Image compression apparatus

Abstract: In a picture data processing apparatus, the presence or absence of an edge is detected for each block, and when a block having an edge is detected, a Wavelet transform is employed in transmission of picture data, instead of a discrete cosine transform. In a preferred embodiment, the said Wavelet transform is a Haar transform.

Description: This invention relates to a picture data processing apparatus, and is applicable to a television conference system in which picture information is encoded into picture data for transmitting, for example. In a conventional picture data processing apparatus of this type, picture information is encoded into picture data so that moving pictures are transmitted with high efficiency. More specifically, in the conventional apparatus, picture information supplied successively thereto are divided into predetermined blocks, and a motion vector is detected for each block according to a block matching method. In addition, in the apparatus, the picture data of the preceding frame (coming one frame before) is subjected to motion compensation according to the results of detection of the motion vectors, and the picture data thus subjected to motion compensation are subtracted from the picture data supplied, to provide difference data. With the apparatus, the quantity of the picture data handled are reduced in comparison with,a case where the picture data is directly transmitted by utilizing the inter-frame correlation of moving images. The difference data is then subjected to discrete cosine transform and to variable-length coding. As a result, the amount of data to be transmitted is reduced with respect to higher-order frequency components, and the picture-data are efficiently transmitted The variable-length coded data are transmitted through a predetermined buffer memory, so that moving picture data can be transmitted within the permissible transfer rate of the transmission system. However, in the case where moving pictures are transmitted by performing the discrete cosine transform block by block, the picture displayed after decoding appears foggy at a block including an edge. That is, when the picture data are coded in the above described manner, then the resultant picture appears greatly deteriorated in picture quality. The document EP - A - 0 442 096 discloses an apparatus for carrying out video data reduction. The signal is split into subbands (one low-pass subband and at least one high-pass subband) which are further encoded on a block by block basis and multiplexed. The data corresponding to the different subbands are encoded differently using PCM, DPCM and/or DCT (Discrete Cosinus Transform). The document IEEE SIGNAL PROCESSING MAGAZINE, vol. 8, no. 4, October 1991, NEW-YORK US, pages 14 - 38, XP000259548, RIOUL ET AL "Wavelets and Signal Processing" discloses general information about "wavelet signal processing", e.g. continuous wavelet transform and discrete wavelet transform. This wavelet processing is compared with traditional Fourier transforms, and is also disclosed with respect to subband coding schemes. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing, an object of this invention is to provide a picture data processing apparatus in which, even if an edge exists, deterioration of the picture quality is effectively prevented. In order to achieve the foregoing object, there is provided a picture data processing apparatus as set out in claim 1 and a picture data processing method as set out in claim 3. In addition, in the apparatus the Wavelet transform circuit can be a Haar transform circuit, for subjecting the picture data to Haar transform block by block. In the picture data processing apparatus, the presence or absence of an edge is detected for each block, and the output data of the discrete cosine transform circuit or the output data of the Wavelet transform circuit is selected for each block, which allows the Wavelet transform processing to be selected for the edge portion, and the deterioration in picture quality of the edge portion is prevented. Employment of the Haar transform circuit as the Wavelet transform circuit can simplify the arrangement of the picture data processing apparatus. Thus the presence or absence of an edge is detected for each block, and when a block including an edge is detected, instead of the discrete cosine transform processing the Haar transform processing is performed in transmission of the picture data. Hence, with the apparatus, the edge portion is effectively prevented from being deteriorated in picture quality; that is, the moving pictures can be transmitted with high efficiency. The invention will become further described in the following detailed description given by way of example in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts are designated by like reference numerals or characters, and in which:- Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a picture data processing apparatus of this invention; Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a transform circuit in the apparatus; Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram for a description of an edge detecting operation in the apparatus; Fig. 4 is a block diagram for a description of a Wavelet transform performed in the apparatus; Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a