Abstract:
A system and method for providing user control of the projection of two-dimensional (2D) image information within the three-dimensional (3D) display space of a 3D-capable display device. Advantageously, the system and method disclosed herein allow a user to view 3D video even when the source video includes 2D content, by allowing the user to adjust the z-axis position of the 2D content, thereby causing the 2D content to be projected at a user-specified image depth within 3D space. The user can adjust the z-axis position of the 2D content in real time while contemporaneously viewing the imagery, e.g., via a remote control, and such adjustment can be stored for later use when similar or other 2D content is being viewed.

Description:
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
       [0001]    The present disclosure relates to three-dimensional (3D) stereoscopic video systems, and in particular, to such methods and systems providing user control of image projection depth. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 
       [0002]    Even as 3D video gains in popularity and becomes increasingly available, significant amounts of two-dimensional (2D) video will continue to exist and be produced. As a result, both 3D and 2D video content will be produced, broadcast, stored and distributed for viewing for some time to come. For example, even during an exclusively 3D video broadcast of a television program, one or more commercial breaks may be broadcast in 2D, or the viewer may switch to a 2D channel while “channel surfing” during a commercial. Similarly, chapters of a 3D recorded video, e.g., Blu-Ray, such as the credits or copyright information may only be in 2D. Hence, an exclusively 3D viewing experience cannot be guaranteed. 
         [0003]    Accordingly, it would be desirable to allow for control by the viewer to enjoy a consistent 3D viewing experience notwithstanding inclusion of 2D content coming from the video source. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0004]      FIG. 1  depicts a 3D display space of a 3D-capable video display. 
           [0005]      FIG. 2  is a functional block diagram of a system for providing user control of the projection depth of 2D imagery within a 3D display space. 
           [0006]      FIG. 3  is a functional block diagram of an alternative embodiment of a system for providing user control of the projection depth of 2D imagery within a 3D space. 
           [0007]      FIG. 4  is a functional block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of memory and video processor circuitry for providing user control of the projection depth of 2D imagery within a 3D space. 
           [0008]      FIG. 5  is a functional block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a system for providing user control of the projection depth of 2D imagery within a 3D space. 
           [0009]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart depicting user control of the projection depth of 2D imagery within a 3D space in accordance with another embodiment. 
           [0010]      FIG. 7  depicts use of a user-controlled device and its interaction with a display device for controlling the projection depth of 2D imagery within a 3D space in accordance with another embodiment. 
       
    
    
     SUMMARY OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    Briefly in one embodiment system and method provides user control of the projection of 2D image information within the 3D display space of a 3D-capable display device. Advantageously, the system and method disclosed herein allow a user to view 3D video even when the source video includes 2D content, by allowing the user to adjust the z-axis position of the 2D content, thereby causing the 2D content to be projected at a user-specified image depth within 3D space. The user can adjust the z-axis position of the 2D content in real time while contemporaneously viewing the imagery, e.g., via a remote control, and such adjustment can be stored for later use when similar or other 2D content is being viewed. 
         [0012]    In accordance with one embodiment, a method includes accessing depth control data related to a projection depth of two-dimensional (2D) imagery within a three-dimensional (3D) space, and processing 2D video representing a 2D image in accordance with the depth control data to provide 3D video including the 2D image projected into the 3D space. 
         [0013]    In accordance with another embodiment, an apparatus including circuitry includes control circuitry and video processing circuitry. The control circuitry is for accessing depth control data related to a projection depth of two-dimensional (2D) imagery within a three-dimensional (3D) space. The video processing circuitry is for processing 2D video representing a 2D image in accordance with the depth control data to provide 3D video including the 2D image projected into the 3D space. 
         [0014]    In accordance with another embodiment, an apparatus includes memory capable of storing executable instructions, and one or more processors operably coupled to the memory. The one or more processors are responsive to the executable instructions by accessing depth control data related to a projection depth of two-dimensional (2D) imagery within a three-dimensional (3D) space, and processing 2D video representing a 2D image in accordance with the depth control data to provide 3D video including the 2D image projected into the 3D space. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0015]    The following detailed description is of example embodiments of the presently claimed invention with references to the accompanying drawings. Such description is intended to be illustrative and not limiting with respect to the scope of the present invention. Such embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the subject invention, and it will be understood that other embodiments may be practiced with some variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject invention. 
