JP2006270405A - Device and method for processing video and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device and a method for processing a video reducing the quantity of the data of the video data by restraining deterioration of the quality of video data and a computer program. <P>SOLUTION: In a first working processing, one or two frames or more in a plurality of the frames constituting the video data are thinned, the thinned frame is replaced with a frame obtained by copying the previous-frame or following-frame and the video data is worked to the substituted compressed video data by carrying out a compression process. In a second working process, the video data is worked to a compressed video data by carrying out the compression process without thinning even either frame constituted to the video data. The device for processing the video has a selecting section (180) selecting either of the first working process or the second working process and a first video working section (140) carrying out the process selected by the selecting section and working the video data to either a thinned compressed video data or the compressed video data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a video processing apparatus, a video processing method, and a computer program capable of processing video data.

  Nowadays, with the development of information technology, video data taken with an imaging device such as a video camera is digitized and recorded on a randomly accessible recording medium such as an optical disk, a magnetic disk, or a semiconductor memory. (See, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Even in the broadcasting industry, high-resolution video data taken at the interview site is recorded on a random-accessible recording medium, and the recorded high-resolution video data is used for broadcast programs using an editing processor. There are many cases where video data is edited and broadcast.

  On the other hand, in order to improve the editing efficiency and to edit the video data after the interview into video data for the broadcast program in a short time because the broadcast program such as the news program is required to have real-time properties, it is necessary to use it on a recording medium such as an optical disc. A system capable of recording high-resolution video data and video data having a lower resolution than the video data has been developed.

  If two types of video data, high resolution and low resolution, can be recorded at the time of shooting, after shooting, the low resolution video data is transmitted to the editing processor over a wireless or wired network, and the high resolution video is recorded. The editing process up to the main editing can be completed before the data arrives, and it can be expected that the editing efficiency will be greatly improved even if the shooting site is remote.

JP 2003-284005 A

  However, when transferring video data over a network such as the Internet, even if the resolution is low, it is a moving image, so the amount of data is relatively large, and depending on the communication line status of the network, it may take a long time to transfer. Not a few.

  Therefore, in order to shorten the transfer time, a method of further reducing the data rate of the video data can be considered. However, even if the data rate is simply reduced, the image quality of each frame configured in the video data deteriorates, so that It becomes difficult to grasp the contents of the video, which may adversely affect the editing efficiency.

  In addition, when transferring low-resolution video data over a network, there is a method to prevent the image quality deterioration by reducing the number of frames per unit time. However, in this method, the number of frames per unit time is low. Video data and high-resolution video data will be different. Therefore, editing information such as EDL edited with low-resolution video data cannot be used as it is when main editing of high-resolution video data.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is a new and improved technique capable of reducing the amount of video data while suppressing deterioration of the image quality of the video data. It is to provide a video processing apparatus and a video processing method.

  In order to solve the above problems, according to the first aspect of the present invention, (1) one or more frames out of a plurality of frames configured in video data are thinned out, and the thinned frames are A first processing process for processing the video data into replacement compressed video data by replacing the previous frame or the rear frame of the frame with a copy and then performing a compression process, or (2) configured as video data A selection unit that selects any one of the second processing processes for processing the video data into compressed video data by performing compression processing without thinning out any frames; (1) selected by the selection unit; And a first video processing unit that executes the processing of (2) and processes the video data into either thinned compressed video data or compressed video data. Apparatus is provided.

  According to the present invention, the selection unit provided in the video processing device selects whether to execute the first processing process or the second processing process on the video data. When selected, the first video processing unit performs the selected processing and outputs thinned compressed video data or compressed video data. According to this configuration, it is possible to selectively perform the first processing process or the second processing process on the video data in accordance with a request from the user such as a data rate or a request from the user. In particular, by applying the first processing to the video data, even if the data rate is reduced to reduce the amount of data, the frequency of updating the image of the frame can be reduced, and the deterioration of the image quality can be prevented accordingly. .

  The video processing apparatus includes a second video processing unit that compresses the video data at a rate higher than the data rate at which the video data is compressed in the first video processing unit and processes the video data into low-compressed video data. May be further provided.

  The video processing apparatus may further include a recording unit that records at least one of the thinned compressed video data or the compressed video data processed by the first video processing unit on a recording medium.

  The video processing apparatus further includes at least one of the thinned compressed video data or the compressed video data processed by the first video processing unit and the low-compressed video data processed by the second video processing unit. A recording unit for recording may be provided.

  The front frame may be a frame immediately before the thinned frame, and the rear frame may be a frame immediately after the thinned frame. With this configuration, the difference between the images between frames can be minimized by targeting the frames before and after the thinned frame.

  The process of thinning out the frame is a first frame process in which M and N are natural numbers of 1 or 2 and M frames are not thinned out, and a second frame process in which N frames are thinned out. You may comprise so that it may repeat alternately about the flame | frame comprised by the said video data.

  The first frame process among the processes for thinning out the frame may be configured to be executed from the head of the frame configured in the video data.

  In the first frame processing, a plurality of M having a natural number of 1 or 2 may be used in order or randomly, and processing that does not thin out M frames may be performed. Good.

