British Broadcasting Corporation

Bbc, Broadcasting House

Graham A Thomas

Timothy John Borer

Michael G Croll

Richard Fawconer Stevens

Michael Burl

Richard Thomas Russell

A method and display are disclosed in which a representation of a 3D model is provided for presentation as a 3D image. The image may be presented under an array of spherical or lenticular microlenses so that different images are presented at different viewing angles. The images are rendered using a set of orthographic projections; this can avoid the need for multiple cameras or the highly computer intensive processing associated with generation of simulated camera images and can also give improved results as compared to prior art multiview images.

Processing of images for 3D display

In the preferred implementation, the position of an object, for example a studio camera is determined by means of a camera which views several markers disposed about a studio ceiling, the markers being patterened as a series of light and dark rings to encode information in binary form enabling the markers to be identified as the camera moves about the studio. Methods and apparatus of more general applicability are also disclosed.

Position determination

Video line interpolator has delays for providing simultaneous access to a current field and at least two adjacent fields; shifters for shifting the adjacent fields in accordance with vertical motion vectors rounded to even numbers of picture lines and an interpolation filter taking information from at least three line of each of the current and shifted adjacent fields, the contributions from said adjacent fields summing to zero at low frequencies.

Video signal processing

The appropriate one of a list of possible motion vectors is applied to each region of a video image. An image value for that region is determined for each of four successive fields, for each of the possible motion vectors. The values for these four fields are compared and when the values are substantially the same for a given vector it is assumed that is the vector appropriate to that region. The vectors appropriate to regions of obscured or revealed background can also be assigned by comparing inter-field differences and determining regions where the inter-field differences are high for the central pair and one outer pair and low for the other outer pair of fields. To generate regions corresponding to obscured background only information from the earlier fields is used and to generate regions corresponding to revealed background only information from the later fields are used.

Growing community of inventors

Tadworth, United Kingdom

Graham A Thomas