U.S. patent application number 15/808675 was filed with the patent office on 2018-03-08 for compatible stereoscopic video delivery.
This patent application is currently assigned to Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation. The applicant listed for this patent is Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation. Invention is credited to Walter J. Husak, Athanasios Leontaris, David Ruhoff, Alexandros Tourapis.
Application Number | 20180070071 15/808675 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40935543 |
Filed Date | 2018-03-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180070071 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Husak; Walter J. ; et
al. |
March 8, 2018 |
COMPATIBLE STEREOSCOPIC VIDEO DELIVERY
Abstract
Stereoscopic images are subsampled and placed in a
"checkerboard" pattern in an image. The image is encoded in a
monoscopic video format. The monoscopic video is transmitted to a
device where the "checkerboard" is decoded. Portions of the
checkerboard (e.g., "black" portions) are used to reconstruct one
of the stereoscopic images and the other portion of the
checkerboard (e.g., "white" portions) are used to reconstruct the
other image. The subsamples are, for example, taken from the image
in a location coincident to the checkerboard position in which the
subsamples are encoded.
Inventors: |
Husak; Walter J.; (Simi
Valley, CA) ; Ruhoff; David; (Marina del Rey, CA)
; Tourapis; Alexandros; (Los Gatos, CA) ;
Leontaris; Athanasios; (Mountain View, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation |
San Francisco |
CA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Dolby Laboratories Licensing
Corporation
San Francisco
CA
|
Family ID: |
40935543 |
Appl. No.: |
15/808675 |
Filed: |
November 9, 2017 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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15625854 |
Jun 16, 2017 |
9843785 |
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15808675 |
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14941992 |
Nov 16, 2015 |
9712801 |
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15625854 |
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13054855 |
Jan 19, 2011 |
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PCT/US2009/050809 |
Jul 16, 2009 |
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14941992 |
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61082217 |
Jul 20, 2008 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 13/139 20180501;
H04N 19/60 20141101; H04N 13/194 20180501; H04N 19/597 20141101;
H04N 19/61 20141101; H04N 19/59 20141101; H04N 13/15 20180501; H04N
13/161 20180501; H04N 19/00 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04N 13/00 20060101
H04N013/00; H04N 19/00 20140101 H04N019/00; H04N 19/59 20140101
H04N019/59; H04N 19/61 20140101 H04N019/61; H04N 19/60 20140101
H04N019/60; H04N 19/597 20140101 H04N019/597 |
Claims
1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored
thereon computer-executable instructions for executing with one or
more processors to perform: receiving a compressed bitstream
comprising a sequence of coded frames, wherein a coded frame in the
sequence of frames comprises samples of a first image and samples
of a second image multiplexed in a monoscopic video format, wherein
the monoscopic video format is determined using SEI messaging in
the compressed bitstream; decoding with the processor the coded
frame to generate a decoded frame; demultiplexing with the
processor based on the monoscopic video format the decoded frame to
generate decoded samples of the first image and decoded samples of
the second image, wherein the decoded samples of the first image
and the second image are arranged in accordance with the monoscopic
video format in a checkerboard pattern wherein "black" pixels in
the checkerboard pattern comprise sampled pixels of the first image
and "white" pixels in the checkerboard pattern comprise sampled
pixels of the second image, wherein sampling the "black" pixels of
the first image comprises: on even rows, sampling only the even
columns of the first image, and on odd rows sampling only the odd
columns of the first image, and sampling the "white" pixels of the
second image comprises: on even rows, sampling only the odd columns
of the second image, and on odd rows sampling only the even columns
of the second image; upsampling with the processor the decoded
samples of the first image to generate a first output image; and
upsampling with the processor the decoded samples of the second
image to generate a second output image.
2. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1,
wherein the first image and the second image represent two views of
a stereoscopic image.
3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1,
wherein the coded frame is encoded according to at least one of a
Blu-Ray compatible video format, a DVD compatible format, an MPEG
format, and an ATSC compatible video format.
