JPH09331549A - Stereoscopic video signal transmission method and stereoscopic video signal processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a stereoscopic video signal transmission method and a stereoscopic video signal processor by displaying either of left/right video images on a receiver displaying a current video image not being a stereoscopic video image as the current video image and displaying a receiver capable of displaying a stereoscopic video image. SOLUTION: One video image of left/right video images is converted into parallax information S14 with the other video image and sent while being superimposed on a non-image part of the other video image so as to realize the stereoscopic video signal transmission method in matching with the current signal transmission method without losing the other video image. Furthermore, a reproducing device side reproduces one video image from the parallax information S14 of the left/right video image superimposed on the non-image part of the other video image to obtain a stereoscopic video image.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

[Table of Contents] The present invention will be described in the following order. Technical field to which the invention pertains Prior art (FIG. 6) Problems to be solved by the invention Means for solving the problems Embodiments of the invention (FIGS. 1 to 5) Effects of the invention

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a stereoscopic video signal transmission method and a stereoscopic video signal processing device, and displays left and right video images separately from a video signal obtained for the left eye and a video signal obtained for the right eye. The present invention is suitable for application to a stereoscopic video signal transmission method and a stereoscopic video signal processing device in a stereoscopic video display system.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method of displaying a stereoscopic image, there is a method using left-right parallax information. In this method, a left-eye video image and a right-eye video image are respectively captured by using two cameras installed at a distance of a pupil distance at the time of capturing, and a left-eye video signal and a right-eye video image obtained thereby are captured. By displaying the signals separately on the receiver side, only the respective images are captured by the left and right eyes of the viewer using the stereoscopic glasses.

As a method of transmitting the left-eye image and the right-eye image, as shown in FIG. 6A, the left-eye image signal S _L and the right-eye image signal S _R are respectively compressed in the horizontal direction. However, there is a method of transmitting by dividing the screen into left and right. In this method, a stereoscopic image is obtained by observing a left-eye image and a right-eye image, which are divided into left and right in one screen on the receiver side, respectively, with the left and right eyes.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, there is a method in which the left-eye video signal S _L and the right-eye video signal S _R are respectively compressed in the vertical direction, and divided into upper and lower parts of the screen for transmission. In this method, a stereoscopic image is obtained by observing the left-eye image and the right-eye image, which are vertically divided and displayed in one screen on the receiver side, with the left and right eyes, respectively.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6C, the left-eye video signal S _L and the right-eye video signal S _R are alternately thinned out and divided in the time axis direction so that, for example, the left-eye video signal is obtained. There is a method of transmitting the first field and the video signal for the right eye as the second field. In this method, a stereoscopic image is obtained by viewing the left-eye image displayed as the first field on the receiver side with the left eye and the right-eye image displayed as the second field with the right eye. Has been done.

[0007]

However, when a left-eye video signal and a right-eye video signal are transmitted by such a method, when they are received and displayed on a current broadcast receiver, one screen is displayed. It is inevitable to give a sense of discomfort to a viewer who does not use stereoscopic eyeglasses who wants to see a general image because two images, that is, left and right or upper and lower, are displayed or an image having a left and right parallax for each field is displayed. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points. For a receiver that displays a current image that is not a stereoscopic image, either the left or right image is displayed as the current image and the stereoscopic image is displayed. A stereoscopic video signal transmission method and a stereoscopic video signal processing device capable of displaying stereoscopic video on a possible receiver are proposed.

[0009]

In order to solve such a problem, the present invention calculates parallax information of a left-eye video signal and a right-eye video signal, and uses the calculated parallax information as a left-eye video signal or One of the video signals for the right eye is superimposed on the non-picture part of the video signal, and the one of the video signals on which parallax information is superimposed is transmitted.

According to the present invention, the amount of information is reduced by converting either the left-eye image signal or the right-eye image signal into left-right parallax information, and at the same time, the left or right image is not transmitted. By superimposing the parallax information on the image portion, the transmitted image is not damaged.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a stereoscopic image photographing apparatus as a whole, and a right-eye image signal S11R obtained through a right-eye camera 11R is a stereoscopic image signal encoder unit 10.
It is input to the A low pass filter (LPF) 12R.
The low-pass filter 12R extracts the low-frequency component of the right-eye video signal S12R in the vertical direction of the screen, and sends this to the subsequent vertical compression circuit 13R.