         [0016]    Throughout the present disclosure, absent a clear indication to the contrary from the context, it will be understood that individual circuit elements as described may be singular or plural in number. For example, the terms “circuit” and “circuitry” may include either a single component or a plurality of components, which are either active and/or passive and are connected or otherwise coupled together (e.g., as one or more integrated circuit chips) to provide the described function. Additionally, the term “signal” may refer to one or more currents, one or more voltages, or a data signal. Within the drawings, like or related elements will have like or related alpha, numeric or alphanumeric designators. Further, while the present invention has been discussed in the context of implementations using discrete electronic circuitry (preferably in the form of one or more integrated circuit chips), the functions of any part of such circuitry may alternatively be implemented using one or more appropriately programmed processors, depending upon the signal frequencies or data rates to be processed. Moreover, to the extent that the figures illustrate diagrams of the functional blocks of various embodiments, the functional blocks are not necessarily indicative of the division between hardware circuitry. Thus, for example, one or more of the functional blocks (e.g., processors, memories, etc.) may be implemented in a single piece of hardware (e.g., a general purpose signal processor, random access memory, hard disk drive, etc.). Similarly, any programs described may be standalone programs, may be incorporated as subroutines in an operating system, may be functions in an installed software package, etc. 
         [0017]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , a 3D-capable display device  10  provides a 3D display space  12  for viewing by a user  14 . As is well known, such 3D display space  12  allows for the display and projection of 3D video content for which each picture element (pixel) is positioned somewhere along an x-axis  11   x , a y-axis  11   y  and a z-axis  11   z . Currently, when video content is displayed in such a device  10 , as the video stream being displayed switches from 3D to 2D, most displays  10  simply display the 2D content on the screen along some predetermined or fixed position on the z-axis  11   z . However, given that the user  14  was previously viewing 3D content, this may not provide the most desirable viewing experience. A better solution would be to provide control by the user  14  to adjust the depth, i.e., the position along the z-axis  11   z , of the 2D content such that it can be made to appear closer to or further from the viewer  14  within the 3D space  12 . In other words, the 2D content remains intact as 2D image information, e.g., as a 2D frame, and is projected, in accordance with the user control, along the z-axis to make it appear closer to or further from the viewer. 
         [0018]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , a system for providing such control in accordance with one embodiment includes a content source and processor  20   a , which provides the 2D and 3D video content, subject to control by a user-controlled device  22 , which provides depth control data  23 . As will be readily appreciated, the content source and processor  20   a  can include any of many typical sources of video content, such as a set-top box, a video disc player, a gaming console, a video recording system, a personal computer, or a network device, such as a router or a switch (wired or wireless) via which content is received from a remote source via a network. The status of the content as 3D or 2D is determined and encoded appropriately upstream, e.g., by the provider of the original content when making it available for broadcast or other forms of distribution, and is readily recognized, e.g., based on differences in 3D and 2D encoding. As will be further appreciated, the user-controlled device can be any among typical devices such as a remote control (e.g., radio frequency or infrared), computer keyboard or computer mouse (discussed in more detail below). 
         [0019]    In accordance with the depth control data  23  provided by user-controlled device  22 , the processor within the content source and processor  20   a  processes 2D video content to provide corresponding 3D video  21   a  for display by a display device  10   a . It would be readily appreciated that the display device  10   a  can include such typical display devices as a flat panel display or a video projector. 
         [0020]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , in accordance with another embodiment, processing of the 2D content in accordance with the depth control data  23  provided by the user-controlled device  22  can be performed within a display device  10   b  having its own video processor. Accordingly, the video content source  20   b  provides the 2D content  21   b  for processing within such display device and processor  10   b  in accordance with the depth control data  23 . 
