Abstract: A method and system for size calibration of an electronically generated image of a specimen that is generated by an optical instrument having a downstream digital camera operable in different reproduction modes is disclosed. In order to enhance image analysis reliability and decrease access times, it is proposed that firstly, for a specified reproduction mode of the camera, a reference calibration value indicating the ratio of a specimen dimension to an image dimension be determined and stored together with the specified reproduction mode; and that for size calibration, a correction factor regarding the reproduction mode be derived by comparing the stored reproduction mode to the reproduction mode of the camera currently in use, and from that correction factor, together with the stored reference calibration value, the current calibration value be calculated.

Abstract: A displacement estimation device includes a vector calculator and a displacement calculator, for use in estimating a displacement vector from a pattern in a first original image to a pattern in a second original image. The vector calculator calculates a parameter for each pixel in the first original image and the second original image. The parameter of a pixel integrates the information of the intensities of all the pixels in a region of interest (ROI) surrounding the pixel, and the relative distances from all the pixels in the ROI to the pixel. The displacement calculator calculates the displacement vector from a pattern in the first original image to a pattern in the second original image based on the parameters calculated by the vector calculator for the first original image and the second original image.

Abstract: Provided are a scalable encoding/decoding apparatus and method for the same for a moving image of more than 8 bits. The scalable moving image encoding apparatus includes a pixel value clipper clipping a pixel value of an original image to a pixel value with a predetermined pixel depth, a base layer encoder receiving the clipped image and encoding the clipped image using a predetermined encoding method based on motion prediction, a pixel value scaler receiving a base layer image generated by the base layer encoder, which is a decoded image of an encoded image, and scaling a pixel depth of the base layer image to the pixel depth of the original image, and an enhancement layer encoder subtracting the base layer image having a scaled pixel value from the original image to form an enhancement layer image and encoding the enhancement layer image using a predetermined encoding method.

Abstract: A method of and an apparatus are provided for predicting a DC coefficient of video data. In the method, at least one reference data unit for prediction of a DC coefficient of a current data unit is selected from at least one previous data unit that is scanned according to region of interest-oriented scanning and then transformed before the current data unit. In the region of interest-oriented scanning, scanning starts with a data unit located in a predetermined location of a region of interest and continues in the form of a plurality of square rings in which the remaining data units included in the region of interest surround the data unit located in the predetermined location of the region of interest. Thereafter, a predicted value of the DC coefficient of the current data unit is determined using a DC coefficient of the at least one reference data unit.

Abstract: A motion vector predicting method and apparatus for predicting motion vectors in image coding and decoding, including predicting a motion vector of each small block in a macro block divided into at least one small block. The method may include selecting at least one small block, where a motion vector can be estimated, using motion vector information of adjacent small blocks, and includes simultaneously performing a motion vector prediction of the selected small block. By reducing a 16-operation process, conventionally required for processing a macro block with 4×4 blocks, into an 11-operation process, the image coding and decoding processing times can be reduced without using a complicated motion vector predicting apparatus.

Abstract: The present invention features a qualitative method to detect independent motion revealed in successive frames of a compressed surveillance MPEG video stream using linear system consistency analysis without decompression of the stream, identifying the segments containing independent motion in a real-time or faster manner, for the retrieval of these segments. The linear system is constructed using the macroblocks of MPEG compressed video frames. The normal flow value of the macroblock is obtained by taking the dot product between the macroblock gradient vector, computed by averaging the four block gradient vectors, and the motion vector of this macroblock. The normal flow value is filtered for inclusion in the linear system, and the statistic of the matrices of the resulting linear system is determined, filtered to screen out false negatives and outliers, and used to determine the presence or absence of independent motion.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to increase efficiency of information compression in coding and decoding. A moving picture encoding apparatus 10 of the present invention has a motion vector predicting part for performing, based on a temporal relation among adjacent reference frame images 703a, 703b, 703c referred to for detecting motion vectors of adjacent blocks adjacent to a coding target block, a target reference frame image 702 referred to for detecting a motion vector of the target block, and a target frame image 701 being the frame image of the coding target, or based on time information thereof, a correction of scaling the motion vectors 751a, 751b, 751c of the adjacent blocks on the basis of the target reference frame image 702; and a determination of an optimum predicted motion vector based on the motion vectors of the adjacent blocks, and thereby predicting the optimum predicted motion vector after the correction.

