Method and apparatus for increasing video frame rate

A method of increasing a video frame rate of a sequence of video frames comprising:

• determining motion of objects in blocks of the sequence of video frames by applying motion compensation using motion vectors received as part of the sequence;
• creating at least one block of an interpolated frame between a first frame and a second frame by applying a spatio-temporal median filter to pixels of best matching blocks of the first and second frames as determined by the motion compensation;
• and
• averaging pixels at the same spatial location in the first and second frames for regions of pixels in the interpolated frame through which no motion vectors pass.

In a decoder, a method of increasing a video frame rate of a sequence of video frames comprising:

• determining motion of objects in the sequence of video frames by applying motion compensation with at least one of forward motion estimation and backward motion estimation to the sequence of video frames received by the decoder;
• selecting motion vectors from blocks of a first frame to blocks of a second frame based on the motion compensation;
• creating at least one block of at least one interpolated frame between the first and second frames by applying a spatio-temporal median filter to best matching blocks of the first and second frames as determined by the selected motion vectors;
• wherein pixels of the first and second frames are selected for creation of the at least one interpolated block based at least in part on segmentation states of pixels of the blocks, the segmentation states resulting from generation of a pixel state classification map by applying binary threshold operations over the frames.

An apparatus for increasing a video frame rate of a sequence of video frames comprising:

• a motion compensator to determine motion of objects in blocks of the sequence of video frames by applying motion compensation operations using motion vectors received as part of the sequence;
• a spatio-temporal median filter to create blocks of at least one interpolated frame between a first frame and a second frame by applying a spatio-temporal median filter operation to pixels of best matching blocks of the first and second frames as determined by the motion compensator;
• and
• a state segmentation unit coupled to the spatio-temporal median filter to select pixels of the first and second frames for generation of the interpolated blocks based at least in part on segmentation states of the blocks, the segmentation states resulting from generation of a pixel state classification map by applying binary threshold operations over the frames.

In a decoder, an apparatus for increasing a video frame rate of a sequence of video frames comprising:

• a motion compensator to determine motion of objects in the sequence of video frames by applying motion compensation with at least one of forward motion estimation and backward motion estimation to the sequence of video frames received by the decoder;
• a motion vector selector to select motion vectors from blocks of a first frame to blocks of a second frame based on the motion compensation;
• a spatio-temporal median filter to create blocks of at least one interpolated frame between the first and second frame by applying a spatio-temporal median filter operation to best matching blocks of the first and second frames as determined by the selected motion vectors;
• a state segmentation unit coupled to the spatio-temporal median filter to select pixels of the first and second frames for generation of the interpolated blocks based at least in part on segmentation states of the blocks, the segmentation states resulting from generation of a pixel state classification map by applying binary threshold operations over the frames.

An apparatus for increasing a video frame rate of a sequence of video frames comprising:

• means for determining motion of objects in blocks of the sequence of video frames by applying motion compensation using motion vectors received as part of the sequence;
• means for creating blocks of at least one interpolated frame between a first frame and a second frame by applying a spatio-temporal median filter to pixels of best matching blocks of the first and second frames as determined by the motion compensation;
• and
• means for selecting pixels of the first and second frames for generation of the interpolated blocks based at least in part on segmentation states of the blocks, the segmentation states resulting from generation of a pixel state classification map by applying binary threshold operations over the frames.

In a decoder, an apparatus for increasing a video frame rate of a sequence of video frames comprising:

• means for determining motion of objects in the sequence of video frames by applying motion compensation with at least one of forward motion estimation and backward motion estimation to the sequence of video frames received by the decoder;
• means for selecting motion vectors from blocks of a first frame to blocks of a second frame based on the motion compensation;
• means for creating blocks of at least one interpolated frame between the first and second frame by applying a spatio-temporal median filter operation to best matching blocks of the first and second frames as determined by the selected motion vectors;
• and
• means for selecting pixels of the first and second frames for generation of the interpolated blocks based at least in part on segmentation states of the blocks, the segmentation states resulting from generation of a pixel state classification map by applying binary threshold operations over the frames.