Pulse or digital communications – Bandwidth reduction or expansion – Television or motion video signal
Reexamination Certificate
1997-05-09
2001-08-28
Lee, Young (Department: 2613)
Pulse or digital communications
Bandwidth reduction or expansion
Television or motion video signal
C348S097000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06282245
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a moving picture processing device for processing a moving picture containing a redundant picture. More particularly, it relates to a moving picture processing device for processing moving picture signals obtained as a result of photo-electric conversion of a source of original pictures, such as a motion picture film.
For interconnecting plural devices handling moving pictures in a moving picture processing system, it is necessary to synchronize the moving pictures. In general, one of the devices of the system is used as a reference and the remaining devices are caused to follow the reference device. This reference device is termed a master and the remaining devices are termed slave devices. The master device is exemplified by a video camera, a VTR, a video disc or a computer, as a supply source for moving pictures, while the slave device is exemplified by an encoder, a VTR or a monitor designed to process the moving pictures.
The synchronization signal from the master device is supplied as a reference clock for a phase locked loop (PLL) of the system.
An illustrative moving picture encoding system is shown in FIG.
1
.
This moving picture encoding system has many clock signals, such as clock signals for an encoder
101
, clock signals for a local decoder
102
, or display clock signals. Of these, a picture synchronization input S
2
, supplied from a digital VTR
100
of a picture input device
10
, as a supply source for the moving pictures, represent master clock signals.
The encoding of the moving pictures is a technique recognized to be indispensable for reducing transmission costs at the time of digital transmission of moving pictures.
For example, a picture processor
20
is made up of the encoder
101
and the local decoder
102
, and implements a hybrid encoding method consisting in the combination of motion compensation prediction and DCT well-known as MPEG 2 (ISO/IEC 13813-2).
An input picture S
1
is given at a rate of 30 frames/second (60 fields/second) or 25 frames/second (50 fields/second).
In
FIG. 2
, the fields shown by intersected hatching denote top fields or odd fields, while the fields shown by hatching denote bottom fields or even fields. In the present example, each frame is necessarily constituted by a pair of fields. Thus a frame synchronization signal S
2
is supplied in synchronism with each frame. In this case, all input pictures are encoded by the picture processor
20
of
FIG. 1
, with the encoder
101
being locked in operation by the frame synchronization signal S
2
.
If the input picture S
1
is free of redundant fields, the moving picture encoding system operates flawlessly by employing the frame synchronization signal S
2
.
However, on certain occasions redundant pictures are contained in the input picture S
1
.
Such redundant picture is contained in the moving picture obtained on recording e.g. a motion picture film in a VTR by photo-electric conversion. That is, the number of picture frames of the motion picture film as an original picture source is 24 per second, whereas that of the NTSC television system is 30 frames (60 fields) per second. To compensate for the six frames (12 fields) per second which fall short, the same fields are repeated at a rate of one field per two picture frames for converting the two picture frames into five fields thereby converting the 24 picture frames into 60 fields, that is 30 frames. This method is termed
3
:
2
pull-down, as will be explained subsequently in detail. The repeated fields are the same as the previous fields and represent redundant pictures.
With the moving picture encoding system, the data is diminished by detecting and not encoding the redundant pictures. Thus, although not shown in the example of
FIG. 1
, the encoder
101
detects the redundant pictures in the pre-processing process and simply omits encoding the redundant pictures.
This processing operation is shown specifically in FIG.
3
.
In the present example, the redundant pictures are shown by plain textured fields and are not encoded.
If the plain-textured field is the odd field, it is the same as the immediately previous odd field, whereas, if the plain-textured field is the even field, it is the same as the immediately previous even field. Thus, one field is eliminated every five fields and a new input frame is produced by two consecutive fields next to the eliminated field.
The timing of the frame entering the next-stage picture processor is asynchronous with respect to the frame synchronization signal S
2
, as may be seen by a timing pulse S
3
, such that there is no possibility of locking operations with respect to the frame synchronization signal S
2
. The result is that, with the moving picture processing system of
FIG. 1
employing the frame synchronization signal S
2
in the picture processing system, the frame synchronization signal S
2
cannot be used in e.g., the picture processor
20
.
On the other hand, in case of processing not only the usual moving pictures shown in
FIG. 2
but also the moving pictures including redundant pictures shown in FIG.
3
. the processing by the picture processor
20
is increased in complexity depending on whether or not the pre-processing is to be performed.
In addition, with a series of moving pictures containing redundant pictures in an irregular manner, the frame timing may be changed irregularly in a more complex fashion. There is no up to now a picture processing device capable of coping with all of these variable timings, and it is difficult to produce such picture processing device.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for processing moving pictures capable of processing moving pictures containing redundant pictures at a pre-set period or in an irregular fashion.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a technique in a picture processing system employing a picture synchronization input from the picture input device as master clock signals, according to which, even in such case wherein a string of pictures entering the next-stage picture processor is not locked with respect to the synchronization input of the original input moving picture due to pre-processing operations of eliminating redundant pictures from the original input picture processed pictures can be outputted by picture processing operations employing the synchronization input of the original input picture as master clock signals of the picture processing system.
Thus, it is yet another object of the present invention to provide a technique whereby a synchronization signal for an input frame or field may also be employed in an encoder.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a method for processing a moving picture in which input digital moving picture signals of a pre-set picture rate are processed in accordance with pre-set picture processing and for transmitting the processed digital picture signals. The input digital moving picture signal has plural field pictures. The method includes a first step of detecting a redundant field from the input digital moving picture signals, a second step of eliminating the detected redundant field from the plural field pictures, a third step of deciding, from a string of field pictures from which the redundant fields have been eliminated, the combination of a top field and a bottom field constituting a frame to be processed in accordance with the pre-set picture processing, and outputting the results of decision, a fourth step of inserting a pre-set signal in the field picture string from which the redundant field has been eliminated for generating picture signals having the same picture rate as the rate of the input digital picture signal, and a fifth step of processing the picture signals in accordance with the pre-set picture processing based upon the results of the decision. In this manner, the moving pictures containing the redundant pictures at a constant period or at irregular intervals may be converted to new pi
Kato Motoki
Kitazawa Toshihiko
Oishi Noriaki
Yasuda Kazunori
Frommer William S.
Frommer Lawrence & Haug LLP.
Lee Young
Savit Glenn F.
Sony Corporation
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