Method and apparatus for encoding and decoding images

Abstract: An image signal (Si) expressing pel values and a significance signal (Ss) declaring for each pel whether the pel value is significant are supplied as input signals. By referring to the input significance signal (Ss) values for the pels proximal to the pel being processed, the significant pels are identified and a resolution conversion characteristics selector (103) selects one of two or more frequency conversion characteristics to be used for resolution conversion of the image signal (Si) using only significant pels. A resolution converter (105) then converts the resolution of the input image signal (Si) using the selected resolution conversion characteristic, and outputs the result as the image conversion apparatus output signal (Sr). Resolution conversion of the input image signal (Si) can therefore be accomplished by means of pel subsampling or interpolation without being affected by nonsignificant pels, and resolution conversion with minimal image quality loss caused by the conversion process is achieved.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for encoding and decoding an image signal used for efficient image signal transmission or storage, and to a method therefor. 2. Description of the Prior Art A method of separating moving pictures into discrete layers each containing one of normally plural objects in a moving picture image at a specific time instance has been proposed to enable the efficient transmission and storage of image signals, and particularly moving picture (video) signals, in which object images are expressed as compositions (collections) of pels. For example, when an image comprising people and background is encoded with this method, the image coding apparatus separates the image into two layers, a people layer and a background layer, and separately codes and transmits each layer. At the receiving end, the image decoding apparatus decodes the signal encoded for each layer, and then combines the images from each of the decoded layers using a specified method to present a single integrated picture. This method must therefore also provide for each pel in each layer information declaring whether that pel hides or does not hide the background image. The information thus used to declare whether a pel hides or does not hide the background image is called "significance information," and pels that hide the background are called "significant." This significance information can also be used to declare the interpel correlation information in images that are recorded as a single layer rather than being segmented into plural layers. However, significant pels are pels that are included in a given object, and non-significant pels are pels that are located outside a given object. A high significance information value therefore means that the ratio of a given pel to the other pels at the same position is high and that pel is visually important. Conversely, a low significance signal value means that the corresponding pel has little influence on the appearance of the output pel, i.e., is nearly transparent. The signal comprising the significance information for a specific group of pels in the image signal is called a significance signal. When plural image objects included on different layers of the image signal are overlaid to present an image, the significance signal can be used to declare whether a particular pel hides or does not hide the background. A non-zero significance signal value in this case means that that pel is significant and hides the background. There is no significance signal value for non-significant pels, however, and non-significant pels are thus transparent and not needed for image synthesis. As a result, the significance signal describes the shape of objects in the image, and only significant pels affect the quality of the synthesized image. In other words, non-significant pels are unrelated to image quality, and the coding efficiency can therefore be improved by encoding only the significant pels. When encoding image signals containing luminance, color difference, transparency, and other pel information for each pel in the image, however, conventional image signal coding apparatuses perform the same frequency conversion operation during pel subsampling and pel interpolation processing irrespective of pel significance. As a result, non-significant pel values, i.e., meaningless pel values, affect significant pels, resulting in image quality degradation. While the resolution of the luminance signal component of the image signal is equal to the significance signal resolution, the resolution of the color difference may be different from the significance signal resolution. In such cases there are no problems encoding the luminance signal based on the significance signal. However, if the color difference signal is coded based on the significance signal, the resolution of both signals must be the same. This means that the resolution of the significance signal must be converted to the color difference signal resolution before the color difference signal is coded. As described above, however, resolution conversion of the significance signal applies the same resolution conversion to every pel regardless of whether or not each pel is significant, and the significance signal is thus degraded in the same way coding degrades the image signal above. Coding efficiency also drops with the conventional image signal encoding apparatus and image signal decoding apparatus because it is also necessary to encode the pel value of nearly-transparent pels because even these nearly-transparent pels having no visual effect on the output image are handled as significant pels due to coding errors or minor noise components in the input signal. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is therefore to provide an image signal converting method which solves these problems. The object of the present invention is achieved by an image signal converting method for converting a significance signal in an image signal which includes a luminance signal, a color difference signal having a different resolution from a resolution of the luminance signal and a first significance signal indicating whether each pel of the luminance signal is positioned within or outside an arbitrary shape, the method comprising: generating a second significance signal that indicates whether each pel of the color difference signal is positioned within or outside the arbitrary shape, by converting the first significance signal, wherein the conversion from the first significance signal to the second significance signal is performed based on the logical OR for the first significance signal of a target pel being processed and pels proximal to the target pel being processed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other objects and features of the present invention will become clear from the following description taken in conjunction with the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings throughout which like parts are designated by like reference numerals, and in which: Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of an image signal encoding apparatus EC according to the invention, Fig. 2 is a flow chart used to describe the operation of the image signal encoding apparatus EC shown in FIG. 1, Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram used to describe the method whereby the image signal encoding apparatus EC of the invention determines the resolution conversion characteristic, FIG. 4 is a table showing the functions corresponding to the resolution conversion characteristics shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram used to describe the image reduction process of an image resolution conversion apparatus based on the present invention, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram used to describe significance signal interpolation of a color difference signal by means of an image resolution conversion apparatus based on the present invention, FIG. 7 is a flow chart used to describe the operation of the image signal encoding apparatus EC shown in FIG. 2 in greater detail, FIG. 8 is a flow chart used to describe an alternative embodiment of the operation of the image signal encoding apparatus shown in FIG. 7, DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the following descriptions of the preferred embodiments the input image signal is described as comprising a two-dimensional color signal containing pel values, and a significance signal declaring for each pel in the color signal whether the pel value is significant or not. It should be noted, however, that the image signal can contain information other than the color signal, and the image signal shall not be limited to two-dimensional images and can express n -dimensional image information. Embodiment 1 The structure of a first image signal encoding apparatus EC1 according to the present invention is described first below with reference to FIG. 1. This image signal encoding apparatus EC1 comprises a first input terminal Ti1, a second input terminal Ti2, a resolution conversion characteristics selector 103, a resolution converter 105, and an output terminal To. The first input terminal Ti1 is connected to an external image signal source (not shown in the figures) from which the image signal Si is supplied. The second input terminal Ti2 is similarly connected to an external significance signal source (also not shown in the figures) from which the significance signal Ss is supplied. Note that as described above this significance signal Ss contains significance information for every pel in the image signal Si. Note, further, that while the significance signal Ss is normally a multilevel signal indicating the correlation between pels in the image signal Si by means of two or more values, it is primarily described for simplicity in the disclosure below as a two-level signal declaring whether a given pixel is significant or not by setting the significance signal Ss to one of two states for each pel. For example, when the significance signal Ss is a two-level signal, it expresses whether or not the front layer pel (foreground pel) is transparent and therefore hides or does not hide the background pel at the same position. When the significance signal Ss is a multilevel signal, however, it is possible to declare the relative transparency of each pel, thereby varying the transparency of the foreground pel and enabling the background pel to be presented to a greater or lesser degree. Efficient encoding can also be achieved by controlling the target pixel coding based on the significance information of both the target pixel and the surrounding pixels during image coding. The resolution conversion characteristics selector 103 is connected to the second input terminal Ti2 through which it receives the significance signal Ss. By referring to the input significance signal Ss values for the pels proximal to the pel being processed, the resolution conversion characteristics selector 103 selects the best frequency conversion characteristics for resolution conversion of the image signal Si using only significant pels, and generates a resolution conversion characteristics selection signal SL indicating which resolution conversion characteristics were selected. The method whereby the resolution conversion characteristics selector 103 determines the resolution conversion characteristics will be described further below with reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. The resolution converter 105 is connected to the first input terminal Ti1 and the resolution conversion characteristics selector 103, and respectively receives therefrom the image signal Si and the resolution conversion characteristics selection signal SL. The resolution converter 105 internally stores the resolution conversion characteristics data for each significance level expressible by the significance signal Ss for each significant pel. Using the resolution conversion characteristics data for the resolution