JP2001054141A - Two-dimensional.stereoscopic video image reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To satisfy the preference of a user by storing a two-dimensional video image and a stereoscopic video image synchronously on the time base, reproducing either one of the video images under the control of an instruction control section to obtain a video stream, giving it to an output display section so as to allow the output display section to receive a stereoscopic video stream or a two-dimensional video stream from a video control section and to reproduce and display the two-dimensional or stereoscopic video image for a viewer. SOLUTION: A video storage section 10 compresses, encodes and records digital video contents in the MPEG 2 format in compliance with the DVD-Video standards. A flag to identify the type of a video stream is attached to respective recording units to attain multi-angle display. A video control section 20 decodes data of a recording unit coincident with an identification flag of a stream to be reproduced at present (any of two-dimensional video image, an L-R stereoscopic video image or an R-L stereoscopic video image), converts the decoded signal into an analog NTSC video signal, and gives it to an output display section 30, which reproduces and displays a stereoscopic video image.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an apparatus for reproducing and displaying two-dimensional and three-dimensional moving images.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a two-dimensional video reproducing apparatus, N
A device using a TSC television signal has been put to practical use. As a stereoscopic video reproducing apparatus, a time-division shutter glasses system, a head-mount system, a display surface polarizing film system, and the like have been put to practical use. However, each of these is designed as a dedicated device for reproducing two-dimensional or three-dimensional images, and video contents are produced only as software for two-dimensional images and three-dimensional image software only for respective applications. Therefore, only the reproduction and display of either a two-dimensional video or a stereoscopic video is performed, and one device cannot view both contents.

[0003]

Therefore, in the prior art, a user who possesses only a two-dimensional video playback environment cannot view stereoscopic video software. However, it was impossible to view the same content as a two-dimensional video. In addition, it has been pointed out that the visual system becomes tired when viewing and listening for a long time with a stereoscopic video reproducing apparatus.

[0004] Also, from the viewpoint of the video content distribution side, it is necessary to produce video content as two-dimensional video content and stereoscopic video content, respectively, and distribute them according to the reproduction environment owned by the user. was there. For this reason, mass production was not possible, and there was a problem that content production costs were high.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and it has been proposed that one of a two-dimensional video and a three-dimensional video be recorded on a video medium on which a two-dimensional video and a three-dimensional video having the same contents are recorded. It is an object of the present invention to realize an apparatus that can reproduce and display an image and switch an image at an arbitrary time according to a user's preference and mood.

[0006] With such a device, depending on the viewer's preference, only a certain part can be enjoyed as a three-dimensional image, and the other part can be enjoyed in two dimensions.
A way of enjoying, such as viewing with a two-dimensional image, is possible. Also, after enjoying the stereoscopic video for a certain period of time, if the eyes become tired, a viewing mode in which the user continues to view the two-dimensional video is possible. Further, since the medium on which the video content is recorded can be distributed to both a viewer having a two-dimensional video playback device and a viewer having a three-dimensional video playback device, mass production is possible and production costs can be reduced. It can be expected to reduce the labor of media distribution and sales.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a video storage unit that stores a two-dimensional video and a stereoscopic video in synchronization with each other on a time axis, and receives a control from an instruction control unit. A video control unit that reproduces either two-dimensional video or stereoscopic video data into a video stream and sends it to an output display unit, and an instruction control unit that receives a user's instruction and transmits switching of the video stream to the video control unit A two-dimensional / three-dimensional video reproducing apparatus comprising: a stereoscopic video stream or a two-dimensional video stream from the video control unit; and an output display unit for reproducing and displaying a two-dimensional or three-dimensional video to a viewer. Is the gist.

In the video reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, 2
Since the three-dimensional video and the three-dimensional video are stored in the video storage unit in synchronization with each other on the time axis, the reproduced video before and after the switching is smoothly connected regardless of the switching of the two-dimensional video to the three-dimensional video or vice versa. Since this video switching is performed by inputting an instruction from a viewer, the user can select and enjoy a favorite video at any time.

[0009] The video data is stored in the video storage unit, and the screen data of a certain time width (width of about 1/2 second) is collectively compression-encoded and combined with the compression-encoded data of the sound of the time width. Is stored as a two-dimensional video and a three-dimensional video in the video storage unit in synchronization with the time axis.
This means that two-dimensional video data obtained by shooting the same scene and video data at the same time of stereoscopic video data are recorded adjacently.