The vertical compression circuit 13R has a right-eye video signal S1.
Image compression for the right eye PIC _R with an aspect ratio of 16: 9 as shown in FIG. 2 is formed by compressing the image vertically by 3/4 by thinning out, for example, 480 horizontal scanning lines of 1R. The compressed video signal S13R for the right eye is obtained. This right-eye compressed video signal S13R is sent to the subtraction circuit 14.

On the other hand, the left-eye video signal S11L obtained via the left-eye camera 11L is input to the low-pass filter (LPF) 12L of the stereoscopic video signal encoder section 10A. The low-pass filter 12L is the video signal S for the left eye.
The low-frequency component of 12 L in the screen vertical direction is extracted and sent to the subsequent vertical compression circuit 13 L.

The vertical compression circuit 13L has a left-eye video signal S1.
A left-eye compressed video signal S that forms a left-eye image with an aspect ratio of 16: 9 by vertically compressing the image to 3/4 by thinning out, for example, 480 horizontal scanning lines of 1 L.
Get 13L. The left-eye compressed video signal S13L is sent to the subtraction circuit 14.

The subtraction circuit 14 receives the left-eye compressed video signal S13L sent from the vertical compression circuit 13L and the right-eye compressed video signal S13R sent from the vertical compression circuit 13R.
Is subtracted to calculate the difference between the left-eye image and the right-eye image, and the difference is sent to the subsequent data compression circuit 15 as left-right parallax data (information) S14.

The data compression circuit 15 uses the left and right parallax data S.
The image for the right eye is obtained by subjecting 14 to, for example, DCT processing (discrete cosine transform processing), variable-length coding processing, etc. to compress the data, and then temporally compressing the compressed data. The compressed left and right parallax data S15 is sent to the modulation circuit 16 at a timing at which the compressed left and right parallax data S15 can be superimposed on the upper and lower non-image portions NP of PIC _R (FIG. 2).

The modulation circuit 16 converts the compressed parallax data S15 into
DC is modulated according to the data amount (that is, signal amplitude) of left and right parallax data that is modulated by the color subcarrier (f _SC modulation) using only the blue axis, which has low sensitivity to the human eye, and further set up. By changing the (DC) level (set-up level), the level is controlled to a level not visible to the eyes, and the set-up output signal S17 obtained as a result is sent to the adder circuit 18.

The adder circuit 18 adds the set-up output signal S17 to the right-eye compressed video signal S13R output from the vertical compression circuit 13R. As a result, the upper and lower non-image parts NP (FIG. 2) of the right-eye compressed video signal S13R forming the right-eye image PIC _R (FIG. 2) having an aspect ratio of 16: 9.
The set-up output signal S17 consisting of the left and right parallax data S14 is added to the signal portion forming the, and the resulting stereoscopic video transmission signal S18 is the subsequent transmission circuit (not shown).
Etc. are converted into broadcast waves and transmitted.

The stereoscopic video transmission signal S18 transmitted by such a transmission method is received by a predetermined receiving circuit (not shown), and then, via the input terminal T10 of the stereoscopic video signal decoder section 20 shown in FIG. Is input to the demodulation circuit 21.

The demodulation circuit 21 demodulates the left and right parallax data modulated by the color subcarrier from the stereoscopic video transmission signal S18 and sends it to the data demodulation circuit 22. Data demodulation circuit 2
2, the demodulated left / right parallax data S22 is obtained by performing the reverse processing of the data compression circuit 15 described above with reference to FIG.
This demodulated left / right parallax data S22 is sent to the subsequent adder circuit 23.