4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1,
wherein the monoscopic video format alternates between a first and
a second multiplexed format, wherein under the first multiplexed
format the first output image represents a left view of a
stereoscopic image and the second output image represents a right
view of the stereoscopic image and under the second multiplexed
format the first output image represents the right view of the
stereoscopic image and the second output image represents the left
view of the stereoscopic image.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 15/625,854, filed on Jun. 16, 2017, which is
continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/941,992, filed
on Nov. 16, 2015, (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,712,801), which is a
continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/054,855, filed
on Jan. 19, 2011, which is the national stage entry for PCT
Application Ser. No. PCT/US2009/050809, filed on Jul. 16, 2009,
which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent
Application No. 61/082,217, filed on Jul. 20, 2008, all of which
are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
TECHNOLOGY
[0002] The present invention relates to video coding and more
particularly to stereoscopic video coding.
BACKGROUND
Description of Related Art
[0003] In recent years, content providers have become considerably
interested in the delivery of stereoscopic (3D) content into the
home. This interest is driven by the increased popularity and
production of 3D material, but also the emergence of several
stereoscopic devices that are already available to the consumer.
Although several systems have been proposed on the delivery of
stereoscopic material to the home that combine specific video view
"arrangement" formats with, primarily, existing video compression
technologies such as ISO MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC/ITU-T H.264, and VC-1,
these systems do not provide any information on how the video
encoding process should be performed. This has consequently
resulted in poorly designed stereo video encoding solutions with
subpar performance, which has been detrimental in the adoption of
such systems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The present inventors have realized the need to provide an
existing format compliant 3D delivery system. Roughly described,
the present invention provides a 3D delivery system that is
backward compatible with existing monoscopic delivery systems. This
allows, for example, a Blu-ray video disc to be encoded under the
Blu-ray format with Stereoscopic data with the capability to be
played on an ordinary Blue Ray player and feed a 3D compatible
display device for viewing by the consumer. The present invention
may be practiced by all other monoscopic formats including, for
example, DVD formats, HD-DVD, the MPEG family, JPEG, etc.
[0005] In one embodiment, the present invention provides a method
comprising the step of embedding a stereoscopic signal in a
monoscopic-compatible video infrastructure. In one embodiment, the
embedded stereoscopic signal comprises a video format where pixels
from a first and a second image are stored in a "checkerboard"
pattern within the monoscopic compatible video infrastructure.
[0006] In one embodiment, the method further comprises the step of
reducing pixels of a pair of stereoscopic images to be embedded in
the video infrastructure. The step of reducing pixels comprises,
for example, subsampling the pair of stereoscopic images and
placing the subsamples in a frame of the video infrastructure. The
step of reducing pixels comprises filtering the pair of
stereoscopic images and mixing the filtered images into a single
frame of the video infrastructure. The subsampling may be
performed, for example on coincident samples of the images, related
samples of the images, and/or the subsampling of a first of the
stereoscopic images is offset from the subsampling of a second of
the stereoscopic images. In one embodiment, the locations of
subsampling of a first of the stereoscopic images is alternated
with locations of subsampling of a second of the stereoscopic
images.
[0007] The method further comprises, for example, the step of
arranging the subsamples in a lattice structure in a frame of the
video infrastructure. Each subsample is placed, for example, in a
corresponding location in the lattice structure occupied by the
subsample in the image from which it was subsampled. The monoscopic
compatible infrastructure comprises, for example, any of a Blu-ray
compatible video format, and HD-DVD compatible video format, an
Internet transmission format, a Direct-TV compatible video format,
any of the MPEG family of formats, and an ATSC compatible video
format.
[0008] In another embodiment, the present invention comprises a
method, comprising the steps of, reducing pixels of a pair of
stereoscopic images, formatting the reduced pixels into an image
pattern, and encoding the image pattern as a frame in a monoscopic
video format. The step of reducing pixels comprises, for example,
subsampling the stereoscopic images. The subsampling comprises, for
example, sampling half of the pixels in a first of the stereoscopic
images and subsampling half of the pixels in a second of the
stereoscopic images.
