Method and apparatus for encoding video signals in 3-D blocks without detecting image motion

Claim 2

A coding method for coding a digital television signal of an interlaced type used in a television system, said coding method comprising the steps of: (a) storing a plurality of fields of the interlaced digital television signal as three-dimensional blocks in a memory, each block including a plurality of picture elements formed from a combined plurality of fields image data, picture elements in a horizontal direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being primary components, picture elements in a vertical direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being secondary components, picture elements of a plurality of fields for each block having nearly coincidental two-dimensional spatial position being tertiary components; (b) electronically executing an orthogonal transformation on each constructed three-dimensional block to thereby obtain coefficients to produce a transformation signal; (c) using a single encoding process to encode the coefficients in the transformation signal to produce a television data signal, thereby reducing redundant information in the transformation signal, without judging whether the digital television signal is a moving or stationary image; and (d) transmitting the television data signal.

Claim 3

The coding method of claim 1, wherein said orthogonal transformation is performed using a DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform).

Claim 4

A coding method for coding a digital television signal of an interlaced type used in a television system, said coding method comprising the steps of: (a) storing a plurality of fields of the interlaced digital television signal as two-dimensional blocks in a memory, each block including a plurality of picture elements, for each field; (b) rearranging the two-dimensional blocks of a plurality of fields which have nearly coincidental two-dimensional spatial position into a three-dimensional block within the memory; (c) electronically executing an orthogonal transformation on the three-dimensional block to thereby to obtain coefficients to produce a transformation signal; (d) using a single encoding process to encode the coefficients in the transformation signal to produce a television data signal, thereby reducing redundant information in the transformation signal, without judging whether the digital television signal is a moving or stationary image; and (e) transmitting the television data signal.

Claim 5

A coding method for coding a digital television signal of an interlaced type used in a television system, said coding method comprising the steps of: (a) storing a plurality of fields of the interlaced digital television signal as two-dimensional blocks in a memory, each block including a plurality of picture elements, for each field; (b) rearranging the two-dimensional blocks of a plurality of fields which have nearly coincidental two-dimensional spatial position into a three-dimensional block within the memory; (c) electronically executing an orthogonal transformation on the three-dimensional block to thereby to obtain coefficients to produce a transformation signal; (d) using a single encoding process to encode the coefficients in the transformation signal to produce a television data signal, thereby reducing redundant information in the transformation signal, without judging whether the digital television signal is a moving or stationary image; and (e) transmitting the television data signal.

Claim 6

A coding method for coding digital television signal of an interlaced type used in a television system, said coding method comprising the steps of: (a) storing a plurality of fields the interlaced digital television signal in a memory by formatting the interlaced digital television signal in at least a temporal direction to thereby construct a plurality of blocks; (b) electronically executing an orthogonal transformation on each of the plurality of constructed blocks to thereby obtain coefficients to produce a transformation signal; and (c) quantizing the coefficients of the transformation signal; (d) using a single encoding process to encode the quantized coefficients in the transformation signal to produce a television data signal, thereby reducing redundant information in the transformation signal, without judging whether the digital television signal is a moving or stationary image wherein coefficients whose values are zero when the formatted signal corresponds to a still picture are weighted prior to quantizing; and (e) transmitting the television data signal.

Claim 7

A coding method for coding digital television signal of an interlaced type used in a television system, said coding method comprising the steps of: (a) storing a plurality of fields the interlaced digital television signal in a memory by formatting the interlaced digital television signal in at least a temporal direction to thereby construct a plurality of blocks; (b) electronically executing an orthogonal transformation on each of the plurality of constructed blocks to thereby obtain coefficients to produce a transformation signal; and (c) quantizing the coefficients of the transformation signal; (d) using a single encoding process to encode the quantized coefficients in the transformation signal to produce a television data signal, thereby reducing redundant information in the transformation signal, without judging whether the digital television signal is a moving or stationary image wherein coefficients whose values are zero when the formatted signal corresponds to a still picture are weighted prior to quantizing; and (e) transmitting the television data signal.

Claim 8

The coding method of claim 4, wherein said orthogonal transformation is performed using a DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform).