  In the second frame processing, a plurality of Ns, which are natural numbers of 1 or 2 or more, may be used in order or randomly, and a process of thinning out N frames may be performed.

  In the first frame processing, a plurality of Ms each having a natural number of 1 or 2 are used sequentially or randomly, a process that does not thin out M frames is performed, and the second frame processing is performed. In this frame processing, a plurality of Ns, each of which is a natural number of 1 or 2 or more, is used in order or randomly, and processing for thinning out N frames from the frame after the first frame processing is executed. You may comprise as follows.

  One or more frames are thinned out from at least one group frame among one or more group frames obtained by grouping frames configured in the video data into a plurality of frames, and the first processing is performed. You may comprise as follows.

  The process of thinning out the frames configured as the group frame includes a first frame process in which M and N are natural numbers of 1 or 2 and a frame of M frames is not thinned, and a second frame of thinning out N frames. This frame processing may be configured to be repeated alternately for the frames configured as group frames.

  In the first frame processing, the first M and the second M which are natural numbers of 1 or 2 or more may be used alternately or randomly. In the second frame processing, You may comprise so that the 1st N and 2nd N which are 1 or 2 or more natural numbers may be used alternately or at random.

  In the first frame processing, the first M and the second M which are natural numbers of 1 or 2 or more are alternately or randomly used, and in the second frame processing, 1 or 2 or more are used. The first N and the second N that are natural numbers may be used alternately or randomly.

  The group frame may be configured to be GOP (Group Of Pictures).

  The video data is MPEG format data, and the frame to be thinned out may be configured to be at least one of a P frame (Predictive frame) and a B frame (Bidirectionally predictive frame).

  In order to solve the above-described problem, according to another aspect of the present invention, one or more frames among a plurality of frames configured in video data are thinned out, and the thinned frame is placed before the frame. Replace the frame or the back frame with the copied one, and then apply the compression process to either the first processing to process the video data into the replacement compressed video data, or any frame configured in the video data is thinned out A step of selecting any one of the second processing processes for processing the video data into compressed video data by performing compression processing; and when the first processing process is selected, a plurality of units configured in the video data One or more frames are thinned out, and the thinned frame is duplicated with the frame before or after the frame. And a step of performing a compression process after that; and a step of performing a compression process without thinning out any frames formed in the video data when the second processing process is selected. A video processing method is provided.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, according to another aspect of the present invention, one or more frames among a plurality of frames configured in video data are thinned out, and the thinned frame is placed before the frame. Replace the frame or the back frame with the copied one, and then apply the compression process to either the first processing to process the video data into the replacement compressed video data, or any frame configured in the video data is thinned out A step of selecting any one of the second processing processes for processing the video data into the compressed video data by performing the compression process; if the first processing process is selected in the selection step, the video data One or more frames of a plurality of configured frames are thinned out, and the thinned frame is added to the front frame of the frame. Replacing a frame or a subsequent frame with a copied one, and then performing a compression process; if the second processing process is selected in the selection step, any frame configured in the video data is not thinned out There is provided a computer program that causes a computer to execute a video processing method including a step of performing compression processing.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when video data is compressed, the number of frames is not changed and the frequency with which images are updated can be reduced, so that the data rate value can be lowered. , Image quality degradation can be effectively prevented.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description and the accompanying drawings, components having substantially the same functions and configurations are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

(About video processing equipment)
First, the video processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of the video processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  The video processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment converts video input to the apparatus into high-resolution video data (hereinafter, high-resolution video data) and low-resolution video data having the same content as the high-resolution video data. This is a device that can be processed into (hereinafter, low-resolution video data).

  As shown in FIG. 1, the video processing apparatus 100 includes a video signal input terminal 110, an input image decoding unit 120, a high resolution compression unit (first video processing unit) 130, and a low resolution compression unit (first image processing unit). A video processing unit) 140, a storage unit 150, a recording medium recording unit 160, and a control unit (selection unit) 180.

  The video signal input from the video signal input terminal 110 is converted into a recording video signal (video data) 121 by the input image decoding unit 120. The video data 121 converted by the input image decoding unit 120 is supplied to the high resolution compression unit 130 and the low resolution compression unit 140, respectively.

  The high resolution compression unit 130 compresses the input video data 121 in a format such as MPEG2, and outputs high resolution video data (or low compression video data) 131 as a stream.

  The low resolution compression unit 140 compresses input video data 121 in a format such as MPEG4, and outputs low resolution video data 141 (or compressed video data) as a stream. In addition to the low resolution video data 141, the low resolution compression unit 140 can also output thinned low resolution video data 143 (or replacement compressed video data).

  The low-resolution video data 141 or the thinned-out low-resolution video data 143 is used for high-speed image search for searching a desired frame image at high speed, offline editing, or the like. Further, since the low resolution video data 141 or the thinned low resolution video data 143 has a lower data rate value and a smaller data amount than the high resolution video data 131, the video processing apparatus 100 efficiently uses the data via a network such as the Internet. Can transfer well. Further, in this specification, when simply described as a frame, the frame itself, the image of the frame itself, or both are indicated.

  When the thinned low resolution video data 143 has the same data rate as the low resolution video data 141, the thinned low resolution video data 143 is superior to the low resolution video data 141 in terms of image quality. The reason is that, as will be described in detail later, the frequency of updating the frame image configured in the thinned-out low-resolution video data 143 is reduced.