[0009] In various embodiments, the image pattern comprises a
lattice pattern of pixels comprising a checkerboard wherein "black"
pixels of the checkerboard comprise pixels derived from a first
image of the stereoscopic pair of images and "white" pixels of the
checkerboard comprise pixels derived from a second image of the
stereoscopic pair of images. A location of the pixels in the
lattice pattern comprises, for example, a coincident location in
the image from which they were derived.
[0010] The method further comprises, for example, the step of
decoding the "black" pixels into a first channel of a stereoscopic
image and decoding the "white" pixels into a second channel of the
stereoscopic image.
[0011] The present invention may also be embodied in an encoding
device, comprising, an input port configured to receive a bit
pattern comprising stereoscopic image pairs to be encoded, and an
encoder configured to place at least portions of each stereoscopic
image pair into a monoscopic-compatible video encoded bit stream.
The encoder is configured, for example, to produce a lattice
structure comprising portions of each image of a stereoscopic image
pair. The lattice structure is produced, for example, by reduction
and reordering of pixels comprising alternately subsampling each of
the images and placing the subsamples in locations of a lattice
structure corresponding to the locations of the image from which
they were subsampled. The monoscopic-compatible video encoded bit
stream comprises at least one of an ATSC format, a Blu-ray format,
an HD-DVD format, an existing video format, one of the MPEG family
of formats, and another video format.
[0012] The invention may also be embodied as a decoding device,
comprising, an input port configured to receive a monoscopic
formatted image signal, a processor configured to decode the
monoscopic formatted image signal, and an image separator
configured to extract a first image from each frame of the decoded
monoscopic formatted image signal and extract a second image from
each frame of the decoded monoscopic formatted image. The decoding
device further comprises, for example, an image extractor
configured to extract and expand each image to a full frame of a
target device. The target device comprises, for example, at least
one of a display, an HDTV display, a cinema display, a cell phone
display, a computer display. The decoding device may further be
part of a larger media system comprising a display and the image
expander is configured to extract pixels for expansion in for each
image from a checkerboard pattern within the decoded monoscopic
formatted image.
[0013] The invention may also be embodied in any device or method
that receives a monoscopic formatted video and extracts and
displays the multiple images in any format. In one embodiment, the
multiple images are extracted from a checkerboard pattern within
the monoscopic formatted image and then display as a 3D video.
[0014] Portions of both the devices and methods, and/or other
embodiments, may be conveniently implemented in programming on a
general purpose computer, or networked computers, and the results
may be displayed on an output device connected to any of the
general purpose, networked computers, or transmitted to a remote
device for output or display. In addition, any components of the
present invention represented in a computer program, data
sequences, and/or control signals may be embodied as an electronic
signal broadcast (or transmitted) at any frequency in any medium
including, but not limited to, wireless broadcasts, and
transmissions over copper wire(s), fiber optic cable(s), and co-ax
cable(s), etc.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of
the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the
same becomes better understood by reference to the following
detailed description when considered in connection with the
accompanying drawings, wherein:
[0016] FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating a basic structure
according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0017] FIG. 1B is a diagram of an encoder according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0018] FIG. 1C is a diagram of a system for encoding and decoding
images according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0019] FIG. 1D is a diagram of system for encoding, decoding and
displaying images according to an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0020] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a system topology according
to an embodiment of the present invention; and
[0021] FIG. 3 is an illustration of an image lattice structure
according to an embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0022] Many current consumer stereoscopic systems require
additional processes--either as hardware devices or software
applications--that the consumer must purchase and install. This
presents a significant barrier to market for the consumer and to
the studios.
[0023] The present inventors have realized an implementation that
allows the transmission of a stereoscopic signal in a manner
reusing the existing television and video infrastructure by
embedding the stereoscopic signal in a monoscopic-compatible
signal. Using such an implementation, content distributors would
then be able to deploy stereoscopic theatrical content into the
home in order to exploit the marketing effort as close to the
theatrical release date as possible.
[0024] The present invention creates a method of distribution that
can fit in the current HD-DVD or Blu-ray, broadcast, and other
distribution infrastructures and also allows flexibility for future
systems. Specifically, a future system could allow full bandwidth
stereoscopic signals to be transmitted while still maintaining
backward compatibility with legacy stereoscopic devices. In this
invention, a method of encoding stereoscopic signals is combined
with a number of image coding and picture structuring techniques in
a novel way.
