Arrangement and method for the recording and display of images of a scene and/or an object

Abstract

The invention relates to an arrangement and a method for capturing and displaying images of a scene and/or an object. Said arrangement and method are particularly suited to display the captured images in a three-dimensionally perceptible manner. The aim of the invention is to create a new possibility to take images of real scenes and/or objects with as little effort as possible and then autostereoscopically display the same in a three-dimensional fashion from two or more perspectives. Said aim is achieved by providing at least one main camera of a first camera type for recording images, at least one satellite camera of a second camera type for recording images, an image converting device which is mounted behind the cameras, and a 3D image display device, the two camera types differing from each other in at least one parameter. A total of at least three cameras is provided. Also disclosed is a method for transmitting 3D data.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a national phase application of International Application No. PCT/DE2007/001965, filed Oct. 29, 2007, which claims priority of German Application No. 10 2006 055 641.0, filed Nov. 22, 2006, the complete disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

a) Field of the Invention

The invention relates to an arrangement and a method for the recording and display of images of a scene and/or an object, suitable especially for the display of the recorded images for spatial perception. The invention further relates to a method of transmitting images for spatial perception.

b) Description of the Related Art

At present there exist essentially three basically different methods, and the appertaining arrangements, for recording 3D image information:

(1) The classical stereo camera, consisting of two like cameras, one each for a left and right image. For a highly resolved display, high-resolving camera systems are required, though. With multichannel systems, interpolation of the intermediate views is required. This causes artefacts to be visible especially in the middle views.

(2) The use of a multiview camera system. Its advantage over the stereo camera is the correct image reproduction with multichannel systems. In particular, no interpolations are required. A disadvantage is the great effort needed to implement exact alignment of the—e.g., eight—cameras with each other. Another disadvantage is the increased cost involved in the use of several cameras, which in addition entail further problems such as differing white levels, tonal values and/or geometry characteristics, which have to be balanced accordingly. The high data rate to be handled with this method is also a drawback.

(3) The use of a depth camera. Here, use is made of a color camera jointly with a depth sensor, which registers the—as a rule, cyclopean—depth information of the scene to be recorded. Apart from the fact that depth sensors are relatively expensive, their drawback is that they often do not work very exactly, and/or that no acceptable compromise between accuracy and speed is achieved. The method requires a general extrapolation, in which artefacts, especially in the outer views, cannot be excluded and, generally, occluding artefacts cannot be covered up.

OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is based on the problem of setting forth a new way of recording real scenes and/or objects with the least possible effort and subsequently displaying them three-dimensionally in two or more views for spatial perception. Another problem of the invention is to find a suitable method for transmitting images for spatial perception.

According to the invention, the problem is solved with an arrangement for recording images of a scene and/or an object and displaying them for spatial perception, this arrangement to comprise the following components:

at least one main camera of a first camera type for the recording of images;

at least two satellite cameras of a second camera type for the recording of images, with the first and second camera types differing by at least one parameter;

an image conversion device arranged downstream of the cameras, for receiving and processing the initial image data, this image conversion device performing, among other processes, a depth or disparity recognition, for which only those images are employed that were recorded by cameras of the same camera type (preferably those that were recorded by the at least two satellite cameras), but not the residual images; and

a 3D image display device connected to the image conversion device, which displays the image data for spatial perception without special viewing aids, the 3D image display device displaying at least two views of the scene and/or object.

However, the 3D image display device may also display 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or even more views simultaneously or at an average time. Especially in image display devices of the last-named, so called “multi-view” 3D type with 4 or more views displayed, the special advantages of the invention take effect, viz. that it is possible, with relatively few (e.g. three or four) cameras, to provide more views than the number of cameras employed.

The main and the satellite camera generally, but not imperatively, differ by their quality. Mostly, the main camera is a high-quality camera, whereas the satellite cameras employed may be of lesser quality (e.g., industrial cameras) and thus mostly, but not imperatively, have a lower resolution, among other parameters. In this case, then, the second camera type has a lower resolution than the first one. The two camera types may also differ (at least) by the built-in imaging chip.

Essentially, the advantage of the invention is that, besides the classical stereo camera system, here consisting essentially of two identical high-resolution cameras, a three-camera system is used, preferably consisting of a central high-quality camera and two additional cameras of lower resolution, arranged to the left and right, respectively, of the main camera. Thus, the main camera is arranged between the satellite cameras, for example.

Preferably then, the main camera is arranged between the satellite cameras. The distances between the cameras and their alignment (either in parallel or pointed at a common focus) are variable within customary limits. The use of further satellite cameras may be of advantage, as this enables a further reduction of misinterpretations especially during the subsequent processing of the image data.