  The storage unit 150 can temporarily store or hold data output from the high resolution compression unit 130 or the low resolution compression unit 140. In addition, although the memory | storage part 150 concerning this Embodiment can illustrate memories, such as SRAM and DRAM, for example, it is not limited to this example.

  The high-resolution video data 131 and the low-resolution video data 141 or the thinned-out low-resolution video data 143 stored in the storage unit 150 are both sourced from the video data 121 and simultaneously from the same video data 121. A stream that is generated and has the same information.

  In the storage unit 150, the input streams, the high-resolution video data 131, the low-resolution video data 141 and / or the thinned-out low-resolution video data 143 are arranged in the order of writing (recording) on the recording medium 170. The signal 151 is transmitted to the recording medium recording unit 160. The recording signal 151 includes, for example, low resolution video data 141 and / or thinned out low resolution video data 143 corresponding to a plurality of seconds of the same content as data of a plurality of seconds (such as 2 seconds) of the high resolution video data 131. The data is arranged alternately, but is not limited to such an example.

  The recording medium recording unit 160 records the received recording signal 151 on the recording medium 170. The recording medium 170 according to the present embodiment will be described by taking an example of an optical disc such as a CD, DVD, or Blu-ray, but is not limited to such an example, and can be implemented even in the case of a magnetic disc or the like. It is.

  The control unit 180 controls processing of each unit included in the video processing apparatus 100. Further, the control unit 180 selects at least one of the low resolution video data 141 and the thinned low resolution video data 143 as the data output from the low resolution compression unit 140 and outputs the instruction information 181.

  The control unit 180 selects data to be output from the low resolution compression unit 140 based on the data rate value for the low resolution video data 141 received from the user. More specifically, for example, when the data rate value received from the user is smaller than a predetermined value, the control unit 180 selects the thinned-out low-resolution video data obtained by thinning out one frame every three frames. A value representing the contents of the frame thinning process is set in the instruction information 181 and output to the low resolution compression unit 140.

  When the low resolution compression unit 140 receives the instruction information 181 from the controller unit 180, the low resolution compression unit 140 executes frame thinning processing according to the value described in the instruction information 181, processes the thinned low resolution video data 143, and outputs it.

  The frame thinning process, which will be described in detail later, is a process of thinning out a frame (including an image) configured in the video data 121 and placing a copy of another frame on the thinned frame. For example, when the low-resolution compression unit 140 has not received the instruction information 181 or when the values set in the received instruction information 181 are all 0, the low-resolution compression unit 140 performs the thinned-out low-resolution video data 143. Instead, the low-resolution video data 141 is output.

  In the instruction information 181, values (M, N) such as how much frames are thinned out from the video data when the thinned low-resolution video data 143 are processed are set. The value of (M, N) set in the instruction information 181 varies according to the data rate value received from the user. For example, when the data rate value of the low-resolution video data 141 is accepted as 50 from the user, (M, N) of the instruction information 181 is set to (1, 2) or the like. Details will be described later.

  The instruction information 181 according to the present embodiment will be described by taking as an example the case where the controller unit 180 is created according to the data rate value received from the user, but is not limited to such an example. Even when the value set in (M, N) of the instruction information 181 is received directly from the above.

  Further, when receiving a data rate value or a value set in (M, N) of the instruction information 181 from the user, the controller unit 180 receives it via an input unit (not shown) provided in the video processing apparatus 100.

  The input unit includes a pointing device such as one or more buttons, a trackball, a trackpad, a stylus pen, a dial log, or a joystick that can receive instructions from the user, or a keyboard. It is not limited.

  In the following description, the video processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment is a video processing apparatus (or recording apparatus) provided with a video recording function (recording medium recording unit 160) for recording video on the recording medium 170. However, the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, the video processing apparatus 100 does not include the recording medium recording unit 160, or the video processing apparatus 100 further includes a CCD or the like in addition to the recording medium recording unit 160. The present invention can be implemented even when the camera has a photographing function (such as an imaging unit).

(About the low-resolution compression unit)
Next, the low resolution compression unit 140 according to the present embodiment will be described more specifically with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of the low-resolution compression unit according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the low resolution compression unit 140 includes a SIF (Source Input Format) filter 210, a frame thinning unit 220, a storage unit 230, and an encoder 240.

  The SIF filter 210 reduces the image size of the frame configured in the input video data 121 to a predetermined image format size, for example, ½ each, and transmits the reduced video data 211 to the frame thinning unit 220. .

  The frame thinning unit 220 receives the instruction information 181, and when the content of the instruction information 181 includes the frame thinning process, the frame thinning unit 220 performs the frame thinning process on the frame configured in the video data 121, and the video data after the frame thinning process is performed. 121 is output to the encoder 240. When the content of the instruction information 181 is “no frame decimation”, the frame decimation unit 220 outputs the video data 121 to the encoder 240 as it is. For example, a value of “0” is exceptionally set in the instruction information 181 without frame thinning, but the present invention is not limited to this example.