[0025] Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference
numerals designate identical or corresponding parts, and more
particularly to FIG. 1A thereof, there is illustrated a basic
structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. The
left and right images 101/102 comprise 2 still images or two image
streams representing the left and right images of a stereoscopic
production. As illustrated at 103, the images are encoded and
packaged in a compliant means onto, for example, a standard HD-DVD
or Blu-ray disc. The resulting stereoscopic data appears as a
standard image and can be presented to a display in its encoded
form. The display decodes the stereoscopic data back into its left
and right image forms, where they are displayed (e.g., HDTV 104)
where they appear as left and right images 105/106.
[0026] FIG. 1B is a diagram of an encoder according to an
embodiment of the present invention. Stereoscopic images 110 are
fed to an encoder 115. The images are packaged as a monoscopic
format 120. The monoscopic format comprises an existing monoscopic
format, for example, a Blu-ray format, an ATSC broadcast, or other
formats.
[0027] FIG. 1C is a diagram of a system for encoding and decoding
images according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Stereoscopic images 110 are fed to an encoder 115. The images are
packaged as a monoscopic format 120. The stereoscopic images are,
for example, a series of left and right channel images of a 3D
video. The monoscopic format comprises a monoscopic video signal
where in each frame of the video is packaged with the left and
right channel images from each frame of the 3D video (monoscopic
packaged 3D video signal).
[0028] A monoscopic decoder 125 includes at least one port for
receiving a monoscopic video, and is fed the monoscopic packaged 3D
video signal. The at least one port comprises, for example, any of
an HDMI port, antenna port, S-Video connector, a cable connector,
video/audio component or composite connectors, network connector,
802.11 wireless, etc. In some embodiments related to transmission
or carrier (e.g., 802.11), the monoscopic video signal is further
packaged within the related transmission or carrier transport
protocol and an additional device for extracting the monoscopic
signal from the transport protocol and/or other protocols (not
shown) is utilized. Ultimately, the monoscopic packaged 3D signal
is received by the monoscopic decoder 125.
[0029] The monoscopic decoder 125 decodes the monoscopic packaged
3D signal according to the standard of the monoscopic format (e.g.,
Blu-ray, ATSC, etc). The decoded signal is a monoscopic video in
which the images of the video are pattern decompressed images 130.
That is, each image or frame of the decoded signal is a pattern
image where the pattern comprises left and right channel images of
the original stereoscopic images 110.
[0030] A separator 135 follows a set or variable pattern in which
the images are embedded in the decoded signal (pattern decompressed
images 130) and extracts the original (original compressed and then
decompressed) images (e.g., left and right channel images). The
separator 135 may be a separate device or may be packaged as part
of a decoding system 140.
[0031] FIG. 1D is a diagram of system for encoding, decoding and
displaying images according to an embodiment of the present
invention. The monoscopic decoder 125 decodes the monoscopic
packaged 3D signal according to the standard of the monoscopic
format (e.g., Blu-ray, ATSC, etc). The decoded signal is a
monoscopic video in which the images of the video are pattern
decompressed images 130. That is, each image or frame of the
decoded signal is a pattern image where the pattern comprises left
and right channel images of the original stereoscopic images
110.
[0032] A pattern recognizer 150 identifies an input signal as being
either a standard monoscopic video encoded signal or a multi-image
(e.g., stereo) encoded signal. The recognition may be performed,
for example, by comparing adjacent or otherwise related pixels in
the decompressed pattern or constructing entire images based on a
3D encoded monoscopic pattern and comparing the resulting
images.
[0033] Based on the recognition, the signal is then processed
accordingly (e.g., the signal is routed to 2D display processing
155 for standard monoscopic video or the signal is routed to 3D
display processing 160 for monoscopic packaged 3D), the results of
which are then provided to and displayed on display 165. In one
embodiment, the pattern recognizer and associated
processing/processing devices are packaged together in a display
(e.g., HDTV), as, for example, system 170. In another embodiment,
the monoscopic decoder is also packaged together with the display
(system 175).
