Picture coding method

Claim 2

A picture coding method comprising the steps of: translating a sample point in an image signal from each of at least K-frames into a 3-dimensional block in the form of an M x N x K sample point containing horizontal, verti­cal, and time-base components, in which the sample point which is a 3-dimensional block and represented by f (x, y, t) (x = 0 to M-1, y = 0 to N-1, t = 0 to K-1) is orthogonally transformed to a transform coefficient of 3-dimension expressed as F (u, v, w) (u = 0 to M-1, v = 0 to N-1, w = 0 to K-1); calculating the movement of the 2-dimensional block which is a part of the 3-dimensional block during a period of time between t = 0 and t = K-1; and determining whether the transform coefficient is to be coded or not by examining the movement.

Claim 3

A picture coding method according to Claim 1, wherein the movement of the 2-dimensional block is deter­mined as a combination of the horizontal movement mx and the vertical movement my, by means of block matching between t = 0 and t = k-1, with reference to a 2-dimensional block, at t = 0, of the 3-dimensional block f (x, y, t).

Claim 4

A picture coding method according to Claim 1, Wherein assuming that the movement of a 2-dimensional block at t = K - 1 is a combination of the horizontal movement mx and the vertical movement my, by means of block matching on the basis of a 2-dimensional block, at t = 0, of the 3-di­mensional block, the movement of the 2-dimensional block is determined as a combination of the horizontal movement mx′ = mx - (cx′ -cx) and the vertical movement my′= my - (cy′ -cy) if the coordinate center of the 2-dinensional block is expressed at t = 0 as (cx, cy) and at t = K-1 as (cx′, cy′).

Claim 5

A picture coding method comprising the steps of: translating a sample point in an image signal from each of at least K-frames into a 3-dimensional block in the form of an M x N x K sample point containing horizontal, verti­cal, and time-base components, in which the sample point which is a 3-dimensional block and represented by f (x, y, t) (x = 0 to M-1, y = 0 to N-1, t = 0 to K-1) is orthogonally transformed to a transform coefficient of 3-dimension expressed as F (u, v, w) (u = 0 to M-1, v = 0 to N-1, w = 0 to K-1); and identifying the 3-dimensional block as a motion block if the energy ratio E0/E1 is smaller than a predetermined value or a still block if the same is greater where E0 is the entire energy of the transform coefficient F (u, v, 0) which is present on a first plane extending across a point w = 0 on the w-axis provided in the transform domain corre­sponding to the reverse axis of the time base t in a real space, expressed as and E1 is the entire energy of the transform coefficient F (u, v, w) (w ≠ 0) which is present on any plane after the first plane associated with w ≠ 0, expressed as

Claim 6

A picture coding method comprising the steps of: translating a sample point in an image signal from each of at least K-frames into a 3-dimensional block in the form of an M x N x K sample point containing horizontal, verti­cal, and time-base components, in which the sample point which is a 3-dimensional block and represented by f (x, y, t) (x = 0 to M-1, y = 0 to N-1, t = 0 to K-1) is orthogonally transformed to a transform coefficient of 3-dimension expressed as F (u, v, w) (u = 0 to M-1, v = 0 to N-1, w = 0 to K-1); and identifying the 3-dimensional block as a motion block if the energy ratio E0/E1 is smaller than a predetermined value or a still block if the same is greater where E0 is the entire energy of the transform coefficient F (u, v, 0) which is present on a first plane extending across a point w = 0 on the w-axis provided in the transform domain corre­sponding to the reverse axis of the time base t in a real space, expressed as and E1 is the entire energy of the transform coefficient F (u, v, w) (w ≠ 0) which is present on any plane after the first plane associated with w ≠ 0, expressed as

Claim 7

A picture coding method according to Claim 1, wherein the movement of the 3-dimensional block is deter­mined as a combination of the horizontal movement mx = Ec and the vertical movement my = a x Ec, with reference to the energy ratio Ec = E1/E0 of the transform coefficient in the 3-dimensional block calculated according to Claim 4.

Claim 8

A picture coding method according to Claim 1, 2, 3, or 5 wherein the orthogonal transform coefficient F (u, v, w) satisfying u < u1, v < v1, or w < w1 is coded if |mx| > mxh, |my| > myh, or |mz| < mzh respectively, where |my| is the absolute horizontal movement, |my| is the absolute vertical movement, mz is a square sum of the horizontal and vertical movements expressed as mz = mx² + my², mxh, myh, and mzh are the thresholds of given move­ments, and u1, v1 and w1 are the thresholds of transform coefficients.

