Patents by Inventor Nobuo Ueki

Nobuo Ueki has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10855982
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to image processing apparatus and method intended to be capable of suppressing deterioration in image quality. [Solution] A predicated image is generated using inter-prediction and constrained intra-prediction, the inter-prediction using as a reference image an image of a past frame processed before a current frame, the constrained intra-prediction using no neighboring pixels subjected to inter-prediction, the image of the past frame being encoded, stored in a frame memory, read from the frame memory, and then decoded. The present disclosure is applicable to, in one example, an image processing apparatus, an image coding apparatus, or the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2020
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takuya Kitamura, Nobuo Ueki
  • Patent number: 10595021
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an image processing device and method that can suppress deterioration of the picture quality by encoding. The image processing device includes a decoding unit configured to decode encoded data obtained by lossy encoding an image of a frame encoded already which is used as a reference image in encoding of an image of a current frame and perform rounding of a decoded image obtained by the decoding with a rounding value whose value is changed over in a time direction of the image. The present disclosure can be applied, for example, to an image processing device, an image encoding device or the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2020
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Nobuo Ueki, Takefumi Nagumo, Toshinori Ihara
  • Publication number: 20190289286
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to image processing apparatus and method intended to be capable of suppressing deterioration in image quality. [Solution] A predicated image is generated using inter-prediction and constrained intra-prediction, the inter-prediction using as a reference image an image of a past frame processed before a current frame, the constrained intra-prediction using no neighboring pixels subjected to inter-prediction, the image of the past frame being encoded, stored in a frame memory, read from the frame memory, and then decoded. The present disclosure is applicable to, in one example, an image processing apparatus, an image coding apparatus, or the like.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 28, 2017
    Publication date: September 19, 2019
    Inventors: TAKUYA KITAMURA, NOBUO UEKI
  • Patent number: 10033935
    Abstract: In order to improve imaging performance, an imaging apparatus is provided to include an image capturing unit configured to detect incident light and generate a raw image data, a compression unit configured to compress the raw image data to generate a coded data having a data amount smaller than that of the raw image data, and an output unit configured to output the coded data to a processing unit for processing the coded data. Furthermore, the image capturing unit, the compression unit, and the output unit are configured to be within a same semiconductor package.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2018
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Nobuo Ueki, Masuyoshi Kurokawa, Yoichi Yagasaki, Makoto Aoki
  • Publication number: 20180098069
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an image processing device and method that can suppress deterioration of the picture quality by encoding. The image processing device includes a decoding unit configured to decode encoded data obtained by lossy encoding an image of a frame encoded already which is used as a reference image in encoding of an image of a current frame and perform rounding of a decoded image obtained by the decoding with a rounding value whose value is changed over in a time direction of the image. The present disclosure can be applied, for example, to an image processing device, an image encoding device or the like.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 26, 2016
    Publication date: April 5, 2018
    Inventors: NOBUO UEKI, TAKEFUMI NAGUMO, TOSHINORI IHARA
  • Publication number: 20170318211
    Abstract: In order to improve imaging performance, an imaging apparatus is provided to include an image capturing unit configured to detect incident light and generate a raw image data, a compression unit configured to compress the raw image data to generate a coded data having a data amount smaller than that of the raw image data, and an output unit configured to output the coded data to a processing unit for processing the coded data. Furthermore, the image capturing unit, the compression unit, and the output unit are configured to be within a same semiconductor package.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 19, 2017
    Publication date: November 2, 2017
    Applicant: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Nobuo UEKI, Masuyoshi KUROKAWA, Yoichi YAGASAKI, Makoto AOKI
  • Patent number: 9794488
    Abstract: In order to improve imaging performance, an imaging apparatus is provided to include an image capturing unit configured to detect incident light and generate a raw image data, a compression unit configured to compress the raw image data to generate a coded data having a data amount smaller than that of the raw image data, and an output unit configured to output the coded data to a processing unit for processing the coded data. Furthermore, the image capturing unit, the compression unit, and the output unit are configured to be within a same semiconductor package.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2017
