Patent ID: 8023003
Filing Date: 2011-09-20
Classification: G01S,G06T,H04N

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for generating a panorama image, the apparatus comprising: a regional motion vector estimation unit that detects a first pixel selected from pixels belonging to first lower regions set in a first image frame selected from a series of continuous image frames, wherein the first pixel has a pixel value that is most close to that of a second pixel selected from pixels belonging to second lower regions of a second image frame that is chronologically prior to the first image frame, wherein the second lower regions correspond to the first lower regions, and estimates regional motion vectors of the first lower regions by using coordinates of the first and second pixels; a frame motion vector determination unit that selects a set of regional motion vectors that provide the smallest Euclidean distance with respect to the regional motion vectors of the first lower regions, based on a code book storing sets of normalized regional motion vectors corresponding to a camera's motion selected from a parallel motion, a rotation motion, and a zooming motion, and determines the selected set of regional motion vectors as a frame motion vector of the first image frame; a motion mediating variable computing unit that computes a motion mediating variable with respect to the camera's motion indicated by the frame motion vector based on the coordinates of the first pixel and second pixel; a frame selection unit that selects an image frame having an overlapping region with respect to a reference image frame, wherein the size of the overlapping region is most close to a threshold value that is determined in advance, wherein the overlapping region is determined by sequentially accumulating motion mediating variables computed with respect to continuous image frames from the reference image frame to the current image frame, and then sequentially selects image frames that have overlapping regions with respect to the previously selected image frames, wherein the size of the overlapping regions are most close to the threshold value; and a frame combination unit that sequentially matches overlapping regions of image frames selected by the frame selection unit to the reference image frame to generate a panorama image.