Depth video filtering method and apparatus

An image synthesizing method comprising:

• generating a depth image in a current picture by searching depth information using a plurality of color images obtained at different view points;
• performing filtering on the depth image using a 3-dimensional (3D) joint bilateral filter;
• and
• generating a synthesized image using the plurality of color images and the filtered depth image,
• wherein the 3D joint bilateral filter performs filtering on the generated depth image using color image information for the current picture and at least one of a previous picture and a subsequent picture, and the color image information includes information on a boundary of an object in the color images and color information of the color images,
• wherein said performing filtering includes performing filtering using only color image information of the pictures other than pictures in each of which a difference value between a depth value at an arbitrary position in the current picture and an identically positioned depth value is a threshold value or more, wherein the identically positioned depth value is a depth value at spatially the same position as the arbitrary position in each of at least one of the previous pictures and the subsequent pictures.

A depth video filtering method comprising:

• generating a depth image in a current picture by searching depth information using a plurality of color images obtained at different view points;
• and
• performing filtering on the depth image using a 3-dimensional (3D) joint bilateral filter,
• wherein the 3D joint bilateral filter performs filtering on the generated depth image using color image information for the current picture and at least one of a previous picture and a subsequent picture, and the color image information includes information on a boundary of an object in the color images and color information of the color images,
• wherein said performing filtering includes performing filtering using only color image information of the pictures other than pictures in each of which a difference value between a pixel value at an arbitrary position in the current picture and an identically positioned pixel value is a threshold value or more, wherein the identically positioned pixel value is a pixel value at spatially the same position as the arbitrary position in each of at least one of the previous pictures and the subsequent pictures.

A depth video filtering method comprising:

• generating a depth image in a current picture by searching depth information using a plurality of color images obtained at different view points;
• and
• performing filtering on the depth image using a 3-dimensional (3D) joint bilateral filter,
• wherein the 3D joint bilateral filter performs filtering on the generated depth image using color image information for the current picture and at least one of a previous picture and a subsequent picture, and the color image information includes information on a boundary of an object in the color images and color information of the color images,
• wherein said performing filtering includes performing filtering using only color image information of the pictures other than pictures in each of which a difference value between a depth value at an arbitrary position in the current picture and an identically positioned depth value is a threshold value or more, wherein the identically positioned depth value is a depth value at spatially the same position as the arbitrary position in each of at least one of the previous pictures and the subsequent pictures.

A multi-dimensional video system comprising:

• a depth information searching unit that generates a depth image in a current picture by searching depth information using a plurality of color images obtained at different view points;
• a filter unit that performs filtering on the depth image using a 3-dimensional (3D) joint bilateral filter;
• and
• an image synthesizing unit that generates a synthesized image using the plurality of color images and the filtered depth image,
• wherein the 3D joint bilateral filter performs filtering on the generated depth image using color image information for the current picture and at least one of a previous picture and a subsequent picture, and the color image information includes information on a boundary of an object in the color images and color information of the color images,
• wherein the filter unit performs filtering using only color image information of the pictures other than pictures in each of which a difference value between a pixel value at an arbitrary position in the current picture and an identically positioned pixel value is a threshold value or more, wherein the identically positioned pixel value is a pixel value at spatially the same position as the arbitrary position in each of at least one of the previous pictures and the subsequent pictures.

A multi-dimensional video system comprising:

• a depth information searching unit that generates a depth image in a current picture by searching depth information using a plurality of color images obtained at different view points;
• a filter unit that performs filtering on the depth image using a 3-dimensional (3D) joint bilateral filter;
• and
• an image synthesizing unit that generates a synthesized image using the plurality of color images and the filtered depth image,
• wherein the 3D joint bilateral filter performs filtering on the generated depth image using color image information for the current picture and at least one of a previous picture and a subsequent picture, and the color image information includes information on a boundary of an object in the color images and color information of the color images,
• wherein the filter unit performs filtering using only color image information of the pictures other than pictures in each of which a difference value between a depth value at an arbitrary position in the current picture and an identically positioned depth value is a threshold value or more, wherein the identically positioned depth value is a depth value at spatially the same position as the arbitrary position in each of at least one of the previous pictures and the subsequent pictures.