JP2004007396A - Stereoscopic image processing method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To generate or display an appropriate stereoscopic image to a user even when an image to be displayed or a display unit is changed, to adjust a stereognostic sense in stereoscopic display by a simple operation, to reduce the load of a programmer at the time of preparing properly and stereoscopically displayable contents or applications, and to provide a technology to realize a proper stereoscopic display as a business model. <P>SOLUTION: A stereognostic sense adjusting part 112 displays a stereoscopic image to a user. When a displayed object comes to marginal parallax, the user responds to the stereognostic sense adjusting part 112. A parallax control part 114 generates a parallax image to realize proper parallax in following stereoscopic display. The control of parallax is realized by optically setting a camera parameter according to three-dimensional data, and a function for realizing proper parallel is integrated into a library. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

変換を図３４で説明する。まず、Ｘ≧０かつＺ≧０の範囲を考える。点（Ｘ０，Ｙ０，Ｚ０）が縮小処理により点（Ｘ０，Ｙ０，Ｚ１）に移動したとき、縮小率Ｓｚは、

である。Ｃの座標は（Ｘ０，Ｙ０，０）でＤの座標は（Ｘ０，Ｙ０，Ｂ）である。
Ｅは直線と平面の交点であり、座標を（Ｘ０，Ｙ０，Ｚ２）とすると、Ｚ２は下のように求めることができる。
【０１２９】
Ｚ＝Ｂ−Ｘ×Ｂ／Ａ　（平面）
Ｘ＝Ｘ０，Ｙ＝Ｙ０　（直線）
Ｚ２＝Ｂ−Ｘ０×Ｂ／Ａ
したがって、

Ｘに対して一般に、
Ｓｚ＝１−Ｘ／Ａ
となる。ＸとＺの他の範囲についても同様の計算を行うと、以下の結果が得られ、変換が検証できる。
【０１３０】
Ｘ≧０のとき、Ｓｚ＝１−Ｘ／Ａ
Ｘ＜０のとき、Ｓｚ＝１＋Ｘ／Ａ
図３５は歪変換の別の例を示す。より厳密にはカメラから放射状に撮影が行われることを考慮し、Ｘ軸、Ｙ軸方向の縮小処理も組み合わせている。ここでは、二つのカメラの中心をカメラ位置の代表として変換を行う。変換式は以下の通りである。
【数２】

図３６はこの変換を検証する。ここでも、Ｘ≧０かつＺ≧０の範囲を考える。点（Ｘ０，Ｙ０，Ｚ０）が縮小処理により点（Ｘ１，Ｙ１，Ｚ１）に移動したとき、縮小率Ｓｘ、Ｓｙ、Ｓｚは、

となる。Ｅは平面と直線の交点なので、前述と同様Ｓｘ、Ｓｙ、Ｓｚを求めることができる。
【０１３１】
なお、以上のように変換後の空間を平面の集合で表すと、面同士の接線を境に処理が変化し、場合により違和感が生じうる。その場合は曲面で接続するか、曲面だけで空間を構成してもよい。計算は曲面と直線の交点Ｅを求めるものに変わるだけである。
【０１３２】
また、以上の例では、縮小率は同一直線ＣＤ上では同じとなるが、重み付けを行ってもよい。例えばＳｘ、Ｓｙ、Ｓｚに、カメラからの距離Ｌに対する重み付け関数Ｇ（Ｌ）をかければよい。
【０１３３】
図３７から図４０までは、第３の立体画像処理装置１００の歪処理部１７４による処理とその原理を示す。
図３７は第３の立体画像処理装置１００に入力されたデプス情報付画像のデプスマップを示し、ここではデプスの範囲がＫ１〜Ｋ２の値をもつとする。ここでは近置のデプスを正、遠置のデプスを負で表す。
【０１３４】
図３８は元のデプス範囲２４０と変換後のデプス範囲２４２の関係を示す。デプスは画像周辺部に行くにしたがって一定値に近づく。歪処理部１７４はこの補正にしたがうようデプスマップを変換する。垂直方向に視差をもたせる場合も同様である。この変換もＺ方向の縮小のみなので、以下の式で表現できる。
【数３】

なお、ＳｚはＸの値により場合分けされ、
Ｘ≧０のとき、Ｓｚ＝１−２Ｘ／Ｌ
Ｘ＜０のとき、Ｓｚ＝１＋２Ｘ／Ｌ
となる。以上の変換により、図３９に示す新たな要素をもつ新たなデプスマップが生成される。
【０１３５】
図４０はデプスマップに対する別の歪変換の原理を示す。空間は、より厳密にはユーザ１０から放射状に観察されるので、Ｘ軸、Ｙ軸方向の縮小処理も組み合わせている。ここでは、眼間中心を観察位置としている。具体的な処理は図３６の場合と同じ式になる。なお、もともとのデプスマップはＺ値しか持たないが、この計算を行う場合はＸ値とＹ値も保持することになる。Ｚ値はＸ方向あるいはＹ方向の画素シフト量に変換されるが、Ｘ値とＹ値はそれらに対するオフセット値として保持すればよい。
【０１３６】
いずれにしても、歪処理部１７４で変換されたデプスマップともとの画像は二次元画像生成部１７８へ入力され、ここで適正視差になるよう水平方向にシフトした合成処理が行われる。その詳細は後述する。
【０１３７】
図４１〜図５１は、第２の立体画像処理装置１００の位置シフト部１６０、およびその延長と把握できる第３の立体画像処理装置１００の二次元画像生成部１７８の処理を示す。
図４１は位置シフト部１６０による二つの視差画像の合成位置のシフト原理を示す。同図のごとく、初期状態では右眼画像Ｒと左眼画像Ｌの位置は一致している。しかし、同図上部のごとく左眼画像Ｌを相対的に右へシフトすると、近置点の視差は増加し、遠置点の視差は減少する。逆に、同図下部のごとく左眼画像Ｌを相対的に左へシフトすると、近置点の視差は減少し、遠置点の視差は増加する。
【０１３８】
以上が視差画像のシフトによる視差調整の本質である。画像のシフトは一方であってもよいし、両方を互いに逆方向にシフトしてもよい。またこの原理から、立体表示方式は、メガネ方式やメガネなし方式を問わず、視差を利用している全ての方式に適用できることが分かる。多視点映像や垂直方向の視差に対しても同様の処理が可能である。