Haar transform matrix; Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an original picture used in an experiment; Fig. 7 is a diagram showing difference data; Fig. 8 is a diagram showing the results of discrete cosine transform of the difference data; Fig. 9 is a diagram showing the results of Haar transform of the difference data; Fig. 10 is a diagram showing the results of quantization of the data of discrete cosine transform; Fig. 11 is a diagram showing the results of quantization of the results of Haar transform; Fig. 12 is a diagram showing the results of inverse discrete cosine transform; Fig. 13 is a diagram showing the results of inverse Haar transform; Fig. 14 is a diagram showing the results of restoration of the discrete cosine transform; and Fig. 15 is a diagram showing the results of restoration of the Haar transform. Preferred embodiments of this invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings: (1) Constitution of an Embodiment In Fig. 1, 1 designates a picture data processing apparatus in which video signals inputted successively thereto subjected to data compression before transmitted. That is, in the picture data processing apparatus 1, a video signal is converted into a digital signal, and thereafter a motion vector MV is detected by a motion detecting circuit 2. In the motion detecting circuit 2, the input picture data is divided into blocks each having 8x8 picture elements, and a block matching method is employed to detect the motion vector MV of each block BL between a frame memory 4 and the picture data, and the motion vector MV is applied to a motion compensation circuit 6. The motion compensation circuit 6 selects a block being at predetermined position corresponding to the detected motion vector MV from previous frame picture data stored into the frame memory 4, and thereafter successively outputs the block thus selected at the timing which is shifted as much as the motion vector MV. Picture data of block unit outputted from the motion compensation circuit 6 is successively subtracted from digital video signal D1, to generated difference data DZ. Further, an absolute value sum of difference data DZ and an absolute value sum of digital video signal D1 are detected for each block, and corresponding to thus comparison result, one which is less in amount of data to be needed in transmission is selected from the difference data DZ and they digital video signal D1 for inputting to transform circuit 8. In response to this selection, in the picture data processing apparatus 1, an inter-frame coding processing and an intra-frame coding processing are selected to process the digital video signal D1. A transform circuit 8 encodes the picture data block by block, and output them. In this operation, the transform circuit 8 detects the presence or absence of an edge in each block, and selects a discrete cosine transform conversion or a Haar transform on the basis of the result of detection, so that the edge portion is effectively prevented from being deteriorated in picture quality. This will be described in more detail. That is, as shown in Fig. 2, in the transform circuit 8, input data DZ or D1 is applied to a decision circuit 10, where the presence or absence of an edge is detected for each block. This edge detecting operation is carried out as follows: As shown in Fig. 3, a block consisting of 8x8 picture elements is divided into four parts (hereinafter referred to as "sub-blocks"). For those four sub-blocks, the average values AVE 00 through AVE 11 of the input data DZ(D1) are detected, respectively. That is, for the first sub-block A 00 , the decision circuit 10 performs an arithmetic operation according to the following equation with input data a ij (i = 0 to 3, j = 0 to 3), to obtain the average value AVE 00 : Similarly, the average values AVE 01 through AVE 11 are detected for the second through fourth sub-blocks A 01 through A 11 , respectively. Thereafter, for each block, the input data DZ (D1) is subtracted from the averages values AVE 00 through AVE 11 , and the sum of the absolute values of the results of subtraction is obtained. That is, for the first sub-block A 01 , an absolute value sum SUM 00 is obtained by operating the following equation: Furthermore, the decision circuit 10 operates to determine whether or not the following relation is established for each sub-block with a predetermined threshold data L as a reference: SUM ij < L In the case where relation (3) is established for none of the sub-blocks, the decision circuit 10 outputs a selection signal SEL to select the Haar transform. If summarized, the decision circuit 10 operates to detect the presence or absence of an edge in each block, and outputs the selection signal SEL when the edge exists in the block. The transform circuit 8 further comprises a setting circuit 12, which reads matrix data required for a discrete cosine transform from a discrete cosine (DCT) transform table 14, and applies the matrix data to an arithmetic circuit 18. If, in this case, the setting circuit 12 receives the selection signal SEL from the decision circuit 10, the setting circuit 12 stores matrix data from a Haar transform table 16, instead of the discrete cosine transform table 14, and applies the matrix data to the arithmetic circuit 18. Upon reception of the input data