Patent ID: 6040875
Filing Date: 2000-03-21
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
A method to compensate for a fade in a digital video input sequence which is compressed according to a video compression standard in which a first encoding processor applies an encoding algorithm for the compression, the video input sequence comprising a group of sequential picture frames, each frame comprising an array of pixels, each pixel having associated luminance and chrominance values, the method comprising the steps of:(a) dividing each frame of a current frame into two fields,(b) dividing each field of the current frame into at least one field band,(c) summing the luminance and summing the chrominance pixel values for the pixels in each field of the current frame,(d) summing the luminance pixel values for the pixels in each field band of the current frame,(e) comparing each respective field band sum and field sum of the current frame with that of the previous frame in the video input sequence,(f) detecting whether a fade has occurred based upon the comparison in step (e),(g) adjusting the encoding algorithm if a fade has occurred, and(h) repeating steps (a) through (g) for at least one subsequent frame in the input video sequence.