Motion-vector detecting apparatus

Abstract: A motion vector detecting apparatus comprises image receiving part for receiving image signals of two consecutive frames in terms of time; subtracting circuit for obtaining a difference of value of picture element at corresponding positions between the two frames; absolute value circuit for obtaining a residual difference which is an absolute value of signal which is output from the subtracting circuit; solution vector detecting circuit for dividing the image signal into a plurality of blocks and processing the image signal and for summing the residual difference for every block and for obtaining solution vector of the block with one-picture-element-pitch accuracy from a minimum value of the sum value; predicting circuit for predicting an extremal value of a half-picture-element pitch in each of plural directions by interpolating by using the residual differences in the vicinity of the solution vector of the one-picture-element pitch; developing a correction value circuit for detecting a minimum value of the extremal values and developing a correction value corresponding to the minimum value; and developing a vector circuit for developing an output vector which is equal to the solution of the one-picture-element pitch added by the correction value.

Description: This invention relates to a moving vector detecting device which is used for highly efficient coding of a moving picture and, more particularly, to the development of a moving vector with half-picture-element pitch accuracy. For highly efficient coding of a moving picture, a system for performing DCT conversion (Discrete Cosine Transform) of a difference of picture element data between frames and for variable-length-coding an output of the DCT conversion has been proposed. To efficiently compress the moving picture, a moving vector detector is provided, and a detected moving vector is transmitted. Also, to develop an interframe difference, a local decoder for developing a prediction value of a prevision frame is provided. The detected moving vector is given to this local decoder. For a method for moving vector detection, block matching is employed, for example, as described in US-A-4777530. Fig. 1A of the accompanying drawings shows a block BLO of one block (3 x 3) of many blocks obtained by the division of a picture of a previous frame. Picture element data of B11, B12, ..., B33 is contained in the block BLO. Fig. 1B shows a block AL0 which includes picture element data A11, A12, ..., A33 in a picture of the present frame and from which a moving vector is to be obtained. Within a range of search for the moving vector, the position of the block AL0 of the present frame is predicted from the previous frame. First, an absolute value (ABS) (called " residual difference"), which is a difference of value of picture elements of corresponding positions between two frames in terms of time, is calculated, the residual difference is added every block and a total sum ΔF of the residual differences is obtained. Δ F = ABS { (A11 - B11) + (A12 - B12) + ... + (A33 - B33)} Plural total sums Δ F of the residual differences are obtained in the range of search of a moving vector. A minimum value of the plural ΔF is detected, and a position (x, y) of the minimum value is detected as the moving vector. The moving vector (x, y)is resolving power of the distance (one-picture-element pitch) between picture elements. Another technique for movement detection is described in US-A-4924305 in which a difference signal between successive frames is detected and passed through a low-pass filter. Other movement vector detection methods are disclosed in IEEE Transactions on Communications, Vol 38, No. 7, pp 950-953 which relates to a fast block matching algorithm, IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting, Vol 36, No. 4, pp 245-254 which discusses moving vector detection and DCT processing, and EP-A-407273 which discusses detecting a moving vector using interpolation of pixels. In the above-described highly efficient coding method, the higher the accuracy of the moving vector is, the less the distortion of coding can be. As a result, it has been proposed that the moving vector be detected with the accuracy of half pitch of one picture element (called "half-picture-element pitch"). This means that a prediction block is formed by calculating the average value of two or four points and block matching processing is done with respect to the prediction block. More specifically, assuming that a corresponding block in a previous frame, which is obtained with the one-picture-element pitch, is BL0, the following prediction blocks, which are shifted by the half-picture-element pitch, are calculated by the calculation of an average between BL0 and a block shifted by the one-picture-element with respect to BL0: prediction block BL1 of (x + 0.5, y); prediction block BL2 of {(B11 to B33) + (B12 to B34)} /2 (x - 0.5, y); prediction block BL3 of {(B11 to B33) + (B10 to B32)} /2 (x + 0.5, y + 0.5); prediction block BL4 of {(B11 to B33) + (B10 to B32) + (B20 to B42) + (B21 to B43) } /4 (x - 0.5, y + 0.5); prediction block BL5 of {(B11 to B33) + (B12 to B34) + (B01 to B23) + (B02 to B24) ) /4 (x + 0.5, y - 0.5); prediction block BL6 of {(B11 to B33) + (B10 to B32) + (B01 to B23) + (B00 to B22) } /4 (x - 0.5, y - 0.5); prediction block BL7 of {(B11 to B33) + (B21 to B43)} /2 (x, y + 0.5); prediction block BL8 of {(B11 to B33) + (B01 to B23)} /2 (x, y - 0.5); By detecting a prediction block Bi whose sum of absolute values of differences between a present frame block AL0 and a prediction block BLi (i = 0, 1, 2, ..., 8) takes a minimum value, a vector corresponding to thus detected prediction block Bi is supposed to be the one having a half-picture-element-pitch accuracy. US-A-4937666 and IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems, Vol 33, No. 2, pp 250-259 disclose such systems in accordance with the pre-characterizing portion of claim 1. In these a basic moving vector of one pixel accuracy is detected by block matching and then this vector is