DZ(D1) through the decision circuit 10, the arithmetic circuit 18 subjects the input data DZ(D1) to matrix operation according to the matrix data set by the setting circuit 12, so that the input data DZ(D1) is the discrete cosine transform or Haar transformed. The Haar transform is one kind of Wavelet transform; however, the former is different from the latter in that it is applied to a limited region. As shown in Fig. 4, in the Wavelet transform, input data D0 is divided into two signal portions successively, so that the picture data is expanded in a frequency region. This process is lower in data compression rate than the discrete cosine transform; however, it is advantageous in that, with respect to picture data, the position information can be transmitted as well as the frequency information. In the Wavelet transform, the input data D0 is applied to a QMF (quadrature mirror filter) low-pass filter circuit (L) 20 and a QMF high-pass filter circuit (H) 22; that is, it, being divided into two signal parts, is applied to two systems, and the output signals of the filter circuits 20 and 22 are applied to thinning circuits (↓2) 24 and 26, where they are thinned to 1/2. The output signal of the thinning circuit 24 is applied to a QMF (quadrature mirror filter) low-pass filter circuit 28 and a QMF (quadrature mirror filter) high-pass filter circuit 30; that is, it, being divided into two signal parts, is applied to two other systems. The output signals of the filter circuits 28 and 30 are applied to thinning circuits 32 and 34, where they are thinned to 1/2. The output-signal of the thinning circuit 32 is applied to a QMF (quadrature mirror filter) low-pass filter circuit 36 and a QMF (quadrature mirror filter) high-pass filter circuit 38, the output signals of which are applied to thinning circuits 40 and 41, respectively, where they are thinned to 1/2. Thus, in the Wavelet transform, picture data is expanded in a frequency region with the position information maintained. A specific feature of the Wavelet transform resides in that, when it is applied to a block, it is necessary to handle picture data for the blocks around it. Hence, in the embodiment, picture data are processed by using the Haar transform which is achieved with the aimed block only. That is, in the Haar transform, the arithmetic circuit 18 receives matrix data as shown in a Haar transform matrix of Fig. 5, and subjects the input data DZ(D1) to matrix operation by using the matrix data, thereby to achieve the Haar transform of the input data DZ(D1). Referring back to Fig. 1, a re-quantizing circuit (Q) 44 re-quantizes the output data DC of the transform circuit 8 according to an adaptive-quantizing method. The output of the circuit 44 is applied to a variable-length coding circuit (VLC) 46. The variable-length coding circuit 46 variable-length codes, the output data of the re-quantizing circuit 44 and an output circuit 48 transmits the output data of the circuit 46 at a predetermined transmission rate. Thus, by giving the Haar transform to a block including an edge, the position information of the picture data of the edge portion also can be transmitted. Therefore, in this case, the picture data of the edge portion can be transmitted more accurately than in the case where only the discrete cosine transform is effected to transmit the frequency information only. Hence, by transmitting the picture data with the Haar transform and the discrete cosine transform switched over to each other, the edge portion is effectively prevented from being deteriorated in picture quality; that is, the moving picture can be transmitted with high efficiency. Picture quality comparison was made with picture data of 8x8 picture elements as shown in Fig. 6, by switching the Haar transform and the discrete cosine transform. In Fig. 6, reference characters X and Y represent X- and Y-coordinates, respectively, and picture data are represented by 255 gradations with 0 level as the center. In the picture data processing apparatus 1, intra-frame coding processing was selected, and the transform circuit 8 was provided difference data DZ as shown in Fig. 7. As is apparent from Fig. 7, it was seen an edge in the region encircled by the broken line. In the picture data processing apparatus 1, when the difference data was subjected to discrete cosine transform and Haar transform, it was obtained the results of transform as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, respectively. Those results of transform were quantized again, and the results of quantization were as shown in Figs. 10 and 11, respectively. The results of quantization were transmitted to a certain transmission system, whereby they were subjected to inverse quantization and inverse transform. The results of inverse transform were as shown in Figs. 12 and 13, respectively. When those results of inverse transform were decoded and added, the results restored were as shown in Figs. 14 and 15, respectively. As is shown the results of restoration with a broken line, In the case where the discrete cosine transform was selected (Fig. 14), a perceptible deterioration was visually occurred at a flat portion of the original picture; whereas in the case where the Haar transform was selected (Fig. 15), it was seen that the feature of the flat portion was remained. Thus, by selecting the