The adding circuit 23 receives the stereoscopic video transmission signal S18 input through the input terminal T10 and the data demodulating circuit 22.
The demodulated right-and-left parallax data S22 output from the above is added to obtain the left-eye reproduction video signal S23, which is sent to the vertical expansion circuit 24. Here, when a subject image is displayed on a CRT (cathode ray tube) having an aspect ratio of 16: 9 while maintaining the circularity of the subject image, the vertical extension circuit 24 extends the left eye image signal vertically to 4/3. Therefore, the number of scan lines is
Return to 480. As a result, unnecessary compression or expansion of the reproduced image and deformation can be avoided, and a reproduced image that is the same as the image at the time of shooting can be obtained. The reproduction video signal S24 for the left eye thus obtained is input / output terminal T23L.
Sent to

Similarly, the vertical expansion circuit 25 expands the stereoscopic video transmission signal S18 input through the input terminal T10 to 4/3 in the vertical direction to reduce the number of scanning lines.
Return to 480 lines, and the resulting playback video signal S for the right eye
25 is sent to the input / output terminal T23R.

Left eye reproduction video signal S24 and right eye reproduction video signal S sent to the input / output terminals T23L and T23R.
25 are input to the field speed doubling circuit 31 of the stereoscopic image display unit 30, respectively. The field doubling circuit 31
Left-eye reproduction video signal S24 and right-eye reproduction video signal S2
These signals are halved by reading 5 at each double clock frequency. As shown in FIG. 4A for the left-eye reproduction video signal S24, for example, when the first field L1 is from time t1 to time t3 and the second field L2 is from time t5 to time t5.
The field speed doubling circuit 31 compresses the playback image signal S24 for the left eye to ½ and outputs the same field signal twice, thereby reproducing the double-speed left eye as shown in FIG. 4 (B). The video signal S31L is formed.

Accordingly, the field doubling circuit 31 outputs the first field L1 as the double speed left-eye reproduction video signal S31L.
The double speed first field L11 for the left eye obtained by compressing is output twice at the times t2 to t3 and the times t3 to t4.

Similarly, as shown in FIG. 4C, the reproduced video signal S25 for the right eye has the first field R1 from time t1 to time t3, and the subsequent time t.
When the second field R2 up to 5 is set, the field doubling circuit 31 halves the reproduction video signal S25 for the right eye.
4D and outputs the same double-speed field signal twice each, thereby forming a double-speed right-eye reproduction video signal S31R as shown in FIG. 4D.

Accordingly, the field doubling circuit 31 outputs the first field R1 as the double speed right-eye reproduction video signal S31R.
The double-speed first field R11 for the right eye obtained by compressing is output twice at the times t2 to t3 and the times t3 to t4.

The double-speed left-eye reproduction video signal S31L and the double-speed right-eye reproduction video signal S31R output from the field double speed circuit 31 are respectively the first switching input terminal a and the second switching input terminal of the switching circuit SW30. b. In response to the switching control signal CONT31 output from the field speed doubling circuit 31, the switching circuit SW30 outputs the double speed left-eye reproduction video signal S31L when the switching control signal CONT31 is High (FIG. 4 (F)). Further, by switching to the first switching input end a and the second switching input end b side for each double speed field so that the double speed right eye reproduction video signal S31R is output when the switch control signal CONT31 is Low, The display video signal S _{DR shown} in FIG. 4 (E) is obtained. In the display video signal S _DR , time t2,
At the timing at which the double-speed fields shown in t3, t4, ... Are switched, the double-speed field for the left eye (L11, L1
2, ...) and double-speed field for the right eye (R11, R1
2, ...) are formed alternately.

Thus a CR with an aspect ratio of 16: 9
The display screen of the T (cathode ray tube) 33 has a display video signal S
_{By DR} , double speed field for left eye (L11, L12, ...
...) and a double speed field for the right eye (R11, R12, ...)
...) are displayed alternately. Here, the viewer is the CRT
The left and right images alternately displayed in time division on the display screen 33 are stereoscopically viewed using the stereoscopic glasses 35.

That is, the stereoscopic spectacles 35 have a liquid crystal shutter 35L for the left eye and a liquid crystal shutter 35R for the right eye, and are controlled by the liquid crystal shutter control signal CONT32 (FIG. 4 (G)) output from the field doubling circuit 31. Then, on the CRT display screen, double-speed field image for left eye (L11, L12,
When L13, ...) is displayed, the left-eye liquid crystal shutter 3
5L is opened, and when the right-eye double-speed field image (R11, R12, R13, ...) Is displayed on the CRT display screen, the right-eye liquid crystal shutter 35R is opened.

