Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Intervideo, Inc.

Wei Ding

Andy Chao Hung

Chung-Tao Chu

A system and method for processing a video signal to make the corresponding image suitable for display on a progressive display device, i.e., a computer monitor, is disclosed. The processing system includes a video display module which is capable of processing an image frame based on the content of the frame information itself, or the values of the pixels that comprise the frame.

System and method for deinterlacing a video signal for display on progressive display devices

A system for improving the speed of the video encoding process by decreasing the number of cycles to perform the quantization. The disclosed system achieves the improvement through use of parallel processor such as one having a Single Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD) architecture. Concurrent processing during one instruction cycle is accomplished, thereby leading overall to the use of fewer instruction cycles. In the preferred embodiment, an MMX instruction set is used for executing four quantization in parallel. The disclosed system also achieves a higher precision of the quantization during the encoding of video signals with the SIMD architecture by using a larger multiplier and larger shift factor.

Implementation of quantization for SIMD architecture

Motion vectors and associated errors which are determined in the course of encoding a video signal are used to determine whether respective macroblocks of two or more frames represent the same subject matter albeit displaced by motion represented by the frames. The motion vector errors are compared to a predetermined motion threshold. If a particular motion vector error is less than the motion threshold, the macroblocks corresponding to the motion vector error are determined to represent substantially identical subject matter and the corresponding motion vector represents displacement of the subject matter between the frames due to motion of the subject matter. Accordingly, differences between the macroblocks corresponding to the motion vector error are determined to be due primarily to noise and not to differences in the subject. Therefore, a relatively heavy temporal filter is applied between the macroblocks. Conversely, if a particular motion vector error is not less than the motion threshold, the macroblocks corresponding to the motion vector error are determined to represent different subject matter and only a spatial filter is applied to either macroblock. The spatial filter is applied relatively lightly to reduce noise while minimizing signal loss, e.g., blurring, resulting from the filtering. The motion threshold is set according to the noise variance of the video signal which is being encoded. The noise variance of the video signal can be measured using the video signal acquisition equipment used to acquire the video signal, e.g., a video camera, or can be estimated from the video signal itself.

Digital video signal encoder and encoding method

An array of DCT transform coefficients are converted to a two-dimensional array of spatial data in a video compression or decompression system. The array of DCT transform coefficients are divided into two groups. A regional IDCT algorithm is applied to all coefficients, both non-zero and zero, of the first group, while IDCT computation is applied to only non-zero coefficients of the second group. The results of the operations are then combined and/or mapped to form the output array of spatial data. In one specific implementation wherein an 8.times.8 array of DCT coefficients are to be transformed, the first region is defined by the first quadrant of coefficients in the 8.times.8 array. A regional IDCT algorithm is applied to both zero and non-zero coefficients in the first quadrant. The non-zero coefficients in the remaining three quadrants are calculated directly, and the results of the direct calculations are combined with the results of the regional IDCT algorithm applied to the first quadrant coefficients. The resulting values are then mapped to the output matrix.

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Fremont, CA, United States of America

Wei Ding