By doing so, when the video control unit reads the data of the video recording unit (or the video recording medium),
The reading is performed for a fixed buffer size in a continuous address range. However, since the two-dimensional video data and the stereoscopic video data at the same time are always read mixedly, even if a video switching is instructed, the video data is not read. There is no need to redo the reading, and only the process for the data in the buffer is changed, so that the switching can be realized smoothly.

In the video storage unit and the video recording medium of the present invention, it is preferable that the stereoscopic video data always includes LR stereoscopic video data and RL stereoscopic video data.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the format of stereoscopic video data handled in the present invention. Stereoscopic image data is created by connecting the left and right camera screens for each one-field screen (corresponding to a 1/60 second screen), using the same scene taken by two right-eye and left-eye video cameras. I do. At this time, there are two ways to combine images, first selecting the left eye or selecting the right eye. The former is an LR stereoscopic image, and the latter is an RL stereoscopic image. FIG. 2 is an LR stereoscopic image since it starts from the left eye screen.

Some of the commercially available stereoscopic video playback devices have a specification that accepts only one of the LR stereoscopic video and the RL stereoscopic video. However, by always holding both data, it can be used in any case. Can respond.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on examples.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The two-dimensional / stereoscopic video playback device 1 includes a video storage unit 10, a video control unit 20, an output / display unit 30, and an instruction control unit 40. The video storage unit 10 is a recording medium that stores video content as digital data. The instruction control unit 40 includes an instruction input unit 41,
The instruction input (reproduction, stop, video switching, etc.) of the user is received through the instruction input unit 41, and the instruction is transmitted to the video control unit 20 and the output / display unit 30. Video control unit 20
Reads the video content data from the video storage unit 10, converts it into a video signal, and outputs it to the output / display unit. The output / display unit 30 accepts the video signal and reproduces and displays it as a two-dimensional video or a stereoscopic video.

Specifically, in the apparatus having the above configuration, the video storage unit 10 can be realized by a DVD-Video standard disk, and the video control unit 20 and the instruction control unit 40 can be realized by a DVD-Video standard disk player. Further, the output / display unit can be realized by a commercially available stereoscopic video reproducing device. Hereinafter, a description will be given based on an embodiment using a DVD-Video standard disc and a player.

The video storage unit 10 is an optical disk on which digital video contents are compression-encoded and recorded in the MPEG2 format according to the DVD-Video standard. In this video content, two-dimensional video data and stereoscopic video data are stored in time synchronization. That is, when creating content
-Specify two-dimensional video data and stereoscopic video data as a video stream to be reproduced by the multi-angle function in the video authoring device. By specifying and editing in this way, the screen and sound data at the same time of the two-dimensional video data and the stereoscopic video data are compressed and coded for each part of a minute time width, and are recorded as a recording unit. It is recorded on the disk side by side. Each recording unit is provided with a flag for identifying which video stream to enable multi-angle.

The video control unit 20 includes a reading unit for a DVD-Video disc and a reading buffer for temporarily storing read data. The disk reading unit of the video control unit 20 continuously reads some of the recording units from the disk within a certain time, and temporarily stores the recording units in the reading buffer. Then, the data of the recording unit corresponding to the identification flag of the stream to be reproduced (either 2D video, LR stereoscopic video or RL stereoscopic video) is decoded, converted to an analog NTSC video signal, and output. Send to display unit 30.

The output display unit is a two-dimensional video or LR
The stereoscopic video is reproduced and displayed by receiving the NTSC video signal of the stereoscopic video or the RL stereoscopic video. For stereoscopic image reproduction, a stereoscopic image reproducing and displaying apparatus is used in which two field screens constituting one frame (a 1/30 second screen) of an NTSC video signal are respectively assigned to left and right camera photographing screens. A commercially available stereoscopic video reproducing device such as a time-division shutter glasses system, a head mount system, or a display surface polarizing film system is connected to the video control unit 20 (DVD-Video disc player in the embodiment). be able to.

For example, in the case of the time-division shutter glasses system, as shown in FIG. 2, the stereoscopic video reproducing apparatus receives a video signal in which the right eye and the left eye are switched every 1/60 second field, and In addition to displaying on the screen, by sending an infrared signal that opens and closes the shutters of the left and right glasses in synchronization with the field cycle to the polarized glasses worn by the viewer, the left and right eyes of the viewer can perceive the left and right field screens Make them look stereoscopic. When receiving 2D video data,
The video signal is displayed as it is on the monitor screen without using polarized glasses.