         [0021]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , in accordance with another embodiment, the processing circuitry for processing the video content  21   c  can include one or more video processors  30  and memory circuitry  32 . Such memory circuitry  32  can include any form of suitable memory, such as volatile, non-volatile, flash, random access, read only, programmable read only, and magnetic media. Such one or more video processors  30  can include any suitable form of processing circuitry, such as microprocessors, graphics processors or digital signal processors. 
         [0022]    The memory circuitry  32  can be programmed in accordance with the depth control data  23  provided by the user-controlled device  22 , and provide executable instructions  33  for the one or more video processors  30 , which then provide 3D video  21   a / 31  corresponding to the original 2D video. 
         [0023]    Such user control of the projection depth of the 2D imagery within the 3D display space  12  can be done in real time by the user, or can be stored within the system, such as in the memory  32 , for later use whenever such 2D imagery is received for processing and display within a 3D space  12 . 
         [0024]    Referring to  FIG. 5 , another example embodiment of a system  20   a  providing user control of the projection depth of 2D imagery within a 3D space can include a content source  20   b , via which video  20   c  and audio  20   d  are provided. The video  21   c  is decoded by a video decoder  40  in accordance with well known principles and techniques using instructions and control data  49   a  available from software and/or firmware  48 , e.g., stored locally within the system or available remotely via a network. 
         [0025]    The decoded video is processed by a video processor  42 . Additional instructions and control data  49   b  provided by the software and/or firmware  48 , using control data  23  (e.g., Z-position data) received from a user-controlled device  22  ( FIG. 2 ), are provided to a 2D overlay generator  46  which, in accordance with well known principles and techniques, can provide menus, captions and user interface content  47  for processing with the decoded video  41  by the video processor  42  in accordance with well known principles and techniques. For example, such menus, captions or user interface content  47  can be blended with the 3D content so as to appear part of the 3D space. 
         [0026]    The resulting processed video  43  is further processed by a video rendering engine  44  in accordance with well known principles and techniques to produce the final 3D video data  21   a  to be displayed by the display device  10   a  (e.g., autosteroscopic, anaglyph, polarization or frame sequential with active shutter glasses, among others known in the art). 
         [0027]    Alternatively, the final 3D video data  21   a  can be made available for distribution to one or more other display devices (not shown). For example, the data  21   a  can be encoded with a conventional video encoder  50 . The encoded video data  51  can then be processed by a conventional transmitter  52 , e.g., converted to a radio frequency signal  53  for transmission via an antenna  54  as a wireless signal  55 . 
         [0028]    Referring to  FIG. 6 , an exemplary embodiment of a method for controlling the projection depth of 2D imagery within a 3D space begins with a step  62  of accessing depth control data related to a projection depth of 2D imagery within a 3D space. This is followed by another step  64  of processing 2D video representing a 2D image in accordance with the depth control data to provide 3D video including the 2D image projected into the 3D space. 
         [0029]    Referring to  FIG. 7 , as discussed above, a user-controlled device  22  ( FIG. 2 ) allows the user to interactively, e.g., with the display device  10   a , control the projection depth of the 2D imagery within the 3D space. Examples, among others, can include a wireless remote control  72  or a wireless computer pointing device (e.g., “mouse”)  74 , which transmit wireless signals  73 ,  75  (e.g., radio frequency or infrared) for reception by the content source and processor  20   a  ( FIGS. 2 and 5 ) to control the projection depth. For example, the channel or volume up and down buttons on the remote control  73  can be pressed or the scrolling wheel  76  on the pointing device  74  can be rotated to adjust the projection depth. User feedback indicative of the projection depth can be provided by the content source and processor  20   a  in the form of a user interface displayed on the display device  10   a , e.g., in the form of numerical indicia  81  or a graphical representation  83  of the projection depth. 
         [0030]    Various other modifications and alternations in the structure and method of operation of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention. Although the invention has been described in connection with specific preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments. It is intended that the following claims define the scope of the present invention and that structures and methods within the scope of these claims and their equivalents be covered thereby.