According to the embodiment of the invention, it may thus be of advantage that

exactly one main camera and two satellite cameras are provided (“version 1+2”);

exactly one main camera and three satellite cameras are provided (“version 1+3”); or

exactly one main camera and five satellite cameras are provided (“version 1+5”).

The general idea of the invention obviously also includes other embodiments, e.g., the use of several main cameras or of still more satellite cameras.

All cameras may be arranged in parallel or pointed at a common focus. It is also possible that not all of them are pointed at a common focus (convergence angle). The optical axes of the cameras may lie in one plane or in different planes, with the center points of the objectives preferably arranged in line or on a (preferably isosceles or equilateral) triangle. For special cases of application, the center points of the cameras' objectives may also be spaced at unequal distances relative to each other (with the objective center points forming a scalene triangle). It is further possible that all (at least three) cameras (i.e. all existing main and satellite cameras) differ by at least one parameter, e.g. by their resolution. The cameras can be synchronized with regard to zoom, f-stop, focus etc. as well as with regard to the individual frames (i.e. best possible true-to-frame synchronization in recording). The cameras may be fixed at permanent locations or movable relative to each other; the setting of both the base distance between the cameras and the convergence angles may be automatic.

It may be of advantage to provide adapter systems that facilitate fixing especially the satellite cameras to the main camera. In this way, ordinary cameras can be subsequently converted into a 3D camera. It is also feasible, though, to convert an existing stereo camera system into a 3D camera conforming to the invention by retrofitting an added main camera.

Furthermore, the beam path—preferably in front of the objectives of the various cameras—can be provided with additional optical elements, e.g. one or several semitransparent mirrors. This makes it possible, e.g., to arrange each of two satellite cameras rotated 90 degrees relative to the main camera, so that the camera bodies of all three cameras are arranged in such a way that their objective center points are closer together horizontally than they would be if all three cameras were arranged immediately side by side, in which case the dimension of the camera bodies would necessitate a certain, greater spacing of the objective center points. In the constellation with the two satellite cameras rotated 90 degrees, a semitransparent mirror in reflection position, arranged at an angle of about 45 degrees relative to the principal rays emerging from the objectives of the satellite cameras, would follow, whereas the same mirror follows in transmission position, arranged at an angle of also 45 degrees relative to the principal ray emerging from the objective of the main camera.

Preferably, the objective center points of the main camera and of at least two satellite cameras form an isosceles triangle, e.g., in version “1+2”.

For version “1+3” it may be of advantage that the objective center points of the three satellite cameras form a triangle, preferably an isosceles one. In this case, the objective center point of the main camera should be arranged within the said triangle, the triangle being assumed to include its sides.

Moreover, in version “1+3” it is possible that one satellite camera and the main camera are optically arranged relative to each other in such a way that both record an image on essentially the same optical axis, with preferably at least one semitransparent mirror being arranged between the two cameras.

In this case, the two other satellite cameras are preferably arranged so as to form a straight line or a triangle with the satellite camera that is associated with the main camera.

Other embodiments can also be implemented, such as, e.g., a version “1+4” with a quadrangle (e.g. square) of 4 satellite cameras with a main camera inside the quadrangle (e.g., at the center of its area), or even a version “1+n” with a circle of n=5 or more satellite cameras.

Advantageously, the image conversion device generates at least three views of the recorded scene or object, employing for such generation of at least three views, in addition to the depth or disparity data registered, the image recorded by the at least one main camera and at least two more images recorded by the satellite cameras, though not necessarily by all cameras provided. It is quite possible that one of the at least three views generated still is equal to one of the input images. In the simplest case, the image conversion device may even use only the image recorded by the at least one main camera and the associated depth information for generating the views.

The main camera (or all main cameras) and all satellite cameras preferably record with frame-accurate synchronization, at a tolerance of maximally 100 frames per 24 hours.

For special embodiments it may also be useful to use black-and-white cameras as satellite cameras, and subsequently automatically assign a tonal value preferably to the images produced by them.

The problem is also solved by a method for the recording and display of images of a scene and/or an object, comprising the following steps:

Creation of at least an n-tuple of images, with n>2, with at least two images having different resolutions;

Transfer of the image data to an image conversion device, in which subsequently a rectification, a color adjustment, a depth or disparity recognition and subsequent generation of further views from n or less than n images of said the n-tuple and the depth or disparity recognition values are carried out, with at least one view being generated that is not exactly equal to any of the images of the n-tuple created, and with the image conversion device employing, for depth or disparity recognition, only such images of the n-tuple that have the same resolution;

Subsequent creation of a combination of at least three different views or images in accordance with the parameter assignment of the 3D display of a 3D image display device for spatial presentation without special viewing aids; and finally

Presentation of the combined 3D image on the 3D display.