As shown in FIGS. 4 (H) and 4 (I), the polarities of the switching control signals CONT31 and CONT32 are inverted from those in FIGS. 4 (F) and 4 (G).
A similar system is configured even when the double-speed video signals for the left and right eyes are reproduced at the timing shown in (J).

Therefore, the viewer using the stereoscopic spectacles 35 can view the image of the double-speed field for the left eye (L11, L12, L13, ...) Displayed on the display screen of the CRT 33 in a time-division manner only with the left eye. In addition to being able to see, the double-speed field for the right eye (R11, R12, R13, ...) can be seen only with the right eye, which merges the left and right images that have parallax in the visual sense, and creates a stereoscopic image. Obtainable.

In the above configuration, the left eye camera 11L
And one of the left-eye video signal S11L and the right-eye video signal S11R captured by the right-eye camera 11R, one video signal (left-eye video signal S11L) is the other video signal (right-eye video). Left and right parallax data S1 with signal S11R)
By being represented by only 4, the amount of data is reduced. As described above, in the left-eye image represented only by the difference data, the non-image part NP (FIG. 2) is formed in the upper and lower parts of the display area having the aspect ratio of 4: 3 as the image display form. Therefore, it is superimposed on the non-picture portion NP (that is, a portion corresponding to the upper and lower non-picture portions NP of the so-called right-eye image of the so-called re-turbo-x format that forms the screen PIC _R having an aspect ratio of 16: 9).

Therefore, in the method of transmitting only one image (right-eye image) having an aspect ratio of 16: 9 by the re-turbo-x format, it is possible to superimpose the left-eye image as left and right parallax data and transmit them simultaneously. it can. As a result, for example, when an image based on the stereoscopic image transmission signal S18 is displayed using a normal television reception display device that does not display a stereoscopic image on the receiving side, only the image for the right eye in the revolvex format is displayed on the screen. Left and right parallax data is superimposed on the upper and lower non-image parts NP (FIG. 2) formed in this image, but this data is not noticeable on the display screen because it is modulated by the color subcarrier of the blue axis. .

On the other hand, when the image based on the stereoscopic video transmission signal S18 is reproduced on the receiving side using the stereoscopic video signal decoder unit 20 and the stereoscopic video display unit 30 described above with reference to FIG. 3, the display speed of the CRT 33 is doubled. The left-eye image and the right-eye image thus displayed are displayed in a time division manner.

Therefore, in the video signal transmission method of the current broadcasting system for transmitting only one video, there is a left / right parallax.
One video signal (a video signal for the left eye and a video signal for the right eye) can be transmitted at the same time, and whether or not the receiving device (20) and the display device (30) for the stereoscopic image are used on the receiving side is determined. Then, it is determined whether or not to display a stereoscopic image on the display screen. Therefore, according to the above configuration, it is possible to transmit a stereoscopic video signal that matches the current broadcasting system.

In the above embodiment, the stereoscopic video signal decoder unit 20 expands the left-eye video image and the right-eye video image by the vertical expansion circuits 24 and 25, respectively, so that a reproduced video image that does not feel uncomfortable can be obtained. Although the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and when the CRT 33 having an aspect ratio of 4: 3 is used, the CRT 33 can be displayed in the Re-Turbo-X display format without vertical expansion. Thereby, when the subject image is a perfect circle, the perfect circle of the image information can be maintained.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the left-eye image and the right-eye image are vertically expanded in the signal state in the stereoscopic image signal decoder section 20 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. Vertical expansion may be performed by deflection when displaying on the CRT 33.

In the above embodiment, the case where the field double speed doubling circuit 31 and the stereoscopic spectacles 35 with liquid crystal shutters are used as the stereoscopic image display section 30 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this and, for example, FIG. Polarizing glasses 45 may be used as shown in FIG.

That is, in FIG. 5, the stereoscopic image display unit 40
Is the reproduced video signal S for the left eye input to the input terminal T40L.
Projector device 4 provided for the left eye 24
Input to 1L. This projector device 41L is provided with a horizontal polarization filter POL _L1 on the projection lens 42L side, and the image light for the left eye emitted through the projection lens 42L is projected onto the screen 43 via the horizontal polarization filter POL _L1. To be done.