corrected by a second process in which picture values at fractional pixel accuracy are calculated by interpolation and then the smallest error with reference to the fractional positions is found. By examining the calculation amount by the basic method for obtaining such a moving vector df the half-picture-element pitch, the following is understood. Now, assuming that the size of one block is (N × N), the amount of calculations after obtaining the moving vector of the one-picture-element pitch is examined. First, the calculations of prediction blocks are limited to only the additions. As a result, (Additions for prediction of two-point average) + (Additions for prediction of four-point average) = 4N 2 + 6 × 2N 2 = 16N 2 To obtain an absolute value of a difference, the subtractions of 4N² and the generation of the absolute values of 4N² are needed for each of the prediction of the two-point average and the prediction of the four-point average. Therefore, (Subtractions) + (Absolute value generation) = (8N 2 ) + (8N 2 ) =16N 2 . An object of the invention is, therefore, to provide a moving vector detecting device capable of detecting a moving vector of the half-picture-element pitch with reduced calculations as compared with the prior art systems. According to the invention, there is provided a motion vector detecting apparatus comprising: an image receiving part for receiving image signals of two time-consecutive frames; a subtracting circuit for obtaining a difference of value of picture elements at corresponding positions between said two frames; an absolute value circuit for obtaining a residual difference which is an absolute value of signal which is output from said subtracting circuit; a solution vector detecting circuit for dividing said image signal into a plurality of blocks and processing said image signal and for summing said residual difference for every block and for obtaining solution vector of said block with one-picture-element-pitch accuracy from a minimum value of the sum value; correcting means for generating a correction value for said solution vector by interpolation at fractional picture-element pitch by interpolation; a developing vector circuit for developing an output vector which is equal to the sum of said solution vector of said one-picture-element pitch and said correction value; characterized in that the correcting means comprises: a predicting circuit for predicting an extreme value of residual difference at a half-picture-element pitch in each of plural directions by interpolating of said residual differences in the vicinity of said solution vector of said one-picture-element pitch; and a developing correction value circuit for detecting a minimum value of said predicted extreme values and developing the correction value with reference to said minimum value. The invention will be further described by way of non-limitative example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram for detecting a conventional moving vector; Fig. 2 is a block diagram of one embodiment of this invention; Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining an operation of one embodiment of this invention; and Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining an operation of one embodiment of this invention. Hereunder, one embodiment of this invention will be described referring to the drawings. Moving vector detection of this invention is done as follows. By interpolating and supposing extreme values of the half-picture-element pitch in plural directions from residual differences in the vicinity of a solution vector obtained with the picture-element pitch and by adding a minimum value of the extremal values as a correction value to the solution vector of the one-picture-element pitch, a moving vector of half-picture-element pitch accuracy is obtained. Fig. 2 shows a block diagram of one embodiment of the invention. Digital video data is input to an input terminal indicated at 1. Each frame of the input video data is stored into frame memories 2A and 2B alternately by a switching circuit SW. Picture element data read out respectively from a previous frame stored in the frame memory 2A and from a present frame stored in the frame memory 2B is supplied to a subtracting circuit 3. A frame difference for every picture element from the subtracting circuit 3 is given to an absolute value generating circuit 4 to be converted into an absolute value. The absolute value of the frame difference, that is, the residual difference is stored in a memory 5. The residual difference stored in the memory 5 is supplied to a minimum value detecting circuit 6. At the minimum value detecting circuit 6, a solution vector having the one-picture-element pitch is detected through block matching. This method is like the detection of a moving vector by a conventional block matching. Assuming that the range of moving search covers M longitudinal and laterally, a minimum value among residual differences in the range of (-M, -M) position to (+M, +M) is detected as a solution vector. The solution vector is supplied to the memory 5 and an adder 7. Plural residual difference in the vicinity of the above-stated solution vector are read out of the memory 5. Fig. 3 shows (3 × 3 = 9) residual differences D00 to D22 centered at the solution vector (x, y). The residual differences D00 to D22 are given to an interpolating circuit 9, and the interpolating circuit 9 predicts extremal values on four directions. An operation of the interpolating circuit 9 will be described referring to Fig. 4. In Fig. 4A, L1, L2, L3, and L4, respectively, represent interpolation directions in the lateral direction, longitudinal direction and oblique direction. For example, with respect to the oblique direction L4, the residual differences D02, D11, and D20 are present. As shown in Fig. 4B where the lateral axis is the position of the L4 direction and the longitudinal axis is a value V, if D20 > D02 is established, an extreme value d02 of the half-picture-element pitch in the direction L4 is assumed by an interpolation calculation of d02 = D02 - {(D20 - D11)/2}. If D20 ≦ D02 is established, an extreme value d20 of the half-picture-element pitch in the direction L4 is assumed by an interpolation calculation. By similarly performing V-letter-like interpolation calculations as shown in Fig. 4B with respect to the other directions L1, L2, and L3, extreme values assumed with respect to each direction are detected. The four extremal values of the half-picture-element pitch presumed by the interpolating circuit 9 are supplied to a minimum value detecting circuit 10. The minimum value detecting circuit 10 detects the minimum value of the four extremal values by the comparison of magnitude and adopts a value corresponding to the minimum value as a correction value of the half-picture-element pitch when the detected extremal value is smaller than D11. If the detected extremal value is larger than D11, no correction value is generated (Namely, the correction value is zero). As one example, d00, d01, d02, d10 in Fig. 4A are presumed as extreme values by the interpolating circuit 9, and d00 is detected as the minimum value by the minimum value detecting circuit 10. Further, in the case of d00 < D11, (-0.5, -0.5) is developed as the correction value. From the minimum value detecting circuit 10, the correction value is supplied to the adder 7. In the adder 7, the correction value is added to the solution vector (x, y) of the picture element pitch, and a moving vector of the half-picture-element pitch can be provided at an output terminal 8. In this embodiment, four comparisons of values, eight subtractions and division by four shifts, and minimum value judgement processing enable calculating the moving vector of the half-picture-element pitch with respect to one block. To obtain a solution vector of the one-picture-element pitch, various measures for reducing the calculation amount, for example, a three-stage search method may be employed. Also, an interpolation method for obtaining extreme values in plural directions by the use of residual differences in the vicinity of the solution vector is not limited to the one described in the above-mentioned embodiment. Having described a specific preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to that precise embodiment, and that various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims: A motion vector detecting apparatus comprising: an image receiving part (2) for receiving image signals of two time-consecutive frames; a subtracting circuit (3) for obtaining a difference of value of picture elements at corresponding positions between said two frames; an absolute value circuit (4) for obtaining a residual difference which is an absolute value of signal which is output from said subtracting circuit (3); a solution vector detecting circuit (5,6) for dividing said image signal into a plurality of blocks and processing said image signal and for summing said residual difference for every block and for obtaining solution vector of said block with one-picture-element-pitch accuracy from a minimum value of the sum value; correcting means (9,10) for generating a correction value for said solution vector by interpolation at fractional picture-element pitch; a developing vector circuit (7) for developing an output vector which is equal to the sum of said solution vector of said one-picture-element pitch and said correction value; characterized in that the correcting means (9,10) comprises: a predicting circuit (9) for predicting an extreme value of residual difference at a half-picture-element pitch in each of plural directions by interpolating of said residual differences in the vicinity of said solution vector of said one-picture-element pitch; and a developing correction value circuit (10) for detecting a minimum value of said predicted extreme values and developing the correction value with reference to said minimum value. A motion vector detecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image signal is a video signal constructed as a digital signal. A motion vector detecting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said image signals of two frames supplied to said subtracting circuit (3) are the image signal of previous frame and the image signal of present frame which are obtained by a memory circuit (2a,2b). A motion vector detecting apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein said solution vector detecting circuit (5,6) divides a signal of one frame into a plurality of blocks so as to perform block matching and calculates the solution vector every range of predetermined search range. A motion vector detecting apparatus according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4 wherein said predicting circuit (9) interpolates and supposes the extreme values of the half-picture-element pitch in plural directions from residual differences in the vicinity of said solution vector. A motion vector detecting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein said predicting circuit (9) performs a V-letter-like interpolation calculation. A motion vector detecting apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said V-letter-like interpolation calculation is to take as the selected extreme values in each of a plurality of directions: dx-i, y-j = Dx-i, y-j - {(Dx+i, y+j - Dx,y)/2} where Dx-i, y-j > Dx+i, y+j; or dx+i, y+j = Dx+i, y+j - {(Dx-i, y-j - Dx,y)/2} where Dx-i, y-j < Dx+i, y+j; in which d refers to a fractional-picture-element difference value and Dx,y is the one-picture-element residual value of the solution vector and i, j take the values 0, ±1 to define the respective directions. A motion vector detecting device including a moving vector detecting apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, for highly efficient coding for compressing image signal in order to perform DCT conversion of said difference of picture element data between two frames, and wherein an output of the DCT conversion is encoded by variable-length-code.

Inventors: IGARASHI KATSUJI, IGARASHI, KATSUJI
Applicants: SONY CORP, SONY CORPORATION
Application year: 1992
Main classification: H04N5
IPC codes: H04N5, H04N7, G06T7