The depth or disparity recognition employs the images with that equal resolution having the lowest total number of pixels compared to all other resolutions provided.

The depth recognition and subsequent generation of further views from the n-tuple of images and the depth or disparity recognition data can be carried out, for example, by creating a stack structure and projecting it onto a desired view.

The creation of a stack structure may be replaced by other applicable depth or disparity recognition algorithms, with the depth or disparity values recognized being used for the creation of desired views.

A stack structure may, in general, correspond to a layer structure of graphical elements in different (virtual) planes.

If a 3D camera system consisting of cameras of different types with different image resolutions is used, it is possible first to carry out a size adaptation after transfer of the image data to the image conversion device. The result of this are images that all have the same resolution. This may correspond to the highest resolution of the cameras, but preferably it is equal to that of the lowest-resolution camera(s). Subsequently, the camera images are rectified, i.e. their geometric distortions are corrected (compensation of lens distortions, misalignment of cameras, zoom differences, etc., if any). The size adaptation may also be performed within the rectifying process. Immediately after, a color adjustment, is carried out, e.g. as taught by the publications “Joshi, N. Color Calibration for Arrays of Inexpensive Image Sensors. Technical Report CSTR 2004-02 Mar. 31, 2004 Apr. 4, 2004, Stanford University, 2004” and A. LLie and G. Welch. “Ensuring color consistency across multiple cameras”, ICCV 2005. In particular, the tonal/brightness values of the camera images are matched, so that they are at an equal or at least comparable level. For the image data thus provided, the stack structure for depth recognition is established. In this process, the input images (only the images of the n-tuple having the same resolution), stacked on top of each other in the first step, are compared with each other line by line. The line-by-line comparison can possibly be made in an oblique direction rather; this will be favorable if the cameras are not arranged in a horizontal plane. If pixels lying on top of each other have the same tonal value, this will be saved; if they have different tonal values, none of these will be saved. Thereafter, the lines are displaced relative to each other by defined steps (e.g., by ¼ or ½ pixel) in opposite directions; after every step the result of the comparison is saved again. At the end of this process, the three-dimensional stack structure with the coordinates X, Y and Z is obtained, with X and Y corresponding to the pixel coordinates of the input image, whereas Z represents the extent of relative displacement between the views. Thus, if two or three cameras are used, always two or three lines, respectively, are compared and displaced relative to each other. It is also possible to use more than two, e.g., three cameras and still combine always two lines only, in which case the comparisons have to be matched once more. If three or more lines are compared, there are far fewer ambiguities than with the comparison of the two lines of two input images only. In the subsequent optimization of the stack structure, the task essentially consists in deleting the least probable combinations in case of ambiguous representations of image elements in the stack. In addition, this contributes to data reduction. Further reduction is achieved if a height profile curve is derived from the remaining elements to obtain an unambiguous imaging of the tonal values in a discrete depth plane (Z coordinate). What normally follows now is the projection of the stack structure onto the desired views. At least two views should be created, one of which might still be equal to one of the input images. However, this is done, as a rule, with the particular 3D image display device in mind that is used thereafter. The subsequent combination of the different views provided corresponds to the parameter assignment of the 3D display.

Once the stack structure has been created, or following the method steps in accordance with the invention, the depth is determined for at least three original images of the n-tuple, preferably in the form of depth maps. Preferably, at least two depth maps having different resolution are created.

Further, after the original images of the n-tuple and the respective associated depths have been taken over, preferably a reconstruction is performed by inverse projection of the images of the n-tuple into the stack space by means of depth maps, so that the stack structure is reconstructed, and so afterwards again different views can be generated therefrom by projection. Other methods of creating the views from the image data provided (n-tuples of images, depth information) are also possible.

Moreover, the original images of the n-tuple with the respective associated depths can be transmitted to the 3D image display device and then the reconstruction in accordance with the inventive method can be done first.

In general, the images of the n-tuple are created, e.g., by means of a 3D camera system, e.g. a multiple camera system consisting of several separate cameras.

Alternatively it is possible, in the method described above for the recording and display of images of a scene and/or an object, to create the images by means of a computer. In this case, preferably a depth map is created for each image, so that the rectification, color adjustment and depth or disparity recognition steps can be dropped. Preferably, at least two of the three depth maps differ in resolution. In a preferred embodiment, n=3 images may be provided, one of which has the (full-color) resolution of 1920×1080 pixels and the other two have the (full-color) resolution of 1280×720 (or 1024×768) pixels, whereas the appertaining depth maps have 960×540 and 640×360 (or 512×384) pixels, respectively. The image having the higher resolution corresponds, in spatial terms, to a perspective view lying between the perspective views of the other two images.