  The encoder 240 encodes (or compresses) the video data 121 processed by the frame thinning unit 220 into the MPEG4 format, and outputs it as low resolution video data 141 or thinned low resolution video data 143.

(About frame thinning processing and recording processing)
Next, frame thinning processing and recording processing according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing frame thinning processing and recording processing according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the video data 121 output from the input image decoding unit 120 is input to the low resolution compression unit 140 (S301), the control unit 180 displays the low resolution based on the data rate value received from the user. At least one of the video data 141 or the thinned-out low resolution video data 143 is selected (S303), and the instruction information 181 is transmitted to the low resolution compression unit 140.

  The frame thinning unit 220 of the low resolution compression unit 140 determines whether or not to execute the frame thinning process based on the information (M, N) set in the received instruction information 181 (S305). The determination as to whether or not to execute the frame decimation process by the frame decimation unit 220 may be made based on, for example, whether or not the frame decimation unit 220 receives the instruction information 181 within a predetermined time. When the value of (M, N) set in the instruction information 181 is (0, 0), it may be determined that the frame thinning process is not executed.

  When the frame decimation process is executed (S305), the frame decimation unit 220 performs frame decimation on the video data 121 based on the information (M, N) set in the instruction information 181 (S307).

  Next, the frame thinning unit 220 performs frame thinning on the video data 121 and transmits the output video data 121 to the encoder 240, and the encoder 240 compresses the video data 121 into the thinned low-resolution video data 143. (S309).

  Finally, the thinned-out low-resolution video data 143 output from the low-resolution compression unit 140 is arranged in the storage unit 150 in order with the high-resolution video data 131 output from the high-resolution compression unit 130, and is configured as a recording signal 151. The recording signal 151 is recorded on the recording medium 170 by the medium recording unit 160 (S311). This is the end of the description of the series of processing from frame thinning-out processing to recording processing for recording video data on a recording medium.

(About the frame thinning process according to the first embodiment)
Next, the frame decimation process according to the first embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of the frame decimation process according to the first embodiment.

  The frame decimation process according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4 shows the operation of the process when the information (M, N) of the instruction information 181 is (1, 1). Further, “input” shown in FIG. 4 indicates video data 121 input to the frame thinning unit 220, and “output” indicates data transmitted to the encoder 240.

Here, (M, N) set in the instruction information 181 will be described. M and N are natural numbers of 1 or 2 or more, but there may be 0 in exceptional cases. M and N are possible even when one or more M (M ₁ , M ₂ ,..., M _i ) and one or two or more N (N ₁ , N ₂ ,..., N _r ). It is.

  Note that the values of (M, N) included in the instruction information 181 transmitted from the controller unit 180 are both natural numbers of 1 or 2 in principle for both M and N. However, when the user does not request frame thinning processing, the controller unit 180 generates instruction information 181 in which the values of M and N are both set to 0 as an exception. In the above case, the frame thinning unit 220 outputs the video data 121 without performing the frame thinning process. Therefore, low-resolution video data 141 is output from the encoder 240.

  Further, M represents a process (first frame process) in which M frames are not thinned out. For example, when M is 3, the frame decimation unit 220 performs a process that does not decimate three frames among the frames configured in the video data 121.

  Next, N indicates a process of thinning out N frames (second frame process). For example, when N is 5, the frame thinning unit 220 performs a process of thinning out 5 frames out of the frames configured in the video data 121.

  As shown in FIG. 4, when the frame thinning unit 220 receives the instruction information 181 whose (M, N) is (1, 1) from the control unit 180, The process of not thinning out one frame and the process of thinning out one frame are alternately repeated until the end of the frame configured in the video data.

  Each rectangle formed in the input and output video data 121 shown in FIG. 4 and the like represents image data in one frame, and the number described in the rectangle is used as a frame number for identifying the frame for convenience. The frames are input to the frame thinning unit 220 in ascending order (0, 1,...).

  More specifically, when the instruction information 181 is received, as shown in FIG. 4, the frame decimation unit 220 does not decimate (do not discard) frame 0 and stores the image data of frame 0 in the storage unit 230. The image data is output as it is, and then the frame 1 is thinned out (discarded), and the video data of frame 0 stored in the storage unit 230 is output as the video data of frame 1. Therefore, on the output side, the image data related to frame 0 and frame 1 is the same.

  Thereafter, the frame thinning unit 220 alternately performs the process of not thinning out the frames for one frame, the frame 2, the frame 3,... And the process of thinning out the frame for one frame alternately until the final frame. Then, the video data 121 of each frame is output.

  As a result, when (M, N) of the instruction information 181 is (1, 1), video data 121 in which the same image continues every two frames is output to the encoder 240 on the output side.

  Note that the frame thinning unit 220 according to the first embodiment takes as an example a case where the process of thinning out one frame and the process of not thinning out one frame are alternately repeated once. However, the present invention is not limited to such an example. For example, the frame thinning unit 220 performs a process of not thinning out one frame for one or two consecutive times, and performs a process of thinning out one frame. The present invention can be implemented even when the process performed continuously one or more times is repeated alternately.

