Stereo image encoding apparatus, its method, and image pickup apparatus having stereo image encoding apparatus
First Claim
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1. An image encoding apparatus comprising:
- an input unit configured to input a first image data corresponding to one of a left eye image and a right eye image and a second image data corresponding to another of the left eye image and the right eye image;
a detection unit configured to detect a parallax vector of an encoding-subject block of the second image,wherein the detection unit detects the parallax vector of the encoding-subject block of the second image data by using image data of a search range in a reference picture of the first image data;
an encoding unit configured to obtain prediction image data from the reference picture of the first image data in accordance with the parallax vector detected by the detection unit and encode the encoding-subject block of the second image data by using the prediction image data;
a controlling unit configured to detect a difference value between the image data of the encoding-subject block of the second image data and the image data at a position corresponding to that of the encoding-subject block in the reference picture of the first image data and set the search range in the reference picture of the first image data for detecting the parallax vector by the detection unit in accordance with the detected difference value;
wherein the controlling unit changes a size of the search range in accordance with the difference value, andwherein the detection unit detects the parallax vector of the encoding-subject block of the second image data by using the image data of the search range, which is set by the controlling unit, in the reference picture of the first image data.
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Abstract
When a plurality of image signals of an object picked up by a plurality of image pickup units are encoded on a predetermined pixel block basis by using an inter-prediction between images, difference information showing an offset between the images is generated from the plurality of image signals, and a search range which is set in order to detect a vector on the predetermined pixel block basis is adaptively set in accordance with the generated difference information.
14 Citations
5 Claims
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1. An image encoding apparatus comprising:
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an input unit configured to input a first image data corresponding to one of a left eye image and a right eye image and a second image data corresponding to another of the left eye image and the right eye image; a detection unit configured to detect a parallax vector of an encoding-subject block of the second image, wherein the detection unit detects the parallax vector of the encoding-subject block of the second image data by using image data of a search range in a reference picture of the first image data; an encoding unit configured to obtain prediction image data from the reference picture of the first image data in accordance with the parallax vector detected by the detection unit and encode the encoding-subject block of the second image data by using the prediction image data; a controlling unit configured to detect a difference value between the image data of the encoding-subject block of the second image data and the image data at a position corresponding to that of the encoding-subject block in the reference picture of the first image data and set the search range in the reference picture of the first image data for detecting the parallax vector by the detection unit in accordance with the detected difference value; wherein the controlling unit changes a size of the search range in accordance with the difference value, and wherein the detection unit detects the parallax vector of the encoding-subject block of the second image data by using the image data of the search range, which is set by the controlling unit, in the reference picture of the first image data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An image encoding apparatus comprising:
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an input unit configured to input a first image data corresponding to one of a left eye image and a right eye image and a second image data corresponding to another of the left eye image and the right eye image; a detection unit configured to detect a parallax vector of an encoding-subject block of the second image, wherein the detection unit detects the parallax vector of the encoding-subject block of the second image data by using image data of a search range in a reference picture of the first image data; an encoding unit configured to obtain prediction image data from the reference picture of the first image data in accordance with the parallax vector detected by the detection unit and encode the encoding-subject block of the second image data by using the prediction image data; a controlling unit configured to detect a difference value between the image data of the encoding-subject block of the second image data and the image data at a position corresponding to that of the encoding-subject block in the reference picture of the first image data and set the search range in the reference picture of the first image data for detecting the parallax vector by the detection unit in accordance with the detected difference value; wherein the controlling unit sets the search range at a first position in the reference picture of the first image data if the difference value is equal to or less than a threshold value, and sets the search range at a second position different in a horizontal direction from the first position if the difference value is larger than the threshold value, and wherein the detection unit detects the parallax vector of the encoding-subject block of the second image data by using the image data of the search range, which is set by the controlling unit, in the reference picture of the first image data.
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Specification