Claim 9

A picture coding method according to Claim 1, 2, 3, or 5, wherein assuming that the thresholds of transform coefficients up, vp, and wp are determined as up = u1 if |mx| > mxh, up = u2 (where u1 < u2) if |mx| ≦ mxh, vp = v1 if |my| > myh, vp = v2 (where v1 < v2) if |my| ≦ myh, wp = w1 if mz ≧ mzh, and wp = w2 (where w1 < w2) if mz > mzh, where |mx| is the absolute horizontal movement, |my| is the absolute vertical movement, mz is a square sum of the horizontal and vertical movements expressed as mz = mx²+my², mxh, myh, and mzh are the thresholds of given movements, and u1, v1, and w1 are the thresholds of trans­form coefficients, the orthogonal transform coefficient F (u, v, w) satis­fying p (u, v, w) < c is coded where p (u, v, w) is the notation of a plane extending across the points (up, 0, 0), (0, vp, 0), and (0, 0, wp) in the 3-dimension orthogonal transform domain and c is a constant.

Claim 10

A picture coding method according to Claim 1, 2, 3, or 5, wherein assuming that the thresholds of transform coefficients up, vp, and wp are determined as up = u1 if |mx| > mxh, up = u2 where u1 < u2) if |mx| ≦ mxh, vp = v1 if |my| > myh, vp = v2 (where v1 < v2) if |my| ≦ myh, wp = w1 if mz < mzh, and wp = w2 (where w1 < w2) if mz ≧ mzh, where |mx| is the absolute horizontal movement, |my| is the absolute vertical movement, mz is a square sum of the horizontal and vertical movements expressed as mz = mx²+my², mxh, myh, and mzh are the thresholds of given movements, and u1, v1 and w1 are the thresholds of transform coefficients, the orthogonal transform coefficient F (u, v, w) satisfying g (u, v, w) < c is coded where g (u, v, w) is the notation of a curved plane extending across the points (up, 0, 0), (0, vp, 0), and (0, 0, wp) in the 3-dimension or­thogonal transform domain and c is a constant.

Claim 11

A picture coding method comprising the steps of: translating a sample point in an image signal at the time t into a 2-dimensional block in the form of an M x N sample point containing horizontal, vertical, and time-base components, in which the sample point which is a 2-dimen­sional block and represented by f (x, y) (x = 0 to M-1, y = 0 to N-1) is orthogonally transformed to a transform coefficient of 2-dimension expressed as F (u, v) (u = 0 to M-1, v = 0 to N-1); calculating the horizontal movement mx and the vertical movement my of the 2-dimensional block at the time t + 1 by means of block matching; and determining whether the transform coefficient is to be coded or not to be coded by examining the movements.

Claim 12

A picture coding method comprising the steps of: translating a sample point in an image signal at the time t into a 2-dimensional block in the form of an M x N sample point containing horizontal, vertical, and time-base components, in which the sample point which is a 2-dimen­sional block and represented by f (x, y) (x = 0 to M-1, y = 0 to N-1) is orthogonally transformed to a transform coefficient of 2-dimension expressed as F (u, v) (u = 0 to M-1, v = 0 to N-1); calculating the horizontal movement mx and the vertical movement my of the 2-dimensional block at the time t + 1 by means of block matching; and determining whether the transform coefficient is to be coded or not to be coded by examining the movements.

Claim 13

A picture coding method according to Claim 9, wherein the orthogonal transform coefficient F (u, v) satisfying u < u1 or v < v1 is co ed if |mx| > mxh or |my| > myh respectively, where |mx| is the absolute hori­zontal movement, |my| is the absolute vertical movement, mxh and myh are the thresholds of given movements, and u1 and v1 are the thresholds of transform coefficients.

Claim 14

A picture coding method according to Claim 9, wherein assuming that the thresholds of transform coeffi­cients up and vp are determined as up = u1 if |mx| > mxh, up = u2 (where u1 < u2) if |mx| < mxh, vp = v1 if |my| > myh, and vp = v2 (where v1 < v2) if |my| ≦ myh, where |mx| is the absolute horizontal movement, |my| is the absolute vertical movement, mxh and myh are the thresholds of given movements, and u1 and v1 are the thresholds of transform coefficients, the orthogonal transform coefficient F (u, v) satisfy­ing p (u, v) < c is coded where p (u, v) is the notation of a line extending across the points (up, 0) and (0, vp) in the 2-dimension orthogonal transform domain and c is con­stant.

