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US5144429A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

High definition television transmission and reception system with an improved motion estimator and with reduced data throughput

Assignee: US Philips Corp
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Filing: 1991-07-08
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Granted: 1992-09-01
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Expires: 2011-07-08
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Abstract

Abstract A motion estimator for high definition television transmission comprises a device which operates after motions have been estimated for an image (51), when the motions in a following image (53) are to be estimated. This device associates with a part (R) examined in an image (53) a group (5) of a plurality of parts of the preceding image (51) which group contains the part occupying, in the image, the same position as the examined part and likewise the adjacent parts, and investigates whether one of the nine motions determined for the nine parts of the said group (5) can be applied to the part R. If this is the case, the operation of the estimator is terminated for the part (R) examined and, moreover, the transmission of the motion for this part is then effected not by transmitting the value of the motion, but by designating that one of the parts of the group (5), the motion of which is appropriate.

Inventors

  • 👤 Mohammad R. Haghiri
  • 👤 Philippe Guichard

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-23 19:11
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N19/00; H04N19/50; H04N19/503; H04N19/51; H04N19/56; H04N19/567; H04N7/00; H04N7/015; H04N7/0152; H04N7/0155; H04N7/0157; H04N7/24

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 24
Claim 1
Independent Claim 161 words
A television transmission system in which an image is processed as a sequence of frames each comprising first and second fields, each of said fields being divided into a plurality of image parts, the system comprising a motion estimator for determining motion vectors for a number of said image parts, said system further comprising: means for determining an optimum motion vector for a first image part of a second field of a subsequent frame by examining a plurality of respective prior motion vectors determined for each of a group of said number of image parts, said group comprising a second image part of a second field of a preceding frame and a plurality of image parts spatially adjacent to said second image part, said second image part having the same respective spatial position as said first image part within their respective fields; and means coupled to said motion estimator, for transmitting data representing said motion vectors on a digital transmission channel.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 161 words
A television transmission system in which an image is processed as a sequence of frames each comprising first and second fields, each of said fields being divided into a plurality of image parts, the system comprising a motion estimator for determining motion vectors for a number of said image parts, said system further comprising: means for determining an optimum motion vector for a first image part of a second field of a subsequent frame by examining a plurality of respective prior motion vectors determined for each of a group of said number of image parts, said group comprising a second image part of a second field of a preceding frame and a plurality of image parts spatially adjacent to said second image part, said second image part having the same respective spatial position as said first image part within their respective fields; and means coupled to said motion estimator, for transmitting data representing said motion vectors on a digital transmission channel.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 33 words
The television transmission system of claim 1, wherein said determining means further comprises: means for decoding motion vectors determined for said subsequent and preceding frames; and means for comparing the decoded motion vectors.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 28 words
The television system of claim 2, wherein a comparison is determined to be positive if there is an identity between the coordinates of the motion vectors being compared.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 22 words
The television system of claim 2, further comprising: means for decoding motion vectors determined for said first image and said preceding image.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 43 words
The television system of claim 4, wherein a comparison is determined to be positive if the difference between the motion vector of said first image part and the motion vector of a compared image part is the smallest of those motion vectors compared.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 41 words
The television system of claim 5, wherein a comparison is determined to be positive if the difference between the motion vector of said first image part and the motion vector of a compared image part is lower than a predetermined threshold.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 122 words
A television receiver for representing transmitted images, in which each image is divided into a plurality of image parts, said motion vector data being received for each one of the image parts to be processed, the receiver being equipped with means for creating, on the basis of the motion vector data, an intermediate image between two images received consecutively, said creating means further comprising at least one memory for recording motion vector data, characterized in that said receiver is further equipped with means for creating a part of a second image and on the basis of a received digital data item, identifying a motion vector of a part of a first image and applying it to the part of the second image.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 122 words
A television receiver for representing transmitted images, in which each image is divided into a plurality of image parts, said motion vector data being received for each one of the image parts to be processed, the receiver being equipped with means for creating, on the basis of the motion vector data, an intermediate image between two images received consecutively, said creating means further comprising at least one memory for recording motion vector data, characterized in that said receiver is further equipped with means for creating a part of a second image and on the basis of a received digital data item, identifying a motion vector of a part of a first image and applying it to the part of the second image.