  Further, although the frame thinning unit 220 according to the first embodiment has been described by taking as an example the case of performing the thinning process based on the instruction information 181 for all frames configured in the video data, For example, 10 frames are defined as one group (group frame, GOP, or the like), and the frame thinning unit 220 performs thinning processing on the 10 group frames from the head configured in the video data based on the instruction information 181. It can be implemented in some cases.

(Regarding the amount of data according to the first embodiment)
Next, the data amounts of the low-resolution video data 141 and the thinned-out low-resolution video data 143 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The video shown in FIGS. 5 to 9 includes 10 frames of video data as one group (group frame, GOP).

  The first frame (frame 0) of the GOP is an I frame (or I picture: compressed as a still image, an abbreviated intra frame (intra-coded image)), and subsequent frames (frames 1 to 9). ) Is a P frame (or P picture: compressed with difference information, an abbreviation of Predictive frame (Predictive coded image)).

  Also, compression is performed so that the data amount of the entire GOP of frames 0 to 9 shown in FIGS. In the present embodiment, MPEG4 is used for the compression, but the compression is not limited to this example. In general, in MPEG4, the largest amount of data is assigned to an I frame, and the subsequent P frame is represented by difference information from the I frame image, so the data amount is smaller than that of the I frame.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the video data 121 is composed of images of frame 0 to frame 9. The video flows as time elapses as the frame number increases. The data amount when the encoder 240 encodes the frames 0 to 9 without first performing frame thinning will be described below with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 6 shows an output result when the encoder 240 compresses the video data 121 with MPEG4 and outputs it as the low-resolution video data 141 when the data amount of the entire frame 0 to frame 9 shown in FIG. Is shown.

  The numerical value described for each frame number represents the data size. As described above, the data size of frame 0 to frame 9 is 100 in total.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the data size of the I frame configured in the low-resolution video data 141 is 28, whereas the P frame is 8, so that the total amount of data (100) occupies the I frame. It can be seen that the ratio is large.

  Here, the data rate value is set to a data rate value substantially half that of frames 0 to 9 compressed by the encoder 240 shown in FIG. 6, and the video data 121 for 1 GOP is compressed the same as that shown in FIG. FIG. 7 shows an output result obtained by applying.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the frame configuration of the low-resolution video data 141 is the same as the frame 0 to the frame 9 shown in FIG. 5, and the data rate value is ½ of the value shown in FIG. It can be seen that the size is ½ of the data size shown in FIG.

  Therefore, the total data size of frames 0 to 9 shown in FIG. 7 is 50, which is half of the total data size shown in FIG. However, even if the data rate value is simply halved, the data size of the I frame is halved, so the image quality of the I frame deteriorates, and the P frame is also a differential image of the I frame after all. The image quality beyond that I frame cannot be expected.

  Accordingly, the data amount of the thinned-out low-resolution video data 143 according to the first embodiment will be described next with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of an input image when compressed to the thinned-out low resolution data 143 according to the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the video data composed of frames 0 to 9 is the same as the video data of frames 0 to 9 shown in FIG. Among frames 0 to 9 shown in FIG. 8, frames 1, 3, 3, 5, 7 and 9 are thinned out, and the images of the immediately preceding frame are arranged in the thinned frames, and then compressed by MPEG4. As a result, the thinned-out low-resolution video data 143 is output. This process is the same as the frame decimation process when (M, N) of the instruction information 181 described above is (1, 1).

  FIG. 9 shows the result when the frame thinning process is performed, the data is compressed by MPEG4 so as to be half the data rate value shown in FIG. 6, and the thinned low-resolution video data 143 is output. Hereinafter, FIG. 9 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 9, it can be seen that frame 1, frame 3, frame 5, frame 7 and frame 9 have a smaller amount of data than other frames. This is because each of the above frames is a copy of the immediately preceding frame (frame 0, frame 2, frame 4, frame 6, frame 8) and is the same image, so there is almost no difference. The amount of data can be minimized.

  Therefore, the data amount of the thinned frame can be allocated to other frames (particularly I frames) until the total amount reaches 50. That is, as compared with the data size of the I frame shown in FIG. 7, it can be seen that the data size of the I frame shown in FIG. 9 is increased from 14 to 23, and the image quality is improved. Further, the data size of the P frame (frame 2 or the like) is increased from 4 to 5.5 by the difference generated by replacing the thinned frame image with the copied frame image.

  From the above, the thinned-out low-resolution video data 143 shown in FIG. 9 has the same data rate value as that of the low-resolution video data 141 shown in FIG. Since a large amount of data can be allocated, the thinned-out low-resolution video data 143 can be said to have better image quality than the low-resolution video data 141 shown in FIG. As described above, in the thinned-out low-resolution video data 143, the image update rate of each frame is reduced, but the image quality of each frame image can be minimized.

(Frame thinning process according to the second embodiment)
Next, the frame decimation process according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an outline of the frame thinning process according to the second embodiment. Note that the frame decimation process according to the second embodiment and the frame decimation process according to the first embodiment are compared, and differences in particular will be described. Others are substantially the same unless otherwise specified, and will not be described in detail.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the frame decimation process according to the second embodiment shows the operation of the process when the information (M, N) of the instruction information 181 is (1, 3). Further, “input” shown in FIG. 10 indicates video data 121 input to the frame thinning unit 220, and “output” indicates data transmitted to the encoder 240.

