EP0358498A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Method and apparatus for generating animated images
Assignee: New York Institute of Technology
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Filing: 1989-09-07
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2009-09-07
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus is disclosed for generating electronic representations of animated images from stored image data elements with reduced computational requirements. The image data elements may be made available from one or more data base sources (150), and may be of any suitable form from which images can be computed. A first sequence of relatively low resolution frames are computed (210) from the stored image data elements, this first sequence of frames representing animated images over a given time period. A second sequence of relatively high resolution frames are computed (220) from the stored image data elements, this second sequence of frames representing the animated images over the given time period. The number of frames in the second sequence is less than the number of frames in the first sequence. Corresponding frames of the first and second sequence are combined (230) to obtain output high resolution frames representative of the animated images over the given time period. The preferred embodiment of the invention, further includes the following steps: spatially interpolating (421) each of the frames of the first sequence to increase the number of pixels in the spatially interpolated frames, and temporally interpolating (421) between frames of the second sequence to obtain further frames in the sequence. In this embodiment, the combining step (230) includes combining the interpolated first sequence frames with second sequence frames and further second sequence frames.
Inventors
- 👤 Frederic I. Parke
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 10:34
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06T; G06T13/00; H; H04; H04N; H04N11/00; H04N11/24; H04N5/00; H04N5/76; H04N5/765
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 24
Claim 1
Independent Claim
109 words
A method for generating electronic representations of animated images from stored image data elements (150), comprising the steps of: computing (210), from said stored data elements, a first sequence of relatively low resolution frames representing animated images over a given time period; computing (220), from said stored image data elements, a second sequence of relatively high resolution images over the given time period, the number of frames in said second sequence being less than the number of frames in said first sequence; and combining (230) corresponding frames of said first and second sequences to obtain output high resolution frames representative of said animated images over said given time period.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
109 words
A method for generating electronic representations of animated images from stored image data elements (150), comprising the steps of: computing (210), from said stored data elements, a first sequence of relatively low resolution frames representing animated images over a given time period; computing (220), from said stored image data elements, a second sequence of relatively high resolution images over the given time period, the number of frames in said second sequence being less than the number of frames in said first sequence; and combining (230) corresponding frames of said first and second sequences to obtain output high resolution frames representative of said animated images over said given time period.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein there are at least twice as many computed frames of the first sequence as there are computed frames of the second sequence.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
65 words
A method according to claim 1 or claim 2, further comprising the steps of: spatially interpolating (421) each of the frames of the first sequence to increase the number of pixels in the spatially interpolated frames; and temporally interpolating (431) between frames of the second sequence; the combining step including combining the interpolated first sequence frames with second sequence frames and further second sequence frames.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
73 words
A method according to claim 3, wherein the spatial interpolation (421) of the first sequence of frames produces interpolated frames having the same number of pixels as the frames of the second sequence of frames; and wherein the temporal interpolation (431) of the second sequence of frames produces a total number of second sequence frames and further second sequence frames that is the same as the number of frames in the first sequence.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
41 words
A method according to claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the combining step (230) comprises combining the values of corresponding pixels of corresponding frames of the first and second sequences of frames after the spatial and temporal interpolations have been performed.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
59 words
A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the computing (210) of a first sequence of relatively low resolution frames includes low-pass filtering (325) the information in the relatively low resolution frames, and the computing (220) of a second sequence of relatively high resolution frames includes high-pass filtering (355) the information in the relatively high resolution frames.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
32 words
A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the combining step (230) comprises combining the values of corresponding pixels of corresponding frames of the first and second sequences of frames.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
36 words
A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least part of the combining step (230) is performed while the steps (210, 220) of computing the first and second sequences are still being performed.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
84 words
A method according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising the step of computing (530), from the stored image data elements, a third sequence of intermediate resolution frames representing animated images over the given time period, the number of frames in the third sequence being less than the number of frames in the first sequence and greater than the number of frames in the second sequence, and wherein the combining step (540) includes combining corresponding frames of the first, second, and third sequences.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
79 words