For example, in the case of a head-mounted display, a video signal in which the left eye and the right eye are switched at every field cycle shown in FIG. 2 is displayed. The left eye field screen is for the left eye display, and the right eye field screen is for the right eye. Display for 1 / 30th of a second on the display of the camera to perceive stereoscopic vision.
When receiving two-dimensional video data, the video signals are displayed on the left and right displays as they are.

The instruction control section 40 transmits an instruction from the instruction input section 41 to the video control section 20 and the output / display section 30, and controls the operation of the entire apparatus. FIG. 3 is a state transition diagram illustrating the flow of processing of the device according to the present embodiment. With reference to FIG. 3, the flow of processing of the present apparatus will be described.

The device has five states. That is, a stop state (S0), an instruction waiting state (S1), a two-dimensional video reproduction state (S2), an LR stereoscopic video reproduction state (S3),
This is the RL stereoscopic video reproduction state (S4). When the apparatus is started up, the apparatus enters a state S1 and waits for an input from a user. At this time, a screen prompting input of an instruction is displayed on the monitor screen of the output / display unit of the apparatus. If the video storage unit stores a plurality of contents, the directory area is read out, a screen for prompting the selection of the contents is displayed, and the user is caused to select the contents. Next, a screen as shown in FIG. 4 for selecting what kind of image is desired is displayed on the monitor screen. If a 2D image is selected here, the apparatus enters state S2 and starts 2D image reproduction of the selected content. If a stereoscopic image is selected, state S3
Or, it becomes S4 and the reproduction of the LR stereoscopic video or the RL stereoscopic video is started. In S2, S3, and S4, the state can be changed at any time during reproduction by instructing video switching by the instruction input unit 41. In the states of S2, S3, and S4, when the instruction input unit 41 instructs to stop the reproduction or when the reproduction of the content is completed, the state S
1 and the screen of FIG. 4 is displayed again. When the end is selected in FIG. 4, the content selection screen is displayed if the video storage unit stores a plurality of contents, but if there is only one content, the state immediately changes to the state S0 and stops.

[0024]

As described above, according to the two-dimensional / three-dimensional image reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, depending on the preference of the viewer,
It is possible to enjoy only a certain portion with a three-dimensional image and watch another portion with a two-dimensional image. Also, after enjoying the stereoscopic video for a certain period of time, if the eyes become tired, a viewing mode in which the user continues to view the two-dimensional video is possible.

The stereoscopic video is composed of LR stereoscopic video data and R
Since the image data always includes -L stereoscopic video data, it can be widely applied to a stereoscopic video reproduction / display apparatus in which two field screens constituting one frame (a 1/30 second screen) of an NTSC video signal are allocated to left and right. .

Further, since the two-dimensional video and the three-dimensional video are produced as one content and can be viewed by a user having only a two-dimensional video reproduction environment, the medium in which the video content is recorded is provided. Can be distributed to both viewers having a two-dimensional video playback device and viewers having a three-dimensional video playback device, and mass production is possible.
Conventionally, since there are few users who own a stereoscopic video reproducing apparatus, the production demand for stereoscopic video contents is small, and the production cost per one is high. However, according to the present invention,
It is possible to produce video content including stereoscopic video content at the same cost as producing one 2D video content, and distribute and sell media without worrying about the user's playback environment. Production costs can be significantly reduced. Since there are many video contents for which stereoscopic viewing is desired, such as product promotion and educational videos, the present invention is significant.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a two-dimensional / stereoscopic video playback device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a format of stereoscopic video data.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state transition of a processing operation of the two-dimensional / three-dimensional image reproduction device.

FIG. 4 is an example of an input waiting screen in a state of waiting for an instruction of the two-dimensional / stereoscopic video reproducing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 2D / stereoscopic video reproduction device 10 Video storage unit 20 Video control unit 30 Output display unit 40 Instruction control unit 41 Instruction input unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A video storage unit in which two-dimensional video data and three-dimensional video data are stored in synchronization with each other on a time axis, and video control for reproducing either the two-dimensional video data or the three-dimensional video data to produce a video video signal. Unit, an instruction control unit that transmits selection / switching of which of the two-dimensional video data and the three-dimensional video data is to be reproduced in response to a user's instruction to the video control unit, and a three-dimensional video image from the video control unit. A two-dimensional / three-dimensional video playback device comprising: an output display unit that receives a signal or a two-dimensional video image signal and plays back and displays a two-dimensional or three-dimensional video to a viewer. 2. The same video content is encoded as two-dimensional video data and two types of stereoscopic video data, LR stereoscopic video data and RL stereoscopic video data, respectively. A video recording medium stored on a recording medium synchronized with the axis.