【０１３９】
図４２はシフト処理を画素レベルで示す。左眼画像２００と右眼画像２０２には、ともに第１四角形２５０と第２四角形２５２が写っている。第１四角形２５０には近置視差がついており、その視差量を正数であらわすと、「６画素」となる。これに対し第２四角形２５２は遠置視差がついており、その視差量を負数であらわすと、「−６画素」となる。ここで、この視差量をそれぞれＦ２、Ｆ１とする。
【０１４０】
一方、ユーザが保有する表示装置の適正視差がＪ１〜Ｊ２であることが分かったとする。位置シフト部１６０は両画像の合成開始位置を互いに（Ｊ２−Ｆ２）画素シフトさせる。図４３はそのシフトの終了後の状態で、いま、Ｆ１＝−６、Ｆ２＝６であり、また、Ｊ１＝−５、Ｊ２＝４であったとすると、合成開始位置は互いに−２画素、つまり遠置方向に全体がシフトする方向にずらされることになる。最終的な視差量は図４３のごとく、Ｅ１＝−８、Ｅ２＝４となり、少なくとも近置方向に関して限界視差内に収まる。一般に遠置方向と比較して、近置方向の二重像の方が違和感が強いとされ、かつ被写体は近置方向に配置された状態で撮影されることが多いので、基本的に近置方向の視差を限界内に収めることが望ましい。以下に処理例を示す。
１．近置点が限界視差外で、遠置点が限界視差内の場合は、近置点を限界視差点にシフトする。ただし、遠置点の視差が眼間距離に到達すれば処理をやめる。
２．近置点が限界視差外で、遠置点が限界視差外の場合は、近置点を限界視差点にシフトする。ただし、遠置点の視差が眼間距離に到達すれば処理をやめる。
３．近置点も遠置点も限界視差内の場合は処理しない。
４．近置点が限界視差内で、遠置点が限界視差外の場合は、遠置点を限界視差点にシフトするが、処理の途中で近置点が限界視差点に到達すれば処理をやめる。
【０１４１】
図４４は合成位置のシフトによる画像端の欠落を示す。ここでは左眼画像２００と右眼画像２０２のシフト量が１画素であり、左眼画像２００の右端と右眼画像２０２の左端にそれぞれ１画素幅の欠落部分２６０が生じる。画像端調整部１６８はこのとき、図４４のように画像端の画素列を複製して水平画素数を補償する。
【０１４２】
これ以外の方法として、欠落部分２６０は黒または白など特定の色で表示してもよいし、非表示にしてもよい。更に初期画像のサイズと同じになるように切り出しや付け加え処理を施してもよい。また、予め初期画像のサイズを実際の表示サイズより大きくしておき、欠落部分２６０が表示に影響しないよう配慮してもよい。
【０１４３】
図４５は第２の立体画像処理装置１００による視差の手動調整の流れである。同図のごとく、まず視差画像として左右画像が人手で作成され（Ｓ１０）、これがネットワークその他のルートで配布される（Ｓ１２）。これを第２の立体画像処理装置１００が受け取り（Ｓ１４）、この図の例では、まずはそのままシフトなしの通常の状態で画像を合成して表示する（Ｓ１６）。すなわち、ここでは適正視差がまだ取得されていない場合や位置シフト部１６０を動作させていない場合を考えている。続いて、立体表示された視差画像に対してユーザが立体感調整部１１２を介して視差の調整を指示し、これを位置シフト部１６０が「手動調整モード」で受け、画像合成位置を調整して表示する（Ｓ１８）。なお、Ｓ１０とＳ１２は画像クリエータの手続２７０、Ｓ１４以降は第２の立体画像処理装置１００の手続２７２である。また、図示しないが、このシフト量をヘッダに記録し、次回から参照して合成すれば、再調整の手間が省ける。
【０１４４】
図４６は第２の立体画像処理装置１００による自動調整の流れを示す。画像クリエータの手続２７０である、左右画像の生成（Ｓ３０）、画像配布（Ｓ３２）は図４５と同じである。また、第２の立体画像処理装置１００の手続２７２のうち、画像受取（Ｓ３４）も同様である。次に、視差量検出部１５０のマッチング部１５８によって視差画像間に予め付けられている視差、特に最大視差を検出し（Ｓ３６）、一方、視差情報保持部１２０から適正視差、特に限界視差を取得する（Ｓ３８）。この後、位置シフト部１６０が前述の処理によって限界視差を満たすよう画像の合成位置をシフトし（Ｓ４０）、視差書込部１６４、画像端調整部１６８、フォーマット変換部１１６による処理を経て立体表示される（Ｓ４２）。
【０１４５】
図４７は、第２の立体画像処理装置１００による更に別の自動調整の流れを示す。画像クリエータの手続２７０で左右画像の生成（Ｓ５０）した後、この時点で最大視差を検出して（Ｓ５２）視差画像のいずれかの視点画像のヘッダへ記録しておく（Ｓ５４）。この検出は対応点マッチングで実施してもよいが、クリエータが手作業で視差画像を生成したときは、その編集過程で当然に既知であるため、これを記録すればよい。この後、画像を配布する（Ｓ５６）。
【０１４６】
一方、第２の立体画像処理装置１００の手続２７２のうち、画像受取（Ｓ５８）は図４６と同様である。次に、視差量検出部１５０のヘッダ検査部１５６によって前述の最大視差をヘッダから読み出す（Ｓ６０）。一方、視差情報保持部１２０から限界視差を取得し（Ｓ６２）、以下の処理Ｓ６４、Ｓ６６は図４６の処理Ｓ４０、Ｓ４２とそれぞれ同じである。この方法によれば、最大視差を計算する必要がない。また、画像全体に適切な立体感を実現できる。更に、シフト量はヘッダに記録できるため、原画像自体を損なうおそれがない。なお、図示しないが、図４６でも検出された最大視差をヘッダに記録すれば、つぎからは図４７の手続にしたがって処理することができる。
【０１４７】
なお、多眼式でも同様の処理が可能で、それぞれ隣り合う視点画像間の視差量に対して同様の処理を行えばよい。ただし、実際にはそれら複数の視点画像間の視差のうちの最大の視差によって全視点画像間の「最大視差」とみなし、合成位置のシフト量を決めてもよい。
【０１４８】
ヘッダ情報は多視点画像の少なくともひとつにあればよいとしたが、多視点画像が１枚の画像に合成されている場合はその画像のヘッダを利用すればよい。
【０１４９】
更に、すでに合成済みの画像が配布される場合もあるが、その場合はいちど逆変換処理で画像を分離し、合成位置シフト量を計算して再合成するか、それと結果が同じになるよう画素の並べ替え処理を行えばよい。
【０１５０】
図４８〜図５１は、合成位置のシフトをデプス情報付画像について行う処理を示す。これは第３の立体画像処理装置１００の二次元画像生成部１７８にて行われる。図４８、図４９はそれぞれデプス情報付画像を構成する平面画像２０４とデプスマップである。ここでは近置デプスを正、遠置デプスを負で表している。オブジェクトとして第１四角形２５０、第２四角形２５２、第３四角形２５４が存在し、第１四角形２５０はデプス「４」、第２四角形２５２は「２」、第３四角形２５４は「−４」である。第１四角形２５０は最近置点、第２四角形２５２は中間近置点、第３四角形２５４が最遠置点にある。
【０１５１】