Claim 15

A picture coding method according to Claim 9, wherein assuming that the thresholds of transform coeffi­cients up and vp are determined as up = u1 if |mx| > mxh, up = u2 (where u1 < u2) if |mx| ≦ mxh, vp = v1 if |my| > myh, and vp = v2 (where v1 < v2) if |my| ≦ myh, where |mx| is the absolute horizontal movement, |my| ls the absolute vertical movement, mxh and myh are the thresholds of given movements, and u1 and v1 are the thresholds of transform coefficients, the orthogonal transform coefficient F (u, v) satisfy­ing g (u, v) < c is coded where g (u, v) is the notation of a curved line extending across the points (up, 0) and (0, vp) in the 2-dimension orthogonal transform domain and c is a constant.

Claim 16

A picture coding method according to any of Claims 1 to 3 and 5 to 12, wherein the transform coefficient to be omitted from coding in the transform domain is desig­nated as 0.

Claim 17

A picture coding method according to any of Claims 1 to 3 and 5 to 12, wherein the transform coeffi­cients to be omitted from coding are quantified at greater steps than those to be coded.

Claim 18

A picture coding method according to any of Claims 1 to 3 and 5 to 12, wherein the transform coeffi­cients to be omitted from coding in the transform domain are not output to the transmission line.

Claim 19

A picture coding method comprising the steps of: translating a sample point in an image signal from each of at least K-frames into a 3-dimensional block in the form of an M x N x K sample point containing horizontal, verti­cal, and time-base components, in which the sample point which is a 3-dimensional block and represented by f (x, y, t) (x = 0 to M-1, y = 0 to N-1, t = 0 to K-1) is orthogonally transformed to a transform coefficient of 3-dimension expressed as F (u, v, w) (u = 0 to M-1, v = 0 to N-1, w = 0 to K-1); separating a group of the F (u, v, w) coefficients into a motion and a still blocks according to the result of motion detection; and after separation into the motion and still blocks, dividing the same into k1 and k2 classes by the amount of energy of each 3-dimensional block expresses as and determining the allocation of bits in each class in proportion to the variance of transform coefficient of the 3-dimensional block in the class, the variance being repre­sented by σ 2 k (u, v, w)

Claim 20

A picture coding method comprising the steps of: translating a sample point in an image signal from each of at least K-frames into a 3-dimensional block in the form of an M x N x K sample point containing horizontal, verti­cal, and time-base components, in which the sample point which is a 3-dimensional block and represented by f (x, y, t) (x = 0 to M-1, y = 0 to N-1, t = 0 to K-1) is orthogonally transformed to a transform coefficient of 3-dimension expressed as F (u, v, w) (u = 0 to M-1, v = 0 to N-1, w = 0 to K-1); separating a group of the F (u, v, w) coefficients into a motion and a still blocks according to the result of motion detection; and after separation into the motion and still blocks, dividing the same into k1 and k2 classes by the amount of energy of each 3-dimensional block expresses as and determining the allocation of bits in each class in proportion to the variance of transform coefficient of the 3-dimensional block in the class, the variance being repre­sented by σ 2 k (u, v, w)

Claim 21

A picture coding method according to Claim 16, wherein the movement of a 2-dimensional block of the 3-di­mensional block f (x, y, z) is determined as a combination of the horizontal movement mx and the vertical movement my, by means of block matching between t = 0 and t = K-1, with reference to a 2-dimensional block at t = 0.

Claim 22

A picture coding method according to Claim 16, wherein assuming that the movement of a 2-dimensional block at t = K-1 is a combination of the horizontal movement mx and the vertical movement my, by means of block matching on the basis of a 2-dimensional block, at t = 0, of the 3-di­mensional block, the movement of the 2-dimensional block is determined as a cobination of the horizontal movement mx′ = mx - (cx′ -cx) and the vertical movement my′ = my - (cy′ -cy) if the coordinate center of the 2-dimensional block is expressed at t = 0 as (cx, cy) and at t = K-1 as (cx′, cy′).

Claim 23

A picture coding method according to Claim 16, wherein the movement of the 3-dimensional block is detected in such a manner as depicted in Claim 4.