Claim 9

The coding method of claim 5, wherein said interlaced type is a 2:1 interlaced type, and when a digital television signal of 2N fields (N: being a natural number) is orthogonally transformed using DCT to thereby obtain zero-th to (2N-1)-th coefficients, 2m-th coefficients (m: being a natural number less than N) are weighted and quantized.

Claim 10

A coding method for coding a digital television signal of an interlaced type used in a television system, said coding method comprising the steps of: (a) storing a plurality of fields of the interlaced digital television signal as three-dimensional blocks in a memory, each block including a plurality of picture elements formed from a combined plurality of picture elements formed from a combined plurality of fields of image data, picture elements in a horizontal direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being primary components, picture elements in a vertical direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being secondary components, picture elements of a plurality of fields for each block having nearly coincidental two-dimensional spatial position being tertiary components; (b) electronically executing an orthogonal transformation on each constructed three-dimensional block to thereby obtain coefficients to produce a transformation signal; (c) quantizing the coefficients of the transformation signal; (d) using a single encoding process to encode the quantized coefficients in the transformation signal to produce a television data signal, thereby reducing redundant information in the transformation signal, without judging whether the digital television signal is a moving or stationary image wherein coefficients whose value are zero when the three-dimensional constructed block corresponds to a still picture are weighted prior to quantizing; and (e) transmitting the television data signal.

Claim 11

A coding method for coding a digital television signal of an interlaced type used in a television system, said coding method comprising the steps of: (a) storing a plurality of fields of the interlaced digital television signal as three-dimensional blocks in a memory, each block including a plurality of picture elements formed from a combined plurality of picture elements formed from a combined plurality of fields of image data, picture elements in a horizontal direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being primary components, picture elements in a vertical direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being secondary components, picture elements of a plurality of fields for each block having nearly coincidental two-dimensional spatial position being tertiary components; (b) electronically executing an orthogonal transformation on each constructed three-dimensional block to thereby obtain coefficients to produce a transformation signal; (c) quantizing the coefficients of the transformation signal; (d) using a single encoding process to encode the quantized coefficients in the transformation signal to produce a television data signal, thereby reducing redundant information in the transformation signal, without judging whether the digital television signal is a moving or stationary image wherein coefficients whose value are zero when the three-dimensional constructed block corresponds to a still picture are weighted prior to quantizing; and (e) transmitting the television data signal.

Claim 12

A coding method for coding a digital television signal of an interlaced type used in a television system, said coding method comprising the steps of: (a) storing a plurality of fields of the interlaced digital television signal in a memory by formatting the interlaced digital television signal in at least a temporal direction to thereby construct a plurality of blocks; (b) electronically executing an orthogonal transformation on the plurality of constructed block to thereby obtain coefficients to produce a transformation signal; (c) weighing and quantizing the coefficients of the transformation signal; (d) using a single encoding process to encode the quantized data to produce a television data signal, thereby reducing redundant information in the transformation signal, without judging whether the digital television signal is a moving or stationary image wherein coefficients whose values are zero when the formatted signal corresponds to a still picture are weighted at a lower rate than coefficients whose values are not zero when the formatted signal corresponds to a still picture; and (e) transmitting the television data signal.

Claim 13

A coding method for coding a digital television signal of an interlaced type used in a television system, said coding method comprising the steps of: (a) storing a plurality of fields of the interlaced digital television signal in a memory by formatting the interlaced digital television signal in at least a temporal direction to thereby construct a plurality of blocks; (b) electronically executing an orthogonal transformation on the plurality of constructed block to thereby obtain coefficients to produce a transformation signal; (c) weighing and quantizing the coefficients of the transformation signal; (d) using a single encoding process to encode the quantized data to produce a television data signal, thereby reducing redundant information in the transformation signal, without judging whether the digital television signal is a moving or stationary image wherein coefficients whose values are zero when the formatted signal corresponds to a still picture are weighted at a lower rate than coefficients whose values are not zero when the formatted signal corresponds to a still picture; and (e) transmitting the television data signal.

Claim 14

The coding method of claim 8, wherein said orthogonal transformation is performed using a DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform).