conversion characteristics specified by the resolution conversion characteristics selection signal SL, the resolution converter 105 then converts the image resolution by pel subsampling or interpolation of the image signal Si and outputs the result as resolution-converted image signal Sr from output terminal To. The resolution conversion process thus executed by the present embodiment is therefore able to convert the resolution of an image signal Si by means of pel downsampling or interpolation without the result being affected by non-significant pels in the image input signal. As a result, image degradation resulting from the resolution conversion process can be prevented. The resolution conversion process executed by the resolution converter 105 is described in detail below with reference to FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8. Referring first to FIG. 2, however, the primary image signal coding operation of the image signal encoding apparatus EC1 is described below. When the image signal encoding operation starts the image signal Si and significance signal Ss are respectively generated by the external image signal source and the external significance signal source. When the image signal Si is input to the resolution converter 105 through the first input terminal Ti1 at step #100, the significance signal Ss is also input to the resolution conversion characteristics selector 103 through the second input terminal Ti2. At step #200 the resolution conversion characteristics selector 103 determines whether the significance information in the input significance signal Ss indicates that each pel in the image signal Si is significant or not. In the present embodiment the significance signal Ss is a two-level signal. When the significance information value in the significance signal Ss for a particular pel in the image signal Si is a non-zero (i.e., 1) value, the corresponding pel in the image signal is determined significant, but if the significance information value is zero, the corresponding pel is non-significant. If all significance information values in the significance signal Ss are a non-zero (1) value in this example, i.e., indicate significant pels, step #200 returns YES, the resolution conversion characteristics selector 103 generates a resolution conversion characteristics selection signal SL specifying the normal resolution conversion characteristics, and the procedure advances to step #300. An example of these normal resolution conversion characteristics are described later below with reference to FIG. 4. At step #300 the resolution converter 105 fetches the normal resolution conversion characteristics from the resolution conversion characteristics data stored internally based on the resolution conversion characteristics selection signal SL generated in step #200, and control then advances to step #500. However, if at step #200 a NO is returned indicating that there is at least one non-significant pel declared by the significance signal Ss to be in the image signal Si, the resolution conversion characteristics selector 103 generates a resolution conversion characteristics selection signal SL specifying the resolution conversion characteristics corresponding to the significant pel states declared by the significance information values in the significance signal Ss so that resolution conversion is accomplished using only the significant pels. The procedure then moves to step #400. At step #400 the resolution converter 105 fetches the resolution conversion characteristics corresponding to the current significance signal state from the resolution conversion characteristics data stored internally based on the resolution conversion characteristics selection signal SL generated in step #200. control then advances to step #500. At step #500 resolution conversion based on the resolution conversion characteristics selected in either step #300 or #400 is applied to the input image signal Si to generate the resolution-converted image signal Sr. The resolution-converted image signal Sr generated by the resolution converter 105 is then output from the output terminal To in step #600, and the process terminates. By thus converting the resolution of the image signal Si based on a companion significance signal Ss, the resolution of the image signal Si can be converted without being affected by non-significant pels in the image signal Si. As a result, image degradation can be prevented and the image signal coding efficiency can be improved. It should be noted that by applying the resolution conversion process to both the image signal Si and significance signal Ss in step #400 above it is possible to convert the resolution of the significance signal Ss as well as the image signal Si. Referring next to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 the resolution conversion operation of the resolution converter 105 shown in FIG. 1 is described next, although the averaging technique as described below is not in accordance with the invention claimed, but is included as related technical information, only. As described above, the image signal Si contains both a two-dimensional color signal Sc and a significance signal Ss corresponding to the same color signal Sc, and both the color signal Sc and significance signal Ss are shown in FIG. 3. Pel P0 in the color signal Sc represents the color signal sample (pel) at coordinates (X,Y), and P1 represents the color signal sample (pel) adjacent to pel P0. The values α0 and α1 in the two-dimensional significance signal Ss are the significance signal (significance information) values for the corresponding pels p0 and p1. Examples of possible resolution conversion characteristics functions for the significance information values α0 and α1 are shown in FIG. 4. The possible combinations of significance information values α0 and α1 are divided into conditions C1, C2, C3, and C4 in the first column of FIG. 4. The second and third columns show the possible values for significance information values α0 and α1 where a value of 