Method and apparatus encoding and/or decoding image by using diffusion properties of the image

1. A method of decoding a moving picture, the method comprising:

reconstructing the residue between a current image from among a plurality of images constituting the moving picture, and a predicted image of the current image by decoding a bitstream;

predicting, by a processor, a value of a current pixel of the current image from at least one neighboring pixel from among neighboring pixels located in various directions toward the current pixel, based on the variations between values of the neighboring pixels; and

generating a reconstructed image of the current image by combining the reconstructed residue with the predicted image containing the predicted value of the current pixel,

wherein the predicting of the value of the current pixel comprises:

calculating a correction value of the predicted value of the current pixel by using the variations between the values of the neighboring pixels; and

compensating for the predicted value of the current pixel by using the correction value.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predicting of the value of the current pixel comprises:

predicting the value of the current pixel from at least one neighboring pixel corresponding to a smallest variation from among the variations between the values of the neighboring pixels.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predicting of the value of the current pixel comprises:

predicting the value of the current pixel from at least one neighboring pixel corresponding to at least one direction from among various directions toward the current pixel of the current image.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the calculating of the correction value comprises:

adjusting a weight to be allocated to each of the variations according to sizes of the variations; and

calculating the correction value of the predicted value of the current pixel by using the variations to which the adjusted weights are respectively allocated.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predicting of the value of the current pixel comprises:

determining a direction corresponding to a smallest variation from among the variations between the values of the neighboring pixels by analyzing the bitstream; and

predicting the value of the current pixel from neighboring pixels corresponding to the determined direction.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predicting of the value of the current pixel comprises:

determining a total number of pixels that are to be used in calculating the variations between the values of the neighboring pixels by analyzing the bitstream; and

predicting the value of the current pixel from at least one neighboring pixel from among the neighboring pixels based on the variations between the values of the determined total number of neighboring pixels.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a sequence of predicting pixels of the current image by analyzing the bitstream, and selecting the current pixel from among a plurality of pixels of the current image in the determined sequence.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting one of an intra prediction method performed in units of blocks specified in the H.264/AVC (Advanced Video Coding) standards, and an intra prediction method predicting the value of the current pixel in unit of pixel by analyzing the bitstream.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the variations between the values of the neighboring pixels are calculated using the differences between brightness values or chrominance signal values of the neighboring pixels.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein if the current image is divided into more than one block and a plurality of pixels present in each of the blocks are divided into more than one group, the neighboring pixels that are to be used in predicting the value of the current pixel are selected from among a group of already predicted pixels.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein during the predicting of the value of the current pixel, if the current image is divided into more than one block and a plurality of pixels present in each of the blocks are divided into more than one group, weights corresponding to each of the variations is calculated in units of the groups.

12. A method of encoding a moving picture, the method comprising:

predicting, by a processor, a value of a current pixel of a current image from among a plurality of images constituting a moving picture from at least one neighboring pixel from among neighboring pixels located in various directions toward the current pixel, based on the variations between values of the neighboring pixels;

generating a predicted image of the current image based on the predicted value of the current pixel; and

encoding the residue between the current image and the predicted image,

wherein the predicting of the value of the current pixel comprises:

calculating a correction value of the predicted value of the current pixel by using the variations between the values of the neighboring pixels; and

compensating for the predicted value of the current pixel by using the correction value.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein during the predicting of the value of the current pixel, the value of the current pixel is predicted from at least one neighboring pixel corresponding to a smallest variation from among the variations between values of the neighboring pixels.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the predicting of the value of the current pixel comprises:

predicting the value of the current pixel from at least one neighboring pixel corresponding to at least one direction from among the various directions toward the current pixel.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the calculating of the correction value comprises:

adjusting weights to be allocated to each of the variations according to sizes of the variations; and

calculating the correction value by using the variations to which the adjusted weights are respectively allocated.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein the variations between the values of the neighboring pixels are calculated using the differences between brightness values or chrominance signal values of the neighboring pixels.

17. The method of claim 12 , further comprising selecting one of an intra prediction method performed in units of blocks specified in the H.264/AVC (Advanced Video Coding) standards, and an intra prediction method predicting the value of the current pixel, according to characteristics of the current image.

18. The method of claim 12 , wherein if the current image is divided into more than one block and a plurality of pixels present in each of the blocks are divided into more than one group, the neighboring pixels that are to be used in predicting the value of the current pixel are selected from among a group of already predicted pixels.

19. The method of claim 12 , wherein during the predicting of the value of the current pixel, if the current image is divided into more than one block and a plurality of pixels present in each of the blocks are divided into more than one group, weights corresponding to each of the variations are calculated in units of the groups.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium having recorded thereon a computer program for executing a method of decoding a moving picture, the method comprising:

decoding a bitstream in order to reconstruct the residue between a current image from among a plurality of images constituting the moving picture, and a predicted image of the current image;

predicting a value of a current pixel of the current image from at least one neighboring pixel from among neighboring pixels located in various directions toward the current pixel, based on the variations between values of the neighboring pixels; and

generating a reconstructed image of the current image by combining the reconstructed residue with the predicted image containing predicted pixel values,

wherein the predicting of the value of the current pixel comprises:

calculating a correction value of the predicted value of the current pixel by using the variations between the values of the neighboring pixels; and

compensating for the predicted value of the current pixel by using the correction value.