Haar transform for a block including an edge, the edge portion is effectively prevented from being deteriorated in picture quality, and the moving picture can be transmitted with high efficiency. In this connection, by utilizing the Haar transform, which belongs to the Wavelet transform, the picture data can be processed block by block, to be simplified in arrangement. The apparatus 1 further includes an inverse re-quantizing circuit (IQ) 50 and an inverse transform circuit 52 as shown in Fig. 1. The circuit 50 operates in Fig. 1 to perform a quantizing process for the output data of the re-quantizing circuit 44 corresponding to the re-quantizing process of the re-quantizing circuit 44 to thereby restore the input data of the transform circuit 8. The input data thus restored by the inverse transform circuit 52, when it is data by intra-frame coding, is stored directly in the frame memory 4. To the contrary, when it is data by inter-frame coding, the input data restored is added with a picture data motion in the motion compensating circuit 6 and then stored in the frame memory 4. In this manner, data which is locally decoded output data of re-quantization circuit 44, is stored into the frame memory 4. (2) Operation of the Embodiment In the constitution, after the video signal D1 being converted into a digital signal, the motion vector MV is detected by the motion detecting circuit 2, and the predictive picture data is generated by the motion compensating circuit 6 according to the result of motion vector detection. When the intra-frame coding processing is selected, the video signal D1 is applied directly to the transform circuit 8; to the contrary when the inter-frame coding processing is selected, the difference data DZ is applied to the transform circuit 8. With respect to the video signal D1 and the difference data DZ, the transform circuit 8 detects whether or not each block includes an edge. Depending on the results of detection, the Haar transform is effected for a block including an edge, whereas the discrete cosine transform is effected for a block including no edge. Thus, the output data of the transform circuit 8 is subjected to re-quantizing by the re-quantizing circuit 44 and to variable-length coding by the variable-length coding circuit 46 before outputted. For a block including an edge, the Haar transform processing is performed, so that the edge portion is effectively prevented from being deteriorated in picture quantity, in transmission of moving pictures. With the constitution as described above, the presence or absence of an edge is detected for each block, and when it is detected that a block includes an edge, the Haar transform processing is performed in transmission of the picture data instead of the discrete cosine transform processing. Thereby, the edge portion is effectively-prevented from being deteriorated in picture quality; that is, the moving pictures are transmitted with high efficiency. In the above-described embodiment, in transmission of picture data, as for a block including an edge the Haar transform processing; however, this invention is not only limited to this but Wavelet transform processing may be employed in transmission of picture data. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the sum of the absolute values of the deviations from the average value is detected for detection of the edge; however, it should be noted that this invention is not only limited to this but also a variety of edge detecting methods may be employed. While there has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims: A picture data processing apparatus which transmits inputted picture data after encoding said data block by block, comprising: transforming means (8) comprising discrete cosine transform means (14) for discrete cosine transforming said picture data, characterised by: edge detection means (8, 10) for detecting presence or absence of an edge in said each block; and in that the transforming means (8) further comprises Wavelet transform means (16) for Wavelet transforming said picture data, and in that the transforming means (8) is responsive to the edge detection means (8, 10) to transform the picture data for said each block by the discrete cosine transform means (14) when there is no edge and by the Wavelet transform means (16) when there is an edge. Picture data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said Wavelet transform means (16) comprises Haar transform means for Haar transforming said picture data in said each block. A picture data processing method, in which inputted picture data is transmitted after encoding said data block by block, comprising the step of: discrete cosine transforming said picture data, characterised by the steps of:- detecting presence or absence of an edge in said each block; and selectively: discrete cosine transforming said picture data for said each block, when there is no edge; and Wavelet transforming said picture data for said each block, when there is an edge. A picture data processing method according to claim 3, wherein said Wavelet transform is a Haar transform for said each block.

Inventors: SAKAMOTO TAKAYUKI, SAKAMOTO, TAKAYUKI, Sakamoto, Takayuki, c/o Sony Corporation
Applicants: SONY CORP, SONY CORPORATION
Application year: 1993
Main classification: H04N7
IPC codes: H04N7, G06T9