Abstract: In a video processing system scene shifts are detected and the need for adjusting the brightness between pairs of adjacent frames of a video motion picture is assessed. The need for brightness adjustment is assessed and a possible scene shift is detected by identifying homogeneous pixels in at least one frame of a pair of adjacent frames of the motion picture. The brightness of one of the adjacent frames is then adjusted and a scene shift is detected based on the ratio of the number of homogeneous pixels undergoing a substantial change in brightness relative to the total number of homogeneous pixels identified. When a need for a brightness adjustment is determined the brightness of one of the frames is adjusted before estimating optical flow between the frames.

Abstract: In a system for displaying medical images, medical images are generated from views internally within a body by means of x-rays, CAT scan, or MRI. The images are spaced in time or are views of spaced slices through tissue or through an organ within a body. The spacing between the images is such that the display of the images as a motion picture would result in the motion being depicted as jerky in the motion picture. A video processor generates dense motion vector fields between adjacent frames of the original set of images and, from the dense motion vector fields, generates interpolated images between the images of the original set. The interpolated images are assembled into a motion picture set of images, which are displayed by a video display device.

Abstract: In the motion picture display system, successive frames of a motion picture are compared to determine the dense motion vector fields representing the change of position of image elements in the images represented by the frames. Interpolated frames are generated by scaling the vectors of the dense motion vector fields to a fraction of their original magnitudes and moving image elements in the corresponding frames to positions in the interpolated frames in accordance with the dense motion vector fields. The invention is used to eliminate jerky motion in low frame rate motion pictures and also to provide slow motion in high frame rate motion pictures.