Method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving 3D video pictures

Claim 3

A method according to claim 1 in which the correlation of the video signal from the first source with the video signal from each other source comprises the steps of: calculating 2-dimensional fast Fourier transforms of the luminance components of the two signals; calculating the phase difference between each frequency component in the first signal and the corresponding frequency component in a parallel signal to produce a complex array of unit length vectors; and calculating the inverse fast Fourier transform of the said array to produce a phase correlation array for the two signals.

Claim 4

A method according to claim 1 in which the difference information is transmitted on a subcarrier.

Claim 5

A method according to claim 1 in which the difference information is transmitted in a digital data channel.

Claim 6

A method according to claim 1, in which the difference information indicates how a monoscopic picture needs to be changed to form at least one second picture so as to constitute the second picture of a stereoscopic pair.

Claim 7

A method according to claim 1, in which the difference information includes edge information.

Claim 8

A method according to claim 1, in which the difference information is subjected to bandwidth reduction by reducing the information transmitted in dependence upon image depth and/or luminance level.

Claim 9

Apparatus to transmit video pictures containing depth information comprising: input means to receive video signals from at least two sources the signals being derived from different representations of the same scene; means for correlating the video signal from a first video source with the video signal from each other source to determine a plurality of peak correlation values corresponding to vectors representing depth information; means for testing for each pixels in the picture which of the vectors gives the best fit in deriving one picture from the other; means to assign to each pixel that vector which gives the best fit; and transmitter means to transmit the video signal from the first source, and to transmit the said vectors as difference information indicating how the first signal needs to be changed to form a display containing depth.

Claim 10

Apparatus to transmit video pictures containing depth information comprising: input means to receive video signals from at least two sources the signals being derived from different representations of the same scene; means for correlating the video signal from a first video source with the video signal from each other source to determine a plurality of peak correlation values corresponding to vectors representing depth information; means for testing for each pixels in the picture which of the vectors gives the best fit in deriving one picture from the other; means to assign to each pixel that vector which gives the best fit; and transmitter means to transmit the video signal from the first source, and to transmit the said vectors as difference information indicating how the first signal needs to be changed to form a display containing depth.

Claim 11

Apparatus according to claim 8 in which the correlation means comprises: means for calculating the fast Fourier transforms of the luminance components of the input signals; means for calculating the phase difference between each frequency component in the first signal and the corresponding frequency component in a parallel signal to produce a complex array of unit length vectors; and means to calculate the inverse fast Fourier transform of the said array to produce a phase correlation arrray for the two signals.

Claim 14

In a system for transmitting video pictures containing depth information and having a transmitter comprising: Input means to receive video signals from at least two sources, the signals being derived from different representations of the same scene; means for correlating the video signal from a first video source with the video signal from each other source to determine a plurality of peak correlation values corresponding to vectors representing depth information; means for testing for each pixels in the picture which of the vectors gives the best fit in deriving one picture from the other; means to assign to each pixel that vector which gives the best fit; and transmitter means to transmit the video signal from the first source, and to transmit the said vectors as difference information indicating how the first signal needs to be changed to form a display containing depth; and a receiver, the improvement wherein the receiver comprises: a display capable of providing an illusion of depth; input means for receiving the transmitted first video signal and for receiving the transmitted difference information indicating how the first video signal needs to be changed to form a display containing depth; means for modifying the received first video signal with the difference information to form a second video signal; and means for supplying the first and second video signals to the display.

Claim 15

In a system for transmitting video pictures containing depth information and having a transmitter comprising: Input means to receive video signals from at least two sources, the signals being derived from different representations of the same scene; means for correlating the video signal from a first video source with the video signal from each other source to determine a plurality of peak correlation values corresponding to vectors representing depth information; means for testing for each pixels in the picture which of the vectors gives the best fit in deriving one picture from the other; means to assign to each pixel that vector which gives the best fit; and transmitter means to transmit the video signal from the first source, and to transmit the said vectors as difference information indicating how the first signal needs to be changed to form a display containing depth; and a receiver, the improvement wherein the receiver comprises: a display capable of providing an illusion of depth; input means for receiving the transmitted first video signal and for receiving the transmitted difference information indicating how the first video signal needs to be changed to form a display containing depth; means for modifying the received first video signal with the difference information to form a second video signal; and means for supplying the first and second video signals to the display.

Claim 16

A receiver according to claim 11, in which the display is a stereoscopic display.

Claim 17

A receiver according to claim 11, in which the display is a holographic display.