Abstract: A video coding method includes at least the following steps: utilizing a visual quality evaluation module for evaluating visual quality based on data involved in a coding loop; and referring to at least the evaluated visual quality for deciding a target bit allocation of a rate-controlled unit in video coding. Besides, a video coding apparatus has a visual quality evaluation module, a rate controller and a coding circuit. The visual quality evaluation module evaluates visual quality based on data involved in a coding loop. The rate controller refers to at least the evaluated visual quality for deciding a target bit allocation of a rate-controlled unit. The coding circuit has the coding loop included therein, and encodes the rate-controlled unit according to the target bit allocation.

Abstract: Security guards at big facilities, such as airports, monitor multiple screens that display images from individual surveillance cameras dispersed throughout the facility. If a guard zooms with a particular camera, he will lose image resolution, along with perspective on the surrounding area. Embodiments of the inventive Imaging System for Immersive Surveillance (ISIS) solve these problems by combining multiple cameras in one device. When properly mounted, example ISIS systems offer 360-degree, 100-megapixel views on a single screen. (Other resolutions may also be employed.) Image-stitching software merges multiple video feeds into one scene. The system also allows operators to tag and follow targets, and can monitor restricted areas and sound an alert when intruders breach them.

Abstract: A display apparatus including a camera configured to capture a user's figure, a storage configured to store information about stress areas on a body in accordance with corresponding postures of a user, a processor configured to determine a user's posture from an image captured by the camera, determine a position of one or more stress areas on a body corresponding to the determined posture based on the stored information about the one or more stress areas on the body, and process a stress-related image, in which the determined one or more stress areas are marked on an image corresponding to a user's figure, and a display configured to display the stress-related image.

Abstract: This method of calibration comprising the reconstruction of a 3D mapping of 3D landmarks of an environment on the basis of digital images of the environment captured by the computer-based vision system (10) during the movement of the craft (2) along a trajectory. It comprises the optimization of at least one 3D mapping corresponding to a first sequence of images by considering at least one extrinsic parameter and/or at least one intrinsic parameter and/or at least one parameter of poses and/or one parameter of 3D landmarks as constant and the optimization of at least one 3D mapping corresponding to a second sequence of images, longer than the first image sequence and including the first image sequence, by considering said at least one extrinsic parameter and/or said at least one intrinsic parameter and/or said at least one parameter of poses and/or said at least one parameter of 3D landmarks as variable so as to estimate it.

Abstract: Enhanced signaling is provided for video coding using a palette coding mode. In one aspect, the sending of a copy from above flag is skipped for the first row of a coding unit (CU), towards eliminating flag redundancy and to address a CU boundary issue. In a second aspect, an address line repeating pattern issue is overcome by signaling a single copy from above flag, except the first row, despite the fact that multiple runs exist in the row.

Abstract: There is provided a transmitting device including a packet signal generation unit configured to generate a packet signal of a video, a transmitting unit configured to transmit the packet signal via an asynchronous transmission network used in common by another transmitting device, and a compression rate control unit configured to control a video compression rate. Switch timing information indicating a switch timing of the video compression rate is transmitted together with the packet signal of the video.

Abstract: A method for generating a stereoscopic video stream (101) having composite images (C) that include information about a right image (R) and a left image (L), as well as at least one depth map includes pixels from the right image (R) and from the left image (L), and then entering the selected pixels into a composite image (C) of the stereoscopic video stream. The method also provides for entering all the pixels of the right image (R) and all the pixels of the left image (L) into the composite image (C) by leaving one of said two images unchanged and breaking up the other one into regions (R1, R2, R3) having a plurality of pixels. The pixels of the depth map(s) are then entered into that region of the composite image which is not occupied by pixels of the right and left images.

Abstract: Provided are techniques for low complexity video coding. For example, a video coder may be configured to calculate a first sum of absolute difference (SAD) value between a CU block and a corresponding block in a reference frame for the largest coding unit (LCU). The video coder may define conditions (e.g., background and/or homogeneous conditions) for the branching based at least in part on the first SAD value. The video coder may also determine the branching based on detecting the background or homogeneous condition, the branching including a first branch corresponding to both a first CU size of the CU block and a second CU size of a sub-block of the CU block. The video coder may then set the first branch to correspond to the first CU size, if the first CU size or the second CU size satisfies the background condition.

Abstract: Rate control techniques are provided for encoding an input video sequence into a compressed coded bitstream with multiple coding passes. The final coding pass may comprise final splices with non-overlapping frames that do not extend into neighboring final splices. A final splice in the final coding pass may correspond to at least one non-final splice in a non-final coding pass. A non-final splice may have overlapping frames that extend into neighboring final splices in the final coding pass. The overlapping frames in the non-final splice may be used to derive complexity information about the neighboring final splices. The complexity information about the neighboring final splices, as derived from the overlapping frames, may be used to allocate or improve rate control related budgets in encoding the final splice into the compressed coded bitstream in the final coding pass.

Abstract: The present invention is related to a method for moving the position of a base view from an arbitrary GOP (Group Of Pictures) start position to implement an efficient encoding structure in multi-view video encoding. The existing multi-view video encoding method exhibits low encoding efficiency when correlation between the base view and a dependent view is low, since the base view is assumed to be fixed. Moreover, in case the view in a live broadcasting program desired by a producer changes from the base view to another, the user has to consume more bit streams and decoder complexity than those consumed when decoding is performed with respect to the base view. Therefore, to alleviate the drawbacks of the existing multi-view video encoding method, the present invention provides a method for designing syntax elements by which the base view can be moved, thereby supporting an efficient encoding structure.