[0034] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a system topology 200
according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, two
images are presented to the apparatus, one taken from the left
perspective and the other from the right perspective both together
forming a stereoscopic pair. These two images are, for example, low
pass filtered 210A/210B and sub-sampled 215A/215B by, for example,
a factor of two. The sub-sampling operation produces left and right
samples (e.g., pixels) from the left and right images. The
sub-sampling operation may be done in and may occur on coincident
locations on both left and right images or the sampled locations
can be offset from one image to the other. The preferred embodiment
is to use offset sampling as shown in the lattice (or checkerboard)
structure described below.
[0035] The sampled image data is then arranged into a 3D image
lattice structure by lattice structure device/processor 220. The 3D
image lattice structure is shown in FIG. 3. The left and right
samples are arranged in alternating order within each line and then
in the opposite order in the next line. This pattern is repeated
throughout the lattice. The lattice structure aids in providing
increased resolution in both the horizontal and vertical dimensions
upon image decoding with the described system. Rather than reducing
resolution in one dimension, the resolution is reduced in both
dimensions but by a lesser amount. The result is a resolution
reduction of approximately 0.7 fs rather than 0.5 fs.
[0036] In one embodiment, the lattice structure changes, or
alternates at a predetermined rate (e.g., once per frame). As shown
in FIG. 3, the rows of the lattice structure alternate between a
L/R and a R/L patterns (a frame pattern of L/R-R/L). The entire
structure may also be alternated between different frame patterns.
For example, a first frame comprises the L/R-R/L pattern and the
second frame comprises a R/L-L/R pattern.
[0037] Once the lattice is populated with pixels in the prescribed
manner, the images are presented to an image encoder. The left and
right image sequences are temporally related and can make use of
encoders such as MPEG encoders, JPEG encoders, or any other
encoders used in video compression. In one embodiment, colorspace
conversion and chrominance sub-sampling are utilized during the
encoding step (e.g., encoder 115).
[0038] Data produced by the image encoder 230 (e.g., a 3D encoded
monoscopic pattern) is then packaged using a common transport
mechanism by packaging system 240. The transport mechanism is, for
example, an MPEG-2 transport stream or program stream. The net
result of the packaging step is to create a method where backward
compatibility is preserved with deployed systems. While the
preferred embodiment is designed for HD-DVD or Blu-ray discs, the
properly packaged data can be delivered using any digital streaming
method such as the internet or conventional digital television
broadcasting. Broadcasting can take the form of terrestrial
broadcasting, closed cable delivery systems, or satellite delivery
systems.
[0039] The decode side of the system comprises a reverse of the
encode side. The delivered bit stream is presented to the decode
apparatus by the distribution system. The encoded image data is
extracted using a demultiplexer and delivered to an image decoder.
The image decoder converts the compressed bitstream into the
stereoscopic image data still in the lattice structure. The lattice
structure is then transmitted to the display for final decoding
into the left and right image pairs.
[0040] The decoding of the image is realized by removing the image
data from the lattice structure and up sampling to the original
image sizes (e.g., 3D processing 160 includes, for example,
separates portions of the lattice structure related to each image
and up-converts those samples to create the full images). The left
and right image pairs are then presented to the viewer by, for
example, displaying each image in separate "flashes" on a display
screen, interlacing the individual images into a frame to be
displayed, or other techniques.
[0041] The use of the lattice structure provides the stereoscopic
functionality to existing HD-DVD and Blu-ray players while not
obsolescing the installed players. The system can employ messaging
to configure the players to automatically provide the stereoscopic
data to the display. These messages can be embedded in the
bitstream in any number of ways including special SEI messages,
MPEG private data, or as Java code in the stream.
[0042] Although the present invention has been described herein
with reference to stereographic displays, the discussion herein
also applies to the coding, transmission, and decoding of multiple
images in general. In fact, the present invention specifically
includes embodiments with multiple images. In one embodiment, a
Blu-ray disk (or other medium) according to the present invention
may include, for example, both 2D and 3D versions of a movie or
other production. In another embodiment, two separate 2D versions
are included on the medium (e.g., left and right views) making the
system compatible with systems with multiple decoders and do not
wish to use the selected lattice or checkerboard pattern (for
whatever reason).