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Nobuo Ueki, Masuyoshi Kurokawa, Yoichi Yagasaki, Makoto Aoki
  • Patent number: 9635370
    Abstract: Provided is an image processing apparatus including: an encoder configured to scalably encode image data; a write unit configured to cause storage via a predetermined bus to store encoded data that is the image data scalably encoded by the encoder; a read unit configured to read a desired layer of the encoded data from the storage via the bus; and a decoder configured to scalably decode the encoded data read from the storage by the read unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Nobuo Ueki, Toshinori Ihara, Takefumi Nagumo, Hironari Sakurai, Shuo Lu, Yoshitaka Morigami
  • Publication number: 20160373740
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an image encoding device and a method that can suppress a decrease in image quality due to encoding. The image encoding device includes: a control unit configured to restrict a mode of generation of a predicted image, based on prediction of image quality of reference image data to be referred to when generating the predicted image; a prediction unit configured to generate the predicted image according to a mode not restricted by the control unit; and an encoding unit configured to encode image data using the predicted image generated by the prediction unit. The present disclosure can be applied to an image processing device or an image encoding device, for example.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 24, 2015
    Publication date: December 22, 2016
    Inventors: TAKEFUMI NAGUMO, NOBUO UEKI, TOSHINORI IHARA, SHUO LU, HIRONARI SAKURAI, YOSHITAKA MORIGAMI
  • Publication number: 20160286113
    Abstract: In order to improve imaging performance, an imaging apparatus is provided to include an image capturing unit configured to detect incident light and generate a raw image data, a compression unit configured to compress the raw image data to generate a coded data having a data amount smaller than that of the raw image data, and an output unit configured to output the coded data to a processing unit for processing the coded data. Furthermore, the image capturing unit, the compression unit, and the output unit are configured to be within a same semiconductor package.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 10, 2016
    Publication date: September 29, 2016
    Applicant: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Nobuo UEKI, Masuyoshi KUROKAWA, Yoichi YAGASAKI, Makoto AOKI
  • Patent number: 9426376
    Abstract: In order to improve imaging performance, an imaging apparatus is provided to include an image capturing unit configured to detect incident light and generate a raw image data, a compression unit configured to compress the raw image data to generate a coded data having a data amount smaller than that of the raw image data, and an output unit configured to output the coded data to a processing unit for processing the coded data. Furthermore, the image capturing unit, the compression unit, and the output unit are configured to be within a same semiconductor package.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2016
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Nobuo Ueki, Masuyoshi Kurokawa, Yoichi Yagasaki, Makoto Aoki
  • Publication number: 20150281539
    Abstract: In order to improve imaging performance, an imaging apparatus is provided to include an image capturing unit configured to detect incident light and generate a raw image data, a compression unit configured to compress the raw image data to generate a coded data having a data amount smaller than that of the raw image data, and an output unit configured to output the coded data to a processing unit for processing the coded data. Furthermore, the image capturing unit, the compression unit, and the output unit are configured to be within a same semiconductor package.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 13, 2013
    Publication date: October 1, 2015
    Applicant: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Nobuo Ueki, Masuyoshi Kurokawa, Yoichi Yagasaki, Makoto Aoki
  • Publication number: 20150256839
    Abstract: Provided is an image processing apparatus including: an encoder configured to scalably encode image data; a write unit configured to cause storage via a predetermined bus to store encoded data that is the image data scalably encoded by the encoder; a read unit configured to read a desired layer of the encoded data from the storage via the bus; and a decoder configured to scalably decode the encoded data read from the storage by the read unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 25, 2015
    Publication date: September 10, 2015
    Inventors: NOBUO UEKI, TOSHINORI IHARA, TAKEFUMI NAGUMO, HIRONARI SAKURAI, SHUO LU, YOSHITAKA MORIGAMI
  • Patent number: 9071832
    Abstract: Provided is an image processing device including a congruence degree detecting unit which detects a degree of congruence of each of multiple scenes with respect to an input image made of a two-dimensional image, a depth image generating unit which generates, with respect to the input image, depth images each obtained by a technique corresponding to each of the scenes, a blending unit which blends the depth images, which are generated by the depth image generating unit and each generated by a technique corresponding to each of the scenes, at a blending ratio based on the degree of congruence of each of the scenes, to generate a blended depth image, and a three-dimensional image generating unit which generates a three-dimensional image, which can be viewed three-dimensionally, made of a left-eye image and a right-eye image generated by shifting each pixel of the input image using the blended depth image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Nobuo Ueki, Hironori Mori, Takashi Kojima, Yuki Tokizaki, Kazuhiko Nishibori, Seiji Kimura
