Method, system and apparatus for determining alignment data

An apparatus for aligning data for a target frame and a reference frame, the apparatus comprising:

• means for receiving patch data for each of a plurality of reference patches of the reference frame, the patch data comprising a reference direction of a feature in an associated reference patch and a reference signal corresponding to a projection of reference patch image data in a direction substantially perpendicular to the reference direction;
• means for determining a shift between at least one of said reference patches and a corresponding target patch in the target frame using the reference signal associated with said reference patch and a target signal corresponding to a projection of the target patch image data in the direction substantially perpendicular to the reference direction associated with said reference patch;
• means for determining the alignment data for the target frame using the determined shift for said reference patch;
• and
• means for transforming the target frame using the alignment data.

A system for aligning data for a target frame and a reference frame, the system comprising:

• a memory for storing data and a computer program;
• a processor coupled to the memory for executing the computer program, the computer program comprising instructions for:
• receiving patch data for each of a plurality of reference patches of the reference frame, the patch data comprising a reference direction of a feature in an associated reference patch and a reference signal corresponding to a projection of reference patch image data in a direction substantially perpendicular to the reference direction;
• determining a shift between at least one of said reference patches and a corresponding target patch in the target frame using the reference signal associated with said reference patch and a target signal corresponding to a projection of the target patch image data in the direction substantially perpendicular to the reference direction associated with said reference patch;
• determining the alignment data for the target frame using the determined shift for said reference patch;
• and
• transforming the target frame using the alignment data.

A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a computer program for aligning data for a target frame and a reference frame, the program comprising:

• code for receiving patch data for each of a plurality of reference patches of the reference frame, the patch data comprising a reference direction of a feature in an associated reference patch and a reference signal corresponding to a projection of reference patch image data in a direction substantially perpendicular to the reference direction;
• code for determining a shift between at least one of said reference patches and a corresponding target patch in the target frame using the reference signal associated with said reference patch and a target signal corresponding to a projection of the target patch image data in the direction substantially perpendicular to the reference direction associated with said reference patch;
• code for determining the alignment data for the target frame using the determined shift for said reference patch;
• and
• code for transforming the target frame using the alignment data.

A method of determining a camera configuration, the method comprising:

• receiving patch data for each of a plurality of reference patches of a reference frame, the patch data comprising a reference direction of a feature in an associated reference patch and a reference signal corresponding to a projection of reference patch image data in a direction substantially perpendicular to the reference direction;
• determining a shift between at least one of said reference patches and a corresponding target patch in a target frame using the reference signal associated with said reference patch and a target signal corresponding to a projection of the target patch image data in the direction substantially perpendicular to the reference direction associated with said reference patch;
• determining the alignment data for the target frame using the determined shift for said reference patch;
• and
• determining the camera configuration using the alignment data.

A system for generating a free viewpoint video, the system comprising:

• a memory for storing data and a computer program;
• a processor coupled to the memory for executing the computer program, the computer program comprising instructions for:
• receiving patch data for each of a plurality of reference patches of a reference frame, the patch data comprising a reference direction of a feature in an associated reference patch and a reference signal corresponding to a projection of reference patch image data in a direction substantially perpendicular to the reference direction;
• determining a shift between at least one of said reference patches and a corresponding target patch in a target frame using the reference signal associated with said reference patch and a target signal corresponding to a projection of the target patch image data in the direction substantially perpendicular to the reference direction associated with said reference patch;
• determining the alignment data for the target frame using the determined shift for said reference patch to determine a camera calibration parameter;
• and
• generating the free viewpoint video using the determined camera calibration parameter.