[0043] The bitrate between separate versions may allocated, for
example, according to the complexity of each version. Complexity
could be estimated given a variety of methods including MCTF
preanalysis, basic encoding (i.e. intra) using the same
quantization parameters and bitrate ratio computation, or could
just be based on user input or other factors. In a different
embodiment, this could be done in a way to achieve a certain
"average" distortion in either stream (this can be the same or
could be adjusted given a model or user input).
[0044] In describing preferred embodiments of the present invention
illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology is employed for
the sake of clarity. However, the present invention is not intended
to be limited to the specific terminology so selected, and it is to
be understood that each specific element includes all technical
equivalents which operate in a similar manner. For example, when
describing a Blu-ray player, any other equivalent device, such as
DVD players, HD-DVD players, devices that deliver content
(including memory devices, memory sticks, cameras, I-pods, etc), or
other device having an equivalent function or capability, whether
or not listed herein, may be substituted therewith.
[0045] Furthermore, the inventors recognize that newly developed
technologies not now known may also be substituted for the
described parts and still not depart from the scope of the present
invention. In fact the present invention specifically envisions
application to new video standards and the like not yet known or
published. All other described items and other equivalents,
including, but not limited to sampling, filters, transmission
protocols, storage protocols/formats, encoders, and displays (e.g.,
LCD, LCoS, Plasma, cinema projection, cinema projection
processors/servers, cinema storage devices, DLP devices, etc)
should also be considered in light of any and all available
equivalents.
[0046] Portions of the present invention may be conveniently
implemented using a conventional general purpose or a specialized
digital computer or microprocessor programmed according to the
teachings of the present disclosure, as will be apparent to those
skilled in the computer art.
[0047] Appropriate software coding can readily be prepared by
skilled programmers based on the teachings of the present
disclosure, as will be apparent to those skilled in the software
art. The invention may also be implemented by the preparation of
application specific integrated circuits or by interconnecting an
appropriate network of conventional component circuits, as will be
readily apparent to those skilled in the art based on the present
disclosure.
[0048] The present invention includes a computer program product
which is a storage medium (media) having instructions stored
thereon/in which can be used to control, or cause, a computer to
perform any of the processes of the present invention. The storage
medium can include, but is not limited to, any type of disk
including floppy disks, mini disks (MD's), optical discs, DVD,
HD-DVD, Blu-ray, CD-ROMS, CD or DVD RW+/-, micro-drive, and
magneto-optical disks, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, DRAMs, VRAMs,
flash memory devices (including flash cards, memory sticks),
magnetic or optical cards, SIM cards, MEMS, nanosystems (including
molecular memory ICs), RAID devices, remote data
storage/archive/warehousing, or any type of media or device
suitable for storing instructions and/or data.
[0049] Stored on any one of the computer readable medium (media),
the present invention includes software for controlling both the
hardware of the general purpose/specialized computer or
microprocessor, and for enabling the computer or microprocessor to
interact with a human user or other mechanism utilizing the results
of the present invention. Such software may include, but is not
limited to, device drivers, operating systems, and user
applications. Ultimately, such computer readable media further
includes software for performing the present invention, as
described above.
[0050] Included in the programming (software) of the
general/specialized computer or microprocessor are software modules
for implementing the teachings of the present invention, including,
but not limited to, sampling images, filtering image data, encoding
multi-image data into predetermined patterns, encoding multi-image
data into a lattice (or checkerboard structure), encoding a
multi-image structure into a monoscopic image format, decoding
monoscopic encoded data and expanding the decoded data into
multiple (e.g., stereo 3D) images and the display, storage, or
communication of results according to the processes of the present
invention.
[0051] The present invention may suitably comprise, consist of, or
consist essentially of, any of element (the various parts or
features of the invention) and their equivalents as described
herein. Further, the present invention illustratively disclosed
herein may be practiced in the absence of any element, whether or
not specifically disclosed herein.
[0052] Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the
present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It
is therefore to be understood that within the scope of claims to be
included in a subsequently filed utility patent application, the
invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described
herein.
* * * * *