Abstract: The invention provides a multifunctional panoramic head, including a horizontal rotating device, a vertical rotating device, a transverse arm and a vertical arm, the vertical rotating device includes a rotary disc, a vertical indexing disc and a locating component, the rotary disc and the vertical indexing disc are set on the upper part of the vertical arm, the locating component is set within the vertical arm, and the locating component includes a locating component body, a plurality of locating pins which are assembled together with the locating component body and a locating switch handle which can control the locating pins to stretch out and draw back. The invention also provides a panoramic image capture system. The invention can achieve precise angular positioning of a camera and lens, enhancing the stability of the head, reducing image blurring and hence improving success rate of panoramic image creation and stitching efficiency.

Abstract: An apparatus includes a central processing unit and a parallel processing unit. The parallel processing unit generally includes an array of software-configurable general purpose processors, a globally shared memory, and a shared memory. Each of the software-configurable general purpose processors in the array of software-configurable general purpose processors generally has access to the globally shared memory to execute one or more portions of a decoding program. The shared memory is accessible by the central processing unit to program the shared memory with a schedule describing which of the one or more portions of the decoding program are to be executed by each of the software-configurable general purpose processors.

Abstract: A method operates within an integrated circuit device having a plurality of processing lanes. The method determines a first number of packs among one or more first packs associated with a first processing lane of the plurality of processing lanes, associates the first number of packs with a first used field of the first processing lane, determines a second number of packs among one or more second packs associated with a second processing lane of the plurality of processing lanes, and associates the second number of packs with a second used field of the second processing lane.

Abstract: A system is disclosed for executing depth image-based rendering of a 3D image by a computer having a processor and that is coupled with one or more color cameras and at least one depth camera. The color cameras and the depth camera are positionable at different arbitrary locations relative to a scene to be rendered. In some examples, the depth camera is a low resolution camera and the color cameras are high resolution. The processor is programmed to propagate depth information from the depth camera to an image plane of each color camera to produce a propagated depth image at each respective color camera, to enhance the propagated depth image at each color camera with the color and propagated depth information thereof to produce corresponding enhanced depth images, and to render a complete, viewable image from one or more enhanced depth images from the color cameras. The processor may be a graphics processing unit.

Abstract: Provided are techniques for low complexity video coding. For example, a video coder may be configured to calculate a first sum of absolute difference (SAD) value between a coding unit (CU) block and a first corresponding block in a reference frame, and define branching conditions for branching of CU sizes based on the first SAD value, the branching conditions including a background condition and/or a homogeneous condition. The video coder may be configured to detect the background condition if the first SAD value of the CU block is less than a first threshold background value, and detect the homogeneous condition if a second SAD value of a sub-block of the CU block is between upper and lower homogeneous threshold values based on the first SAD value. The branching of the CU sizes may be based on detecting the background or homogeneous conditions.

Abstract: A method includes determining a group to which each of a plurality of blocks belongs, the plurality of blocks being obtained by dividing each picture included in video image data; adding, to an output stream, group information expressing the group to which each of the plurality of blocks belongs; calculating an output time for each of the groups; determining output delay for each of the groups; adding, to the output stream, an output delay time from a decode time of each of the groups; controlling an encode amount so that data used for outputting all of the blocks included in one of the groups arrives at a decoding buffer of a decoding device and decoding is completed by an output time expressed by the output delay time; and performing encoding based on the encode amount that has been controlled.

Abstract: A method performed by a motion vector encoding apparatus for encoding a motion vector includes: determining a first motion vector and a second motion vector relating to a current block to be encoded; determining predicted motion vectors of the first motion vector and the second motion vector, respectively; calculating a first differential motion vector and a second differential motion vector; the first differential motion vector corresponding to a difference between the first motion vector and the predicted motion vector of the first motion vector, the second differential motion vector corresponding to a difference between the second motion vector and the predicted motion vector of the second motion vector; and encoding the first differential motion vector and the second differential motion vector, wherein the first motion vector and the second motion vector have different resolutions.

Abstract: An electronic device including an imaging device that captures an image of an object and generates image data of the object, a tilt angle detector that detects a tilt angle of the imaging device with respect to a horizontal plane, an azimuth detector that detects an azimuth angle between a reference orientation based on a preset orientation and an optical axis of the imaging device, and a display controller that causes a display to display target information indicating a direction to a target position for instructing a position of a capturing area of the imaging device in an image corresponding to the image data, with the optical axis of the imaging device being a reference, based on the tilt angle detected by the tilt angle detector and the azimuth angle detected by the azimuth detector.

Abstract: A method of and a device for characterizing a light source and a method of selecting a replacement light source are provided. The method obtains (102) a first image of a light source in operation, obtains (106) a second image of the illuminated environment, and obtains (104, 108) first camera settings and second camera settings of the optical system and image processing system of the respective first and second camera at the respective moments in time that the first image and the second image was obtained. The first image, the second image, and the first and second camera settings are analyzed (110) to estimate characteristics of the light source. The characteristics of the light source may be used to propose a replacement light source and characteristics of the proposed replacement light source may be used to simulate the effect of the replacement light source on the illuminated environment.

Abstract: An image capturing apparatus includes image capturing devices; page memories for the image capturing devices, respectively, each page memory storing a piece of image data output from the corresponding image capturing device; a page-memory read unit configured to read pieces of image data stored in the page memories line by line in a time division manner; an image processing unit configured to perform predetermined image processing on the pieces of image data read from the page memories for the image capturing devices line by line in the time division manner; and a write monitoring unit configured to monitor write states of the pieces of image data that are output from the image capturing devices and written into the page memories, and control the page-memory read unit to start reading the pieces of image data from the page memories.