Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Hidekazu Uchida

Susumu Tanase

Toshiya Iinuma

Toshiyuki Okino

Yukio Mori

Haruhiko Murata

Seiji Okada

Akihiro Maenaka

Shugo Yamashita

Takashi Ikeda

Minoru Takahashi

Syugo Yamashita

Kanzi Ihara

In the present invention, two-dimensional images are converted into three-dimensional images by producing from a two-dimensional image signal a main image signal and a sub-image signal delayed from the main image signal. A field delay indicating how many fields are there from a field corresponding to the main image signal to a field corresponding to the sub-image signal is changed depending on the speed of the horizontal movement of the main image signal. The upper limit of the field delay is determined on the basis of vertical components of motion vectors detected from the main image signal. The field delay is so determined that it is not more than the determined upper limit.

Method of converting two-dimensional images into three-dimensional images

The present invention relates to a method of judging the back-and-forth positional relationship between subjects. Amounts of horizontal movement of the subjects which are detected for detecting areas set in an image area constituting a 2D image are compared after being assigned plus or minus signs depending on the direction of the movement, thereby to classify all the detecting areas into two types of detecting areas in such a manner that the detecting areas where a relatively large amount of horizontal movement is detected are taken as first detecting areas, while the detecting areas where a relatively small amount of horizontal movement is detected are taken as second detecting areas. A target area is set in a peripheral portion in the image area, to judge which of the total number of first detecting areas existing in the target area and the total number of second detecting areas existing in the target area is larger. It is judged that the subjects in all the detecting areas whose total number existing in the target area is judged to be larger are positioned behind the subjects in all the detecting areas whose total number existing in the target area is judged to be smaller.

Method of judging background/foreground position relationship between

The present invention relates to a method of converting 2D images into 3D images by producing from a 2D image signal a main image signal and a sub-image signal delayed from the main image signal. In the present invention, a temporary field delay from the main image signal to the sub-image signal is found on the basis of data related to the movement in the current field of the main image signal (a first step). A target field delay is then found on the basis of the temporary field delay found in the first step (a second step). A true field delay used in the succeeding field is found on the basis of the target field delay found in the second step and the true field delay used in the current field (a third step).

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Hirakata, Japan

Hidekazu Uchida