二次元画像生成部１７８は、もとの平面画像２０４を基礎として、まず、各画素をデプスマップの値分だけシフトさせる処理を行い、他方の視点画像を生成する。基準を左眼画像とすると、もとの平面画像２０４はそのまま左眼画像となる。第１四角形２５０を左に４画素、第２四角形２５２を左に２画素、第３四角形２５４を右に４画素シフトし、図５０のごとく、右眼画像２０２が作成される。画像端調整部１６８は、オブジェクトの移動による画素情報の欠落部分２６０を視差が「０」である、背景と判断される近接画素によって埋める。
【０１５２】
続いて二次元画像生成部１７８は、適正視差を満たすデプスを計算する。デプスの範囲をＫ１〜Ｋ２とし、各画素のデプス値をＧｘｙとすると、デプスマップは図３７においてＨｘｙをＧｘｙへ変更した形になる。また、ユーザが保有する表示装置の適正視差がＪ１〜Ｊ２であることが分かったとする。この場合、そのデプスマップにおいて、各画素のデプス値Ｇは以下のように変換され、新しいデプス値Ｆｘｙが得られる。
【０１５３】
Ｆｘｙ＝Ｊ１＋（Ｇｘｙ−Ｋ１）×（Ｊ２−Ｊ１）／（Ｋ２−Ｋ１）
前述の例では、Ｋ１＝−４、Ｋ２＝４であり、また、Ｊ１＝−３、Ｊ２＝２であったとすると、この変換式により、図４９のデプスマップは図５１のデプスマップへ変換される。すなわち、「４」は「２」へ、「２」は「１」へ、「−４」は「−３」へそれぞれ変換される。Ｋ１とＫ２の間の中間値は、Ｊ１とＪ２の間に変換される。例えば第２四角形２５２はＧｘｙ＝２で、Ｆｘｙ＝０．７５となる。Ｆｘｙが整数にならない場合は、四捨五入や近置視差が小さくなるような処理を施せばよい。
【０１５４】
なお、上述の変換式は線形変換の例であるが、更にＧｘｙに対する重み付け関数Ｆ（Ｇｘｙ）をかけたり、その他いろいろな非線形変換も考えられる。また、もとの平面画像２０４から、オブジェクトを互いに逆方向にシフトして新たに左右画像を生成することもできる。多眼式の場合は同様の処理を複数回行い、多視点画像を生成すればよい。
【０１５５】
以上が実施の形態に係る立体画像処理装置１００の構成および動作である。　立体画像処理装置１００は装置として説明したが、これはハードウエアとソフトウエアの組合せでもよく、ソフトウエアのみでも構成できる。その場合、立体画像処理装置１００の任意の部分をライブラリ化して各種プログラムから呼びだし可能にすると利便性が高い。プログラマは立体表示の知識が必要となる部分のプログラミングをスキップできる。ユーザにとっては、ソフトウエアやコンテンツによらず、立体表示に関する操作、すなわちＧＵＩが共通になり、設定した情報は他のソフトウエアでも共有できるため再設定の手間が省ける。
【０１５６】
なお、立体表示に関する処理ではなく、情報を複数のプログラム間で共有するだけでも有用である。各種プログラムはその情報を参照して画像の状態を決定できる。共有される情報の例は、前述の立体画像処理装置１００の情報取得部１１８で取得される情報である。この情報を図示しない記録部または補正マップ保持部１４０などに保持しておけばよい。
【０１５７】
図５２〜図５４は、以上の立体画像処理装置１００をライブラリとして利用する一例を示す。図５２は立体表示ライブラリ３００の用途を示す。立体表示ライブラリ３００は複数のプログラムＡ３０２、プログラムＢ３０４、プログラムＣ３０６などから関数を呼び出す形で参照される。パラメータファイル３１８には前述の情報のほか、ユーザの適正視差などが格納されている。立体表示ライブラリ３００はＡＰＩ（アプリケーションプログラムインタフェイス）３１０を介して複数の装置Ａ３１２、装置Ｂ３１４、装置Ｃ３１６などで利用される。
【０１５８】
プログラムＡ３０２等の例として、ゲーム、いわゆるＷｅｂ３Ｄと呼ばれる三次元アプリケーション、三次元デスクトップ画面、三次元地図、二次元画像である視差画像のビュア、デプス情報付画像などのビュアが考えられる。ゲームの中でも、当然ながら座標の使い方が違うものがあるが、立体表示ライブラリ３００はそれにも対応できる。
【０１５９】
一方、装置Ａ３１２等の例として、２眼や多眼のパララックスバリア式、シャッタめがね方式、偏光めがね方式など、視差を利用する任意の立体表示装置である。
【０１６０】
図５３は三次元データソフト４０２に立体表示ライブラリ３００が組み込まれた例を示す。三次元データソフト４０２はプログラム本体４０４と、そのために適正視差を実現する立体表示ライブラリ３００と、撮影指示処理部４０６を備える。プログラム本体４０４はユーザインタフェイス４１０を介してユーザと連絡する。撮影指示処理部４０６は、ユーザの指示にしたがって、プログラム本体４０４の動作中の所定の場面を仮想的にカメラ撮影する。撮影された画像は画像記録装置４１２に記録される。また、立体表示装置４０８へ出力される。
【０１６１】
例えば三次元データソフト４０２がゲームソフトであるとする。その場合、ユーザはゲーム中は立体表示ライブラリ３００によって適切な立体感を体験しながらゲームを実行できる。ゲーム中、ユーザが記録に残したい場合、例えば、対戦型戦闘ゲームで完全勝利をおさめたとき、ユーザインタフェイス４１０を介して撮影指示処理部４０６へ指示を出し、その場面を記録する。その際、立体表示ライブラリ３００を利用し、後に立体表示装置４０８で再生したときに適正視差となるよう視差画像が生成され、これが画像記録装置４１２の電子アルバム等へ記録される。なお、記録を視差画像という二次元画像で行うことにより、プログラム本体４０４の有する三次元データ自体は流出せず、著作権保護の面にも配慮することができる。
【０１６２】
図５４は、図５３の三次元データソフト４０２をネットワーク利用型のシステム４３０へ組み込んだ例を示す。
ゲーム機４３２は図示しないネットワークを介し、サーバ４３６と、ユーザ端末４３４に接続される。ゲーム機４３２は、いわゆるアーケードゲーム用で、通信部４４２、三次元データソフト４０２およびゲームをローカルに表示する立体表示装置４４０を備える。三次元データソフト４０２は図５３のものである。三次元データソフト４０２から立体表示装置４４０へ表示される視差画像は立体表示装置４４０について予め最適設定されている。三次元データソフト４０２による視差の調整は、後述のように通信部４４２を介してユーザへ画像を送信する際に利用される。ここで利用する表示装置は、視差を調整して立体画像を生成する機能を備えていればよく、必ずしも立体表示ができる装置でなくてもよい。
【０１６３】
ユーザ端末４３４は、通信部４５４、立体画像を見るためのビュアプログラム４５２および立体画像をローカルに表示する任意のサイズおよびタイプの立体表示装置４５０を備える。ビュアプログラム４５２には立体画像処理装置１００が実装されている。
【０１６４】
サーバ４３６は、通信部４６０、ゲームに関連してユーザが仮想的に撮影した画像を記録する画像保持部４６２、およびユーザの適正視差情報、ユーザのメールアドレスその他の個人情報などをユーザと対応づけて記録するユーザ情報保持部４６４を備える。サーバ４３６は例えばゲームの公式サイトとして機能し、ゲーム実行中にユーザが気に入った場面や名勝負の動画または静止画を記録する。立体表示は動画、静止画のいずれでも可能である。