  As shown in FIG. 10, when the frame thinning unit 220 receives the instruction information 181 whose (M, N) is (1, 3) from the control unit 180, the frame thinning unit 220 The process of not thinning out one frame and the process of thinning out three frames are alternately repeated until the end of the frame configured in the video data.

  More specifically, when the frame thinning unit 220 receives the instruction information 181, as shown in FIG. 10, the frame thinning unit 220 does not thin the frame 0 (without discarding it) and stores it in the storage unit 230. The image data related to frame 0 is stored, and the image data of frame 0 is output as it is.

  Next, the frame decimation unit 220 decimates (throws out) frames corresponding to the three frames, frame 1, frame 2, and frame 3, and stores the frame 0 stored in the storage unit 230 in the frame portion corresponding to the three frames. Three consecutive image data are arranged and output. Accordingly, the image data relating to the output side frames 0 to 3 is the same.

  Similarly, the frame thinning unit 220 does not thin out the frame 4, thins out the three frames of the frame 5, the frame 6 and the frame 7, and the image data of the frame 4 stored in the storage unit 230 6, Place in frame 7 and output.

  Thereafter, until the end of the frame configured in the video data, the frame thinning unit 220 alternately performs a process of thinning out one frame and a process of thinning out three frames.

  As described above, in the video data 121 output from the frame thinning unit 220, when (M, N) of the instruction information 181 is (1, 3), four frames are included in one group, and the images are the same in the group. The video data consists of different images.

This is the end of the series of frame thinning processing according to the second embodiment. This frame thinning processing is superior to the frame thinning processing according to the first embodiment in the following points. ing.
(1) Since there are many times that the images are the same continuously, the image change between frames can be further suppressed. Therefore, the data amount of the P frame is further reduced, and the data in the frame such as the I frame is correspondingly reduced. The image quality can be further improved.

  Note that the frame thinning unit 220 according to the second embodiment takes as an example a case in which the process of not thinning out one frame and the process of thinning out three frames are alternately repeated once. However, the present invention is not limited to such an example. For example, the frame thinning unit 220 performs a process of not thinning out one frame for one or two consecutive times, and performs a process of thinning out three frames. The present invention can be implemented even when the process performed continuously one or more times is repeated alternately. It should be noted that the number of continuous processes may be determined in advance or may vary randomly.

  In addition, the frame thinning unit 220 according to the second embodiment takes as an example a case in which a process of not thinning out one frame and a process of thinning out three frames are alternately repeated once. However, the present invention is not limited to such an example. For example, the frame thinning unit 220 alternately repeats a process of not thinning out one or more frames and a process of thinning out one or more frames one by one. It can be carried out even when it is performed. It should be noted that the process of not thinning out the frame and the process of thinning out the frame may be alternately performed a plurality of times.

  Further, the frame thinning unit 220 according to the second embodiment has been described by taking as an example a case where the thinning process is performed based on the instruction information 181 for all frames configured in the video data. For example, 10 frames are grouped into one group (group frame, GOP, or the like), and the frame thinning unit 220 performs thinning processing on the 10 group frames from the head configured in the video data 121 based on the instruction information 181. It can be carried out even when it is performed.

(About frame thinning processing according to the third embodiment)
Next, a frame thinning process according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an outline of the frame decimation process according to the third embodiment. Note that the frame decimation process according to the third embodiment and the frame decimation process according to the first embodiment are compared, and differences between them will be described. Others are substantially the same unless otherwise specified, and will not be described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 11, in the frame decimation process according to the third embodiment, the information (M ₁ , N ₁ ) of the instruction information 181 is (1, 1) and (M ₂ , N ₂ ) is (2, The operation | movement of the process in the case of 2) is shown.

As shown in FIG. 11, when the instruction information 181 is received from the control unit 180, the frame thinning unit 220 first sets (M ₁ , N ₁ ) for the frame configured in the input video data 121. The processing is performed based on the value set, and then the processing is performed based on the value set in (M ₂ , N ₂ ). Thereafter, the processing based on the above (M ₁ , N ₁ ) and the processing based on (M ₂ , N ₂ ) are alternately repeated.

Since the value set in (M ₁ , N ₁ ) is (1, 1), the frame thinning unit 220 includes a process that does not thin out one frame and a process that thins out one frame. Are alternately performed once.

  Note that the values of (M, N) included in the instruction information 181 transmitted from the controller unit 180 are both natural numbers of 1 or 2 in principle, but as an exception, the values of M and N are both 0. In this case, the frame thinning unit 220 outputs the frame without performing the frame thinning process. Therefore, low-resolution video data 141 is output from the encoder 240.

Further, since the value set in (M ₂ , N ₂ ) is (2, 2), the frame thinning unit 220 thins out the frame for two frames and the processing for not thinning out the frames for two frames. The process is alternately performed once.

  More specifically, when the frame thinning unit 220 receives the instruction information 181, as shown in FIG. 11, the frame thinning unit 220 does not thin out (do not discard) frame 0, and stores the storage unit 230. The image data related to frame 0 is stored in the frame 0, and the image data of frame 0 is output as it is.