The 3D image display device employed can preferably display 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or even more views simultaneously or at an average time. It is particularly with such devices, known as “multi-view” 3D image display devices with at least 4 or more views displayed, that the special advantages of the invention take effect, namely, that with relatively few (e.g. three) original images, more views can be provided for spatial display than the number of original images. By the way, the combination, mentioned farther above, of at least two different views or images in accordance with the parameter assignment of the 3D display of a 3D image display device for spatial presentation without special viewing aids may contain a combination of views not only from different points in space but in time also.

Another important advantage of the invention is the fact that, after the optimization of the stack structure, the depth is determined per original image. The resulting data have an extremely efficient data transfer format, viz. as n images (e.g. original images, or views) plus n depth images (preferably with n=3), so that a data rate is achieved that is markedly lower than that required if all views were transferred. As a consequence, a unit for the reconstruction of the stack structure and the unit for the projection of the stack structure onto the desired view, or units of other kind that perform the reconstruction of views differently, have to be integrated into the 3D image display device.

For the steps mentioned above, it is possible to use disparity instead of depth. By the way, the term “projection” here may, in principle, also mean a mere displacement.

Of course, other depth or disparity recognition methods than the one described before can be used to detect depth or disparities from the n-tuple of images (with n>2), and/or to generate further views from this n-tuple of images. Such alternative methods or partial methods are described, for example, in the publications “Tao, H. and Sawhney, H.: Global matching criterion and color segmentation based stereo, in Proc. Workshop on the Application of Computer Vision (WACV2000), pp. 246-253, December 2000”, “M. Lin and C. Tomasi: Surfaces with occlusions from layered Stereo. Technical report, Stanford University, 2002. In preparation “C. Lawrence Zitnick, Sing Bing Kang, Matthew Uyttendaele, Simon Winder, Richard Szeliski: High-quality video view interpolation using a layered representation, International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, ACM SIGGRAPH 2004, Los Angeles, Calif., pp: 600-608”, “S. M. Seitz and C. R. Dyer: View Morphing, Proc. SIGGRAPH 96, 1996, 21-30”.

By the method according to the invention, it is possible, in principle, that the images created are transferred to the image conversion device. Moreover, all views of each image, generated by the image conversion device can be transferred to the 3D image display device.

In an advantageous embodiment, the invention comprises a method for the transmission of 3D information for the purpose of later display for spatial perception without special viewing aids, on the basis of at least three different views, a method in which, starting from at least one n-tuple of images (with n>2) characterizing different angles of view of an object or a scene, with at least two images of the n-tuple having different resolutions, the depth is determined for at least three images, and thereafter at least three images of the n-tuple together with the respective depth information (preferably in the form of depth maps) are transmitted in a transmission channel.

In a preferred embodiment, the n-tuple of images is a quadruple of images (n=4), with preferably three images having the same resolution and the forth one having a higher resolution, and with the fourth image preferably belonging to the images transmitted in the transmission channel, so that, for example, one high-resolution image and two of the lower-resolution images are transmitted together with the depth information.

Herein, at least two of the depth maps determined may differ in resolution. The depth information is determined only from images of the n-tuple having the same resolution.

It is also possible that, from the depth information determined, the depth is also generated for at least one image of higher resolution.

In a further development of the method according to the invention as well as of the transmission method, the depth information determined from images of the n-tuple having the lowest existing resolution can be transformed into a higher resolution by way of edge recognitions in the at least one image of higher resolution. This is helpful especially if, e.g., in the versions “1+2, “1+3” and “1+5” described before, the high-resolution main camera zooms in on various scene details and/or objects, i.e. records at a magnification. In this case, there is no absolute need to vary the zoom settings of the satellite cameras, too. Instead, the resolution of the corresponding depth information for the main camera is increased as described above, so that the desired views can be created with sufficient quality.

Further developments provide for a great number of n-tuples of images and associated depth information to be processed in succession, so that a spatial display of moving images is made possible. Finally in this case, it is also possible to perform a spatial and temporal filtering of the great number of n-tuples of images.

The transmission channel may be, e.g., a digital TV signal, the Internet or a DVD (HD, SD, BlueRay etc.). As a compression standard, MPEG-4 can be used to advantage.

It is also of advantage if at least two of the three depth maps have different resolutions. For example, in a preferred embodiment, n=3 images may be provided, one of them having the (full-color) resolution of 1920×1080 pixels, and two having the (full-color) resolution of 1280×720 (or 1024×768) pixels, whereas the pertaining depth maps have 960×540 and 640×360 (or 512×384) pixels, respectively. The image having the higher resolution corresponds, in spatial terms, to a perspective view lying between the perspective views of the other two images.

