HK1089031A - Apparatus and method of transforming multidimensional video format - Google Patents

Description

Apparatus and method for transforming multi-dimensional video format

This application claims the benefit of korean patent application No. 10-2004-.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to transformation of a multi-dimensional video format, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for transforming a multi-dimensional video format so that a multi-dimensional image can be output by any type of display device.

Background

In digital broadcasting, analog signals such as video data, audio data, and other data are converted into digital signals, the digital signals are compressed and transmitted, the compressed digital signals are converted into original analog signals, and the original analog signals are reproduced. Accordingly, the digital broadcasting provides a high quality service compared to the conventional analog broadcasting. Research into receiving and displaying three-dimensional images using such digital broadcasting technology is underway. In order to transmit and receive and display a three-dimensional image, a multi-view image should be generated and transmitted. However, due to the limitations of the current network environment, the study on transmitting and displaying stereoscopic images precedes the study on receiving and displaying three-dimensional images.

A display device processes only an image format determined according to the characteristics of the display device. Since there are different types of display devices, the format of the multi-dimensional image should be transformed to conform to a predetermined format of the display device so as to display the multi-dimensional image.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention provides an apparatus and method for converting a format of a multi-dimensional image into a format that can be processed by a display device.

Consistent with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for transforming a multi-dimensional image format, the apparatus including: a scaler for receiving the multi-dimensional image and scaling up or down a resolution of the multi-dimensional image; and a formatter for receiving characteristic information about the display device and converting a format of the multi-dimensional image to conform to a characteristic of the display device.

The scaler may distinguish a rate at which a horizontal resolution and a vertical resolution of the multi-dimensional image are transformed and a rate at which the multi-dimensional image is scaled to transform the resolution of the multi-dimensional image.

The apparatus may further include a user interface unit providing an input/output interface receiving information on characteristics of the display device to control the formatter. The user interface unit may be a Display Data Channel (DDC) port, a DDC2 port, or a DDC2B port that transceives information that is resolution information about characteristics of the display device, information about an input signal, and information about a format of an image.

The formatter may include: a format conversion unit for converting the received multi-dimensional image into an image having at least one format; a selection unit for selecting a format processable by the display device from the generated formats; and a display interface unit for converting the image having the selected format into an image signal acceptable by the display device and outputting the image signal.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of transforming a format of a multi-dimensional image, the method including the operations of: receiving a multi-dimensional image and increasing or decreasing the resolution of the multi-dimensional image in proportion; characteristic information about the display device is received, and the format of the multi-dimensional image is transformed to conform to the characteristics of the display device.

The operation of receiving the characteristic information and transforming the format of the multi-dimensional image may include: receiving characteristic information about a display device; transforming the received multi-dimensional image into an image having at least one format; selecting a format processable by the display device from the generated formats; and converting the image having the selected format into an image signal acceptable by the display device and outputting the image signal.

Drawings

The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings. Wherein:

fig. 1 illustrates a connection of a video format conversion apparatus and a display device according to the present invention;

fig. 2 is a block diagram of a video format conversion apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a detailed block diagram of a formatter in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4A to 4F show various video formats; and

fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a video format conversion method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows the connection of a video format conversion apparatus 110 according to the present invention to a display device 120. The video format conversion apparatus 110 can receive and process a multi-dimensional image as a multi-view image. However, for example, in fig. 1, the video format conversion device 110 processes a stereoscopic image.

The video format conversion apparatus 110 receives a multi-dimensional image or a stereoscopic image. The stereoscopic image includes a left image and a right image. The left image includes a frame L₁、L₂… and L_nThe right image includes R₁、R₂… and R_n. The video format conversion apparatus 110 converts the format of the received stereoscopic image to conform to a format that can be processed by the display device 120. More specifically, the video format conversion apparatus 110 scales up or down the reception at a resolution suitable for the display device 120The resulting stereoscopic image, converts the format of the frame of the stereoscopic image, and outputs the stereoscopic image having a format suitable for the display device 120. Since the display apparatus 120 generally receives and processes signals compliant with the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) specification, the video format conversion device 110 generates video signals compliant with the VESA specification and transmits the video signals to the display apparatus 120.