Claim 10
Independent Claim 153 words
A method for transmitting a television image as a sequence of frames, each comprising first and second fields, each of said fields being divided into a plurality of image parts, each of said image parts having respective motion vectors determined for a number of said image parts, said method comprising the steps of: a) determining an optimum motion vector for a first image part of a second field of a subsequent frame by examining a plurality of respective prior motion vectors determined for each of a group of said number of image parts, said group comprising a second image part of a second field of a preceding frame and a plurality of image parts spatially adjacent to said second image part, said second image part having the same respective spatial position as said first image part within their respective fields; and b) transmitting data representing said motion vectors on a digital transmission channel.
Claim 11
Independent Claim 153 words
A method for transmitting a television image as a sequence of frames, each comprising first and second fields, each of said fields being divided into a plurality of image parts, each of said image parts having respective motion vectors determined for a number of said image parts, said method comprising the steps of: a) determining an optimum motion vector for a first image part of a second field of a subsequent frame by examining a plurality of respective prior motion vectors determined for each of a group of said number of image parts, said group comprising a second image part of a second field of a preceding frame and a plurality of image parts spatially adjacent to said second image part, said second image part having the same respective spatial position as said first image part within their respective fields; and b) transmitting data representing said motion vectors on a digital transmission channel.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 172 words
A high definition television transmitter in which an image is processed as a sequence of frames each comprising first and second fields, each of said fields being divided into a plurality of image parts, the system comprising a motion estimator for estimating motion vectors for a number of said image parts, said transmitter further comprising: means for determining an optimum motion vector for a first image part of a second field of a subsequent frame by examining a plurality of respective prior motion vectors estimated for each of a group of said number of image parts, said group comprising a second image part of a second field of a preceding frame and a plurality of image parts spatially adjacent to said second image part, said second image part having the same respective spatial position as said first image part within their respective fields; and means coupled to said determining means, for transmitting data representing said motion vectors on a digital transmission channel, said data comprising a signal indicating said optimum motion vector.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 172 words
A high definition television transmitter in which an image is processed as a sequence of frames each comprising first and second fields, each of said fields being divided into a plurality of image parts, the system comprising a motion estimator for estimating motion vectors for a number of said image parts, said transmitter further comprising: means for determining an optimum motion vector for a first image part of a second field of a subsequent frame by examining a plurality of respective prior motion vectors estimated for each of a group of said number of image parts, said group comprising a second image part of a second field of a preceding frame and a plurality of image parts spatially adjacent to said second image part, said second image part having the same respective spatial position as said first image part within their respective fields; and means coupled to said determining means, for transmitting data representing said motion vectors on a digital transmission channel, said data comprising a signal indicating said optimum motion vector.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 35 words
A high definition television transmitter as claimed in claim 9, wherein said signal indicating said optimum motion vector indicates that image part in said group whose motion vector is identical to said optimum motion vector.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 185 words
A high definition television transmitter as claimed in claim 9, in which for each image part a video data transmission mode is selected from among at least a first and a second mode, the second mode having a lower spatial resolution than the first mode, the transmitter comprising means for transmitting, on said digital channel, data defining the mode selected for each one of the image parts, characterized in that said determining means comprise: means for making comparisons between a motion vector estimated for said first image part and each of the motion vectors estimated for respective image parts of said group to determine if one of said comparisons is positive, wherein, if no comparison is positive, said first image part processed according to said second mode is transmitted, and wherein if one of the comparisons is positive and said first mode has been selected from said first image part, said first image part processed according to said first mode is transmitted and a data item is transmitted which identifies the one of said image parts of said group for which the comparison was positive.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 30 words
The high definition television transmitter of claim 11, wherein a comparison is determined to be positive if there is an identity between the coordinates of the motion vectors being compared.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 91 words
The high definition television transmitter of claim 11, wherein a comparison is determined to be positive if the difference between the motion vector of said first image part and the motion vector of a compared image part is the smallest of those motion vectors compared, and if said first image part when processed according to said first mode and subsequently decoded by means of that motion vector yielding the smallest difference, provides a better image quality than said first image part when processed according to said second mode and subsequently decoded.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim 89 words