The 3D image display device employed can preferably display 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or even more views simultaneously or at an average time. Especially in those mentioned last, known as “multi-view” 3D image display devices with 4 or more views displayed, the special advantages of the invention take effect, viz. that with relatively few (e.g. three) original images, more views can be provided than the number of original images. The reconstruction from the n-tuple of images transmitted together with the respective depth information (with at least two images of the n-tuple having different resolutions) in different views is performed, e.g., in the following way: In a three-dimensional coordinate system, the color information of each image—observed from a suitable direction—are arranged in the depth positions marked by the respective depth information belonging to the image. This creates a colored three-dimensional volume with volume pixels (voxels), which can be imaged from different perspectives or directions by a virtual camera or by parallel projections. In this way, more than three views can be advantageously regenerated from the information transmitted. Other reconstruction algorithms for the views or images are possible as well.

Regardless of this, the information transmitted is reconstructible in a highly universal way, e.g. as (perspective) views, tomographic slice images or voxels. Such image formats are of great advantage for special 3D presentation methods, such as volume 3D displays.

Moreover, in all transmission versions proposed by this invention it is possible to transmit meta-information, e.g. in a so-called alpha channel in addition. This may be information supplementing the images, such as geometric conditions of the n>2 images (e.g., relative angles, camera parameters), or transparency or contour information.

Finally, the problem of the invention can be solved by a method of transmitting 3D information for the purpose of subsequent display for spatial perception without special viewing aids, on the basis of at least three different views, whereby, starting from at least one n-tuple of images with n>2 that characterize different viewing angles of an object or scene, the depth is determined for at least three images, and at least three images of the n-tuple together with the respective depth information (preferably in the form of depth maps) are subsequently transmitted in a transmission channel.

Preferably the n-tuple of images is a triple of images (n=3), with the three images having the same resolution. It is also possible, however, that, e.g., n=5 or n=6 cameras generate 5 or 6 images each, so that the depth information is determined from the quintuple or sixtuple of images, or at least from three images of them, and 3 of the 5 or 6 images together with their depth maps are subsequently transmitted, even with the added possibility of a reduction of the resolution of individual images and/or depth maps.

Below, the invention is described in greater detail by example embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings show

FIG. 1: a sketch illustrating the principle of the arrangement according to the invention, with a main camera and three satellite cameras;

FIG. 2: a version with a main camera and two satellite cameras;

FIG. 3: a schematic illustration of the step-by-step displacement of two lines against one another, and generation of the Z coordinate;

FIG. 4: a scheme of optimization by elimination of ambiguities compared to FIG. 3;

FIG. 5: a scheme of optimization by reduction of the elements to an unambiguous height profile curve, compared to FIG. 4;

FIG. 6: a schematic illustration of the step-by-step displacement of three lines against one another, and generation of the Z coordinate;

FIG. 7: a scheme of optimization by elimination of ambiguities compared to FIG. 6;

FIG. 8: a scheme of optimization by reduction of the elements to an unambiguous height profile curve, compared to FIG. 7;

FIG. 9: a schematic illustration of a projection of a view from the scheme of optimization;

FIG. 10: a schematic illustration of an image combination of four images, suitable for spatial display without special viewing aids (state of the art); and

FIG. 11: a schematic illustration of the transmission method according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An arrangement according to the invention essentially consists of a 3D camera system 1, an image conversion device 2 and a 3D image display device 3. As shown in FIG. 1, the 3D camera system 1 contains three satellite cameras 14, 15 and 16, one main camera 13; the image conversion device 2 contains a rectification unit 21, a color adjustment unit 22, a unit for establishing the stack structure 23, a unit for the optimization of the stack structure 24, and a unit 25 for the projection of the stack structure onto the desired view, and the 3D image display device 3 contains an image combination unit 31 and a 3D display 32, with the 3D display 32 displaying at least two views of a scene or object for spatial presentation. The 3D display 32 can also work on the basis of, say, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or even more views. As an example, a 3D display 32 of model “Spatial View 19 inch” is eligible, which displays 5 different views at a time.

FIG. 2 shows another arrangement according to the invention. Here, the 3D camera system 1 contains a main camera 13, a first satellite camera 14, and a second satellite camera 15. The image conversion device 2 contains a rectification unit 21, a color adjustment unit 22, a unit for establishing the stack structure 23, a unit for the optimization of the stack structure 24, a unit 25 for projecting the stack structure onto the desired view, and a unit for determining the depth 26; and the 3D image display device 3 contains, as shown in FIG. 2, a unit for the reconstruction of the stack structure 30, an image combination unit 31, and a 3D display 32.