【０１６５】
以上の構成における画像撮影の一例は以下の要領で行われる。ユーザは予めユーザ端末４３４の立体表示装置４５０で立体表示を行い、立体画像処理装置１００の機能をもとに適正視差を取得し、これを通信部４５４を介してサーバ４３６へ通知し、ユーザ情報保持部４６４へ格納してもらう。この適正視差は、ユーザの保有する立体表示装置４５０のハードウエアに関係のない汎用的な記述になっている。
【０１６６】
ユーザは任意のタイミングでゲーム機４３２によってゲームをする。その間、立体表示装置４４０には最初に設定されていた視差、またはユーザが手動調整した視差による立体表示がなされる。ゲームのプレイ中、またはリプレイ中、ユーザが画像の記録を希望すると、ゲーム機４３２の三次元データソフト４０２に内蔵された立体表示ライブラリ３００が、二つの通信部４４２、４６０を介してサーバ４３６のユーザ情報保持部４６４からこのユーザの適正視差を取得し、それに合わせて視差画像を生成し、再び二つの通信部４４２、４６０を介して画像保持部４６２へ仮想的に撮影された画像に関する視差画像を格納する。ユーザは自宅へ帰ったのち、この視差画像をユーザ端末４３４へダウンロードすれば、所望の立体感で立体表示ができる。その際も、ビュアプログラム４５２のもつ立体画像処理装置１００により、視差の手動調整は可能である。
【０１６７】
以上、この応用例によれば、本来、表示装置のハードウエアごと、ユーザごとに設定しなければならない立体感に関するプログラミングが立体画像処理装置１００および立体表示ライブラリ３００に集約されており、ゲームソフトのプログラマは立体表示に関する複雑な要件を一切気にする必要がない。これはゲームソフトに限らず、立体表示を利用する任意のソフトウエアについても同様であり、立体表示を利用するコンテンツやアプリケーションの開発の制約を解消する。したがって、これらの普及を飛躍的に促進することができる。
【０１６８】
特に、もともと三次元のＣＧデータが存在するゲームその他のアプリケーションの場合、従来は的確な立体表示をコーディングすることが困難であることも大きな原因となって、せっかく三次元データをもちながら、それを立体表示に利用しなかったことも多い。実施の形態に係る立体画像処理装置１００または立体表示ライブラリ３００によれば、そうした弊害を除去でき、立体表示アプリケーションの充実化に寄与することができる。
【０１６９】
なお、図５４ではユーザの適正視差をサーバ４３６に登録したが、ユーザはその情報を記録したＩＣカードなどを持参してゲーム機４３２を利用してもよい。このカードに、このゲームに関する得点や気に入った画像を記録してもよい。
【０１７０】
以上、本発明を実施の形態をもとに説明した。この実施の形態は例示であり、それらの各構成要素や各処理プロセスの組合せにいろいろな変形例が可能なこと、またそうした変形例も本発明の範囲にあることは当業者に理解されるところである。以下、そうした例を挙げる。
【０１７１】
第１の立体画像処理装置１００は、三次元データを入力することにより、高い精度で処理が可能である。しかし、三次元データをいったんデプス情報付画像へ落とし、これに対して第３の立体画像処理装置１００を利用して視差画像を生成してもよい。場合により、そのほうが計算コストが低いことがある。同じように複数の視点画像を入力する際も、高精度の対応点マッチングを用いてデプスマップを作ることも可能で、このようにしてデプス情報付画像へ落とし、これに対して第３の立体画像処理装置１００を利用して視差画像を生成してもよい。
【０１７２】
第１の立体画像処理装置１００において、カメラ仮配置部１３０を立体画像処理装置１００の構成としたが、これは立体画像処理装置１００の前処理であってもよい。カメラの仮配置までは、適正視差に関係なく処理できるためである。同様に、第１、第２、第３の立体画像処理装置１００を構成する任意の処理ユニットを立体画像処理装置１００の外部へ出すことも可能であり、立体画像処理装置１００の構成の自由度の高さは当業者に理解されるところである。
【０１７３】
実施の形態では、視差の制御を水平方向に行う場合を説明したが、同様の処理は垂直方向についても実施できる。
【０１７４】
立体表示ライブラリ３００や立体画像処理装置１００の動作中は、文字データを拡大処理するユニットを設けてもよい。例えば水平２視点による視差画像の場合、ユーザの目に見える画像の水平解像度は１／２になる。その結果、文字の可読性が低下しうるので、水平方向へ２倍に文字を引き延ばす処理が有効である。垂直方向にも視差がある場合、同様に垂直方向へ文字を引き延ばすことも有用である。
【０１７５】
立体表示ライブラリ３００や立体画像処理装置１００の動作中は、表示している画像に「３Ｄ」などの文字やマークを入れる「動作中表示部」を設けてもよい。その場合、ユーザは視差の調整が可能な画像であるか否かを知ることができる。
【０１７６】
立体表示／通常表示の切替ユニットを設けてもよい。このユニットはＧＵＩを含み、ユーザが所定のボタンをクリックすると、表示が立体表示から通常の二次元表示に切り替わり、その反対も可能な構成とすれば便利である。
【０１７７】
情報取得部１１８は必ずしもユーザ入力により情報を取得するのではなく、プラグアンドプレイなどの機能により自動的に取得できる情報があってもよい。
【０１７８】
実施の形態では、ＥとＡを導出する方法をとったが、これらを固定し、他のパラメータを導出する方法であってもよく、変数の指定は自由である。
【０１７９】
立体表示に関して、別の表現手法について提案する。一般的な、平面の画像表示では、「ある界面をオブジェクトが通過する」と行った、特に奥行き方向の表現には現実味という点で限界がある。また、窓の面に実際に空間と空間を隔てる界面があることを観察者に認識させることは困難である。そこで、以下に説明するように立体画像表示装置において立体的に物体を表示することで画面や枠といった実体と、画像内に表現されるオブジェクト上の界面とが一致するように認識させることが可能となり、このような表示により新しい表現方法が生まれる。一般に、表示画面やその周辺の枠は視覚的に認知されるので、これを窓のように利用する表示方法が考えられ、その面に空間と空間の界面や、板状のオブジェクトを配置する指定が必要となる。この場合、図１８に示した位置関係では、光軸交差位置Ｄが指定される。
【０１８０】
図１８に示した撮影系の位置関係では、基本表現空間Ｔ内での近置および遠置の限界視差をそれぞれＰ、Ｑとすると、
Ｅ：Ｓ＝Ｐ：Ａ
Ｅ：Ｓ＋Ｔ＝Ｑ：Ｔ−Ａ
の関係式が得られた。これら関係式を近置、遠置の限界視差それぞれついて解くと、
Ｅ＝ＰＳ／Ａ
Ｅ＝Ｑ（Ｓ＋Ｔ）／（Ｔ−Ａ）
が得られる。これら二つのＥのうち小さい方のＥを選択することで、適正視差範囲の立体画像が得られる。
【０１８１】
