Motion compensated interpolation system using combination of full and intermediate frame occlusion

An interpolator comprising:

• a forward data store containing an entry for each pixel in an intermediate frame to be interpolated from a current and previous frame of displayable output;
• a backward data store containing an entry for each pixel in the intermediate frame;
• a full frame occlusion generator configured to:
• determine full frame occlusion areas of the displayable output by locating full frame conceal areas where pixels of the previous frame have no match in the current frame and full frame reveal areas where pixels of the current frame have no match in the previous frame;
• an intermediate frame occlusion generator configured to:
• determine intermediate frame occlusion areas of an interpolated frame of the displayable output by locating intermediate frame conceal areas based on projected locations of pixels within the full frame conceal areas using primary forward motion vectors and information about a time slot for the interpolated frame, and by locating intermediate frame reveal areas based on projected locations of pixels within the full frame reveal areas using primary backward motion vectors and information about the time slot for the interpolated frame;
• an intermediate frame occlusion modifier configured to:
• modify the intermediate frame conceal areas by projecting locations of pixels using secondary forward motion vectors;
• and
• modify the intermediate frame reveal areas by projecting locations of pixels using secondary backward motion vectors.

An apparatus for performing motion compensated interpolation using a previous frame and a current frame of a displayable output, the apparatus comprising:

• means for determining full frame occlusion areas of the displayable output by locating full frame conceal areas where pixels of the previous frame have no match in the current frame and full frame reveal areas where pixels of the current frame have no match in the previous frame;
• means for determining intermediate frame occlusion areas of an interpolated frame of the displayable output by locating intermediate frame conceal areas based on projected locations of pixels within the full frame conceal areas using primary forward motion vectors and information about a time slot for the interpolated frame, and by locating intermediate frame reveal areas based on projected locations of pixels within the full frame reveal areas using primary backward motion vectors and information about the time slot for the interpolated frame;
• means for modifying the intermediate frame conceal areas by projecting locations of pixels using secondary forward motion vectors;
• and
• means for modifying the intermediate frame reveal areas by projecting locations of pixels using secondary backward motion vectors.

A computer chip configured to:

• determine full frame occlusion areas of the displayable output by locating full frame conceal areas where pixels of the previous frame have no match in the current frame and full frame reveal areas where pixels of the current frame have no match in the previous frame;
• determine intermediate frame occlusion areas of an interpolated frame of the displayable output by locating intermediate frame conceal areas based on projected locations of pixels within the full frame conceal areas using primary forward motion vectors and information about a time slot for the interpolated frame, and by locating intermediate frame reveal areas based on projected locations of pixels within the full frame reveal areas using primary backward motion vectors and information about the time slot for the interpolated frame;
• modify the intermediate frame conceal areas by projecting locations of pixels using secondary forward motion vectors;
• and
• modify the intermediate frame reveal areas by projecting locations of pixels using secondary backward motion vectors.