According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the 3D camera system 1 consists of a main camera 13 and two satellite cameras 14, 15, with the main camera 13 being a high-quality camera with a high resolving power, whereas the two satellite cameras 14, 15 are provided with a lower resolving power. As usual, the camera positions relative to each other are variable in spacing and alignment within the known limits, so that stereoscopic images can be taken. In the rectification unit 21, the camera images are rectified, i.e. a compensation of lens distortions, camera rotations, zoom differences, etc., is made. The rectification unit 21 is followed by the color adjustment unit 22. Here, the tonal/brightness values of the recorded images are balanced to a common level. The image data thus corrected are now fed to the unit 23 for establishing the stack structure.

Now, in principle, a line-by-line comparison is made of the input images, but only those of the satellite cameras (14, 15 according to FIG. 2, or 14, 15, 16 according to FIG. 1). The comparison according to FIG. 3 is based on the comparison of only two lines each. In the first step, at first two lines are placed one on top of the other with the same Y coordinate, which, according to FIG. 3, corresponds to plane 0. The comparison is made pixel by pixel, and, as shown in FIG. 3, the result of the comparison is saved as a Z coordinate in accordance with the existing comparison plane, a process in which pixels lying on top of each other retain their tonal value if it is identical; if it is not, no tonal value is saved. In the second step, the lines are displaced by increments of ½ pixel each as shown in FIG. 3, with the pixel being assigned to plane 1, or a next comparison is made in plane 1, the result of which is saved in plane 1 (Z coordinate). As can be seen from FIG. 3, the comparisons are generally made up to plane 7 and then with plane −1 up to plane −7, each being saved as a Z coordinate in the respective plane. The number of planes corresponds to the maximum depth information occurring, and may vary depending on the image content. The three-dimensional structure thus established with the XYZ coordinates means that, for each pixel, the degree of relative displacement between the views is saved via the appertaining Z coordinate. As shown in FIG. 6, the same comparison is made on the basis of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, save that three lines are compared here accordingly. A simple comparison between FIG. 6 and FIG. 3 shows that the comparison of three lines involves substantially fewer misinterpretations. Thus, it is of advantage to do the comparison with more than two lines. The stack structure established, which is distinguished also by the fact that now the input images are no longer present individually, is fed to the subsequent unit 24 for optimization of the stack structure. Here, ambiguous depictions if image elements are identified with the aim to delete such errors due to improbable combinations, so that a corrected set of data is generated in accordance with FIG. 4 or FIG. 7. In the next step, a height profile curve that is as shallow or smooth as possible is established from the remaining elements in order to achieve an unambiguous imaging of the tonal values in a discrete depth plane (Z coordinate). The results are shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 8, respectively. The result according to FIG. 5 is now fed to the unit 25 for the projection of the stack structure onto the desired view as shown in FIG. 1. Here, the stack structure is projected onto a defined plane in the space. The (i.e. each) desired view is generated via the angles of the plane, as can be seen in FIG. 9. As a rule, at least one view is generated that is not exactly equal to any of the images recorded by the camera system 1. All views generated are present at the output port of the image conversion device 2 and can thus be transferred to the subsequent 3D image display device 3 for stereoscopic presentation; by means of the image combination unit 31 incorporated, at first the different views are combined in accordance with the given parameter assignment of the 3D display 32.

FIG. 2 illustrates another, optional way for transmitting the processed data to the 3D image display device 3. Here, the unit 24 for the optimization of the stack structure is followed by the unit 26 for determining the depth (broken line). Determining the depth of the images creates a particularly efficient data transfer format. This is because only three images and three depth images are transferred, preferably in the MPEG-4 format. According to FIG. 2, the 3D image display device 3 is provided, on the input side, with a unit 30 for reconstructing the stack structure, a subsequent image combination unit 31 and a 3D display 32. In the unit 30 for reconstructing the stack structure, the images and depths received can be particularly efficiently reconverted into the stack structure by inverse projection, so that the stack structure can be made available to the subsequent unit 25 for projecting the stack structure onto the desired view. The further procedure is then identical to the version illustrated in FIG. 1, save for the advantage that not all the views need to be transferred, especially if the unit 25 is integrated in the 3D image display device 3. This last-named, optional way can also be taken in the embodiment according to FIG. 1, provided that the circumstances are matched accordingly.

For better understanding, FIG. 10 shows a schematic illustration of a state-of-the-art method (JP 08-331605) to create an image combination of four images or views, suitable for spatial presentation on a 3D display without special viewing aids, for example on the basis of a suitable lenticular or barrier technology. For that purpose, the four images or views have been combined in the image combination unit 31 in accordance with the image combination structure suitable for the 3D display 32.

FIG. 11, finally, is a schematic illustration of the transmission method according to the invention. In an MPEG-4 data stream, a total of 3 color images and 3 depth images (or streams of moving images accordingly) are transmitted. To particular advantage, one of the color image streams has a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels, whereas the other two have a resolution of 1280×720 (or 1024×768) pixels. Each of the appertaining depth images (or depth image streams) is transmitted with half the horizontal and half the vertical resolution, i.e. 960×540 pixels and 640×360 (or 512×384) pixels, respectively. In the simplest case, the depth images consist of gray-scale images, e.g. with 256 or 1024 possible gray levels per pixel, with each gray level representing one depth value.

In another embodiment, the highest-resolution color image would have, for example, 4096×4096 pixels, and the other color images would have 2048×2048 or 1024×1024 pixels. The appertaining depth images (or depth image streams) are transmitted with half the horizontal and half the vertical resolution. This version would be of advantage if the same data record is to be used for stereoscopic presentations of particularly high resolution (e.g. in the 3D movie theater with right and left images) as well as for less well-resolved 3D presentation on 3D displays, but then with at least two views presented.

While the foregoing description and drawings represent the represent the present invention, invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made therein without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

• 1 Camera system
• 13 Main camera
• 14 First satellite camera
• 15 Second satellite camera
• 16 Third satellite camera
• 2 Image conversion device
• 21 Rectification unit
• 22 Color adjustment unit
• 23 Unit for establishing the stack structure
• 24 Unit for optimizing the stack structure
• 26 Unit for projecting the stack structure onto the desired view
• 26 Unit for determining the depth
• 3 3D image display device
• 30 Unit for reconstructing the stack structure
• 31 Image combination unit
• 32 3D display

Claims

1-39. (canceled)

40. The arrangement for the recording of images of a scene and/or an object and their display for spatial perception, comprising:

at least one main camera of a first camera type for the recording of images;

at least two satellite cameras of a second camera type for the recording of images, with the camera types differing in at least one parameter;

an image conversion device, arranged downstream of the cameras, that receives and processes the initial image data, said image conversion device performing, among other processes, a depth or disparity recognition employing only those images recorded by cameras of the same camera type (by said at least two satellite cameras), but not the remaining images; and

a 3D image display device, connected to the image conversion device, that displays the provided image data for spatial perception without special aids, with the 3D image display device displaying at least two views.

41. The arrangement as claimed in claim 40, wherein the two camera types differ at least in the resolution of the images to be recorded.

42. The arrangement as claimed in claim 40, wherein the two camera types differ at least in the built-in imaging chip.

43. The arrangement as claimed in claim 40, wherein exactly one main camera and two satellite cameras are provided.

44. The arrangement as claimed in claim 40, wherein exactly one main camera and three satellite cameras are provided.

45. The arrangement as claimed in claim 40, wherein exactly one main camera and five satellite cameras are provided.

46. The arrangement as claimed in claim 40, wherein the second camera type has a lower resolution than the first camera type.

47. The arrangement as claimed in claim 43, wherein the main camera is arranged between the satellite cameras.

48. The arrangement as claimed in claim 40, wherein at least one partially transparent mirror is arranged in front of each of the objectives of the main camera and all satellite cameras.

49. The arrangement as claimed in claim 44, wherein the center points of the objectives of the three satellite cameras form a triangle.

50. The arrangement as claimed in claim 49, wherein the triangle is a isosceles triangle.

51. The arrangement as claimed in claim 49, wherein the center point of the objective of the main camera is arranged inside said triangle, with the triangle to be understood to include its sides.

52. The arrangement as claimed in claim 44, wherein one satellite camera and the main camera are optically arranged relative to each other in such a way that both record an image on essentially the same optical axis, for which purpose preferably at least one partially transparent mirror is arranged between the two cameras.

53. The arrangement as claimed in claim 52, wherein the two other satellite cameras are arranged to form a straight line or a triangle together with the satellite camera associated to the main camera.

54. The arrangement as claimed in claim 40, wherein the image conversion device generates at least two views of the scene or object recorded, and that, for generating these at least two views, the image conversion device employs, besides the depth or disparity data recognized, the image recorded by the at least one main camera and at least one more image recorded by the satellite cameras, but not necessarily the images of all cameras provided.

55. The arrangement as claimed in claim 54, wherein one of the at least three views generated is still equal to one of the input images.

56. The arrangement as claimed in claim 40, wherein the main camera or all main cameras, and all satellite cameras record with frame-accurate synchronization at a tolerance of maximally 100 frames per 24 hours.

57. A method for the recording and display of images of a scene and/or an object, comprising the following steps:

generating at least one n-tuple of images, with n>2, with at least two images of the n-tuple having different resolutions;

transferring the image data to an image conversion device, in which then a rectification, a color adjustment, a depth or disparity recognition and subsequent generation of further views from the n or less than n images of the said n-tuple and from the depth or disparity recognition data are carried out, with at least one view being generated that is not exactly equal to any of the n-tuple of images generated, and with the image conversion device employing, for depth or disparity recognition, only such images of the n-tuple that have the same resolution;

subsequently generating a combination of at least two different views or images in accordance with the parameter assignment of the 3D display of a 3D image display device, for spatial presentation without special aids; and

finally presenting the combined 3D image on the 3D display.