1 means the corresponding pel is significant and 0 means non-significant. The fourth column shows the resolution conversion characteristic Fc for the significance information values α0 and α1 in the same row expressed as the function Pf = fα0, α1 (P0,P1) where P0 and P1 are the same pel values from the color signal Sc shown in FIG. 3. Note that under condition C1 both significance information values α0 and α1 are 1, thus declaring that the corresponding color pels P0 and P1 are both significant. The resolution conversion characteristic function is therefore defined by equation 1. Pf = (P0 + P1)//2 As a result resolution conversion is accomplished using the average of both pel values. Note that this conversion function shown in equation 1 corresponds to the normal resolution conversion characteristics selected in step #300 in FIG. 2. Under condition C2 only significance information value α0 is 1, meaning that only the corresponding color pel P0 is significant. As a result the resolution conversion characteristic function is defined by equation 2. Pf = P0 In other words, pel P1 is completely covered and hidden by pel P0. Likewise under condition C3 only significance information value α1 is 1, meaning that only the corresponding color pel P1 is significant. The resolution conversion characteristic function is therefore defined by equation 3. Pf = P1 In other words, pel P0 is completely covered and hidden by pel P1. Under condition C4 both significance information values α0 and α1 are 0, meaning that neither pel P0 nor pel P1 is significant. As a result, the resolution conversion characteristic function Pf is not generated. The operation of the resolution converter 105 is described next below with reference to FIGS. 5 - 8. Referring to FIG. 5, 2 x 2 pel blocks in the image signal Si are converted, or downsampled, to one pel in the resolution-converted image signal Sr. This resolution conversion operation thus compresses the number of pels to 1/4 the pel count in the input image signal. In other words, the input image signal comprising 4 x 4 pel blocks is converted to a resolution-converted image signal Sr comprising 2 x 2 pel blocks. More specifically, the four pel image signal block Sib comprising a 2 x 2 pel matrix in the lower left part of the image signal Si is converted to the one pel K in the same relative lower-left part of the resolution-converted image signal Sr by the process described below and shown FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 5, the image signal Si is segmented into 4 x 4 pel blocks, and the significance signal Ss likewise comprises corresponding 4 x 4 blocks of significance elements. Each significance element contains the significance information value for the corresponding pel in the image signal Si. As a result, the significance signal Ss comprises significance element block Ssb comprising 2 x 2 significance elements in the lower left part of the significance signal Ss corresponding to the image signal block Sib also shown in FIG. 5. Note that the significant pels and elements in the image signal Si, image signal block Sib, significance signal Ss, and significance element block Ssb are indicated by shading in FIG. 5. More specifically, pels W, X, Y, and Z in the image signal block Sib correspond to significance elements A, B, C, and D, respectively, in the significance element block Ssb, and the significant pels in the image signal block Sib are determined to be the three pels W, X, and Z by referencing the significance element block Ssb. Note further that the value of non-significant pel Y in the image signal block Sib may be unrelated to the significant pels w, X, and Z. This means that if resolution conversion is accomplished using the pel values of all pels in the image signal block Sib, the resolution-converted image signal Sr may be adversely affected by this non-significant pel Y. However, if the average value I of the significant pels W, X, and Z in the image signal block Sib is used as the pel block value after resolution conversion, the resolution can be converted without being affected by non-significant pels. If the values of significant pels W, X, and Z are Pw, Px, and Pz, the average pel value I of the resolution-converted pel can be expressed by equation 4. I = (Pw + Px + Pz) // 3 It is thus possible to obtain pel K in the resolutio n-converted image signal Sr by converting the resolution of the four pel image signal block Sib in the image signal Si using the resolution conversion characteristic defined by equation 4. It should be noted that while a 2 x 2 pel matrix is converted to one pel by the method described above, the invention shall not be so limited and the same principle can be applied to convert pel blocks of any N x M size (where N and M are natural numbers) at any desired compression ratio. It should be further noted that while the above method has been described converting the resolution of the image signal only, the same method can be applied to convert the resolution of the significance signal. A specific example of significance signal resolution conversion is described next below with reference to FIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 6, the significance signal Ss is also segmented into 4 x 4 significance element blocks. The resolution conversion method described below also converts the 2 x 2 significance element block Ssb in the lower left part of the significance signal Ss to one significance element in the resolution-converted significance signal Ssr, thus compressing the total number of significance elements to 1/4. The average value J of the significance elements A, B, and D corresponding to the significant pels W, X, and Z is calculated as the significance element value after resolution conversion by applying equation 5 J = (Va + Vb + Vd) // 3 where Va, Vb, and Vd are the significance values of the significance elements A, B, and D. It should be further noted that while the resolution conversion method of the invention has been described using equations 4 and 5 above to