Claim 15

The coding method of claim 9, wherein said interlaced type is a 2:1 interlaced type, and when a digital television signal of 2N fields (N: being a natural number) is orthogonally transferred using DCT to thereby obtain zero-th to (2N-1)-th coefficients, 2m-th coefficients (m: being a natural number less than N) are weighted at a lower rate than (2k-1)-th coefficients (k: being a natural number not larger than N).

Claim 16

A coding method for coding a digital television signal of an interlaced type used in a television system, said coding method comprising the steps of: (a) storing a plurality of fields of the interlaced digital television signal as three-dimensional blocks in a memory, each block including a plurality of picture elements formed from a combined plurality of fields of image data, picture elements in a horizontal direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being primary components, picture elements in a vertical direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being secondary components, picture elements of a plurality of fields for each block having nearly coincidental two-dimensional spatial position being tertiary components; (b) electronically executing an orthogonal transformation on each constructed three-dimensional block to thereby obtain coefficients to produce a transformation signal; (c) weighing and quantizing the coefficients of the transformation signal; (d) using a single encoding process to encode the quantized data to produce a television data signal for transmission, thereby reducing redundant information in the transformation signal, without judging whether the digital television signal is a moving or stationary image wherein coefficients whose values are zero when the three-dimensional constructed block corresponds to a still picture are weighted at a lower rate than coefficients whose values are not zero when the constructed block corresponds to a still picture; and (e) transmitting the television data signal.

Claim 17

A coding method for coding a digital television signal of an interlaced type used in a television system, said coding method comprising the steps of: (a) storing a plurality of fields of the interlaced digital television signal as three-dimensional blocks in a memory, each block including a plurality of picture elements formed from a combined plurality of fields of image data, picture elements in a horizontal direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being primary components, picture elements in a vertical direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being secondary components, picture elements of a plurality of fields for each block having nearly coincidental two-dimensional spatial position being tertiary components; (b) electronically executing an orthogonal transformation on each constructed three-dimensional block to thereby obtain coefficients to produce a transformation signal; (c) weighing and quantizing the coefficients of the transformation signal; (d) using a single encoding process to encode the quantized data to produce a television data signal for transmission, thereby reducing redundant information in the transformation signal, without judging whether the digital television signal is a moving or stationary image wherein coefficients whose values are zero when the three-dimensional constructed block corresponds to a still picture are weighted at a lower rate than coefficients whose values are not zero when the constructed block corresponds to a still picture; and (e) transmitting the television data signal.

Claim 18

A coding method for coding a digital television signal of an interlaced type used in a television system, said coding method comprising the steps of: a first step of storing odd and even fields of the interlaced digital television signal in a memory; a second step of rearranging picture elements, stored in the memory, in only a vertical direction in each field to thereby make a spatial position of picture elements in odd-number fields and in even-number fields the same; a third step of executing a same encoding operation, without judging whether the digital television signal is a moving or stationary image, on picture elements of a plurality of fields which have the same spatial position to produce a television data signal, thereby reducing redundant information within the memory, by encoding picture elements of a plurality of fields having a same spatial position such that spatial positions in odd-number and even-number fields coincide; and a fourth step of transmitting the television data signal.

Claim 19

A coding method for coding a digital television signal of an interlaced type used in a television system, said coding method comprising the steps of: a first step of storing odd and even fields of the interlaced digital television signal in a memory; a second step of rearranging picture elements, stored in the memory, in only a vertical direction in each field to thereby make a spatial position of picture elements in odd-number fields and in even-number fields the same; a third step of executing a same encoding operation, without judging whether the digital television signal is a moving or stationary image, on picture elements of a plurality of fields which have the same spatial position to produce a television data signal, thereby reducing redundant information within the memory, by encoding picture elements of a plurality of fields having a same spatial position such that spatial positions in odd-number and even-number fields coincide; and a fourth step of transmitting the television data signal.

Claim 20

The coding method of claim 12, wherein said second step comprises the following steps: inserting picture elements with zero level at every other picture element in the vertical direction to double the number of picture elements; passing data, after the zero picture element are inserted, through an interpolation filter; and removing picture elements to thereby make the spatial position of picture elements in the odd-number fields and in the even-number fields the same.