  • Publication number: 20140071237
    Abstract: An apparatus may include a hardware processor and a storage medium. The storage medium may be coupled to the processor, and may store instructions. When executed by the processor, the instructions may cause the apparatus to determine a number of viewers. The instructions may also cause the apparatus to calculate a number of viewpoints based on the number of viewers. Additionally, the instructions may cause the apparatus to generate a plurality of images corresponding to the viewpoints.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 8, 2012
    Publication date: March 13, 2014
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Nobuo Ueki, Kazuhiko Nishibori
  • Publication number: 20130063424
    Abstract: Provided is an image processing device including a congruence degree detecting unit which detects a degree of congruence of each of multiple scenes with respect to an input image made of a two-dimensional image, a depth image generating unit which generates, with respect to the input image, depth images each obtained by a technique corresponding to each of the scenes, a blending unit which blends the depth images, which are generated by the depth image generating unit and each generated by a technique corresponding to each of the scenes, at a blending ratio based on the degree of congruence of each of the scenes, to generate a blended depth image, and a three-dimensional image generating unit which generates a three-dimensional image, which can be viewed three-dimensionally, made of a left-eye image and a right-eye image generated by shifting each pixel of the input image using the blended depth image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 5, 2012
    Publication date: March 14, 2013
    Inventors: Nobuo UEKI, Hironori MORI, Takashi KOJIMA, Yuki TOKIZAKI, Kazuhiko NISHIBORI, Seiji KIMURA
  • Publication number: 20120320166
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus that outputs, if three-dimensional stereoscopically viewable left-eye and right-eye images are not alternately supplied at accurate timings, only one of the three-dimensional stereoscopically viewable left-eye or right-eye image when the three-dimensional stereoscopically viewable left-eye and right-eye images are supplied.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 7, 2012
    Publication date: December 20, 2012
    Inventors: Nobuo UEKI, Hideki WATANABE
  • Patent number: 7420617
    Abstract: An image display apparatus that detects a picture defect and shifts an image region to eliminate the picture defect. The image display apparatus includes a memory unit that temporarily stores an input image signal, a memory control unit that controls a readout start address for the memory unit, a display unit to which the image signal read out of the memory unit is supplied, a detection unit that detects an aspect ratio of the input image signal, and an address control signal generation unit which receives an output from detection unit and generates a readout start address control signal for the memory unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2008
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Aya Takechi, Hiroyuki Kojima, Nobuo Ueki
  • Patent number: 7215377
    Abstract: The present invention provides an image signal processing apparatus and a method thereof in which each of the fields forming the unit-frame is specified, with respect to the inputted image signal, based on a difference value calculated in signal level between a detected pixel in a current field and a detected pixel at the same position in a field which comes one frame behind the current field, a motion vector for a field which comes two frames behind the current field is detected, with respect to the detected pixel in the current field, the detected pixel is shifted, with respect to the specified first field, in a direction opposite to the motion vector within the range of the detected motion vector, the detected pixel is shifted, with respect to the specified fourth field, in a direction along the motion vector, and the detected pixels is shifted, with respect to the specified second and third fields, so as to make the pixels gradually closer to the pixel position shifted with respect to the fourth field, in
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2007
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Takaya Hoshino, Toshio Sarugaku, Ikuo Someya, Makoto Kondo, Kazuhiko Nishibori, Koji Aoyama, Yukihiko Mogi, Nobuo Ueki, Masuyoshi Kurokawa
  • Patent number: 7126642
    Abstract: There is provided an image display apparatus which automatically detects a picture defect and shifts an image region to eliminate the picture defect. The image display apparatus includes a memory unit for temporarily storing an input image signal, a memory control unit for controlling a readout start address for the memory unit, a display unit to which the image signal read out of the memory unit is supplied, a detection unit of an aspect ratio of the input image signal, and an address control signal generation unit to which an aspect ratio detection output is supplied from the detection unit and which generates a readout start address control signal for the memory unit from the input image signal. When the input image signal having an aspect ratio different from an aspect ratio of image screen display of the display unit is supplied, a readout start address is controlled on the basis of the address control signal generated by the address control signal generation unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2006
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Aya Takechi, Hiroyuki Kojima, Nobuo Ueki