Pulse or digital communications – Bandwidth reduction or expansion – Television or motion video signal
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-28
2003-07-29
Rao, Andy (Department: 2613)
Pulse or digital communications
Bandwidth reduction or expansion
Television or motion video signal
C375S240210
Reexamination Certificate
active
06600785
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a picture processor for deforming a picture to be displayed on a display of a personal computer or the like.
Moreover, the present invention relates to a picture data processor for processing the picture data for a plurality of pictures when displaying the pictures on a display.
Furthermore, the present invention relates to a variable-length-code decoder for variable-length-decoding a plurality of variable-length-encoded MPEG picture data values.
BACKGROUND ART
(1) Orthogonal-transformation-system encoded picture data such as MPEG or DV has been used so far as digital data serving as an original picture for computer graphics to be displayed on a display of a personal computer or the like.
There is a mapping apparatus for decoding the encoded picture data such as MPEG and DV shown in FIG.
7
(
a
), deforming a picture
15
obtained by decoding the encoded data, and mapping the deformed picture on, for example, a room wall
17
formed through computer graphics on a display
16
of a personal computer or the like as shown in FIG.
7
(
b
).
Hereafter, an MPEG picture mapping apparatus for mapping a picture obtained from the MPEG picture data and a DV picture mapping apparatus for mapping a picture obtained from the DV picture data are described below in order by referring to the accompanying drawings.
First, a conventional MPEG-picture mapping apparatus is described.
FIG. 8
shows a block diagram of the conventional MPEG-picture mapping apparatus.
VLD means
1
inputs and variable-length-decodes variable-length-encoded MPEG picture data, inverse-quantization means
2
inversely quantizes the variable-length-decoded MPEG picture data, and IDCT means
3
decodes the inversely-quantized MPEG picture data. When the IDCT means
3
decodes the inversely-quentized MPEG picture data, it decodes all MPEG picture data values every block of an MPEG picture having a plurality of 8×8 DCT coefficients.
When the MPEG picture data input by the VLD means
1
is the data for an in-frame encoded picture (hereafter referred to as I-picture), the IDCT means
3
outputs a decoded picture to format transformation means
12
by passing the picture through addition means
7
and moreover, outputs the picture to a frame buffer
8
. The frame buffer
8
stores decoded pictures supplied from the IDCT means
3
.
However, when the MPEG picture data input by the VLD means
1
is the data for an inter-frame forward-prediction encoded picture (hereafter referred to as P-picture) or the data for an inter-frame bidirectional-estimation encoded picture, the frame buffer
8
already inputs an I-picture once or already stores the I-picture or a P-picture perfectly-decoded picture in which a movement vector and a difference picture are added to the I-picture. In this case, the IDCT means
3
outputs a movement vector supplied from the inverse-quantization means
2
to movement compensation means
9
through the frame buffer
8
and the movement compensation means
9
generates a movement-compensated picture in which only a movement vector is compensated by adding only the movement vector to a perfect picture stored in the frame buffer
8
. Then, the addition means
7
adds the movement-compensated picture supplied from the movement compensation means
9
and a decoded difference picture supplied from the IDCT means
3
each other and outputs an added picture to the format transformation means
12
and also, outputs the picture to the frame buffer
8
. Moreover, the frame buffer
8
stores perfect decoded pictures supplied from the addition means
7
.
Then, the format transformation means
12
transforms a YUV-format picture supplied from the IDCT means
3
or addition means
7
into an RGB-format picture and outputs the RGB-format picture to picture deformation means
18
.
The picture deformation means
18
inputs the RGB-format picture from the format transformation means
12
and moreover inputs the information for the degree of enlargement or contraction of each portion of the picture from CG original-data generation means
4
through deformation information generation means
5
, deforms the picture supplied from the format transformation means
12
by interpolating or thinning pixels of each portion of the picture in accordance with the information for the degree of enlargement or contraction, and outputs the deformed picture to mapping means
13
.
The mapping means
13
maps a picture supplied from the picture deformation means
18
to a predetermined position on the display of a personal computer or the like in accordance with the mapping-position information of a picture supplied from the CG original-data generation means
4
.
Then, a conventional DV-picture mapping apparatus is described below.
FIG. 9
shows a block diagram of the conventional DV-picture mapping apparatus.
VLD means
1
inputs and variable-length-decodes variable-length-encoded DV picture data, inverse-quantization means
2
inversely quantizes the variable-length-decoded DV picture data, and IDCT means
3
decodes the inversely-quantized DV picture data. When the inversely-quantized DV picture data is decoded, the IDCT means
3
decodes all DV picture data values every block of the DV picture having a plurality of 8×8 DCT coefficients. Moreover, the IDCT means
3
outputs partial pictures decoded every block to deshuffling means
14
.
The partial pictures decoded every block output by the IDCT means
3
are not orderly output like the following: for example, from the top block of the leftmost column of the entire picture constituted of the partial pictures to the bottom block and moreover, from the top block of the second column from the top left to the bottom block. That is, the sequence of partial pictures input by the deshuffling means
14
is shuffled. Therefore, the deshuffling means
14
deshuffles the partial pictures supplied from the IDCT means
3
, orderly arranges them, and generates a perfect DV picture.
Then, format transformation means
12
transforms a YUV-format picture supplied from the deshuffling means
14
into an RGB-format picture and outputs the RGB-format picture to picture deformation means
18
. Subsequent DV-picture operations are the same as those of the above-described MPEG-picture mapping apparatus.
As described above, as for the conventional MPEG-picture mapping apparatus and DV-picture mapping apparatus, a picture input by the format transformation means
12
is a full-size, picture in which pixels of the picture are interpolated or thinned every portion of the picture in accordance with the information for the degree of enlargement or contraction of each portion of the picture in the picture deformation means
18
.
However, it is preferable that the picture input by the format transformation means
12
is a picture deformed under decoding in accordance with the information for the degree of enlargement or contraction of each portion of the picture.
It is an object of the first aspect of the present invention to provide a picture processor for deforming a picture in accordance with the information for the degree of enlargement or contraction of each portion of the picture when decoding encoded picture data by considering the problem that the above picture deformation was not performed conventionally when decoding the encoded picture data.
(2) Moreover, as described above, it has been more important in recent years to reproduce MPEG picture data and display a picture on the display of a personal computer or the like. The throughput for decoding or the like until displaying the MPEG picture data as a picture is very large. Therefore, an apparatus for processing the MPEG picture data can only process one MPEG picture data value at one time.
A conventional method for decoding MPEG picture data and displaying a picture on the display window of a personal computer is described below. Because there are two types of conventional methods, they are described separately.
The first method is a method for completely decoding MPEG picture data to reproduce a pictur
Imamura Tetsuya
Inagaki Satoru
Miki Takayasu
Nada Takatoshi
Nakano Hironori
Matsushita Electric Industrial
Rao Andy
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