Claim 21

A coding method for coding a digital television signal of an interlace type used in a television system, said coding method comprising the steps of: (a) inputting an interlaced digital television signal having odd and even fields; (b) storing the interlaced digital television signal in a memory; (c) rearranging picture elements, stored in the memory, in a vertical direction in each field to thereby make a spatial position of picture elements in odd-number fields and in even-number fields the same; (d) rearranging contents of the memory to construct three-dimensional blocks, each block including a plurality of picture elements formed from a combined plurality of fields of image data, picture elements in a horizontal direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being primary components, picture elements in the vertical direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being secondary components, picture elements of a plurality of fields for each block having nearly coincidental two-dimensional spatial position being tertiary components; (e) electronically executing an orthogonal transformation on each constructed three-dimensional block to thereby obtain coefficients to produce a transformation signal; (f) using a single encoding process to encode the coefficients in the transformation signal to produce a television data signal, thereby reducing redundant information in the transformation signal, without judging whether the digital television signal is a moving or stationary image; and (g) transmitting the television data signal.

Claim 22

A coding method for coding a digital television signal of an interlace type used in a television system, said coding method comprising the steps of: (a) inputting an interlaced digital television signal having odd and even fields; (b) storing the interlaced digital television signal in a memory; (c) rearranging picture elements, stored in the memory, in a vertical direction in each field to thereby make a spatial position of picture elements in odd-number fields and in even-number fields the same; (d) rearranging contents of the memory to construct three-dimensional blocks, each block including a plurality of picture elements formed from a combined plurality of fields of image data, picture elements in a horizontal direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being primary components, picture elements in the vertical direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being secondary components, picture elements of a plurality of fields for each block having nearly coincidental two-dimensional spatial position being tertiary components; (e) electronically executing an orthogonal transformation on each constructed three-dimensional block to thereby obtain coefficients to produce a transformation signal; (f) using a single encoding process to encode the coefficients in the transformation signal to produce a television data signal, thereby reducing redundant information in the transformation signal, without judging whether the digital television signal is a moving or stationary image; and (g) transmitting the television data signal.

Claim 23

A coding apparatus for coding a digital television signal of an interlaced type used in a television system, said coding apparatus comprising: means for inputting the interlaced digital television signal in a plurality of fields; a memory to store the inputted interlaced digital television signal; means for rearranging contents of said memory to construct three-dimensional blocks, each block including a plurality of picture elements formed from a combined plurality of fields of image data, picture elements in a horizontal direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being primary components, picture elements in a vertical direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being secondary components, picture elements of a plurality of fields for each block having nearly coincidental two-dimensional spatial position being tertiary components; means for performing orthogonal transformation on each constructed three-dimensional block to thereby obtain coefficients to produce a transformation signal; means for encoding the coefficients in the transformation signal to produce a television data signal by using a single encoding process, thereby reducing redundant information without judging whether the digital television signal is a moving or stationary image; and means for transmitting the television data signal.

Claim 24

A coding apparatus for coding a digital television signal of an interlaced type used in a television system, said coding apparatus comprising: means for inputting the interlaced digital television signal in a plurality of fields; a memory to store the inputted interlaced digital television signal; means for rearranging contents of said memory to construct three-dimensional blocks, each block including a plurality of picture elements formed from a combined plurality of fields of image data, picture elements in a horizontal direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being primary components, picture elements in a vertical direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being secondary components, picture elements of a plurality of fields for each block having nearly coincidental two-dimensional spatial position being tertiary components; means for performing orthogonal transformation on each constructed three-dimensional block to thereby obtain coefficients to produce a transformation signal; means for encoding the coefficients in the transformation signal to produce a television data signal by using a single encoding process, thereby reducing redundant information without judging whether the digital television signal is a moving or stationary image; and means for transmitting the television data signal.

