SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMPROVING VIDEO STUTTER IN HIGH RESOLUTION PROGRESSIVE VIDEO

• US 20130182756A1
• Filed: 01/18/2012
• Published: 07/18/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/18/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: John Furlan
• Inventors: FURLAN, John
• Granted Patent: US 9,196,016 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/240.02
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10016 Video; Image sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20201 Motion blur correction
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/70 Denoising; Smoothing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/109 among a plurality of temporal predictive coding modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/162 User input
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/172 the region being a picture, frame or field
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/176 the region being a block, e.g. a macroblock
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/44 Decoders specially adapted therefor, e.g. video decoders which are asymmetric with respect to the encoder
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/46 Embedding additional information in the video signal during the compression process H04N19/517, H04N19/68, H04N19/70 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/61 in combination with predictive coding

Abstract

Systems and methods for improving video stutter in high resolution progressive video captured with fast exposure times. In a first approach, digital video is captured with fast shutter speeds that cause objects moving within the frame to appear motionless. The video codec generates motion information that may be utilized to add an artificial motion blur to each frame of the digital video during processing in a digital video pipeline. The motion blur creates the appearance that an object is moving in the frame. In a second approach, the lens assembly of the digital camera includes an electronically controlled filter that attenuates the light reaching an image sensor such that the shutter speeds may be decreased in order to capture motion blur. The electronically controlled filter may be a liquid crystal display (LCD) device that is set to a plurality of different transparency levels based on a target exposure value.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

detecting that frames of a digital video sequence are associated with a shutter speed that is substantially greater than a frame rate of the digital video sequence;

determining motion information associated with a plurality of pixels in a first frame of the digital video sequence; and

in response to detecting that the frames of a digital video sequence are associated with a shutter speed that is substantially greater than a frame rate of the digital video sequence, adding a motion blur effect to at least a portion of the first frame based on the motion information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the motion information comprises at least one motion vector generated according to a video codec.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the motion blur effect is added to the first frame prior to the digital video sequence being compressed according to the video codec.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the video codec conforms to the International Telecommunication Union H.264 standard.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the motion blur effect is added to the first frame after the digital video sequence is decompressed according to the video codec.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising adding the motion blur effect to at least a portion of a second frame based on the motion information.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first frame corresponds to either a P-frame or a B-frame as specified in a video codec applied to the digital video sequence and includes at least one macroblock associated with a motion vector, and the second frame corresponds to an I-frame as specified in the video codec and is associated with the motion vector included in the first frame.

8. A computer-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by a processing unit, cause the processing unit to perform the steps of:

detecting that frames of a digital video sequence are associated with a shutter speed that is substantially greater than a frame rate of the digital video sequence;

determining motion information associated with a plurality of pixels in a first frame of the digital video sequence; and

in response to detecting that the frames of a digital video sequence are associated with a shutter speed that is substantially greater than a frame rate of the digital video sequence, adding a motion blur effect to at least a portion of the first frame based on the motion information.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the motion information comprises at least one motion vector generated according to a video codec.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the motion blur effect is added to the first frame prior to the digital video sequence being compressed according to the video codec.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the video codec conforms to the International Telecommunication Union H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 standard.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the motion blur effect is added to the first frame after the digital video sequence is decompressed according to the video codec.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, the steps further comprising adding the motion blur effect to at least a portion of a second frame based on the motion information.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the first frame corresponds to either a P-frame or a B-frame as specified in a video codec applied to the digital video sequence and includes at least one macroblock associated with a motion vector, and the second frame corresponds to an I-frame as specified in the video codec and is associated with the motion vector included in the first frame.

15. A system, comprising:

a processing unit configured to;

detect that frames of a digital video sequence are associated with a shutter speed that is substantially greater than a frame rate of the digital video sequence,

determine motion information associated with a plurality of pixels in a first frame of the digital video sequence, and

in response to detecting that the frames of a digital video sequence are associated with a shutter speed that is substantially greater than a frame rate of the digital video sequence, add a motion blur effect to at least a portion of the first frame based on the motion information.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the motion information comprises at least one motion vector generated according to a video codec.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the motion blur effect is added to the first frame prior to the digital video sequence being compressed according to the video codec.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the motion blur effect is added to the first frame after the digital video sequence is decompressed according to the video codec.

19. The system of claim 15, the processor being further configured to add the motion blur effect to at least a portion of a second frame based on the motion information.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the first frame corresponds to either a P-frame or a B-frame as specified in a video codec applied to the digital video sequence and includes at least one macroblock associated with a motion vector, and the second frame corresponds to an I-frame as specified in the video codec and is associated with the motion vector included in the first frame.