Method and apparatus for reduced complexity video processing via special chroma handling
A method and apparatus for reduced complexity video and image processing with special chroma handling are disclosed. Frame-type decisions are made on a video stream made up of a sequence of frames. A first subset of the frames are selected to be monochrome and generated without chroma data. A second subset of the frames are selected to be in color and generated with chroma components. In one embodiment, the first subset of frames includes odd frames and the second subset of frames includes even frames in the video stream. Under higher video frame rates, the lack of color in every other frame is not visible to the end viewer. Accordingly, subsequent processing of the output video stream permits luma-only processing of many frames in the video stream, extensively reducing the amount of computation.
1. A method for reduced-complexity video processing comprising:
receiving information for a sequence of images;
designating a first subset of images from the sequence of images to be processed with corresponding chroma components and designating a second subset of images from the sequence of images to be processed without corresponding chroma components, for each corresponding chroma components; of the first subset of images,
increasing an intensity of the chroma component by subtracting an offset from the chroma component;
multiplying the chroma component by a gain value to generate a scaled chroma component; and
adding the offset back to the scaled chroma component.
2. A method for reduced-complexity video processing comprising:
receiving information for a sequence of images;
designating a first subset of images from the sequence of images to be processed with corresponding chroma components and designating a second subset of images from the sequence of images to be processed without corresponding chroma components;
rendering graphics primitives based on the received information and the designations of the first subset of images and the second subset of images, wherein the received information includes instructions for rendering graphics primitives; and
modifying pixel values stored in memory based on the rendered graphics primitives and the designations of the first subset of images and the second subset of images, wherein the pixel values for the second subset of images are stored without chroma components.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the designation of the second subset of images further comprises processing the second subset of images by treating the corresponding chroma components as having zero value.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the designation of the first subset of images further comprises processing the first subset of images with corresponding chroma components.
5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the designation of the first subset of images further comprises processing the first subset of images with enhanced corresponding chroma components.
6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first subset of images includes odd numbered images in the sequence of images and the second subset of images includes even-numbered images in the sequence of images.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first subset of images is included in an input video data stream and the second subset of images is generated during frame-rate conversion to generate an output video data stream with twice the frame rate.
8. The method of claim 2 wherein the designation of the second subset of images is such that only a portion of the second subset of images is designated to be processed without corresponding chroma components.
9. A non-transient computer-readable storage medium configured to execute the method of claim 2 .
10. A processing device for reduced complexity video processing comprising: an input configured to receive information for a first subset of images and a second subset of images;
a frame-type decision block configured to designate the first subset of images to be processed with corresponding chroma components and designate the second subset of images to be processed without corresponding chroma components;
a processing block configured to process the first subset of images with enhanced corresponding chroma components based on the designation of the first subset of images; for each corresponding chroma component of the first subset of images, the processing block being further configured to:
increase an intensity of each chroma component by subtracting an offset from the chroma component;
multiply the chroma component by a gain value to generate a scaled chroma component; and
add the offset back to the scaled chroma component.
11. A processing device for reduced complexity video processing comprising:
an input configured to receive information for a first subset of images and a second subset of images;
a frame-type decision block configured to designate the first subset of images to be processed with corresponding chroma components and designate the second subset of images to be processed without corresponding chroma components;
a render engine configured to render graphics primitives based on the received information and the designations of the first subset of images and the second subset of images, wherein the received information includes instructions for rendering graphics primitives; and
a memory controller configured to modify pixel values stored in memory based on the rendered graphics primitives and the designations of the first subset of images and the second subset of images, wherein the pixel values for the second subset of images are stored without chroma components.
12. The processing device of claim 11 wherein the received information is an input video data stream.
13. The processing device of claim 11 configured as a frame-rate conversion processor.
14. The processing device of claim 11 configured as a graphics processor.
15. The processing device of claim 11 wherein the frame-type decision block is configured to designate only a portion of the second subset of images to be processed without corresponding chroma components.
16. A processing device for reduced complexity video processing comprising:
an input configured to receive information for a first image and a second image;
a frame-type decision block configured to designate the first image to be processed with corresponding chroma components and designate the second image to be processed without corresponding chroma components; and
a processing block configured to process the first image with enhanced corresponding chroma components based on the designation of the first image, wherein for each corresponding chroma component of the first image, the processing block is further configured to:
increase an intensity of each chroma component by subtracting an offset from the chroma component;
multiply the chroma component by a gain value to generate a scaled chroma component; and
add the offset back to the scaled chroma component.
17. A method for reduced-complexity video processing comprising:
receiving information for a first image and a second image;
designating the first image to be processed with corresponding chroma components and designating the second image to be processed without corresponding chroma components, wherein the designation of the first image further comprises processing the first image with enhanced corresponding chroma components;
for each corresponding chroma component of the first image:
increasing an intensity of the chroma component by subtracting an offset from the chroma component;
multiplying the chroma component by a gain value to generate a scaled chroma component; and
adding the offset back to the scaled chroma component.
18. A processing device for reduced complexity video processing comprising:
an input configured to receive information for a first image and a second image;
a frame-type decision block configured to designate the first image to be processed with corresponding chroma components and designate the second image to be processed without corresponding chroma components;
a processing block configured to process the first image with enhanced corresponding chroma components based on the designation of the first image;
a render engine configured to render graphics primitives based on the received information and the designations of the first and second images, wherein the received information includes instructions for rendering graphics primitives; and
a memory controller configured to modify pixel values stored in memory based on the rendered graphics primitives and the designations of the first and second images, wherein the pixel values for the second image are stored without chroma components.
19. A non-transient computer-readable storage medium configured to execute the method of claim 17 .
20. A non-transient computer-readable storage medium configured to execute the method of claim 1 .