Next, the frame thinning unit 220 thins out (throws away) the frame 1 and outputs the video data of frame 0 stored in the storage unit 230 as the video data of frame 1. Therefore, on the output side, the image data related to frame 0 and frame 1 is the same. This completes the processing based on the above (M ₁ , N ₁ ).

  Next, the frame thinning unit 220 stores the image data related to the frame 2 in the storage unit 230 without thinning out (without discarding) the frame 2 as in the case of the frame 0, and the frame 2 Output image data.

  Further, the frame thinning unit 220 overwrites the image data related to the frame 3 in the storage unit 230 with the image data related to the frame 2 in the storage unit 230 without outputting the frame 3 and outputs the image data of the frame 3. Note that the image data of frame 3 may be stored without overwriting the image data related to frame 2 of the storage unit 230.

Next, the frame thinning unit 220 thins out two frames of frames 4 and 5, and continuously arranges the image data of frame 3 stored in the storage unit 230 in the portion corresponding to the two frames. And output. Therefore, the image data relating to the output side frames 3 to 5 is the same. This completes the process based on (M ₂ , N ₂ ).

Thereafter, as described above, until the end of the frame formed in the video data, the frame thinning unit 220 performs processing based on (M ₁ , N ₁ ) and processing based on (M ₂ , N ₂ ). And alternately.

This is the end of the series of frame thinning processing according to the third embodiment. This frame thinning processing is superior to the frame thinning processing according to the first embodiment in the following points. ing.
(1) The case where the same image continues between frames and the case where they are discontinuous appear alternately, so that it is possible to deal with a wide range of image changes between frames, for example, a video with little motion such as a landscape. In this case, even in the case of a video with a lot of movement such as sports, it is possible to output the thinned-out low-resolution video data 143 that uniformly suppresses the deterioration of the image quality to some extent.

Note that the frame thinning unit 220 according to the third embodiment alternately repeats a process based on (M ₁ , N ₁ ) and a process based on (M ₂ , N ₂ ) once. Although the case has been described as an example, the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, the frame decimation unit 220 may include (M ₁ , N ₁ ), (M ₂ , N ₂ ), ..., (M _s , N _s ). It is possible to implement even when there are a plurality. In addition, the process based on (M _s , N _s ) (S = 1, 2,...) Is not limited to the case where the process is repeated one by one, and the process is performed in a plurality of times and repeated as a cycle. But it is possible. In addition, the number of times of performing the processing continuously a plurality of times may be predetermined, for example, or may vary randomly in each cycle.

Further, the values of M and N set in (M _s , N _s ) (S = 1, 2,...) According to the third embodiment are any values as long as they are 1 or 2 or more natural numbers. Even if it is set, it can be implemented.

  Further, the frame thinning unit 220 according to the third embodiment has been described by taking as an example a case where the thinning process is performed on all the frames configured in the video data based on the instruction information 181. For example, 10 frames are grouped into one group (group frame, GOP, or the like), and the frame thinning unit 220 performs thinning processing on the 10 group frames from the head configured in the video data 121 based on the instruction information 181. It can be carried out even when it is performed.

  The series of processes described above can be performed by dedicated hardware or software. When a series of processing is performed by software, a program constituting the software is installed in an information processing device such as a general-purpose computer or a microcomputer, and the information processing device functions as the video processing device 100.

  The program can be recorded in advance in a hard disk, ROM, flash memory, or the like as a recording medium built in the computer. Alternatively, the program is not limited to a hard disk drive, but a removable recording medium such as a flexible disk, a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), an MO (Magneto Optical) disk, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a magnetic disk, and a semiconductor memory. For example, it can be stored (recorded) temporarily or permanently. Such a removable recording medium can be provided as so-called package software.

  The program is installed on the computer from the removable recording medium as described above, and is transferred from the download site to the computer wirelessly via a digital satellite broadcasting artificial satellite, or a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet. Such a program can be transferred to a computer via a network, and the computer can install the transferred program on the hard disk.

  Here, in this specification, the processing steps for describing a program for causing a computer to perform various processes do not necessarily have to be processed in time series in the order described in the flowchart, but in parallel or individually. This includes processing to be executed (for example, parallel processing or processing by an object).

  The program may be processed by one computer, or may be distributedly processed by a plurality of computers.

This is the end of the description of the video processing apparatus 100. The apparatus has the following excellent effects.
(1) Even if the data rate value is lowered, the number of frames is not changed, and it is possible to create thinned-out low-resolution video data that can prevent deterioration of image quality to the maximum although it has low resolution. Therefore, when editing, high-speed image retrieval, etc., it is possible to transmit to a remote place without impeding efficiency, reducing the amount of data and reducing the load on the network.
(2) Since the number of frames is not changed at all and only the frame image update rate can be reduced, the user can view an image with little image quality degradation even if the data rate value is low. In addition, the user can freely set the data rate value and the like in consideration of the image quality and the image update rate.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, this invention is not limited to this example. It is obvious for a person skilled in the art that various changes or modifications can be envisaged within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. It is understood that it belongs.

  In the above embodiment, the video processing apparatus 100 is described as an example of a recording apparatus having a function of recording video on a recording medium, but the video data 121 is input, frame thinning processing is executed, and compression is performed. The present invention is not limited to such an example as long as processing is possible, and can be implemented in any apparatus.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the storage unit 150 and the storage unit 230 are configured by separate storage units has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this example. 150 and the storage unit 230 can be implemented even when the video processing apparatus 100 is provided as an integrated storage unit.

  In the above-described embodiment, the video processing apparatus 100 has been described by way of example of the case where the video processing apparatus 100 includes the recording medium recording unit 160 that records video on the recording medium 170. However, the present invention is not limited to this example. When the processing apparatus 100 does not include the recording medium recording unit 160 that records video on the recording medium 170, the video processing apparatus 100 includes the recording medium recording unit 160 and / or an imaging function (such as an imaging unit having a CCD). It can be implemented even if it is provided.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where each unit included in the video processing apparatus 100 is configured by hardware has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to such an example. For example, the high-resolution compression unit 130 and the low-resolution compression unit 140 included in the video processing apparatus 100 may be a program composed of one or two or more modules or components.

It is a block diagram which shows an example of a schematic structure of the video processing apparatus concerning this Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a schematic structure of the low-resolution compression part which concerns on this Embodiment. It is the flowchart figure which showed schematically the frame thinning-out process and recording process which concern on this Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which showed the outline of the frame thinning-out process concerning 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which showed the outline of the flame | frame comprised by the video data concerning 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the schematic structure of the flame | frame comprised by the low resolution video data concerning 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the schematic structure of the flame | frame comprised by the low resolution video data concerning 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which showed the outline of the flame | frame comprised by the video data in the case of performing the frame thinning process concerning 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the schematic structure of the flame | frame comprised by the thinning-out low resolution video data concerning 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the outline of the frame thinning-out process concerning 2nd Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the outline of the frame thinning-out process concerning 3rd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

100 Video processing device 110
102 parts

Claims (12)

One or more frames of a plurality of frames configured in video data are thinned out, and the thinned frame is replaced with a copy of the frame before or after that frame, followed by compression processing. To process the video data into compressed video data by performing the first processing for processing the video data into replacement compressed video data, or by performing compression processing without decimating any frames formed in the video data A selection unit for selecting one of the second processing processes;
A video processing apparatus comprising: a first video processing unit that executes the process selected by the selection unit and processes the video data into either the thinned compressed video data or the compressed video data. In the video processing device, the first video processing unit compresses the video data at a rate higher than the data rate at which the video data is compressed and processes the video data into low-compressed video data. The video processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a processing unit. The video processing apparatus is further provided with a recording unit that records at least one of the thinned compressed video data processed by the first video processing unit or the compressed video data on a recording medium. Item 12. The video processing apparatus according to Item 1. The video processing apparatus further includes at least one of the thinned compressed video data or the compressed video data processed by the first video processing unit and the low-compressed video processed by the second video processing unit. The video processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a recording unit that records data on a recording medium. The video processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the front frame is a frame immediately before the thinned frame, and the rear frame is a frame immediately after the thinned frame. . The process of thinning out the frames includes a first frame process in which M and N are natural numbers of 1 or 2 and frames of M frames are not thinned out, and a second frame process of thinning out frames of N frames. The video processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the video processing apparatus repeats alternately for frames configured in the video data. In the first frame processing, a plurality of the Ms each having a natural number of 1 or 2 are used in order or randomly, and a process that does not thin out M frames is performed. The video processing apparatus according to claim 6. In the second frame process, a process of thinning out N frames is performed, wherein a plurality of Ns each having a natural number of 1 or 2 are used sequentially or randomly. The video processing apparatus according to claim 6. The first processing is performed on at least one group frame among one or two or more group frames obtained by grouping frames configured in the video data into a plurality of frames. The video processing apparatus described in 1. The process of thinning out the frames formed in the group frame is a first frame process in which M and N are natural numbers of 1 or 2 and M frames are not thinned, and a second frame of N frames is thinned out. The video processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the frame processing is alternately repeated for frames configured in the group frame. One or more frames of a plurality of frames configured in video data are thinned out, and the thinned frame is replaced with a copy of the frame before or after that frame, followed by compression processing. To process the video data into compressed video data by performing the first processing for processing the video data into replacement compressed video data, or by performing compression processing without decimating any frames formed in the video data Selecting one of the second processing treatments;
When the first processing process is selected, one or more frames among a plurality of frames configured in the video data are thinned out, and further, the thinned frame is converted into a frame before or after the frame. Replacing it with a copy of it and then compressing it;
And a step of performing a compression process without thinning out any frames formed in the video data when the second processing process is selected. One or more frames of a plurality of frames configured in video data are thinned out, and the thinned frame is replaced with a copy of the frame before or after that frame, followed by compression processing. To process the video data into compressed video data by performing the first processing for processing the video data into replacement compressed video data, or by performing compression processing without decimating any frames formed in the video data Selecting any of the second processing steps;
When the first processing process is selected in the selection step, one or more frames out of a plurality of frames configured in the video data are thinned out, and the thinned frame is replaced with the previous frame of the frame. Or the step of replacing the post-frame with a copy and then compressing it;
Causing the computer to execute a video processing method including a step of performing a compression process without thinning out any frames formed in the video data when the second processing process is selected in the selection step. A characteristic computer program.

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