58. The method as claimed in claim 57, wherein, for the depth or disparity recognition, those images of equal resolution are employed whose resolution has the lowest total number of pixels compared with all other resolutions provided.

59. The method as claimed in claim 58, wherein, for depth recognition, a stack structure is established by means of a line-by-line comparison of the pre-processed initial image data of an n-tuple, precisely, of those images of the n-tuple only that have the same resolution, in such a way that first those lines of the different images of an n-tuple which have the same Y coordinate are placed in register on top of each other and then a first comparison is made, the result of the comparison being saved in one line in such a way that equal tonal values in register are saved, whereas different tonal values are deleted, which is followed by a displacement of the lines in opposite directions by specified increments of preferably ¼ to 2 pixels, the results after each increment being saved in further lines analogously to the first comparison; so that, as a result after the comparisons made for each pixel, the Z coordinate provides the information about the degree of displacement of the views relative to each other.

60. The method as claimed in claim 59, wherein, after the establishment of the stack structure, an optimization is made in such a way that ambiguities are eliminated, and/or a reduction of the elements to an unambiguous height profile curve is carried out.

61. The method as claimed in claim 59, wherein, after the establishment of the stack structure or after the steps described in claim 60, the depth is determined for at least three original images of the n-tuple, preferably in the form of depth maps.

62. The method as claimed in claim 61, wherein, after transfer of the original images of the n-tuple and the respective depths appertaining to them, a reconstruction is carried out by inverse projection of the views of the n-tuple into the stack space by depth maps, so that die stack structure is reconstructed, and so that again different views can be subsequently generated therefrom by projection.

63. The method as claimed in claim 57, wherein the images generated are transmitted to the image conversion device.

64. The method as claimed in claim 57, wherein all views generated of each image by the image conversion device are transmitted to the 3D image display device.

65. The method as claimed in claim 61, wherein the original images of the n-tuple with the respective depths appertaining to them are transmitted to the 3D image display device, after which first the reconstruction according to claim 62 is carried out.

66. The method as claimed in claim 57, wherein the images of the n-tuple are generated by a 3D camera system.

67. The method as claimed in claim 57, wherein the images of the n-tuple are generated by a computer.

68. The method as claimed in claim 61, wherein at least two depth maps differing in resolution are generated.

69. A method for the transmission of 3D information for the purpose of later display for spatial perception without special aids, on the basis of at least two different views, comprising the steps of:

proceeding from at least one n-tuple of images, with n>2, which characterize different angles of view of an object or a scene, with at least two images of the n-tuple having different resolutions;

determining the depth for at least three images; and

thereafter, at least three images of the n-tuple, together with the respective depth information, are transmitted in a transmission channel.

70. The method as claimed in claim 69, wherein the depth information is in the form of depth maps.

71. The method as claimed in claim 69, wherein the n-tuple of images is a quadruple of images (n=4), with three images preferably having the same resolution, whereas the fourth image has a higher resolution and preferably belongs to the images transmitted in the transmission channel.

72. The method as claimed in claim 69, wherein at least two of the three depth maps have different resolutions.

73. The method as claimed in claim 69, wherein the image data and the depth information are generated in the MPEG-4 format.

74. The method as claimed in claim 69, wherein the depth information is determined only from such images of the n-tuple that have the same resolution.

75. The method as claimed in claim 74, wherein, from the depth information determined, the depth also for at least one image of higher resolution is generated.

76. The method as claimed in claim 57, wherein depth information determined from images of the n-tuple that have the lowest resolution provided are transformed into a higher resolution by way of edge recognitions in the at least one image of higher resolution.

77. The method as claimed in claim 57, wherein a great number of n-tuples of images and appertaining depth information are processed in succession, so that a spatial display of moving images is made possible.

78. The method as claimed in claim 77, wherein the great number of n-tuples of images is subjected to spatial and temporal filtering.

79. A method of transmitting 3D information for the purpose of subsequent display for spatial perception without special aids, on the basis of at least two different views, comprising the steps of:

proceeding from at least one n-tuple of images with n>2, which characterize different viewing angles of an object or a scene;

determining the depth for at least three images; and

thereafter at least three images of the n-tuple, together with the respective depth information are transmitted, in a transmission channel.

80. The method of claim 79, wherein the depth information is in the form of depth maps.

81. The method of claim 79, wherein the n-tuple of images is a triple of images (n=3), with the three images having the same resolution.