図５５は、三次元データにより構成された画像が表示画面４００に表示されている状態を示している。この画像は、水槽４１０の一つのガラス面４０１が表示画面４００と一致しており、水槽４１０内を魚３０１が泳いでいることが表現されている。表示画面４００より奥を遠置空間、手前を近置空間となるようが処理がなされれば、魚３０１は、図５６に示すように通常は遠置空間を泳いでいるように表され、そして時折、図５７に示すように「魚３０１が表示画面４００を突き破って近置空間に現れる」というような表現ができる。さらに、魚３０１が表示画面４００を通り抜ける際、例えば、「表示画面４００の周辺から水しぶきが飛び、魚３０１が通り抜けると界面が再生される。」という表現もできる。別の表現の例として、例えば「表示画面より手前の近置空間には水がないので、魚３０１は近置空間でしばらく泳ぐと息苦しくなり、再び界面、つまり表示画面４００を突き抜けて遠置空間に戻る。」という表現もできる。
【０１８２】
なお、必ずしも物体が界面を通過し、その後、物体が通過する際に壊れた界面が再生される必要はなく、界面が壊れたままの状態としたり、物体の衝突にあわせて界面が変形するが通過しないとしたり、更にその際に衝撃のみ伝わる、映像上の効果として例えば電気ショックが加わる、など界面と物体の相互作用に関する様々な表現ができることは明らかである。また、界面は、単ある面でもよいが、ガラスのような板状の物体や紙などの薄い物体を配置してもよい。また、界面は表示画面に完全に一致する必要はなく、その近辺であればよい。以上のような表現効果は、平面的な画像では十分に観察者に状況を伝えることができないのは明らかである。特に立体画像の起点となるオリジナルデータが三次元データであると、上述のような効果を表現するための編集が容易となる。
【０１８３】
このような、表示すべきオブジェクトが有する界面を表示画面に一致させる表現は、図５８に示す手法により生成することができる。つまり、三次元空間に仮想的な水槽４１０が配置され、その左側方に配置された二つの仮想カメラ４３０、４４０から視差を持つ二つの画像が生成される。その際二つの仮想カメラ４３０、４４０の光軸交差位置を水槽の一つの面と一致させる。また、このような画像は、図５９のように撮影することもできる。実際の水槽４１０上部に二台の仮想カメラ４３０、４４０を配置し水槽４１０を撮影する。その際、二台のカメラの光軸交差位置を水面に一致させる。
【０１８４】
図６０は、以上の処理を実現するための第４の立体画像処理装置１００の構成を示す。この立体画像処理装置１００は、図１１で示した第１の立体画像処理装置１００の立体感調整部１１２にオブジェクト指定部１８０が更に設けられた構成である。このオブジェクト指定部１８０は、ユーザの指定を受けたオブジェクトの界面を表示画面付近に位置させる、もしくは一致させる処理を行う。ここで、ユーザとしては、立体画像の制作者を想定し、上述の処理は立体画像の制作もしくは編集時になされる。なお、ユーザは観察者であってもよい。
【０１８５】
まず図６０に示す立体画像処理装置１００に関してその処理手順を説明する。オブジェクト指定部１８０はマウスなどの所定の入力装置によってユーザから二つの仮想カメラ４３０、４４０の光軸交差面に対応させるオブジェクトの指定を受付け、その指定されたオブジェクトを視差制御部１１４に通知する。視差制御部１１４、より具体的にはカメラ配置決定部１３２は、ユーザから指定されたオブジェクトが有する平面を二つの仮想カメラ４３０、４４０の光軸交差面になるように調整する。この処理以外の動作は、図１１に示した立体画像処理装置１００の動作と同一でよい。このようにして決められたオブジェクトには、表示画面付近に表示させることを示す情報が付加される。表示の際には適宜、それを読み出して光軸の交差距離Ｄを決め、先に述べた処理によりカメラ間距離Ｅを決める。
【０１８６】
また、別の表現手法について提案する。表示画面に表示すべきオブジェクトが複数存在する場合、必ずしも全てのオブジェクトを常に適正視差内に収める必要はない。時には、効果的な表示のために、ある条件下で、例えば一定期間だけ、一部のオブジェクトを適正視差の条件から外して表示してもよい。この手法として、静止オブジェクトに対して基本表現空間を決定することを上述したが、より詳しくは、オブジェクト毎に、立体表示すべきオブジェクトが含まれる基本表現空間内に表現すべきオブジェクトであるかを判別する情報（以下、単に「識別情報」ともいう）を持たせればよい。なお、基本表現空間内に表現すべき対象を、「基本表現空間の算出対象」ともいう。そしてこの識別情報をもとに、随時基本表現空間が決定されればよい。
【０１８７】
識別情報が必要に応じて適宜変更できるように構成されていれば、適正視差から外す条件を柔軟に設定することが可能である。例えば、識別情報に適正視差条件から外す時間の指定が記述されていれば、指定された時間が過ぎれば自動的に適正視差の範囲に戻るようにすることもできる。
【０１８８】
なお、このように一時的に一部のオブジェクトを、適正視差条件から外して表示画面に表示するため手法を以下に示す。例えば、図１１に示した第１の立体画像処理装置１００において、カメラ配置決定部１３２は、適正視差にしたがって仮設定されたカメラパラメータを修正したが、さらにその機能を以下のように拡張すればよい。つまり、カメラ配置決定部１３２はオブジェクト毎に関連づけられている識別情報を読みとり、その識別情報を反映させる形でカメラパラメータを配置する。
【０１８９】
さらに別の表現手法について提案する。基本表現空間の前面および背面、つまり近置限界である前方投影面と遠置限界である後方投影面が、あるオブジェクトによって決定されると、オブジェクトに対応した空間の前後の空間を移動する表現ができなくなる。図６１は、第４の立体画像処理装置１００により表示される画像に関して便宜的に奥行き方向、特に基本表現空間Ｔについて表している。本図左側に前方投影面３１０と右側に後方投影面３１２が設定されており、前方投影面３１０と後方投影面３１２との間が基本表現空間Ｔとなる。基本表現空間Ｔの範囲内には、静止オブジェクトとして前方投影面３１０側に家３５０が、後方投影面３１２側には木３７０が表現されている。さらに、それら二つの静止オブジェクトの上方の空間を動的なオブジェクトである鳥３３０が前方へ移動している。鳥３３０は、基本表現空間Ｔの範囲内で移動していれば、その動きを表現できるが、前方投影面３１０または後方投影面３１２に達した場合、それ以降は、鳥３３０が図６１の左側に示した鳥３３０のように前方投影面、あるいは図示しないが後方投影面３１２に位置するオブジェクトとなり、鳥３３０が最大視差に固定され、実空間でさらに前方もしくは後方に移動することができない。もし、少しでもオブジェクトを移動しているように表現することができれば、オブジェクトに対する臨場感を保つことが可能となる。
【０１９０】
