Patent Document ID: 8416344
Application ID: 12058280
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. An iterative interpolation method for determining an interpolated video information value in an image that includes a number of image regions arrayed in matrix fashion, at least one of which is an image region to be interpolated, and that is disposed temporally between a first image and a second image of an image sequence, the method comprising: a) specifying, by an image processing unit, a starting motion vector; b) determining, by an image processing unit, for the starting motion vector a figure of merit, which depends on video information values of at least one group of image regions, this group of image regions comprising at least one image region in the first image, at least one image region in the second image and at least one image region in the image to be interpolated, the position of these image regions in the images being specified by the starting motion vector, wherein the figure of merit is the absolute value of a high-pass filter value that is obtained by applying a high-pass filter to the video information values; c) selecting, by an image processing unit, at least one motion vector distinct from the starting motion vector and determining a figure of merit for this at least one motion vector; d) comparing, by an image processing unit, the figures of merit for the starting motion vector and the at least one motion vector distinct from the starting motion vector, selecting the starting motion vector or the at least one other motion vector in dependence on the comparison result and determining an interpolated video information value using image regions that lie in the first and second images at positions specified by the selected motion vector or specified by a motion vector obtained by filtering the selected motion vector; and e) repeating steps c) and d) at least once, the motion vector selected in the preceding step d) being employed as the starting motion vector, and the figure of merit of this selected motion vector as the figure of merit of the starting motion vector, when step c) is next performed.