Nippon Hoso' Kyokai

Keisoku Giken Co., Ltd.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Nippon Noso Kyokai

Keisou Giken Co., Ltd.

Seiichi Gohshi

Yoshinori Izumi

Yuichi Ninomiya

Jin Ogasawara

Shinichiro Nakamura

Yutaka Tanaka

Taiichiro Kurita

Taiji Nishizawa

Kazuhiko Shibuya

Junji Kumada

Isao Kondo

Makoto Okui

Minoru Honda

Ryoichi Yajima

Shoichi Suzuki

Yoshio Takeuchi

Yoshimichi Ohtsuka

Mitsuo Isobe

Shinichi Sakaida

Kouichi Yamaguchi

Kazuhisa Iguchi

Yukihiro Nishida

Kazumasa Enami

Katsumi Morita

Yoshiaki Shishikui

Yasuaki Kanatsugu

Haruo Okuda

Yuichi Iwadate

Hisakazu Kato

Ichiro Yuyama

Makoto Tadenuma

Jun'ichi Ishida

Hiroyuki Hamazumi

Keisuke Ohashi

Sumio Yano

Masahide Naemura

Toshihiko Susaki

For sharpening an input image by up-converting the input image in order to increase the number of pixels of an image and generating a frequency component higher than a frequency component contained in an input image signal representing the input image, the number of multipliers is reduced, thereby achieving significant downsizing of an apparatus and cost reduction. An image processing apparatus includes a path on a base image side for up-converting the input image signal and a path on a sharpening processing side for carrying out nonlinear arithmetic processing on the input image signal. The path on the sharpening processing side includes an up-converter at a subsequent stage of at least one filter, after which the nonlinear arithmetic processing is carried out. The at least one filter may be either a two-dimensional low pass filter for noise removal or a high pass filter for removing a DC component.

Image processing apparatus and image processing method

An image is sharpened by using a frequency component exceeding a Nyquist frequency. In particular, an image processing apparatusof the disclosure herein for generating an output image by sharpening an input image includes a first nonlinear processing unitconfigured to generate a first signal by carrying out nonlinear processing on an input image signal representing the input image, a sharpening processing blockconfigured to generate a second signal containing a frequency component higher than a frequency component contained in the first signal by carrying out sharpening processing on the first signal, and an adderconfigured to generate an output image signal representing the output image by adding the second signal to the input image signal.

An image is sharpened by using a frequency component higher than Nyquist frequency. An image enhancing deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present invention for generating an output image by sharpening an input image, includes: a filter unitconfigured to generate a first signal by eliminating at least a direct current component of a frequency component included in an input image signal representing the input image; a nonlinear processing unitconfigured to generate a second signal by carrying out, to the first signal, nonlinear processing asymmetric between a positive area and a negative area of the first signal; a limiterconfigured to generate a third signal by adjusting the second signal; and an adderconfigured to generate an output image signal representing the output image by adding the third signal to the input image signal.

Image enhancing device and image enhancement method

An image enhancement apparatus according to the present invention for generating an output image obtained by sharpening an input image includes a non-linear processing unit configured to carry out non-linear processing on an input image signal representing the input image, a filter unit configured to generate a second signal by removing at least a DC component of the frequency components included in the first signal, a limiter configured to generate a third signal by adjusting the second signal, and an adder configured to generate an output image signal representing the output image by adding the third signal to the input image signal.

Image enhancement apparatus and image enhancement method

An image is sharpened without generating, in frequency domain exceeding frequency component in horizontal and vertical direction, frequency component caused by sharpening carried out in horizontal and vertical direction in overlapping manner. An image processing apparatus includes: a vertical filter removing high frequency portion in vertical direction; a horizontal sharpening processing unit generating harmonic in horizontal direction containing frequency higher than frequency component in horizontal direction of the input signal; a horizontal filter removing high frequency portion in horizontal direction; and a vertical sharpening processing unit generating harmonic in vertical direction containing frequency higher than frequency component in vertical direction of the input signal, wherein a horizontal direction processing unit in which the vertical filter is disposed before the horizontal sharpening processing unit and a vertical direction processing unit in which the horizontal filter is disposed before the vertical sharpening processing unit are connected in series, or in parallel.

