Apparatus and method for performing inverse telecine process

A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a computer program for performing an inverse telecine method, the inverse telecine method comprising:

• calculating the Frame Totals of Absolute Local Field Difference (FT) of telecine images that are input at a rate of M frames per second;
• normalizing the Frame Totals of Absolute Local Field Difference (FT) and outputting a vector of normalized Frame Totals of Absolute Local Field Difference (NFT), which are normalized per every five frames, wherein the normalization is performed according to
• NFT
• =
• 
• FTi
• -
• MD
• K
• 
• wherein, FTi is Frame Total Field Difference (FT) of the i-th frame, MD represents the median value of the Frame Total Field Difference (FT) of five consecutive frames, and K represents a denominator;
• comparing the vector of the normalized Frame Totals of Absolute Local Field Difference (NFT) in a five-frame unit to a reference template;
• and
• controlling the number of video frames input at the rate of M frames per second and the number of original film frames that are recovered from the input video frames and output at a rate of N frames per second.

An apparatus for performing an inverse telecine process, comprising:

• a Field Difference Detection Unit for calculating a Frame Total of Absolute Local Field Difference (FT) of telecine images that are input at a rate of M frames per second;
• a normalization unit for normalizing the Frame Totals of Absolute Local Field Difference (FT), which are output from the Field Difference Detection Unit, and for outputting a vector of normalized Frame Totals of Absolute Local Field Difference (NFT) that are normalized in a five-frame unit, wherein the normalization is performed according to
• NFT
• =
• 
• FTi
• -
• MD
• K
• 
• wherein, FTi is Frame Total Field Difference (FT) of the i-th frame, MD represents the median value of the Frame Total Field Difference (FT) of five consecutive frames, and K represents a denominator;
• a comparing unit for comparing the vector of normalized Frame Totals of Absolute Local Field Difference (NFT) that are normalized in the five-frame unit, to a reference template;
• and
• a frame buffer unit for controlling the number of video frames that are input in the rate of M frames per second, and the number of original film frames that are recovered from the input video frames and output at a rate of N frames per second.

A method for performing an inverse telecine process to convert video frames into original film frames, comprising:

• calculating a Frame Totals of Absolute Local Field Difference (FT) for each frame of video input at a rate of M frames per second;
• wherein the Frame Total of Absolute Local Field Difference (FT) of each video frame is defined as sum of the Absolute Local Field Difference of all of the plurality of n×m pixel regions forming the respective video frame;
• and
• normalizing the Frame Totals of Absolute Local Field Difference (FT) of the video frames in a five-frame unit, wherein the normalization is performed according to
• NFT
• =
• 
• FTi
• -
• MD
• K
• 
• wherein, FTi is Frame Total Field Difference (FT) of the i-th frame, MD represents the median value of the Frame Total Field Difference (FT) of five consecutive frames, and K represents a denominator,
• wherein the Absolute Local Field Difference for each of the plurality of n×m pixel regions, are defined as the absolute value of the difference between the sum of the luminance values of pixels on every odd line of one pixel region and the sum of the luminance values of pixels on every even line of the one pixel region.

An apparatus for performing an inverse telecine process to convert video frames into original film frames, comprising:

• a frame buffer unit including a plurality of frame buffers connected in series for storing video frames, and for converting the input video frames into the original film frames in response to a frame load signal and a synthesis command;
• a Field Difference Detection Unit for receiving a video frame output from the frame buffer unit and for calculating a Frame Total of Absolute Local Field Difference (FT) for the received video frame;
• a normalization unit connected to the Field Difference Detection Unit for normalizing the Frame Totals of Absolute Local Field Difference (FT) and outputting a vector of normalized Frame Totals of Absolute Local Field Difference (NFT) that are normalized in a five-frame unit, and
• normalizing the Frame Totals of Absolute Local Field Difference (FT) of the video frames in a five-frame unit, wherein the normalization is performed according to
• NFT
• =
• 
• FTi
• -
• MD
• K
• 
• wherein, FTi is Frame Total Field Difference (FT) of the i-th frame, MD represents the median value of the Frame Total Field Difference (FT) of five consecutive frames, and K represents a denominator;
• a look-up table for storing a plurality of templates;
• a first comparator for comparing the vector of normalized Frame Totals of Absolute Local Field Difference (FT) that are output from the normalization unit, with a plurality of templates stored in the look-up table, and identifying the template which is most similar to the vector of normalized Frame Totals of Absolute Local Field Difference (NFT);
• and
• a second comparator for comparing a reference template to the template identified by the first comparator, and for outputting the frame load signal and the synthesis command, wherein the frame load signal controls the number of video frames input into the frame buffer unit, and the original film frames are synthesized using the video frames stored in the plural frame buffers in response to the synthesis command.