convert the resolution of a 2 x 2 pel block as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the invention is not limited to 2 x 2 matrices and can be generalized by equation 6 below where the number of pels before conversion is the integer n and a two-level significance signal value is used. where p0 to pn on the right side of the equation are the pel values in the image signal Si being converted, α is the corresponding significance element value in the referenced significance signal Ss, and the value p on the left side of the equation is the pel value in the resolution-converted image signal Sir obtained by equation 6. When multilevel significance element values are used, the invention can be generalized by equation 7 below. where p0 to pn on the right side of the equation are the pel values in the image signal Si being converted, w is a pointer indicating whether the corresponding significance element value in the referenced significance signal Ss is 0 or not, and the value p on the left side of the equation is the pel value in the resolution-converted image signal Sir obtained by equation 7. Regarding the pointer w, pointer w is 0 if the significance element value is 0, and pointer w is 1 if the significance element value is not 0. While each of the above examples has been described taking an average value, resolution conversion can also be accomplished by obtaining the logical OR of the significance element values in the significance signal Ss as shown in equation 8 if the input signal is a two level signal. α = α0 [+] α1 [+] .... [+] αn-1 where [+] on the right side of the equation indicates a logical OR operation. Thus, even any one of significant elements α0 to αn is significant, the result is essentially significant. On the other hands, it is possible to establish that even any one of significant elements α0 to αn is not singnificant, the result would be not significant, as defined by the following equation. α = α0 [x] α1 [x] .... [x] αn-1 where [x] on the right side of the equation indicates a logical AND operation. The logical AND relationship is not in accordance with the logic OR of the claimed invention, but is included as related technical information, only. The image signal encoding operation of the image signal encoding apparatus EC1 described briefly above with reference to FIG. 2 is described in further detail below with reference to the flow chart in FIG. 7. The operation shown in FIG. 7 is not directly in accordance with the invention claimed, but is included as related technical information. Even more specifically, the resolution conversion operation of a significance signal Ss having N significance elements is described. It should be noted that while the following example describes the method of converting the resolution of the significance signal Ss itself, it will be obvious that resolution conversion of the image signal Si can be accomplished using the same method as already explained above. Operation starts by system initialization in step S2. This step specifically resets the significance counter CS, non-significance counter CNS, significance element counter n , significant element position pointer PS and non-significant element position pointer PNS. In the present embodiment, this step specifically resets the significance counter CS, non-significance counter CNS, and significance element counter n to 1, and clears the significant element position pointer PS and non-significant element position pointer PNS. when initialization is completion the process steps to step S4. With each pass through the significance state detection cycle shown as the loop from step S4 to step S16 in FIG. 7, the resolution conversion characteristics selector 103 reads the n th significance element Ss n in the significance signal Ss being converted (step S4), and then advances to step S6. Note again that n is the significance element counter n , and the first significance element detected to be "significant" is expressed as significance element Ss1. The significance counter CS is also 1. At step S6 it is determined whether the value of the read significance element Ssn is 0, i.e., whether or not the corresponding significance element is significant. If the significance element value is not 0, i.e., the significance element is significant, YES is returned and the procedure steps to step S8. Based on the current values of the significance element counter n and the significance counter CS, the position of the significance element Ssn in the significance signal Ss is recorded to a significant element position pointer PS. The procedure then steps to step S10. Note that the first time a significant element is detected after the resolution conversion process starts the value of both the significance element counter n and the significance counter CS is 1. At step S10 both the significance counter CS and significance element counter n are incremented by 1. The procedure then steps to step S16. Referring back to step S6, however, if the significance element being detected is not significant, step S6 returns NO. The procedure then steps to step S12. In this case the position of the significance element Ssn in the significance signal Ss is recorded to a non-significant element position pointer PNS based on the current values of the significance element counter n and the non-significance counter CNS (step S12). The procedure then steps to step S14. At step S14 both the non-significance counter CNS and significance element counter n are incremented by 1. The procedure then steps to step S16. At step S16 it is determined whether there are any significance elements for which the significance state has yet to be detected. More specifically, it is determined whether the significance element counter n < Nmax where Nmax is the total number of significance elements in the significance signal Ss being processed. If YES, i.e., n < Nmax, there are still significance elements for which the significance state has not been detected, and the procedure therefore loops back to the beginning