region has a first color and a remaining region of the 2D image other than the opaque region has a second color, different from the first color; and

the transparent region indicating mask is a mask in which a portion of an edge of the transparent region that does not intersect with the opaque region has the first color, and a remaining portion of the edge of the transparent region that intersects with the opaque region has the second color.

10. The computer-readable recording medium as claimed in claim 7, wherein the sub-region indicating information comprises coordinate information to separately identify the transparent region and the opaque region.

11. The computer-readable recording medium as claimed in claim 10, wherein the coordinate information comprises transparent region coordinate information to separately identify the transparent region, the transparent region coordinate information indicating only a portion of an edge of the transparent region that does not intersect with the opaque region.

12. A depth information generating apparatus comprising:

a background depth information generating unit to generate depth information for a background of a 2D image; and

an object depth information generating unit to generate depth information for an object of the 2D image,

wherein the object depth information generating unit comprises;

a sub-region dividing information input unit to receive sub-region dividing information to divide the object into a plurality of sub-regions, wherein the sub-region dividing information comprises information to divide the object into a transparent region through which the background is visible and an opaque region through which the background is not visible; and

a sub-region indicating information generating unit to generate sub-region indicating information to separately identify each of the plurality of sub-regions divided according to the sub-region dividing information, wherein the sub-region indicating information generating unit generates the sub-region indicating information to separately identify the transparent region and the opaque region, generates a transparent region indicating mask to identify the transparent region and an opaque region indicating mask to identify the opaque region, and generates, as the opaque region indicating mask, a mask in which the opaque region has a first color and a remaining region of the 2D image other than the opaque region has a second color, different from the first color.

13. The depth information generating apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein a portion of an edge of the transparent region meets the opaque region, and the sub-region indicating information generating unit generates, as the transparent region indicating mask, a mask in which a portion of the edge of the transparent region that does not intersect with the opaque region has the first color and the portion of the edge of the transparent region that intersects with the opaque region has the second color.

14. The depth information generating apparatus as claimed in claim 13, further comprising a metadata generating unit to generate metadata to convert the 2D image into a 3D image,

wherein the generated metadata comprises information about the transparent region indicating mask and the opaque region indicating mask and depth values to be respectively applied to the corresponding sub-regions identified by the transparent region indicating mask and the opaque region indicating mask.

15. The depth information generating apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein the sub-region indicating information generating unit generates coordinate information to separately identify the transparent region and the opaque region.

16. The depth information generating apparatus as claimed in claim 15, wherein a portion of an edge of the transparent region meets the opaque region, and the sub-region indicating information generating unit generates transparent region coordinate information to separately identify the transparent region, the generated transparent region coordinate information indicating only a portion of the edge of the transparent region that does not intersect with the opaque region.

17. The depth information generating apparatus as claimed in claim 16, further comprising a metadata generating unit to generate metadata to convert the 2D image into a 3D image,

wherein the generated metadata comprises coordinate information to identify the transparent region, coordinate information to identify the opaque region, and respective depth values to be applied to the corresponding coordinate information.

18. An image processing method comprising:

generating, by an image processing apparatus, a depth map for a background of a 2D image by using background depth information included in metadata corresponding to the 2D image;

generating, by the image processing apparatus, a depth map for an object of the 2D image by using object depth information included in the metadata; and

generating a three-dimensional (3D) image from the 2D image according to the generated depth map, wherein the generating of the depth map for the object comprises generating the depth map for the object by using sub-region indicating information that separately identifies a transparent region of the object through which the background is visible and an opaque region of the object through which the background is not visible, the sub-region indicating information being included in the object depth information, wherein the sub-region indicating information comprises an opaque region indicating mask in which the opaque region has a first color and a remaining region of the 2D image other than the opaque region has a second color, different from the first color.

19. The image processing method as claimed in claim 18, wherein a portion of the transparent region meets the opaque region, and the sub-region indicating information further comprises a transparent region indicating mask in which a portion of an edge of the transparent region that does not intersect with the opaque region has the first color and a remaining portion of the edge of the transparent region that intersects with the opaque region has the second color.

20. The image processing method as claimed in claim 18, wherein the sub-region indicating information comprises coordinate information to separately identify the transparent region and the opaque region, and a portion of the transparent region meets the opaque region.

21. The image processing method as claimed in claim 20, wherein the coordinate information identifying the transparent region comprises coordinate information indicating a portion of an edge of the transparent region that does not intersect with the opaque region.

22. An image processing apparatus comprising:

a background depth map generating unit to generate a depth map for a background of a 2D image by using background depth information included in metadata corresponding to the 2D image; and

an object depth map generating unit to generate a depth map for an object of the 2D image by using object depth information included in the metadata, wherein the object depth map generating unit generates the depth map for the object by using sub-region indicating information that separately identifies a transparent region of the object through which the background is visible and an opaque region of the object through which the background is not visible, the sub-region indicating information being included in the object depth information, wherein the sub-region indicating information comprises an opaque region indicating mask in which the opaque region has a first color and a remaining region of the 2D image other than the opaque region has a second color, different from the first color.

23. The image processing apparatus as claimed in claim 22, wherein a portion of the transparent region meets the opaque region, and the sub-region indicating information further comprises a transparent region indicating mask in which a portion of an edge of the transparent region that does not intersect with the opaque region has the first color and a remaining portion of the edge of the transparent region that intersects with the opaque region has the second color.

24. The image processing apparatus as claimed in claim 22, wherein the sub-region indicating information comprises coordinate information to separately identify the transparent region and the opaque region, and a portion of the transparent region meets the opaque region, and.

25. The image processing apparatus as claimed in claim 24, wherein the coordinate information indicating the transparent region comprises coordinate information identifying a portion of an edge of the transparent region that does not intersect with the opaque region.

26. A depth information generating apparatus to generate depth information for an object of a 2D image relative to a background of the 2D image, the depth information generating apparatus comprising:

a sub-region dividing information input unit to receive sub-region dividing information to divide the object into a plurality of sub-regions, wherein the plurality of sub-regions comprises at least one transparent region through which the background is visible and at least one opaque region through which the background is not visible;

a sub-region indicating information generating unit to generate sub-region indicating information to separately identify each of the plurality of sub-regions according to the sub-region dividing information; and

a depth information input unit to receive respective depth values for the plurality of sub-groups.

27. The depth information generating apparatus as claimed in claim 26, wherein:

the sub-region indicating information generating unit generates a first opaque mask to separately identify a first opaque region and a second opaque mask to separately identify a second opaque region; and

the depth information unit receives a first depth value for the first opaque region and a second depth value, different from the first depth value, for the second opaque region.

28. The depth information generating apparatus as claimed in claim 26, wherein the depth information input unit receives a transparent region depth value for the at least one transparent region, the transparent region depth value being equal to a depth value of the background of the 2D image.