上述したように、動的なオブジェクトを基本表現空間Ｔの対象から外す処理が考えられるが、上述のようにある効果を狙う場合以外は、ユーザは違和感を覚える可能性があり、基本表現空間Ｔの範囲で表現することが好ましいことも多い。
【０１９１】
そこで、図６２に示すように、オブジェクトが何も存在しない領域を、基本表現空間Ｔに含ませる。図６２は、前方の静止オブジェクトの家３５０のさらに前方に、何も存在しない空間を基本表現空間Ｔの一部として設けておき、動的なオブジェクトである鳥３３０が家３５０の前方を移動できるようにしたものである。図６３はさらに、後方に置かれた静止オブジェクトの木３７０のさらに後方にも何も存在しない空間を基本表現空間Ｔの一部として設けたものである。これにより、例えば動的なオブジェクトである鳥３３０が後方より移動してきて、家３５０の前面にあたる位置を越えても、鳥３３０は基本表現空間Ｔの範囲内に位置しているため、さらに前方に移動しても適正視差で表現され、その移動に関して、ユーザである観察者は違和感を覚えることがない。
【０１９２】
また、図６４に示すように、例えば鳥３３０をそれ自身だけでなく前後の空間を含める形で、視差を計算する対象として移動オブジェクト３９０を形成しておく。移動オブジェクト３９０の最前面が、前方投影面３１０に達した場合、鳥３３０だけを移動させる。その場合、例えば鳥３３０の移動速度を本来の速度より遅くすることで、本来鳥３３０がすぐに前方投影面３１０に達してしまい、それ以降の移動が表現できなくなるまでの時間を遅くできる。
【０１９３】
また、図６５に示すように、例えば、移動オブジェクト３９０が前方投影面３１０を越えた後は、あらかじめ含めておいた空間の中で鳥３３０を移動させてもよい。これにより最大視差は移動オブジェクト３９０で決まり、鳥３３０は少しづつその最大視差に近づくため、実空間で前に移動し続けることが可能になる。これは、オブジェクト、つまり鳥３３０の位置によって移動させることを有効にするか無効にするかを判定すれば実現できる。移動速度は、本来想定されている移動速度や、速い速度、遅い速度のいずれに設定されてもよく、移動速度に柔軟性を持たせることで、様々な表現が可能となる。例えば、移動オブジェクト３９０の端に近付くほど移動速度を遅く変更することで、前後方向に伴い視差量が過度に大きくなるのを防ぎながら前への移動を表現できる。
【０１９４】
また、もし、他のオブジェクトが更にその前後に出現する場合、最大視差は、今度はそのオブジェクトに依存することになるので、鳥３３０を移動オブジェクト３９０内のもとの位置に少しづつ戻す。
【０１９５】
次に、最大視差を変化させながら急激な視差の変化を防ぐ原理を、先に示した図１７および図１８をもとに説明する。上述のごとく、
ｔａｎ（φ／２）＝Ｍｔａｎ（θ／２）／Ｌ
Ｅ：Ｓ＝Ｐ：Ａ
Ｐ＝２（Ｓ＋Ａ）ｔａｎ（φ／２）
の関係が成り立ち、これらの式より、あるカメラ設定において、あるオブジェクトの近置側の視差量は、
Ｍ＝ＬＥＡ／（２Ｓ（Ａ＋Ｓ）ｔａｎ（θ／２））
と表すことができる。ここで、このオブジェクトが前方に移動すると、カメラ設定を変更しなければ、Ａが大きくなりＳが小さくなるので視差量は大きくなる。
【０１９６】
ここで、オブジェクトが前方に移動した際に、ＭがＭ’に、ＳがＳ’、ＡがＡ’となったとすると、
Ｍ’＝ＬＥＡ’／（２Ｓ’（Ａ’＋Ｓ’）ｔａｎ（θ／２））
Ｍ＜Ｍ’
と表すことができる。
【０１９７】
カメラ設定のうち、ＥとＡ’を変更し、
Ｍ”＝ＬＥ”Ａ”／（２Ｓ’（Ａ”＋Ｓ’）ｔａｎ（θ／２））
と変換し、このとき
Ｍ＜Ｍ”＜Ｍ’
の関係を満たせば、観察者に向かって移動するオブジェクトを立体表示する際に、急激な視差量の変化を防ぐことができる。なお、ＥまたはＡ’のいずれかのみを変更してもよい。このとき、Ｍ”は、
Ｍ”＝ＬＥ”Ａ’／（２Ｓ’（Ａ’＋Ｓ’）ｔａｎ（θ／２））
または、
Ｍ”＝ＬＥＡ”／（２Ｓ’（Ａ”＋Ｓ’）ｔａｎ（θ／２））
と表される。
【０１９８】
オブジェクトの奥に向かう動きに対して、急激な視差量の変化を防ぐには、
Ｍ＞Ｍ”＞Ｍ’
の関係を満たせばよい。
【０１９９】
また、遠置側の視差量Ｎに関しても同様にしても、
Ｎ＝ＬＥ（Ｔ−Ａ）／（２（Ｔ＋Ｓ）（Ａ＋Ｓ）ｔａｎ（θ／２））
であり、同様に、
Ｎ’＝ＬＥ（Ｔ−Ａ’）／（２（Ｔ＋Ｓ’）（Ａ’＋Ｓ’）ｔａｎ（θ／２））
Ｎ”＝ＬＥ”（Ｔ−Ａ”）／（２（Ｔ＋Ｓ’）（Ａ”＋Ｓ’）ｔａｎ（θ／２））
を求める。ここで
Ｎ＞Ｎ”＞Ｎ’
の関係を満たせば、オブジェクトの観察者に向かう動きに対して、現実の座標上の移動速度は、急激な視差量の変化を防ぐことができ、また、
Ｎ＜Ｎ”＜Ｎ’
の関係を満たせば、オブジェクトの奥に向かう動きに対して、急激な視差量の変化を防ぐことができる。
【０２００】
以上、図６１から図６５で示したような表現手法を実現する立体画像表示装置１００の構成を説明する。この立体画像表示装置１００では、図６０で示した立体画像表示装置１００で実現できる。ただし、カメラ配置決定部１３２は、適正視差にしたがって仮設定されたカメラパラメータを修正する際に、オリジナルデータから、基本表現空間の算出対象となる範囲に関する情報やオブジェクトの視差量の変更に関する情報を読みとりそれをカメラパラメータに反映させる機能を更に有す。この情報は、オリジナルデータ自身に盛り込まれていてもよいし、例えば、視差情報保持部１２０に保持されてもよい。
【０２０１】
実施の形態では、例えば、球が正しく見えるような正しい視差状態に対して、適正視差処理によって視差が大きすぎる状態であると判断されれば、立体画像の視差が小さくなるように処理された。このとき、球が奥行き方向につぶれたような形状に見えるが、一般的にこのような表示に対する違和感は小さい。人は、通常、平面画像を見慣れているため、視差が０の状態と正しい視差の状態との間であれば、人は違和感を覚えないことが多い。
【０２０２】
逆に、球が正しく見えるような視差状態に対して、適正視差処理で立体画像の視差が小さくなりすぎると判断されれば、視差が大きくなるように処理される。このとき、例えば球は奥行き方向に膨らんだような形状に見え、このような表示に対しては人は違和感を大きく覚えることがある。
【０２０３】
単体のオブジェクトを立体表示する際などに、上述のような人が違和感を覚える現象が起こりやすく、建物や乗り物など、実生活で眼にする物体の表示では、特に、この視差の違いによる見え方の違和感が明確に認識される傾向がある。そこで、その違和感を低減するためには、視差が大きくなるような処理に対しては、補正を加える必要がある。
【０２０４】
三次元データにより立体画像が生成される場合は、カメラの配置を変更することで、視差の調整が比較的容易に行うことができる。図６６から図７１をもとに、視差の補正手順を示す。また、この視差の補正は、上述の第１から第４の立体画像処理装置１００により行うことができる。ここでは、図１１に示した第１の立体画像処理装置１００によって、三次元データにより立体画像が生成されることを想定する。なお、後述する第４、第６の立体画像表示装置１００でも上述の補正処理は実現できる。