Abstract: A decoder for video signals, such as MPEG, which uses motion-compensated bidirectional predictive coding, performs concealment of lost or corrupted portions of a picture. For this purpose, it estimates missing motion vectors by combining the two vectors which accompany a bidirectionally coded frame to create a substitute vector. An encoder can be modified to enhance this decoder operation, including forcing at least one frame per group of frames to be coded using bidirectional prediction, and constraining the two vectors so that the substitute vector is closer to the wanted value.

Abstract: A motion vector detection method includes extracting a first block from the m-th picture, extracting second blocks having a large correlation with respect to the first block from a (m+n)-th picture ((m+n)>m-th), detecting first motion vectors between the first and second blocks, extracting a third block located in spatially the same position as that of the first block from a (m+i)-th picture ((m+n)>(m+i)>m-th), computing second motion vectors of (n?1)/n times the first motion vectors, extracting a fourth block corresponding to a movement position of the third block from the (m+n)-th picture according to the second motion vector, and selecting an optimum motion vector maximizing a correlation between the third and fourth blocks from the first motion vectors.

Abstract: A method for encoding video signals subjects the signals to unbalanced multiple description coding. The unbalanced multiple description coding codes a video signal in a first high resolution packet and a second low resolution packet and represents, respectively a first high resolution description and a second low resolution description. The unbalanced multiple description coding step includes using different intra refresh periods for the first and second high resolution descriptions, with an intra refresh period for the second low resolution description shorter than the intra refresh period of the first high resolution description.

Abstract: Disclosed is a stereoscopic/multiview three-dimensional video processing system and its method. In the present invention, stereoscopic/multiview three-dimensional video data having a plurality of images at the same time are coded into a plurality of elementary streams. The plural elementary streams output at the same time are multiplexed according to the user's selected display mode to generate a single elementary stream. After packetization of the single elementary stream continuously generated, information about the stereoscopic/multiview three-dimensional video multiplexing method and the selected display mode information are added to the packet header of the stream. Then the packetized elementary stream is sent to the image reproducer or stored in storage media.

Abstract: Some embodiments of the invention provide a method for encoding a video signal that is formed by a series of successive images. Each image includes several sections, and each section has a set of image values. To encode a particular section of a particular image, the method initially partitions the particular section into several sub-sections. For each of at least two particular sub-sections, the method then computes a statistical parameter regarding the image values of the particular sub-section. The method compares the computed statistical parameters, and based on the comparison, selects an encoding technique from a set of encoding techniques to encode the particular section. In some embodiments, the set of encoding schemes includes a first scheme that encodes the selected section without reference to any other section of any other image, and a second scheme that encodes the selected section by reference to at least one other section.

Abstract: The error concealment technique disclosed herein relates to the use of existing information by the decoder to conceal bitstream errors regardless of what the encoder does. Examples of existing information include, for example, the previous reference frame, macroblock information for the previous reference frames, etc. Another aspect of the system described herein relates to the steps that the encoder can take to enhance the decoder's ability to recover gracefully from a transmission error. Exemplary steps that can be taken by the encoder include intra walk around and sending GOB headers. Although these encoder techniques can provide greatly enhanced results, they are not strictly necessary to the system described herein.

Abstract: An imaging device mounted on a vehicle (30) acquires image data resulting from capturing an image of a scene around the vehicle (30). A parking section (E) corresponding to the desired parking position is set. The image data is subjected to an image-converting process that includes at least one of viewpoint conversion and distortion correction. A deflection angle (?) between the vehicle (30) and the parking section (E) is calculated. The image data is outputted until the deflection angle (?) becomes equal to or less than a predetermined reference deflection angle, the image data being outputted to a display adapted for installation in the vehicle (30). Once the deflection angle (?) has become equal to or less than the reference deflection angle, converted image data that has been subjected to the image-converting process is outputted.

Abstract: A system and method for tracking objects between multiple frames of a video is described. One method for tracking objects begins with a viewer initially identifying an object in a frame of video. If the viewer requires zooming, he can also select a scale factor for the identified object. Once the user has identified an object for tracking, the computer system identifies a reference point on the object and identifies the motion vectors for that reference point. Using the motion vectors, the computer system can track the identified object as it moves across the screen and can reposition an image acquisition area to track the location of the identified object in subsequent video frames.