Picture rate conversion system architecture

A method for interpolating an intermediate frame for converting a source video at a first rate to a target video at a second rate, the method comprising:

• calculating different candidate motion vectors, each candidate motion vector being calculated from previous frame data and current frame data, wherein the previous frame data from which at least one of the candidate motion vectors is calculated is processed differently than the previous frame data from which another of the candidate motion vectors is calculated;
• applying each candidate motion vector to the previous frame data to yield shifted frame data;
• calculating, for each candidate motion vector, a quality value indicating a magnitude of difference between the shifted frame data and the current frame data;
• selecting a final motion vector from among the candidate motion vectors based on the quality values;
• and
• generating the intermediate frame based on the final motion vector.

A system for interpolating an intermediate frame for converting a source video at a first rate to a target video at a second rate, the system comprising:

• a high pass filter configured to filter previous frame data to yield a high-pass previous-frame representation and to filter current frame data to yield a high-pass filtered current-frame representation;
• a quantization unit configured to calculate a high-pass filter based motion vector from both the high-pass current-frame representation and the high-pass current-frame representation;
• and
• a validate motion vector engine configured to
• calculate a quality value for each of multiple candidate motion vectors, wherein the candidate motion vectors include the high-pass filter based motion vector and a second candidate motion vector, and wherein the second candidate motion vector is calculated from information other than the high-pass previous-frame representation and the high-pass current-frame representation, and
• select a final motion vector from among the candidate motion vectors based on the quality values;
• and
• an intermediate frame generator configured to generate the intermediate frame using the final motion vector.