Claim 25

A coding apparatus for coding a digital television signal of an interlaced type used in a television system, said coding apparatus comprising: means for inputting the interlaced digital television signal in a plurality of fields; a memory to store the interlaced digital television signal; means for arranging picture elements in a vertical direction in each field to make a spatial position of picture elements in odd-number fields and in even-number fields the same; means for rearranging contents of said memory to construct three-dimensional blocks, each block including a plurality of picture elements formed from a combined plurality of fields of image data, picture elements in a horizontal direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being primary components, picture elements in a vertical direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being secondary components, picture elements of a plurality of fields for each block having nearly coincidental two-dimensional spatial position being tertiary components; means for performing orthogonal transformation of each constructed three-dimensional block to thereby obtain coefficients to produce a transformation signal; means for encoding the coefficients in the transformation signal to produce a television data signal by using a single encoding process, thereby reducing redundant information in the transformation signal, without judging whether the digital television signal is a moving or stationary image; and means for transmitting the television data signal.

Claim 26

A coding apparatus for coding a digital television signal of an interlaced type used in a television system, said coding apparatus comprising: means for inputting the interlaced digital television signal in a plurality of fields; a memory to store the interlaced digital television signal; means for arranging picture elements in a vertical direction in each field to make a spatial position of picture elements in odd-number fields and in even-number fields the same; means for rearranging contents of said memory to construct three-dimensional blocks, each block including a plurality of picture elements formed from a combined plurality of fields of image data, picture elements in a horizontal direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being primary components, picture elements in a vertical direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being secondary components, picture elements of a plurality of fields for each block having nearly coincidental two-dimensional spatial position being tertiary components; means for performing orthogonal transformation of each constructed three-dimensional block to thereby obtain coefficients to produce a transformation signal; means for encoding the coefficients in the transformation signal to produce a television data signal by using a single encoding process, thereby reducing redundant information in the transformation signal, without judging whether the digital television signal is a moving or stationary image; and means for transmitting the television data signal.

Claim 27

A coding and decoding apparatus for coding a digital television signal of an interlaced type and for decoding coded data to thereby obtain the digital signal used in a television system, said coding and decoding apparatus comprising: means for inputting the interlaced digital television signal in a plurality of fields; a memory to store the inputted interlaced digital television signal in a plurality of fields; means for rearranging contents of said memory to construct three-dimensional blocks, each block including a plurality of picture elements formed from a combined plurality of fields of image data, picture elements in a horizontal direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being primary components, picture elements in a vertical direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being secondary components, picture elements of a plurality of fields for each block having nearly coincidental two-dimensional spatial position being tertiary components; means for performing orthogonal transformation on each constructed three-dimensional block to thereby obtain coefficients to produce a transformation signal; means for encoding the coefficients in the transformation signal to produce a television data signal for transmission by using a single encoding process, thereby reducing redundant information in the transformation signal, without judging whether the digital television is a moving or stationary image; means for transmitting the television data signal; means for decoding the television data signal to thereby obtain coefficients; means for performing inverse orthogonal transformation on the obtained coefficients to thereby obtain the three-dimensional blocks; and means for synthesizing the obtained three-dimensional blocks to thereby obtain the original digital television signal.

Claim 28

A coding and decoding apparatus for coding a digital television signal of an interlaced type and for decoding coded data to thereby obtain the digital signal used in a television system, said coding and decoding apparatus comprising: means for inputting the interlaced digital television signal in a plurality of fields; a memory to store the inputted interlaced digital television signal in a plurality of fields; means for rearranging contents of said memory to construct three-dimensional blocks, each block including a plurality of picture elements formed from a combined plurality of fields of image data, picture elements in a horizontal direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being primary components, picture elements in a vertical direction of each of a plurality of fields for each block being secondary components, picture elements of a plurality of fields for each block having nearly coincidental two-dimensional spatial position being tertiary components; means for performing orthogonal transformation on each constructed three-dimensional block to thereby obtain coefficients to produce a transformation signal; means for encoding the coefficients in the transformation signal to produce a television data signal for transmission by using a single encoding process, thereby reducing redundant information in the transformation signal, without judging whether the digital television is a moving or stationary image; means for transmitting the television data signal; means for decoding the television data signal to thereby obtain coefficients; means for performing inverse orthogonal transformation on the obtained coefficients to thereby obtain the three-dimensional blocks; and means for synthesizing the obtained three-dimensional blocks to thereby obtain the original digital television signal.