of the significance state detection cycle (step S4). If NO, i.e., n = Nmax, the significance state of all significance elements has been detected. In this case the procedure then steps to step S18. The process described above thus causes the significance state detection cycle from step S4 to step S16 to be repeated until step S16 returns NO, thereby assuring that the significance state of every significance element in the significance signal Ss is detected. At step S18 the resolution conversion characteristics selector 103 selects the resolution conversion characteristics best suited to the significance signal Ss being processed based on the significance element information obtained by step S8 or step S12. The resulting resolution conversion characteristics selection signal SL thus generated is then passed to step S20. Based on the resolution conversion characteristics selection signal SL generated in step S18, the specified resolution conversion characteristic is read from internal storage in step S20. The procedure then steps to step S22. Based on the resolution conversion characteristic read in step S20, the resolution of the significance signal Ss is then converted in step S22 to generate the resolution-converted image signal Sr resolution-converted significance signal Ssr. The procedure then terminates. It should be noted that with the process shown in the flow chart in FIG. 7 the significance state of the significant elements is detected in steps S8 and S10, and the significance state of the non-significant elements is detected in steps S12 and S14, based on the determination of whether each significance element is significant or not in step S6. However, it is also possible to specify the position and value of a significance element using the value of the significance element counter n whether or not the significance element is significant or not. More specifically, it is also possible to obtain the information for the non-significant elements by only obtaining the significance information for the significant elements in steps S8 and 10 following step S6. In this case steps S12 and S14 can be eliminated with control skipping from step S6 directly to step S16 when step S6 returns NO. It will also be obvious that the converse is also true, i.e., steps S8 and S10 can be eliminated and the significance information obtained based on the non-significant element information obtained in steps S12 and S14. An alternative embodiment of the resolution conversion method of the invention is described below with reference to FIG. 8. The flow chart in FIG. 8 differs from that in FIG. 7 in that steps S12 and S14 are replaced by step S16, step S16 loops back to step S4, and step S10 advances directly to step S18. This configuration causes the resolution conversion process to be accomplished even if only one significance element in the significance element block is "significant," and it is not necessary to delay the resolution conversion process until the significance information value of every significance element has been detected as is necessary with the control process shown in FIG. 7. It will also be obvious that by replacing steps S12 and S14 with steps S8 and S10 in FIG. 8, i.e., eliminating steps S8 and S10 and passing from step S14 to step S18, the resolution conversion process will be accomplished even if only one significance element in the significance element block is non-significant. As described above, the precision of the image conversion process can be improved by means of the image conversion apparatus of the invention because it is possible to separate significant pels from non-significant pels having no pel value. In addition, by using the image coding apparatus and image decoding apparatus of the invention, the value of pels having no significant effect on the image quality of the reproduced image can be converted to a value whereby the coding efficiency is improved, and the image can be encoded more efficiently. By thus improving the coding efficiency, the practical utility of the invention is great. Although the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications are apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims unless they depart therefrom.

Claims: An image signal converting method for converting a significance signal in an image signal which includes a luminance signal, a color difference signal having a different resolution from a resolution of the luminance signal and a first significance signal indicating whether each pel of the luminance signal is positioned within or outside an arbitrary shape, the method comprising: generating a second significance signal that indicates whether each pel of the color difference signal is positioned within or outside the arbitrary shape, by converting the first significance signal, wherein the conversion from the first significance signal to the second significance signal is performed based on the logical OR for the first significance signal of a target pel being processed and pels proximal to the target pel being processed. An image signal encoding method for encoding the color difference signal by using the image signal converting method of claim 1, the method comprising: generating the second significance signal by converting the first significance signal; and encoding the color difference signal based on the second significance signal. An image signal converting method according to claim 1, characterized by generating the second significance signal indicating that each pel of the color difference signal is positioned within the arbitrary shape, when at least one of the target pel and any pel proximal to the target pel related to the luminance signal is within the arbitrary shape.

Inventors: BOON CHOONG SENG, KADONO SHINYA, TAKAHASHI JUN, BOON, CHOONG SENG, KADONO, SHINYA, TAKAHASHI, JUN
Applicants: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC IND CO LTD, MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
Application year: 1997
Main classification: H04N1
IPC codes: G06T3, H04N7