【０２０５】
図６６は、ある立体画像表示装置１００の表示画面４００において、観察者が立体画像を観察している様子を示している。表示画面４００の画面サイズがＬ、表示画面４００と観察者との距離がｄ、眼間距離がｅである。更に、近置限界視差Ｍと遠置限界視差Ｎは立体感調整部１１２により予め得られており、近置限界視差Ｍと遠置限界視差Ｎの間が適正視差となる。ここでは、理解を容易にするために近置限界視差Ｍのみを表示しており、この値から最大飛び出し量ｍが定まる。飛び出し量ｍとは、表示画面４００から近置点までの距離を指す。なお、Ｌ、Ｍ、Ｎの単位は「画素」であり、他のｄ、ｍ、ｅ等のパラメータと異なり、本来は所定の変換式を用いて調整する必要があるが、ここでは説明を容易にするため同じ単位系で表している。
【０２０６】
このとき、球２１を表示するために、球２１の最近置点と最遠置点とを基準として、視差制御部１１４のカメラ配置決定部１３２によってカメラ配置が図６７のように決められたとする。二つのカメラ２２、２４の光軸交差距離がＤ、それらカメラ間隔がＥｃである。ただし、パラメータの比較を容易にするために、光軸交差距離におけるカメラの見込み幅が画面サイズＬと一致するように座標系の拡大縮小処理がなされている。このとき、例えばカメラ間隔Ｅｃが眼間距離ｅに等しく、光軸交差距離Ｄが観察距離ｄより小さかったとする。すると、この系は、図６８のように、図６７に示したカメラ位置から観察者が観察すると球２１が正しく見える。このような撮影系で生成された画像をもとの立体画像表示装置１００で球２１を観察すると、図６９のように、適正視差範囲全体にわたって奥行き方向に伸びた球２１が観察される。
【０２０７】
この原理を用いて、立体画像に対して補正が必要か否かを判断する手法を以下に示す。図７０は、図６７に示したカメラ配置で、表示画面４００からの距離がＡに位置する球の最近置点を撮影する様子を示している。このとき、二つのカメラ２２、２４のそれぞれと距離Ａの位置する点を結んでできる二つの直線によって、距離Ａに対応する最大視差Ｍが求まる。更に、図７１は、二つのカメラ２２、２４とカメラの光軸公差距離をｄとしたときに、図７０で示した視差Ｍを得るために必要なカメラ間隔Ｅ１を表している。これは、カメラ間隔以外の撮影系のパラメータを全て観察系のパラメータと一致させる変換ということができる。図７０および図７１には次の関係が成り立つ。
Ｍ：Ａ＝Ｅｃ：Ｄ−Ａ
Ｍ：Ａ＝Ｅ１：ｄ−Ａ
Ｅｃ＝Ｅ１（Ｄ−Ａ）／（ｄ−Ａ）
Ｅ１＝Ｅｃ（ｄ−Ａ）／（Ｄ−Ａ）
そして、このＥ１が眼間距離ｅより大きいときに視差が小さくなるような補正が必要と判断される。Ｅ１を眼間距離ｅにすればよいので、次式のようにＥｃを補正すればよい。
Ｅｃ＝ｅ（Ｄ−Ａ）／（ｄ−Ａ）
【０２０８】
最遠置点についても同様で、図７２、および図７３において、球２１の最近置点と最遠置点の距離を基本表現空間であるＴとすると、
Ｎ：Ｔ−Ａ＝Ｅｃ：Ｄ＋Ｔ−Ａ
Ｎ：Ｔ−Ａ＝Ｅ２：ｄ＋Ｔ−Ａ
Ｅｃ＝Ｅ２（Ｄ＋Ｔ−Ａ）／（ｄ＋Ｔ−Ａ）
Ｅ２＝Ｅｃ（ｄ＋Ｔ−Ａ）／（Ｄ＋Ｔ−Ａ）
更に、このＥ２が眼間距離ｅより大きいときに、補正が必要と判断される。続いて、Ｅ２を眼間距離ｅにすればよいので、次式のようにＥｃを補正すればよい。
Ｅｃ＝ｅ（Ｄ＋Ｔ−Ａ）／（ｄ＋Ｔ−Ａ）
【０２０９】
最終的には、最近置点、最遠置点からそれぞれ得られた二つのＥｃのうち、小さい方を選択すれば、近置および遠置のいずれに関しても視差が大きくなりすぎることがなくなる。この選択されたＥｃをもとの三次元空間の座標系にもどしてカメラを設定する。
【０２１０】
より、一般的には、
Ｅｃ＜ｅ（Ｄ−Ａ）／（ｄ−Ａ）
Ｅｃ＜ｅ（Ｄ＋Ｔ−Ａ）／（ｄ＋Ｔ−Ａ）
の２式を同時に満たすようにカメラ間隔Ｅｃを設定すればよい。これは、図７４および図７５において、観察距離ｄの位置に眼間距離ｅの間隔で置かれた二つのカメラ２２、２４と、オブジェクトの最近置点とを結ぶ二つの光軸Ｋ４上、または上記二つのカメラ２２、２４と最遠置点を結ぶ二つの光軸Ｋ５上に二つのカメラを配置したときの間隔が、カメラ間隔Ｅｃの上限であることを示している。つまり、図７４における二つの光軸Ｋ４の間隔、もしくは図７５における二つの光軸Ｋ５の間隔のうち狭い方の光軸の間に含まれるように二つのカメラ２２、２４を配置すればよい。
【０２１１】
なお、ここで光軸交差距離を変更せずにカメラ間隔のみで補正を行ったが、光軸交差距離を変更し、オブジェクトの位置を変更してもよいし、カメラ間隔および光軸交差距離の両方を変更してもよい。
【０２１２】
デプスマップを利用する場合も補正が必要となる。デプスマップ値がその点のずらし量を画素数で表しており、初期値、一般にはオリジナルデータに記述されている値が最適な立体視を実現する状態であるとすれば、適正視差処理で、デプスマップ値の範囲を大きくする必要が生じたときには上記の処理を行わず、デプスマップ値の範囲を小さくする必要が生じたとき、つまり視差を小さくする必要が生じたときのみ、上記処理を行えばよい。
【０２１３】
また、初期値の視差が小さめに設定されている場合には、最大許容値を画像のヘッダ領域などに保持し、その最大許容値に収まるように適正視差処理を行えばよい。これらの場合、適正距離に関してハードウエア情報が必要となるが、先に示したハードウエア情報に依存しない場合の処理と比べ、より高性能な処理が実現できる。以上の処理は、視差が自動設定される場合だけでなく、手動で設定している場合の処理としても利用できる。
【０２１４】
また、観察者が違和感を覚える視差の限界は、画像によって異なる。一般に、模様や色の変化が少ない画像で、エッジが目立つような画像は、視差を大きくつけるとクロストークが目立つ。また、エッジの両側の輝度差が大きい画像も、視差を強くつけるとクロストークが目立つ。つまり、立体表示すべき画像、つまり視差画像、さらには視点画像において、高周波成分が少ない場合に、ユーザはその画像を視た際に違和感を覚える傾向がある。そこで、画像をフーリエ変換などでの手法で周波数解析し、その解析の結果得られた周波成分の分布に応じて適正視差に補正を加えるとよい。つまり、高周波成分の量が多い画像に関しては、視差が適正視差よりも大きくなる補正を加える。
【０２１５】
また、更に動きの少ない画像はクロストークが目立つ。一般に、ファイル名の拡張子を調べることで、ファイルの種類が動画か静止画であるかが分かることが多い。そこで、動画像と判定された場合には、動きベクトルなどの既知の動き検出手法で、動きの状態を検出し、その状態に応じて適正視差量に補正を加えてもよい。つまり、動きの少ない画像には、視差が本来の視差よりも小さくなるような補正を加える。一方、動きの多い画像には、補正を加えない。または、動きを強調したい場合などは視差が本来の視差よりも大きくなるような補正を加えてもよい。なお、適正視差の補正は一例で、予め決められた視差範囲であればどのようなものでも補正ができる。また、デプスマップを補正することもできるし、視差画像の合成位置ずらしの量を補正することもできる。
