Patent ID: 9118894
Filing Date: 2015-08-25
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. An image processing apparatus comprising: a viewpoint setting unit configured to set, when a stereoscopic video image is provided that includes a left-eye parallax image and a right-eye parallax image having a predetermined parallax distribution and that is observed from a given viewpoint, a virtual viewpoint for observing a subject in the stereoscopic video image from another viewpoint; a parallax image generation unit configured to generate a left-eye parallax image and a right-eye parallax image for providing a desired parallax distribution obtained when an observation is made from the viewpoint set by the viewpoint setting unit, by shifting an image cut-out position of at least one of the left-eye parallax image or the right-eye parallax image, wherein, when a shift amount at the image cut-out position changes due to a change made in the position of the virtual viewpoint, the parallax image generation unit generates a parallax image while changing the shift amount in stages, from a shift amount obtained before the change to a shift amount obtained after the change, and a reference coordinate storage unit configured to store the position coordinates of a shift-amount calculation reference point that is determined as a reference for calculating a shift amount at an image cut-out position in a virtual three-dimensional space of the stereoscopic video image, wherein, the parallax image generation unit acquires, in reference to the reference coordinate storage unit, the respective position coordinates of shift-amount calculation reference points that exist near the position of the viewpoint set by the viewpoint setting unit and further includes a shift amount calculation unit configured to calculate, as the value of a shift amount, a value that is greater than or equal to a minimum shift amount value but less than or equal to a maximum shift amount value, all inclusive, calculated based on stereoscopic video images of the subject obtained when an observation is made at the respective position coordinates.