Apparatus, method, and computer program for analyzing image data

A liquid-crystal shutter control apparatus, comprising:

• a monocular visual depth information determiner for receiving stereoscopic image data of time-division display type composed of a left image for the left eye of a user and a right image for the right eye of the user, and determining the anteroposterior relationship of regions contained in an image frame of one of the left image and the right image;
• a binocular visual depth information determiner for receiving the stereoscopic image data of time-division display type, selecting an image assumed to be the left image and an image assumed to be the right image, and determining the anteroposterior relationship of regions contained in an image frame of a plurality of images containing the selected left image and right image;
• a left-right image discriminator for receiving a first determination result of the monocular visual depth information determiner, and a second determination result of the binocular visual depth information determiner, comparing the first determination result with the second determination result, determining that an assumption set by the binocular visual depth information determiner is correct if the rate of agreement between the first determination result of the monocular visual depth information determiner and the second determination result of the binocular visual depth information determiner is high, and outputting identification information representing whether each image frame of the stereoscopic image data is the left image or the right image as identification information in agreement with the assumption;
• a shutter drive signal output unit for outputting a shutter drive signal driving liquid-crystal shutter eyeglasses that are switched by image frame with the image frames forming the stereoscopic image data;
• and
• a signal inverter for receiving the identification signal output from the left-right image discriminator, and the shutter drive signal output from the shutter drive signal output unit, modifying the shutter drive signal in response to the identification signal and outputting the modified signal as a control signal to the liquid-crystal shutter eyeglasses.

A polarization control apparatus, comprising:

• a monocular visual depth information determiner for receiving stereoscopic image data of time-division display type composed of a left image for the left eye of a user and a right image for the right eye of the user, and determining the anteroposterior relationship of regions contained in an image frame of one of the left image and the right image;
• a binocular visual depth information determiner for receiving the stereoscopic image data of time-division display type, selecting an image assumed to be the left image and an image assumed to be the right image, and determining the anteroposterior relationship of regions contained in an image frame of a plurality of images containing the selected left image and right image;
• a left-right image discriminator for receiving a first determination result of the monocular visual depth information determiner, and a second determination result of the binocular visual depth information determiner, comparing the first determination result with the second determination result, determining that an assumption set by the binocular visual depth information determiner is correct if the rate of agreement between the first determination result of the monocular visual depth information determiner and the second determination result of the binocular visual depth information determiner is high, and outputting identification information representing whether each image frame of the stereoscopic image data is the left image or the right image as identification information in agreement with the assumption;
• a polarizer drive signal output unit for outputting a polarizer drive signal driving a polarizer that is switched by image frame with the image frames forming the stereoscopic image data;
• and
• a signal inverter for receiving the identification signal output from the left-right image discriminator, and the polarizer drive signal output from the polarizer drive signal output unit, modifying the polarizer drive signal in response to the identification signal and outputting the modified signal as a control signal to the polarizer.

An image data analyzing method, comprising the steps of:

• receiving stereoscopic image data of time-division display type composed of a left image for the left eye of a user and a right image for the right eye of the user, and determining in a first determination the anteroposterior relationship of regions contained in an image frame of one of the left image and the right image;
• receiving the stereoscopic image data of time-division display type, selecting an image assumed to be the left image and an image assumed to be the right image, and determining in a second determination the anteroposterior relationship of regions contained in an image frame of a plurality of images containing the selected left image and right image;
• and
• receiving a first determination result of the first determination, and a second determination result of the second determination, comparing the first determination result with the second determination result, determining that an assumption set in the second determination is correct if the rate of agreement between the first determination result and the second determination result is high, and outputting identification information representing whether each image frame of the stereoscopic image data is the left image or the right image as identification information in agreement with the assumption.

A computer program for causing a computer to execute an image analysis process, the computer program comprising the steps of:

• receiving stereoscopic image data of time-division display type composed of a left image for the left eye of a user and a right image for the right eye of the user, and determining in a first determination the anteroposterior relationship of regions contained in an image frame of one of the left image and the right image;
• receiving the stereoscopic image data of time-division display type, selecting an image assumed to be the left image and an image assumed to be the right image, and determining in a second determination the anteroposterior relationship of regions contained in an image frame of a plurality of images containing the selected left image and right image;
• and
• receiving a first determination result of the first determination, and a second determination result of the second determination, comparing the first determination result with the second determination result, determining that an assumption set in the second determination is correct if the rate of agreement between the first determination result and the second determination result is high, and outputting identification information representing whether each image frame of the stereoscopic image data is the left image or the right image as identification information in agreement with the assumption.