In order to generate a video format suitable for the display device 120, the video format conversion apparatus 110 receives characteristic information about the display device 120 through an external port to find characteristics of the display device 120. The characteristic information and the external port with respect to the display device 120 will be described later.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a video format conversion apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The video format conversion apparatus includes a scaler 210, a memory 220, a user interface unit 230, a video switch 240, and a formatter 250. The scaler 210 includes a first scaler 212 and a second scaler 214 to process a stereoscopic image. If a multi-dimensional image is processed, more scalers than the first and second scalers 212 and 214 may be required according to dimensions.

The scaler 210 receives the multi-dimensional image and scales the multi-dimensional image to conform to the resolution of the display. For example, the display device is set to display an image having a specific format such as 720 × 480 format, 1024 × 768 format, or the like. Thus, the resolution of the received multi-dimensional image is transformed to correspond to the display device resolution. The horizontal transformation may be different from the vertical transformation, and the scaling operations of the left and right images may be performed at different rates.

The video switch 240 switches positions of the left and right images and outputs the switched left and right images to the formatter 250. More specifically, when it cannot be recognized which of the received images is the left image or the right image, the video switch 240 switches positions of the left image and the right image and outputs the switched left and right images to the formatter 250. The memory 220 stores the scaled image. In other words, the memory 220 temporarily stores the scaled images so that the left and right images can be simultaneously output. The memory 220 may be an SDRAM or the like.

The user interface unit 230 switches the video switch 240 in response to a video switching command received from a user, or provides an interface through which a control command can be received from a user to control the formatter 250 so that the format of the scaled image is suitable for the display apparatus. In order to control the formatter 250 to adapt the format of the scaled image to the display device, the user interface unit 230 receives characteristic information on the display device via a serial port or the like. Examples of the characteristic information on the display device include resolution, information on frequency of an input signal, information on image format, and the like. For example, a Display Data Channel (DDC), DDC2, DDC2B, or the like may be used as a port for transceiving characteristic information about the display device. The DDC provides a plug and play (PnP) function in which a monitor transmits its information to a connected computer. 2 and 2B in DDC2 and DDC2B represent versions. Accordingly, if the PnP function is used, the display device outputs its characteristic information to the outside through the DDC port, and the user interface unit 230 receives the characteristic information about the display device from the display device and transmits the characteristic information of the display device to the video switch 240 and the formatter 250.

The formatter 250 formats the scaled image to conform to the characteristics of the display device. The video format conversion will be described later with reference to fig. 4A to 4F.

Fig. 3 is a detailed block diagram of a formatter according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The formatter includes a format conversion unit 310, a selection unit 320, and a display interface unit 330. The format conversion unit 310 generates the received left and right images having different formats. To achieve this, the format conversion unit 310 includes a progressive format converter 311, a pixel-by-pixel format converter 312, a top-down format converter 313, a field-by-field format converter 314, a frame-by-frame format converter 315, and a left-to-right image separation format converter 316. The progressive format, the pixel-by-pixel format, the top-down format, the field-by-field format, the frame-by-frame format, and the left-to-right image separation format will be described later with reference to fig. 4A to 4F.

The selection unit 320 selects a format processable by the display device among the formats generated by the format conversion unit 310. The display interface unit 330 converts the image having the selected format into an image signal acceptable to the display device and outputs the image signal. Since the image is generally generated based on the VESA standard, the display interface unit 330 outputs the image having the VESA format.

Fig. 4A to 4F show different video formats. Fig. 4A shows a progressive image, fig. 4B shows a pixel-by-pixel image, fig. 4C shows a top-down image, fig. 4D shows a parallel-by-side image, fig. 4E shows a field-by-field image, and fig. 4F shows a frame-by-frame image. In other words, the format conversion unit 310 generates these images.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a video format conversion method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In operation S510, a multi-dimensional image is received. In the present embodiment, a stereoscopic image is received. Thereafter, the resolution of the received multi-dimensional image is scaled up or down in operation S520. To transform the resolution of a multi-dimensional image, the horizontal resolution and the vertical resolution may be transformed at different rates, and the multi-dimensional image may be scaled at different rates. If a stereoscopic image is received, a left image can be output via the right image output port and a right image can be output via the left image output port.