The high definition television transmitter of claim 11, wherein a comparison is determined to be positive if the difference between the motion vector of said first image part and the motion vector of a compared image part is lower than a predetermined threshold, and if said first image part when processed according to said first mode and subsequently decoded by means of that motion vector yielding the smallest difference, provides a better image quality than said first image part when processed according to said second mode and subsequently decoded.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim 137 words
A high definition television transmitter system according to claim 11, further comprising: a) means for determining within said motion vectors determined for image parts of said preceding image, a sub-set of vectors which are encountered most frequently in said preceding image; and b) means for transmitting digitally the characteristics of said sub-set of vectors whereby, if said first mode has been selected and the motion vector determined for said first image part is one of said sub-set of vectors, the first mode is maintained for transmitting video data related to said first image part and its motion vector is defined by reference to said sub-set, and, if a motion vector of said first image part is not one of said sub-set of vectors, said second mode is selected to transmit data related to said first image data.
Claim 20
Independent Claim 162 words
A method for transmitting a high definition television image as a sequence of frames, each comprising first and second fields, each of said fields being divided into a plurality of image parts, each of said image parts having respective motion vectors estimated for a number of said image parts, said method comprising the steps of: determining an optimum motion vector for a first image part of a second field of a subsequent frame by examining a plurality of respective prior motion vectors estimated for each of a group of said number of image parts, said group comprising a second image part of a second field of a preceding frame and a plurality of image parts spatially adjacent to said second image part, said second image part having the same respective spatial position as said first image part within their respective fields; transmitting data representing said motion vectors on a digital transmission channel, said data comprising a signal indicating said optimum motion vector.
Claim 21
Independent Claim 162 words
A method for transmitting a high definition television image as a sequence of frames, each comprising first and second fields, each of said fields being divided into a plurality of image parts, each of said image parts having respective motion vectors estimated for a number of said image parts, said method comprising the steps of: determining an optimum motion vector for a first image part of a second field of a subsequent frame by examining a plurality of respective prior motion vectors estimated for each of a group of said number of image parts, said group comprising a second image part of a second field of a preceding frame and a plurality of image parts spatially adjacent to said second image part, said second image part having the same respective spatial position as said first image part within their respective fields; transmitting data representing said motion vectors on a digital transmission channel, said data comprising a signal indicating said optimum motion vector.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim 186 words
A method for transmitting a high definition television signal as claimed in claim 16, in which for each image part a video data transmission mode is selected from among at least a first and a second mode, the second mode having a lower spatial resolution than the first mode, and wherein data defining the transmission mode selected for each one of said image parts is transmitted on an associated digital channel, said method further comprising the steps of: making comparisons between a motion vector estimated for said first image part and each of the motion vectors estimated for respective image parts of said group to determine if one of said comparisons is positive, wherein if no comparison is positive, said first image part processed according to the second mode is transmitted, and wherein if one of the comparisons is positive and said first mode has been selected from said image part, said first image part processed according to said first mode is transmitted and a data item is transmitted which identifies that one of said image parts of said group for which the comparison was positive.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim 148 words
A high definition television receiver for representing transmitted images, in which each image is divided into a plurality of image parts, for each one of which a video data reproduction mode making use of motion vector data may be used, said motion vector data being received for each one of the image parts to be processed in this mode, the receiver being equipped with means for creating, on the basis of the motion vector data, an intermediate image between the two images received consecutively, said creating means further comprising at least one memory for recording motion vector data, characterized in that said receiver is further equipped with means for creating a part of a second image on the basis of a received digital data item identifying a motion vector of a part of a first image, by applying that motion vector to the part of the second image.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim 148 words
A high definition television receiver for representing transmitted images, in which each image is divided into a plurality of image parts, for each one of which a video data reproduction mode making use of motion vector data may be used, said motion vector data being received for each one of the image parts to be processed in this mode, the receiver being equipped with means for creating, on the basis of the motion vector data, an intermediate image between the two images received consecutively, said creating means further comprising at least one memory for recording motion vector data, characterized in that said receiver is further equipped with means for creating a part of a second image on the basis of a received digital data item identifying a motion vector of a part of a first image, by applying that motion vector to the part of the second image.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US4626891A Cited
US4661849A Cited
US4727422A Cited
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1995-09-01 1996-03-02 1996-09-01 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1999-09-01 2000-03-02 2000-09-01 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2003-09-01 2004-03-02 2004-09-01 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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