Claim 24

A picture coding method comprising the steps of: translating a sample point in an image signal at the time t into a 2-dimensional block in the form of an M x N sample point containing horizontal, vertical, and time-base components, in which the sample point which is a 2-dimen­sional block and represented by f (x, y) (x = 0 to M-1, y = 0 to N-1) is orthogonally transformed to a transform coefficient of 2-dimension expressed as F (u, v) (u = 0 to M-1, v = 0 to N-1); calculating the horizontal movement mx and the vertical movement my of the 2-dimensional block at t + 1 by means of block matching; separating a group of the F (u, v) coefficients into a motion and a still blocks according to the result of motion detection; and after separation into the motion and still blocks, dividing the same into k1 and k2 classes by the amount of energy of each 2-dimensional block.expresses as and determining the allocation of bits in each class in proportion to the variance of a transform coefficient of the 2-dimensional block in the class, the variance being repre­sented by σ 2 k (u, v)

Claim 25

A picture coding method comprising the steps of: translating a sample point in an image signal at the time t into a 2-dimensional block in the form of an M x N sample point containing horizontal, vertical, and time-base components, in which the sample point which is a 2-dimen­sional block and represented by f (x, y) (x = 0 to M-1, y = 0 to N-1) is orthogonally transformed to a transform coefficient of 2-dimension expressed as F (u, v) (u = 0 to M-1, v = 0 to N-1); calculating the horizontal movement mx and the vertical movement my of the 2-dimensional block at t + 1 by means of block matching; separating a group of the F (u, v) coefficients into a motion and a still blocks according to the result of motion detection; and after separation into the motion and still blocks, dividing the same into k1 and k2 classes by the amount of energy of each 2-dimensional block.expresses as and determining the allocation of bits in each class in proportion to the variance of a transform coefficient of the 2-dimensional block in the class, the variance being repre­sented by σ 2 k (u, v)

Claim 26

A picture coding method comprising the steps of: translating a sample point in an image signal from each of at least K-frames into a 3-dimensional block in the form of an M x N x K sample point containing horizontal, verti­cal, and time-base components, in which the sample point which is a 3-dimensional block and represented by f (x, y, t) (x = 0 to M-1, y = 0 to N-1, t = 0 to K-1) is orthogonally transformed to a transform coefficient of 3-dimension expressed as F (u, v, w) (u = 0 to M-1, v = 0 to N-1, w = 0 to K-1); and coding the transform coefficients in a sequence from a first plane extending across a point w = 0 on the w-axis provided in the transform domain corresponding to the reverse axis of the time base in a real domain, a second plane extending across a point w = 1 on the w-axis, a third plane, ... to a (K - 1)th plane.

Claim 27

A picture coding method comprising the steps of: translating a sample point in an image signal from each of at least K-frames into a 3-dimensional block in the form of an M x N x K sample point containing horizontal, verti­cal, and time-base components, in which the sample point which is a 3-dimensional block and represented by f (x, y, t) (x = 0 to M-1, y = 0 to N-1, t = 0 to K-1) is orthogonally transformed to a transform coefficient of 3-dimension expressed as F (u, v, w) (u = 0 to M-1, v = 0 to N-1, w = 0 to K-1); and coding the transform coefficients in a sequence from a first plane extending across a point w = 0 on the w-axis provided in the transform domain corresponding to the reverse axis of the time base in a real domain, a second plane extending across a point w = 1 on the w-axis, a third plane, ... to a (K - 1)th plane.

Claim 28

A picture co ing method comprising the steps of: translating a sample point in an image signal from each of at least K-frames into a 3-dimensional block in the form of an M x N x K sample point containing horizontal, vertical, and time-base components, in which the sample point which is a 3-dinensional block and represented by f (x, y, t) (x = 0 to M-1, y = 0 to N-1, t = 0 to K-1) is orthogonally transformed to a transform coefficient of 3-dimension expressed as F (u, v, w) (u = 0 to M-1, v = 0 to N-1, w = 0 to K-1); and transmitting the F (u, v, w) transform coefficients in a sequence from the smallest thereof in the sum of u, v, and w and also, in which w is smaller for coding the same in an order from the lowest sequence transform coefficient.

Claim 29

A picture co ing method comprising the steps of: translating a sample point in an image signal from each of at least K-frames into a 3-dimensional block in the form of an M x N x K sample point containing horizontal, vertical, and time-base components, in which the sample point which is a 3-dinensional block and represented by f (x, y, t) (x = 0 to M-1, y = 0 to N-1, t = 0 to K-1) is orthogonally transformed to a transform coefficient of 3-dimension expressed as F (u, v, w) (u = 0 to M-1, v = 0 to N-1, w = 0 to K-1); and transmitting the F (u, v, w) transform coefficients in a sequence from the smallest thereof in the sum of u, v, and w and also, in which w is smaller for coding the same in an order from the lowest sequence transform coefficient.