On the other hand, the reproduction video signal S25 for the right eye input to the input terminal T40R is input to the projector device 41R provided for the right eye. The projector device 41R is provided with a vertical polarization filter POL _R1 on the projection lens 42R side, and the right-eye image light emitted via the projection lens 42R is a vertical polarization filter P.
It is projected on the screen 43 via OL _R1 .

The stereoscopic spectacles 45 are provided with a horizontal polarization filter POL _L2 for the left eye and a vertical polarization filter POL _R2 for the right eye. Therefore, the viewer who views the screen 43 using the stereoscopic glasses 45 can see the left-eye image only with the left eye and the right-eye image only with the right eye. Thus, the left-eye image and the right-eye image having a left-right parallax can be viewed at the same time, whereby the left and right images are fused in a visual sense, and a stereoscopic image can be obtained.

In the above embodiment, the case where the left and right parallax data is superimposed on the upper and lower non-picture portions NP of the right-eye image has been described. Alternatively, the right-eye image converted into the left-right parallax data may be superimposed.

In the above embodiment, the case where the left and right parallax data is superimposed on the upper and lower non-picture portions NP when transmitting the image having the aspect ratio of 16: 9 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can be widely applied to the case where the left and right parallax data is superimposed on the non-image portion of the video when transmitting the video having various other aspect ratios.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the stereoscopic video transmission signal is transmitted by the broadcast wave has been described, but the transmission path is not limited to this, and for example, when it is transmitted by wire, and further, a tape-shaped recording medium or the like is used. It can be widely applied to recording and reproducing on various recording media as described above.

[0046]

As described above, according to the present invention, one of the left-eye image and the right-eye image is converted into parallax information with respect to the other image, and is superimposed on the non-image portion of the other image. By performing the transmission in this manner, a stereoscopic video signal transmission method that matches the current signal transmission method can be realized without damaging the other video. On the reproducing side, a stereoscopic image can be obtained by reproducing one image from the parallax information of the left and right images superimposed on the non-image part of the other image.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a stereoscopic video signal encoder unit to which a stereoscopic video signal transmission method according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining a stereoscopic video signal format.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a stereoscopic video signal decoder unit and a stereoscopic video display unit to which the stereoscopic video signal processing device according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart used for explaining stereoscopic display by field double speed.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a stereoscopic image display unit according to another embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining a conventional stereoscopic video signal transmission method.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Stereoscopic image capturing apparatus, 10A ... Stereoscopic image signal encoder section, 13L, 13R ... Vertical compression circuit, 14 ...
... Subtraction circuit, 16 ... Color subcarrier modulation circuit, 17 ... Set-up control circuit, 18, 23 ... Addition circuit, 20 ...
... 3D image signal decoder section, 21 ... color subcarrier demodulation circuit, 24, 25 ... vertical expansion circuit, 30, 40 ... 3D image display section, 31 ... field double speed circuit, 33 ...
CRT, 35, 45 ... Stereoscopic glasses, 41L, 41R ...
… Projector device, POL _L1 , POL _L2 …… Horizontal polarization filter, POL _R1 , POL _R2 …… Vertical polarization filter.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A stereoscopic video signal transmission method for transmitting a left-eye video signal and a right-eye video signal, wherein parallax information of the left-eye video signal and the right-eye video signal is calculated, and the parallax information is set to the above-mentioned parallax information. A stereoscopic image characterized by being superimposed on a non-image part of a video signal of either the left-eye video signal or the right-eye video signal and transmitting the one of the video signals on which the parallax information is superimposed. Signal transmission method. 2. The three-dimensional video signal transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the aspect ratio is 16:
9. The stereoscopic video signal transmission method according to claim 1, wherein a horizontal screen 9 is formed, and the parallax information is superimposed on the non-image portions formed above and below the horizontal screen when the horizontal screen is formed. 3. The stereoscopic video signal transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the parallax information is modulated by a color subcarrier. 4. The parallax information is extracted from one of the left-eye video signal and the right-eye video signal in which the parallax information between the left-eye video signal and the right-eye video signal is superimposed. Then, reproducing the other video signal of the left-eye video signal or the right-eye video signal based on the extracted one of the video signals on which the parallax information and the parallax information are superimposed. A stereoscopic video signal processing device characterized by: