JP2011193463A - Image processor, image processing method and stereoscopic image display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology for giving a proper stereoscopic effect to various images. <P>SOLUTION: A stereoscopic image display device includes a setting part, a generation part, and a display part. The setting part sets parameter information for controlling the stereoscopic effect used in displaying the display image, based on viewing environment information. The generation part generates the stereoscopic image by adjusting the stereoscopic effect of the display image, in accordance with the parameter information. The display part displays the adjusted stereoscopic image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present disclosure relates to a video processing device, a video processing method, and a stereoscopic video display device.

  A device that displays binocular parallax with two flat images and reproduces a three-dimensional image in the depth direction around the screen has been developed. Three-dimensional displays can be broadly categorized into: a viewer system that looks into the display itself, a viewer system that is mounted on the head, a glass system that uses special glasses to divide left and right images (glasses system), and special observations. There is a naked eye method (naked eye method) that does not require special glasses. The glasses type is currently used for screening 3D movies.

  As for the stereoscopic effect in the stereoscopic image, the sense of depth is calculated from the difference between the images at two different viewpoints. Representative depth cues include binocular parallax and convergence. Binocular parallax is a shift in information obtained by the left and right eyes. The image of the retina when the subject is watched is shifted at a position away from the gazing point, and the amount of this shift (parallax amount) And the distance in the depth direction correspond to each other, so that binocular parallax is converted into a sense of depth. Convergence is a movement of both eyes that attempts to cross the line of sight with the object. Since the amount of this movement corresponds to the distance to the object, it is said that stereoscopic perception is possible.

  In a three-dimensional display, an observer may complain of eye fatigue for images with a large amount of pop-up and long-time observation. The main cause is inconsistency with the visual system. In natural vision, the position of convergence and accommodation is always fixed to one object. Adjustment means focusing on the subject. However, when observing a stereoscopic image, the convergence works on the stereoscopic image and the adjustment is fixed on the screen. As described above, in the stereoscopic display, there is a problem that the convergence information of the visual system is different from the adjustment distance information, and the stereoscopic effect is inconsistent with the visual system. When producing and displaying stereoscopic video content, it is necessary to consider such a visual system.

Display with different screen sizes by setting the amount of parallax and adjusting the stereoscopic effect based on shooting information (camera interval and distance to the cross point) and display device information (screen size, viewing distance) with a stereo camera There has been proposed a technique capable of obtaining a stereoscopic image with a natural pop-out amount even when played back by an apparatus (for example, Patent Document 1).

Patent No. 3978392

  Providing technology that gives appropriate 3D effect to various images.

  In order to achieve the above object, a stereoscopic video display device according to an aspect of the present invention includes a setting unit, a generation unit, and a display unit. The setting unit sets parameter information for controlling the stereoscopic effect when displaying the display image based on the viewing environment information. The generation unit generates a stereoscopic image in which the stereoscopic effect of the display image is adjusted according to the parameter information. The display unit can display the adjusted stereoscopic video.

The figure which shows the display apparatus of 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the table which a memory | storage part hold | maintains. The figure which shows the example of normalization. The figure which shows the example of the adjustment method of parallax amount. The figure which shows the video processing apparatus of 1st Embodiment.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the structure and process which mutually perform the same operation | movement, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

  The stereoscopic display device of each embodiment may be any of various types such as a glasses type and a naked eye type as long as stereoscopic display can be performed. Further, any of a time division method, a space separation method, and the like may be used. In the following embodiments, a twin-lens display that performs stereoscopic display using a frame sequential time division method using glasses will be described. Examples of the time division method include a liquid crystal shutter glasses method, a polarization filter glasses method, and an RGB waveband division filter glasses method. In this embodiment, a time division method using liquid crystal shutter glasses is exemplified. The time division method may be either field sequential or frame sequential.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a display device 200 according to the present embodiment. Various methods may be used for supplying the video. Various methods may be used such as obtaining through a tuner or reading information stored on an optical disk.

  The display device 200 includes a video processing unit 100 and a display unit 210. The display video input to the display device 200 includes various video content such as TV program content transmitted by television broadcasting and video content distributed on the Internet. In this embodiment, information related to the program is input together with the display video. In the following embodiment, a case where an EPG (Electric Program Guide) superimposed on a VBI (Vertical Blanking Interval) is input will be exemplified. In addition, the information regarding a program is not restricted to this, A G code, the program information which can be acquired from the internet, or an electronic fingerprint may be sufficient.

  The display unit 210 displays the video content as, for example, a stereoscopic video. The display unit 210 may be capable of displaying not only a stereoscopic video but also a two-dimensional image. The display unit 201 displays the display video generated by the generation unit 104.

  The video processing unit 100 acquires attribute information related to the attribute of the display video from the video content, and a selection unit that sets parameter information for controlling stereoscopic effect when displaying the display video based on the attribute information. 102, a storage unit 103 in which parameter information is stored, and a generation unit 104 that generates a video in which the stereoscopic effect of the display video is adjusted according to the parameter information for the video content.

  When receiving the broadcast reception signal including the video content and the EPG, the acquisition unit 101 extracts the EPG in the broadcast reception signal and acquires the attribute information regarding the program of the display video. As attribute information, for example, program genre, broadcast time zone, channel, performer, and keyword information are acquired. The detailed configuration of the acquisition unit 101 will be described later with reference to FIG. When a G code other than EPG, program information that can be acquired from the Internet, or an electronic fingerprint is input, attribute information may be acquired from those signals (broadcast reception signals). When acquiring attribute information from an EPG, for example, the acquisition unit 101 acquires information about a program by analyzing a genre, a time zone, a channel, and the like from an EPG extracted from a broadcast reception signal by a slicer (not shown). . The obtained attribute information corresponding to the information about the program is obtained. For example, the association between information about a program (for example, a keyword included in a title and detailed information) and attribute information may be determined in advance.

  The storage unit 103 stores parameter information for displaying the display video in association with the attribute information. In the present embodiment, an example in which the parallax amount is stored as parameter information will be described. In addition, a configuration may be used in which the viewing zone, the number of viewpoints, the pop-out amount, and the like are stored. The storage unit 103 may be any method such as an HDD, a CD-ROM, a hard disk, a memory card, a ROM, a punch card, and a tape as long as it can store data. Further, it may be connected via a network.

  The selection unit 102 selects the parameter information stored in the storage unit 103 corresponding to the attribute information of the display video, and sets the parameter information. In the present embodiment, parameter information for converting the amount of parallax is sent to the generation unit 104.

  The parameter information is supplied to the generation unit 104 together with the video content. The generation unit 104 generates a stereoscopic video in which the parallax amount of the display video is adjusted based on the parameter information set by the selection unit 103. For example, when the input video is a stereoscopic video, the parallax amount of either one or both is adjusted. In addition, even when a single 2D video is supplied from the outside, and the generation unit 104 estimates a depth value from the 2D image, the method generates multiple images from different viewpoints with binocular parallax. I do not care. At that time, a stereoscopic video is generated according to the parameter information set by the selection unit 102.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the correspondence between the attribute information stored in the storage unit 103 and the parameter information. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the parameter information that sets the maximum parallax amount is shown. FIG. 2A shows an example in which the attribute information is a program genre. FIG. 2B shows an example in which the attribute information is a broadcast time zone. FIG. 2C shows an example in which the attribute information is a channel. The selection unit 102 refers to the storage unit 103 and selects parameter information (for example, the maximum amount of parallax) corresponding to the attribute information extracted from the EPG (for example, the genre, time zone, channel, etc. of the broadcast program).

  FIG. 2A is a table in which broadcast program genres are associated with parallax amounts. For example, since the program for children and educational programs are likely to be viewed by children, it is desirable to set the parallax amount small. This is because the distance between the eyes of a child is narrower than that of an adult, and the stereoscopic effect of the child is larger than that of an adult even with the same amount of parallax. FIG. 2B is a table in which the broadcast time zone is associated with the amount of parallax. It is known that the eye fatigue recovery ability varies depending on the time of day. In general, it has been reported that at night, the fatigue recovery ability of the eye is dull due to fatigue accumulation throughout the body. Therefore, for example, it is desirable to set a small amount of parallax for a program in the night time zone. FIG. 2C is a table in which channels of broadcast programs are associated with parallax amounts. Depending on the channel, the trend of the program genre appears. Therefore, associating channels with parallax amounts is also an effective method.

  Next, a parallax amount setting method using the maximum parallax amount illustrated in FIG. 2 will be described. For example, it is assumed that the storage unit 103 holds a relative amount of parallax for each pixel. The relative amount of parallax indicates the amount of parallax when the depth position is the screen position and the amount of parallax is zero. In the following description, the parallax amount in front of the screen position is expressed as a negative value, and the parallax amount in the rear is expressed as a positive value. The maximum amount of parallax indicates the limit value of pop-out / depth. For example, when the maximum parallax amount is 10, the parallax amount at the pop-out limit position is −10, and the parallax amount at the depth limit position is +10. Then, the relative correction amount is normalized as a whole so that the relative maximum parallax amount becomes the maximum parallax amount. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a change in the amount of parallax before and after normalization. The maximum parallax amount to be stored in the storage unit 103 has been described as a configuration in which the absolute value is stored with the same value on the near side and the far side, but different maximum parallax amounts may be set on the near side and the far side.

  Note that what is stored in the storage unit 103 may be other than the maximum amount of parallax.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between depth positions before and after adjustment of the parallax amount. FIG. 4A describes an example in which a gain constant is associated with program information. The gain constant means a constant that is integrated with respect to the parallax amount set for each pixel. Depending on the gain constant, the pop-out / depth range can be expanded or reduced. For example, in a program in which the broadcast time zone is night, setting the gain constant to 1 or less makes it possible to reduce the overall pop-out / depth feeling.

  FIG. 4B shows an example in which an offset amount is used in association with program information. The offset amount means a constant added to the parallax amount set for each pixel, and the pop-out / depth range can be shifted back and forth by the offset amount. For example, the vergence angle is smaller when the inner side is deeper than when the outer side is jumped out. For this reason, it has been reported that the eyes are less tired. Therefore, in a program in which the broadcast time zone is night, the pop-out / depth range can be shifted to the far side as a whole by setting the offset amount to a positive value.

  Further, it has been reported that the eyes get tired when the amount of parallax is changed greatly between frames. After setting the amount of parallax in the parallax amount table for each frame, it is possible to make adjustments so that the fluctuation is reduced by filtering in the time direction so that there are no pixels in which the amount of parallax varies greatly between frames. preferable.

  In this embodiment, some examples of the correspondence between program information and the amount of parallax have been described, but the present invention is not limited to these examples. For example, the stereoscopic effect may be appropriately corrected based on the viewing environment, viewers, and visual characteristics.

(Second Embodiment)
The present embodiment shows an example in which information (hereinafter referred to as availability information) indicating whether or not to display a display video as a stereoscopic display is superimposed on the input signal as attribute information. Accordingly, for example, stereoscopic display can be performed based on whether or not the stereoscopic display is approved by the copyright of the broadcast program. Since the video processing unit of the present embodiment has the same configuration as the video processing unit 100 of FIG. Note that the storage unit 103 is not necessarily provided.

  The acquisition unit 101 acquires information on whether or not a 3D display of a broadcast program superimposed on the input broadcast signal is possible. The availability information is, for example, information indicating whether the broadcast program can be displayed as a stereoscopic video.

  The selection unit 102 sets the amount of parallax based on the availability information obtained from the acquisition unit. For example, when display is impossible as a stereoscopic video, the parallax amount is set to zero as parameter information.

  The generation unit 104 sends a two-dimensional image to the display unit 201 when the amount of parallax is zero.

  The operation of the video processing unit 100 will be described. When a broadcast signal is input, information on whether or not a 3D display of a broadcast program can be displayed is extracted from the superimposed EPG information, and a parallax amount for creating another viewpoint video is set based on the information on the availability.

  In this embodiment, an example in which EPG information superimposed on a broadcast signal is used to acquire copyright information of a broadcast program has been described. However, other input information may be used. For example, flag information superimposed on a broadcast signal, program information that can be acquired from the Internet, electronic fingerprints, and the like can be given.

  In this embodiment, an example of information indicating whether display as a stereoscopic video is OK / NG as copyright information has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this example. 3D information specified by the author is also included.

(Third embodiment)
This embodiment is different from the above embodiments in that the attribute information of the program is acquired by analyzing the video of the broadcast program for a predetermined time, and the parallax amount is set based on the acquired attribute information. The timing of analyzing the video is, for example, at the start of a broadcast program or when the viewer changes the channel, or both.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the video processing unit 300 of the present embodiment.

  The acquisition unit 301 estimates the genre of the program by analyzing the video of the program for a predetermined time.

  The acquisition unit 301 includes a program start detection unit 801 that detects the start timing of a broadcast program, a channel detection unit 802 that detects the timing when the viewer changes the channel, a frame memory 803 that holds video for a predetermined period, and a predetermined An analysis unit 804 that analyzes attribute information of the broadcast program from the video for the frame is included.

  A channel detection unit 802 detects the start of a program or / and a channel change from the input signal. The analysis unit 804 analyzes the video of a predetermined period stored in the frame memory 803 and estimates broadcast program attribute information (for example, genre). Then, referring to the parallax amount table based on the estimated genre, the parallax amount at the time of creating another viewpoint video is set.

  As an analysis method, for example, there is a method of detecting the amount of characters included in a video. The knowledge that it is generally desirable to reduce the amount of parallax for subtitles and telops has been reported. Therefore, it may be desirable to set a small amount of parallax for a program with a large amount of characters.

  In this embodiment, the example in which the text amount in the video is used as the subject information obtained as a result of analyzing the video has been described. However, information on other subjects may be used.

100, 300 Video processing unit 200 Display device 101, 301 Acquisition unit 102 Selection unit 801 Program start detection unit 802 Channel detection unit 803 Frame memory 804 Analysis unit 103 Storage unit 104 Generation unit

Claims (11)

A setting unit for setting the parameter information for controlling the stereoscopic effect when displaying the display video based on the viewing environment information;
A generating unit that generates a stereoscopic image in which the stereoscopic effect of the display image is adjusted according to the parameter information;
A stereoscopic image display device comprising: a display unit capable of displaying the adjusted stereoscopic image. The setting unit
A storage unit that stores the parameter information in association with the viewing environment information;
The stereoscopic image display apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a selection unit that selects the parameter information from the storage unit according to the viewing environment information.   The stereoscopic image display device according to claim 1, wherein the generation unit generates a plurality of the display images having parallax from the display image according to the parameter information.   The stereoscopic image display apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the parameter information includes at least one of a parallax amount, a viewing zone, a viewpoint number, and a pop-out amount. A setting unit for setting the parameter information for controlling the stereoscopic effect when displaying the display video based on the viewing environment information;
An image processing apparatus comprising: a generation unit configured to generate a stereoscopic image in which the stereoscopic effect of the display image is adjusted according to the parameter information. The setting unit
A storage unit that stores the parameter information in association with the viewing environment information;
The video processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: a selection unit that selects the parameter information from the storage unit according to the viewing environment information.   The video processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the generation unit generates a plurality of the display videos having parallax from the display video according to the parameter information.   The video processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the parameter information includes at least one of a parallax amount, a viewing zone, the number of viewpoints, and a pop-out amount. Setting parameter information for controlling stereoscopic effect when displaying a display image based on viewing environment information;
Generating a stereoscopic image in which the stereoscopic effect of the display image is adjusted according to the parameter information.   The video processing method according to claim 9, wherein in the step of generating the stereoscopic video, a plurality of the display videos having a parallax are generated from the display video according to the parameter information.   11. The video processing method according to claim 9, wherein the parameter information includes at least one of a parallax amount, a viewing zone, the number of viewpoints, and a pop-out amount.

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