Image coding apparatus, image decoding apparatus, and image decoding method

• US 8,320,691 B2
• Filed: 09/25/2007
• Issued: 11/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Nakanishi, Keiri
• Primary Examiner(s): Liu, Li
• Application Number:
  US11/860,823
• Publication Number:
  US 20080080779A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,890 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 382/238
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/136 Incoming video signal characteristics or properties
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/139 Analysis of motion vectors, e.g. their magnitude, direction, variance or reliability
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/159 Prediction type, e.g. intra-frame, inter-frame or bidirectional frame prediction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/162 User input
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/17 the unit being an image region, e.g. an object
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/176 the region being a block, e.g. a macroblock
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/513 Processing of motion vectors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/543 using regions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/61 in combination with predictive coding

Abstract

An image coding apparatus includes a particular region detecting unit configured to detect from an input picture a particular region including a particular picture, the particular region detected as a region within the input picture which has a hue within a predetermined range corresponding to an average hue of the particular picture and which has an amount of movement between different frames which is equal to or larger than a threshold. A coding unit generates a coded stream by performing coding processing that is intra-frame coding or interframe coding on the input picture, and performs with respect to the particular region a processing of embedding initial conditions into the coded stream, instead of performing the interframe coding.

Claims

1. An image coding apparatus comprising:

a particular region detecting unit configured to detect from an input picture a particular region including a particular picture, the particular region being detected as a region within the input picture which has a hue within a predetermined range corresponding to an average hue of the particular picture and which has an amount of movement between different frames which is equal to or larger than a threshold;

a simulation picture generating unit configured to generate a simulation part picture of the particular region of subsequent frames based on a simulation by solving a discrete difference equation using initial conditions set thereto, the simulation picture generating unit being configured to obtain the initial conditions such that a difference between the generated simulation part picture and the picture of the particular region detected by the particular region detecting unit is smallest; and

a coding unit configured to generate a coded stream by performing coding processing that is intra-frame coding or interframe coding on the input picture and to perform, with respect to the particular region, processing of embedding the initial conditions obtained by the simulation picture generating unit into the coded stream, instead of performing the interframe coding.

2. The image coding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a picture comparing unit configured to perform comparison on whether or not the simulation part picture approximates the picture in the particular region.

3. The image coding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein if a compared result shows that the simulation part picture approximates the picture in the particular region, the particular region is replaced with a predetermined picture.

4. The image coding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein if a compared result shows that the simulation part picture does not approximate the picture in the particular region, the coding unit performs the interframe coding on the particular region.

5. An image decoding apparatus comprising:

a decoding unit configured to receive an input of a coded stream,

the coded stream being generated by i) detecting from an input picture a particular region including a particular picture, the particular region being detected as a region within the input picture which has a hue within a predetermined range corresponding to an average hue of the particular picture and which has an amount of movement between different frames which is equal to or larger than a threshold, ii) generating a simulation part picture of the particular region of subsequent frames based on a simulation by solving a discrete difference equation using initial conditions set thereto, the initial conditions being obtained such that a difference between the generated simulation part picture and the picture of the detected particular region is smallest, and iii) performing by coding processing that is intra-frame coding or interframe coding on the input picture and performing, with respect to the particular region, processing of embedding the obtained initial conditions into the coded stream, instead of performing the interframe coding; and

the decoding unit being configured to perform the intra-frame decoding or the interframe decoding of the coded stream except the initial conditions embedded into the coded stream and to extract the initial conditions from the coded stream; and

a simulation picture generating unit configured to generate a simulation part picture by setting the initial conditions extracted by the decoding unit to the discrete difference equation and solving the discrete difference equation using the set initial conditions, and combining the generated simulation part picture with the picture obtained by performing the intra-frame coding or the interframe coding.

6. The image decoding apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the simulation picture generating unit generates the simulation part picture by using the Navier-Stokes equation for coding initial conditions independent of a repeating step and number repetitions.

7. An image decoding method comprising:

receiving an input of a coded stream,

the coded stream being generated by i) detecting from an input picture a particular region including a particular picture, the particular region being detected as a region within the input picture which has a hue within a predetermined range corresponding to an average hue of the particular picture and which has an amount of movement between different frames which is equal to or larger than a threshold, ii) generating a simulation part picture of the particular region of subsequent frames based on a simulation by solving a discrete difference equation using initial conditions set thereto, the initial conditions being obtained such that a difference between the generated simulation picture and the picture of the detected particular region is the smallest, and iii) performing coding processing that is intra-frame coding or interframe coding on the input picture and performing, with respect to the particular region, processing of embedding the obtained initial conditions into the coded stream, instead of performing the interframe coding;

performing the intra-frame decoding or the interframe decoding of the coded stream except the initial conditions embedded into the coded stream, and extracting the initial conditions from the coded stream; and

generating a simulation part picture by setting the initial conditions extracted by the decoding unit to the discrete difference equation and solving the discrete difference equation using the set initial conditions, and combining the generated simulation part picture with the picture obtained by performing the intra-frame coding or the interframe coding.

8. The image decoding method according to claim 7, wherein the simulation part picture is generated by using the Navier-Stokes equation for coding initial conditions independent of a repeating step and number of repetitions.