A method according to claim 9, wherein the computing (210) of a first sequence of relatively low resolution frames includes low pass filtering (211) the information in the relatively low resolution frames, the computing (520) of a second sequence of relatively high resolution frames includes highpass filtering (521) the information in the relatively high resolution frames, and the computing (530) of a third sequence of intermediate resolution frames includes bandpass filtering (531) the information in the intermediate resolution frames.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
109 words
A method according to claim 9 or claim 10, further comprising the steps of: spatially interpolating each of the frames of the first sequence to increase the number of pixels in the spatially interpolated frames; spatially interpolating each of the frames of the third sequence to increase the number of pixels in the spatially interpolated third sequence frames and temporally interpolating between spatially interpolated third sequence frames to obtain further third sequence frames; and temporally interpolating between the frames of the second sequence to obtain further frames in the second sequence; wherein the combining step (540) includes combining frames and interpolated frames of the first, second and third sequences.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
21 words
A method according to claim 11, wherein the frames of the third sequence are temporally interpolated before they are spatially interpolated.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method according to claim 11 or claim 12, wherein the spatial and temporal interpolations result in all sequences of frames having the same number of frames and the same number of pixels per frame.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
41 words
A method according to any of claims 11 to 13, combining step (540) comprises combining the values of corresponding pixels of corresponding frames of the first, second and third sequences of frames after the spatial and temporal interpolations have been performed.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
115 words
Apparatus for generating electronic representations of animated images from stored image data elements, comprising: means (100) for computing, from the stored image data elements, a first sequence of relatively low resolution frames representing animated images over a given time period; means (100) for computing, from the stored image data elements, a second sequence of relatively high resolution frames representing the animated images over the given time period, the number of frames in the second sequence being less than the number of frames in the first sequence; and means (100) for combining corresponding frames of the first and second sequences to obtain output high resolution frames representative of the animated images over the given time period.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
115 words
Apparatus for generating electronic representations of animated images from stored image data elements, comprising: means (100) for computing, from the stored image data elements, a first sequence of relatively low resolution frames representing animated images over a given time period; means (100) for computing, from the stored image data elements, a second sequence of relatively high resolution frames representing the animated images over the given time period, the number of frames in the second sequence being less than the number of frames in the first sequence; and means (100) for combining corresponding frames of the first and second sequences to obtain output high resolution frames representative of the animated images over the given time period.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
70 words
Apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising: means for spatially interpolating each of the frames of the first sequence to increase the number of pixels in the spatially interpolated frames; and means for temporally interpolating between frames of the second sequence to obtain further frames in the sequence; wherein the combining means includes means for combining the interpolated first sequence frames with second sequence frames and further second sequence frames.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
71 words
Apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the means for spatially interpolating the first sequence of frames produces interpolated frames having the same number of pixels as the frames of the second sequence of frames; and wherein the temporal interpolation of the second sequence of frames produces a total number of second sequence frames and further second sequence frames that is the same as the number of frames in the first sequence.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
60 words
Apparatus according to claim 16 or claim 17, wherein the means for computing a first sequence of relatively low resolution frames includes means for low-pass filtering the information in the relatively low resolution frames, and the means for computing a second sequence of relatively high resolution frames includes means for high-pass filtering the information in said relatively high resolution frames.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
83 words
Apparatus according to any of claims 15 to 18, further comprising means for computing, from the stored image data elements, a third sequence of intermediate resolution frames representing animated images over the given time period, the number of frames in the third sequence being less than the number of frames in the first sequence and greater than the number of frames in the second sequence, and wherein the combining means includes means for combining corresponding frames of the first, second, and third sequences.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
29 words
Apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the means for computing a third sequence of intermediate resolution frames includes means for bandpass filtering the information in said intermediate resolution frames.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
113 words
Apparatus according to claim 19 or claim 20 further comprising: means for spatially interpolating each of the frames of the first sequence to increase the number of pixels in the spatially interpolated frames; means for spatially interpolating each of the frames of the third sequence to increase the number of pixels in the spatially interpolated third sequence frames and means for temporally interpolating between spatially interpolated third sequence frames to obtain further third sequence frames; and means for temporally interpolating between frames of said second sequence to obtain further frames in said second sequence; wherein the combining means includes means for combining frames and interpolated frames of said first, second and third sequences.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
28 words
Apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the means for interpolating the frames of the third sequence is operative to temporally interpolate the frames before they are spatially interpolated.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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