A prefilter for use in a compressive coding apparatus, the compressive coding apparatus including the prefilter for limiting a frequency band of an input image and a compressive coding unit for implementing compressive coding of an image signal of which frequency band is limited with the prefilter, the prefilter includes: a time filter unit; a two-dimensional filter unit; and an enhancement unit. A compressive coding pre-processing apparatus provided with the prefilter includes: a prefilter unit for attenuating a diagonal frequency component of each image; a pixel skipping unit for skipping a pixel of an image signal of which diagonal frequency component is attenuated by the prefilter unit by folding back a horizontal high frequency component to a vertical high frequency component, or folding back the vertical high frequency component to the horizontal high frequency component; and a pixel space contracting unit for contracting a space of the skipped pixel.

Prefilter, compressive coding pre-processing apparatus and decompressive decoding post-processing apparatus, and compressive coding apparatus and decompressive decoding apparatus

In the case where a wide-band color picture signal provided for a high-definition television broadcasting is sub-sampled for narrow-band transmission, in comparison with a stationary picture signal which is applied with sub-sampling according to a sampling pattern circulated at every two frames, the color picture signal in motional picture regions, which is conventionally applied with line-offset sub-sampling at every field, has a lowered resolution. To improve the resolution concerned, color difference signals in motional picture regions are applied with inter-field offset sub-sampling together with band-limitation for preventing aliasing distortion accompanied with subsampling and signal processing including interpolation for reproduction, which are effected in a form completed at every frame. As for motional picture regions having small motion, a luminance signal is applied also with similar sub-sampling and similar signal processing. As a result, the overall picture quality of the reproduced motional color picture is improve by signal processing thus adapted for color pictures in motional picture regions.

Sub-sample transmission system for improving picture quality in motional

High resolution vertical and horizontal components of a high definition video signal are combined with a standard broadcast system video signal, such as the NTSC system, in which high frequency horizontal resolution components are sampled and used to modulate at least a first sub-carrier signal. The first sub-carrier is frequency interleaved onto the standard broadcast signal. Vertical high resolution components are time compressed and time division multiplexed onto top and bottom portions of the standard broadcast signal. The modified broadcast signal can be decoded by a standard receiver to display a standard resolution video image, while receivers designed to decode the modified signal can time division demultiplex the vertical high resolution components and demodulate the horizontal high resolution components, combine these components with the standard components, and generate a high definition video image.

Receiver and channel compatible encoding/decoding system for high

A multiple sub-sampling encoding/decoding system performing interfield and interframe offset sub-sampling of a broad bandwidth television signal. The system compresses the television signal to fit, for example, to the transmission bandwidth of the standard television systems, compensates the transmission characteristics, and achieves the optimal frequency allocation of the modulated transmission signal.

Multiple sub-sampling transmitting/receiving system performing

A television receiver is provided with two field memories for storing movement control signals, an OR circuit, a frame memory for storing the present and previous fields, a pair of switches controlled by a freeze signal, a switch controlled by the output signal of the OR circuit, and another switch for changing over its output signal to and from the output signal from the switch controlled by the OR circuit and the signal from the frame memory representing the present field. One frame's worth of video signals of the present field and the previous field are stored in the frame memory by a freeze signal. The signals stored in the frame memory provide a freeze picture having no multi-line dimness by virtue of using the present field and the previous field for the still picture image portion and the present field for the moving picture image portions of the present field and the previous field.

Television receiver

The motion detection circuit is so constructed that an interframe difference signal is passed through a horizontal direction LPF and a vertical direction LPF in cascade connection, and the interframe difference signal thus obtained is divided by the value obtained by mixing an edge signal of an image and the image level signal of the image by a mixing circuit, thus providing a motion signal.

Motion detection circuit

A method and apparatus for detecting the motion of image in a television signal is intended for a decoder of a multiple subsampling transmission signal without an interframe aliased portion in a lower frequency region. In the method and apparatus for detecting the motion, a next-adjacent interframe difference signal, an immediate-adjacent interframe difference narrow-band signal and an immediate-adjacent interframe difference broad-band signal or compensated versions of these signals are combined with maximum-value selection circuits and a minimum-value selection circuit for selecting the maximum-value and minimum-value among these three sets of signals so that a proper motion signal is extracted from the transmission signal.

Method and apparatus for detecting the motion of image in a television

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Yokohama, Japan

Seiichi Gohshi