Then, in operation S530, characteristic information about the display device is received. Examples of the characteristic information on the display device include resolution, frequency on an input signal, information on a format of an image, and the like. The characteristic information about the display device may be received via the DDC, the DDC2, or the DDC 2B. Finally, in operation S540, the format of the received multi-dimensional image is transformed to conform to the characteristics of the display device. More specifically, characteristic information about the display device is received, the received multi-dimensional image is converted into an image having at least one format, a format processable by the display device is selected from the generated formats, the multi-dimensional image is converted into an image signal acceptable to the display device, and the image signal is output to the display device. Since the display device generally receives signals compliant with the VESA standard, the display device outputs signals having a VESA format.

As described above, in the present invention, the format of a three-dimensional image or a stereoscopic image is converted to conform to the characteristics of a display device, so that the three-dimensional image or stereoscopic image can be easily displayed by any type of display device.

The method of transforming the format of the multi-dimensional image can be written as a computer program. Codes and code segments constituting the computer program can be easily understood by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. In addition, the computer program is stored in a computer-readable medium, and read out and executed by a computer to implement the transformation method. Examples of the computer readable recording medium include magnetic storage media, optical recording media, and carrier wave media.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims (18)

1. An apparatus for transforming a format of a multi-dimensional image, the apparatus comprising:

a scaler for receiving the multi-dimensional image and scaling up or down a resolution of the multi-dimensional image; to know

A formatter for receiving characteristic information about the display device and converting a format of the multi-dimensional image to conform to a characteristic of the display device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the scaler distinguishes a ratio at which a horizontal resolution and a vertical resolution of the multi-dimensional image are transformed and a ratio at which the multi-dimensional image is scaled to transform a resolution of the multi-dimensional image.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the scaler comprises:

a first scaler for receiving a left image and transforming a resolution of the left image; and

a second scaler for receiving the right image and transforming a resolution of the right image.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, further comprising a video switch for switching positions of the received left and right images and outputting the left and right images.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, further comprising a memory for storing the scaled images such that the left image and the right image are output simultaneously.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, further comprising a user interface unit for receiving a command to control the video switch from a user and providing an input/output interface for receiving characteristic information about the display device to control the formatter.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the user interface unit comprises a port to transceive characteristic information about the display device.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the characteristic information on the display device includes resolution, information on frequency of the input signal, and information on format of the image, and the port of the user interface unit is one of a display data channel port, a display data channel 2 port, and a display data channel 2B port.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the formatter comprises:

a format conversion unit for converting the received multi-dimensional image into an image having at least one format;

a selection unit for selecting a format processable by the display device from the generated formats; and

a display interface unit for converting the image having the selected format into an image signal acceptable by the display device and outputting the image signal.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the display interface unit transforms the image having the selected format into a signal compliant with a video electronics standards association standard.

11. A method of transforming a format of a multi-dimensional image, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a multi-dimensional image and scaling up or down a resolution of the multi-dimensional image; and

characteristic information about a display device is received, and a format of a multi-dimensional image is transformed to conform to the characteristics of the display device.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein in the step of receiving the multi-dimensional image and scaling up or down the resolution of the multi-dimensional image, the resolution is transformed by distinguishing a rate at which a horizontal resolution and a vertical resolution of the multi-dimensional image are transformed from a rate at which the multi-dimensional image is scaled.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein in the step of receiving the multi-dimensional image and scaling up or down the resolution of the multi-dimensional image, a left image is received, the resolution of the left image is transformed, a right image is received, and the resolution of the right image is transformed.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein in the step of receiving the multi-dimensional image and scaling up or down the resolution of the multi-dimensional image, the port through which the left and right images are to be output is switched, and the left and right images are output through the switched port.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the characteristic information on the display device includes resolution, information on frequency of the input signal, and information on format of the image, and the port of the user interface unit is one of a display data channel port, a display data channel 2 port, and a display data channel 2B port.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of receiving the characteristic information and transforming the format of the multi-dimensional image comprises:

receiving characteristic information about a display device;

transforming the received multi-dimensional image into an image having at least one format;

selecting a format processable by the display device from the generated formats; and

converts the image having the selected format into an image signal acceptable by the display device and outputs the image signal.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein in the step of transforming the image having the selected format, the image having the selected format is transformed into a signal compliant with a video electronics standards association standard.

18. A computer-readable recording medium recording a computer program for executing the method of claim 11.