Method and apparatus for controlling dynamic depth of stereo-view or multi-view sequence images

1. A method of controlling a dynamic depth of stereo-view or multi-view images, the method comprising:

receiving stereo-view or multi-view images;

generating a disparity histogram by estimating a disparity of two images corresponding to the stereo-view or multi-view images which are received and measuring a frequency of the estimated disparity;

determining a disparity control amount of the stereo-view or multi-view images by convoluting the generated disparity histogram and a characteristic function; and

rearranging stereo-view or multi-view images by controlling parallax according to the disparity control amount.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating the disparity histogram comprises determining whether the stereo-view or multi-view images which are received are encoded.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein, if it is determined that the stereo-view or multi-view images are encoded, the generating the disparity histogram comprises:

extracting a disparity vector of a macroblock by decoding the stereo-view or multi-view images which are received; and

generating the disparity histogram using a frequency of the disparity vector.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the generating of the disparity histogram using the frequency of the disparity vector comprises:

comparing a number of cases n when the macroblock is in a skip mode to an entire number N of macroblocks with a threshold value T set as an experiment value; and

generating the disparity histogram using the frequency of the disparity vector if

n

N

<

T

,

and using a frequency of an estimated disparity of the macroblock if

n

N

is not smaller than T.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein, if it is determined that the stereo view or multi-view images are not encoded, the generating the disparity histogram comprises generating the disparity histogram using a frequency of an estimated disparity of the macroblock.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the characteristic function comprises one of a discrete characteristic function, a triangular function, a linear function, a quadratic function, a cubic function, and a nonsymmetrical function.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the disparity control amount comprises:

using a nonsymmetrical function having a weight on a right side as the characteristic function if the received images are background images;

obtaining a movement amount when the nonsymmetrical function has a right peak value of an output value, via a convolution using the nonsymmetrical function; and

determining a value obtained by converting the movement amount to a pixel unit as the disparity control amount.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the disparity control amount comprises:

using a symmetrical function as the characteristic function if the stereo-view or multi-view images comprise objects and backgrounds;

obtaining a movement amount if the symmetrical function has a maximum value of an output value, via a convolution using the symmetrical function; and

determining a value obtained by converting the movement amount to a pixel unit as the disparity control amount.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the determining the disparity control amount, a value obtained by converting parallax within ±7° to a pixel unit is a range of the characteristic function.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the rearranging of the stereo-view or multi-view input images comprises controlling the parallax by horizontally moving the stereo-view or multi-view images by a value corresponding to half of the disparity control amount.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the rearranging of the stereo-view or multi-view input images comprises one of:

maintaining the stereo-view or multi-view images so as to have a same size of an input image; and

adjusting the stereo-view or multi-view images to a display form by cutting off boundaries of each of the stereo-view or multi-view images by a value corresponding to half of the disparity control amount.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing moving average filtering in order to prevent a jitter phenomenon.

13. An apparatus for controlling a dynamic depth of stereo-view or multi-view images, the apparatus comprising:

a receiver which receives stereo-view or multi-view images;

a disparity estimator which generates a disparity histogram by estimating a disparity of two images corresponding to the stereo-view or multi-view images and measuring a frequency of the estimated disparity;

a disparity control amount determiner which determines a disparity control amount of the stereo-view or multi-view images by convoluting the generated disparity histogram and a characteristic function; and

an image rearranger which rearranges stereo-view or multi-view input images by controlling parallax according to the disparity control amount.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the disparity estimator comprises a decoding determiner which determines whether the stereo-view or multi-view images are encoded.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein, if it is determined that the stereo-view or multi-view images are encoded, the disparity estimator extracts a disparity vector of a macroblock by decoding the stereo-view or multi-view images and generates the disparity histogram using the frequency of the disparity vector.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the disparity estimator compares a number of cases n when the macroblock is in a skip mode to an entire number N of the macroblocks with a threshold value T set as an experimental value and generates the disparity histogram using the frequency of the disparity vector if

n

N

<

T

,

and using a frequency of an estimated disparity of the macroblock if

n

N

is not smaller than T.

17. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein, if it is determined that the stereo-view and multi-view images are not encoded, the disparity estimator generates the disparity histogram using a frequency of an estimated disparity of a macroblock.

18. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the characteristic function comprises one of a discrete characteristic function, a triangular function, a linear function, a quadratic function, a cubic function, and a nonsymmetrical function.

19. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the disparity control amount determiner uses a nonsymmetrical function having a weight on a right side as the characteristic function if the stereo-view and multi-view images are background images, obtains a movement amount if the nonsymmetrical function has a right peak value of an output value, via a convolution using the nonsymmetrical function, and determines a value obtained by converting the movement amount to a pixel unit as the disparity control amount.

20. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the disparity control amount determiner uses a symmetrical function as the characteristic function if the stereo-view and multi-view images comprise objects and backgrounds, obtains a movement amount if the symmetrical function has the maximum value of an output value, via a convolution using the symmetrical function, and determines a value obtained by converting the movement amount to a pixel unit as the disparity control amount.

21. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the disparity control amount determiner has a value obtained by converting parallax within ±7° to a pixel unit as a range of the characteristic function.

22. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the image rearranger controls the parallax by horizontally moving the stereo-view or multi-view images by a value corresponding to half of the disparity control amount.

23. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the image rearranger performs one of maintaining the stereo-view multi-view images so as to have the same size of an input image, and adjusting the stereo-view multi-view images to a display form by cutting off boundaries of each of the stereo-view or multi-view images by a value corresponding to half of the disparity control amount.

24. The apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising a jitter remover which performs moving average filtering in order to prevent a jitter phenomenon.

25. The apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising a user interface which can control the dynamic depth by receiving at least one of a range of parallax and the disparity control amount via a user input signal.