# US 8,542,739 B2 · Method of estimating disparity vector using camera parameters, apparatus for encoding and decoding multi-view picture using the disparity vector estimation method, and computer-readable recording medium storing a program for executing the method > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,542,739 B2 - Document ID: US8542739B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 11/529,404 - Filed: 2006-09-29 - Published: 2007-03-29 - Granted: 2013-09-24 - Earliest claimed: 2005-09-29 - Assignees: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Tae-hyeun Ha - Inventors: Tae-hyeun Ha - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8542739B2 ## CPC - H04N 19/597: specially adapted for multi-view video sequence encoding - H04N 19/61: in combination with predictive coding - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION ## Abstract A disparity vector estimation method and an apparatus are provided for encoding and decoding a multi-view picture using the disparity vector estimation method. The method of estimating a disparity vector of a multi-view picture includes determining a disparity vector between two frames having a different viewpoint from a current viewpoint, and calculating a disparity vector of a current viewpoint frame using the determined disparity vector and a certain translation parameter. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of estimating a disparity vector of a multi-view picture, the method comprising: determining a disparity vector between two frames having a different viewpoint from a current viewpoint; and calculating a disparity vector of a current viewpoint frame using the disparity vector between the two frames and a translation parameter, wherein at least one of the determining and the calculating is performed by a processor of a computer system, the two frames having the different viewpoint from the current viewpoint are first and second viewpoint frames, and the disparity vector of the current viewpoint frame is dv2 which is calculated using dv2=dv1×cd2/cd1, where dv1 denotes the disparity vector between the two frames which is calculated using a certain block of the first viewpoint frame and a first block of the second viewpoint frame corresponding to the certain block, dv2 denotes a disparity vector between the first block of the second viewpoint frame and a second block of the current viewpoint frame corresponding to the first block, and cd2/cd1 is a value corresponding to the translation parameter, or the disparity vector of the current viewpoint frame is dv4 which is calculated using dv4=dv3×cd4/cd3, where dv3 denotes the disparity vector between the two frames which is calculated using a certain block of the first viewpoint frame and a first block of the second viewpoint frame corresponding to the certain block, dv4 denotes a disparity vector of the second viewpoint frame of a co-located second block of the current viewpoint frame of the first block, and cd4/cd3 is a value corresponding to the translation parameter. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the first viewpoint frame, second viewpoint frame, and the current viewpoint frame are images photographed by a first camera, a second camera, and a third camera, respectively, which are sequentially arranged in parallel. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the translation parameter is a value relating to distances between a plurality of cameras and is transmitted from a multi-view camera system comprising the plurality of cameras. ### Claim 4 A multi-view picture encoding apparatus comprising: a multi-view picture input unit which receives multi-view pictures and a translation parameter; and an encoding unit which generates an encoded multi-view picture bit stream including the multi-view pictures and the translation parameter, wherein the encoding unit comprises a spatial direct mode performing unit which estimates a disparity using spatial direct mode estimation that calculates a disparity vector of a current viewpoint frame using a disparity vector between two frames having a different viewpoint from a current viewpoint and the translation parameter, the two frames having the different viewpoint from the current viewpoint are first and second viewpoint frames, and the disparity vector of the current viewpoint frame is dv2 which is calculated by the spatial direct mode performing unit using dv2=dv 1×cd2/cd1, where dv1 denotes the disparity vector between the two frames which is calculated using a certain block of the first viewpoint frame and a first block of the second viewpoint frame corresponding to the certain block, dv2 denotes a disparity vector between the first block of the second viewpoint frame and a second block of the current viewpoint frame corresponding to the first block, and cd2/cd1 is a value corresponding to the translation parameter, or the disparity vector of the current viewpoint frame is dv4 which is calculated by the spatial direct mode performing unit using dv4=dv3×cd4/cd3, where dv3 denotes the disparity vector between the two frames, which is calculated using a certain block of the first viewpoint frame and a first block of the second viewpoint frame corresponding to the certain block, dv4 denotes a disparity vector of the second viewpoint frame of a co-located second block of the current viewpoint frame of the first block, and cd4/cd3 is a value corresponding to the translation parameter. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the first viewpoint frame, second viewpoint frame, and the current viewpoint frame are images photographed by a first camera, a second camera, and a third camera, respectively, which are sequentially arranged in parallel. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the translation parameter is a value relating to distances between a plurality of cameras and is transmitted from a multi-view camera system comprising the plurality of cameras. ### Claim 7 (depends on 4) The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the encoding unit sets information including a disparity vector estimation method used to encode the multi-view pictures and transmits the multi-view picture bit stream. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The apparatus of claim 7, wherein when the encoding unit encodes the multi-view pictures using a same value as the transmitted translation parameter, the encoding unit further sets information indicating that a translation matrix does not change and transmits the multi-view picture bit stream. ### Claim 9 A multi-view picture decoding apparatus comprising: an information confirming unit which receives an encoded multi-view picture bit stream and confirms information indicating a disparity vector estimation method included in the received multi-view picture bit stream; and a decoding unit which decodes the encoded multi-view picture based on the confirmed information, wherein the decoding unit comprises a spatial direct mode performing unit, if the confirmed information is spatial direct mode estimation, which calculates a disparity vector of a current viewpoint frame using a disparity vector between two frames having a different viewpoint from a current viewpoint and a translation parameter, and estimates a disparity, the two frames having the different viewpoint from the current viewpoint are first and second viewpoint frames, and the disparity vector of the current viewpoint frame is dv2 which is calculated by the spatial direct mode performing unit using dv2=dv 1×cd2/cd1, where dv1 denotes the disparity vector between the two frames which is calculated using a certain block of the first viewpoint frame and a first block of the second viewpoint frame corresponding to the certain block, dv2 denotes a disparity vector between the first block of the second viewpoint frame and a second block of the current viewpoint frame corresponding to the first block, and cd2/cd1 is a value corresponding to the translation parameter, or the disparity vector of the current viewpoint frame is dv4 which is calculated by the spatial direct mode performing unit using dv4=dv3×cd4/cd3, where dv3 denotes the disparity vector between the two frames, which is calculated using a certain block of the first viewpoint frame and a first block of the second viewpoint frame corresponding to the certain block, dv4 denotes a disparity vector of the second viewpoint frame of a co-located second block of the current viewpoint frame of the first block, and cd4/cd3 is a value corresponding to the translation parameter. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the translation parameter is a value relating to distances between the multi-view cameras and is transmitted from a multi-view picture encoding apparatus. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The apparatus of claim 9, wherein information indicating that a previously received translation parameter does not change is received from a multi-view picture encoding apparatus, and the decoding unit decodes the multi-view picture using the previously received translation parameter. ### Claim 12 A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program which when executed by a computer, causes the computer to execute a method of estimating a disparity vector of a multi-view picture, the method comprising: determining a disparity vector between two frames having a different viewpoint from a current viewpoint; and calculating a disparity vector of a current viewpoint frame using the disparity vector between the two frames and a translation parameter, wherein the two frames having the different viewpoint from the current viewpoint are a first viewpoint frame and a second viewpoint, and the disparity vector of the current viewpoint frame is dv2 which is calculated by the spatial direct mode performing unit using dv2=dv 1×cd2/cd1, where dv1 denotes the disparity vector between the two frames which is calculated using a certain block of the first viewpoint frame and a first block of the second viewpoint frame corresponding to the certain block, dv2 denotes a disparity vector between the first block of the second viewpoint frame and a second block of the current viewpoint frame corresponding to the first block, and cd2/cd1 is a value corresponding to the translation parameter, or the disparity vector of the current viewpoint frame is dv4 which is calculated by the spatial direct mode performing unit using dv4=dv3×cd4/cd3, where dv3 denotes the disparity vector between the two frames, which is calculated using a certain block of the first viewpoint frame and a first block of the second viewpoint frame corresponding to the certain block, dv4 denotes a disparity vector of the second viewpoint frame of a co-located second block of the current viewpoint frame of the first block, and cd4/cd3 is a value corresponding to the translation parameter.