【０２１６】
また、これらの分析結果をファイルのヘッダ領域に記録して、立体画像処理装置がそのヘッダを読みとり、次回以降の立体画像の表示の際に利用してもよい。
【０２１７】
また、高周波成分の量や動き分布は、画像の作成者やユーザによって実際の立体視によりランク付けがなされてもよいし、複数の評価者による立体視でランク付けを行い、その平均値が利用されてもよく、そのランク付けの手法は問わない。
【０２１８】
また、適正視差は厳密に守られる必要はなく、カメラパラメータの算出は常時行う必要はなく、一定時間ごとやシーンチェンジごと等に行ってもよい。特に、処理能力の低い装置により行われる場合に有効である。例えば、一定時間毎にカメラパラメータを算出する場合、三次元データから立体画像を生成するケースでは第１の立体画像処理装置１００において、視差制御部１１４は内部タイマを利用し一定周期毎にカメラ配置決定部１３２に対して、カメラパラメータの再算出を指示すればよい。内部タイマは、立体画像処理装置１００の演算処理を行うＣＰＵの基準周波数を利用してもよいし、専用タイマを別途設けてもよい。
【０２１９】
図７６は、画像の状態に応じて適正視差を算出することを実現する第５の立体画像処理装置１００の構成を示している。ここでは図１１に示した第１の立体画像処理装置１００において、新たに画像判定部１９０が設けられている。それ以外の構成および動作は同一なので異なる点を主に説明する。この画像判定部１９０は、画像の周波数成分を解析し高周波成分の量を求め、その画像に適した視差を視差制御部１１４に通知する周波数成分検出部１９２と、オリジナルデータが動画像であればシーンチェンジを検出したり、画像内の動きを検出したりすることでカメラパラメータの算出タイミングを視差制御部１１４に通知するシーン判定部１９４を備える。シーンチェンジの検出は、既知の手法を用いて行えばよい。
【０２２０】
オリジナルデータが動画像であるとき、画像の高周波成分の量により適正視差を調整する処理を常時行うと周波数成分検出部１９２の処理負荷が大きくなる。その処理負荷に見合う演算処理装置を使用すると立体画像処理装置１００のコストアップとなる懸念がある。上述のように適正視差は常時厳密に守られる必要がないので、シーン判定部１９０の検出結果を基にシーンチェンジなどのように画像が大きく変化するときに画像の周波数成分を分析する構成とすることで、画像判定分１９０の処理負荷を低減できる。
【０２２１】
三次元空間において複数の仮想カメラを配置し、それら仮想カメラそれぞれに対応する視差画像を生成するときに、それら視差画像内にオブジェクトの情報が存在しない領域が発生してしまうことがある。以下に、三次元データを起点として立体画像を生成する場合を例に、視差画像内にオブジェクトの情報が存在しない領域が発生する原理を説明するとともに、その解消手法を説明する。図７７は、三次元データを作成する制作者により設定される仮カメラ位置Ｓ（Ｘｓ、Ｙｓ、Ｚｓ）、画角θ、および第１から第３のオブジェクト７００、７０２、７０４の関係を示している。
【０２２２】
仮カメラ位置Ｓ（Ｘｓ、Ｙｓ、Ｚｓ）は、複数の仮想カメラをもとにそれぞれの視差画像を生成する際に、それら仮想カメラの中心となる（以下、カメラ群中心位置Ｓともいう）。第１のオブジェクト７００は、背景に当たる。ここで制作者は、画角θ内に第２および第３のオブジェクト７０２、７０４が収まるとともに、背景画像である第１のオブジェクト７００によって画角θ内にオブジェクトの情報が存在するよう、画角θおよびカメラ群中心位置Ｓを設定する。
【０２２３】
つぎに、所定のプログラムにより、図７８に示すように所望の視差が得られるよう、さらに近置および遠置の基準である光軸交差位置Ａ（Ｘａ、Ｙａ、Ｚａ）が得られるように、二つの仮想カメラ７２２、７２４のパラメータ、具体的にはカメラ位置およびそれぞれの光軸が定まる。このとき、画角θが先に定められた値と等しい場合、それら二つの仮想カメラ７２２、７２４のカメラ位置では、例えば、背景画像である第１のオブジェクトの大きさによっては、本図で示すようにオブジェクトの情報が存在しない第１および第２のオブジェクトゼロ領域７４０、７４２が発生する。
【０２２４】
第１のオブジェクトゼロ領域７４０は、角度で表すとα、第２のオブジェクトゼロ領域７４２は、βであり、これらの角度範囲にはオブジェクト情報が存在しない。従って、図７９に示すように、これらαとβが無くなるように画角θを調整すればよい。つまり、αとβの値のうち、大きいほうの値を画角θから減算する。このとき、光軸方向を変更しないようにするために、画角θの左右両方から減算すべき値を減らすため、新しい画角θ１はθ１＝θ１―２×αまたはθ１―２×βから定められる。ただし、αやβは、視差画像からは即座に判明しない場合もあるので、少しずつ画角θを調整し、そのたびに視差画像内にオブジェクトの情報が存在しない領域が発生しているか否かを確認してもよい。また、オブジェクトの情報が存在しない領域の有無は、実際には、表示画面の画素に入力すべきデータがあるか否かにより確認すればよい。また、画角θの調整のみで全画素にオブジェクト情報が存在するように調整するに限らず、カメラ間隔Ｅや光軸交差位置Ａを変更してもよい。
【０２２５】
図８０は、画角調整の処理を示すフローチャートである。この画角調整の処理は、図１１に示した第１の立体画像表示装置１００で実現可能である。まず、立体画像表示装置１００に立体画像の起点となるオリジナルデータが入力されると、カメラ仮配置部１３０は、カメラ群中心位置Ｓを決定する（Ｓ１１０）。つづいて、カメラ配置決定部１３２は、そのカメラ群中心位置Ｓをもとに、カメラ画角θを決定し（Ｓ１１２）、カメラ間隔Ｅを決定し（Ｓ１１４）、仮想カメラの光軸交差位置Ａを決定する（Ｓ１１６）。さらに、カメラ配置決定部１３２はオリジナルデータに対しカメラ間隔Ｅおよび光軸交差位置Ａに基づき座標変換処理を行い（Ｓ１１８）、表示画面の全画素にオブジェクトの情報が存在するか否かを判定する（Ｓ１２０）。
【０２２６】
オブジェクトの情報がない画素が存在する場合（Ｓ１２０のＮ）、画角θを少し狭める補正を行い（Ｓ１２２）、Ｓ１１４の処理に戻り、以降、全画素にオブジェクト情報が存在するようになるまで、Ｓ１１４からＳ１２０までの処理を継続する。ただし、画角θの補正のみで全画素にオブジェクト情報が存在するように調整する場合、Ｓ１１４のカメラ間隔Ｅの決定処理およびＳ１１６の光軸交差位置Ａの決定処理はスキップする。全画素にオブジェクト情報が存在する場合（Ｓ１２０のＹ）、この画角調整の処理は終了となる。
【０２２７】
上記実施の形態では、主に三次元データを起点に生成される立体画像に関して説明した。以下に、実写画像を起点に立体画像を表現する手法に関して説明する。三次元データを起点にする場合と、実写画像を起点にする場合との差異は、実写画像を起点にする場合には、基本表現空間の奥行きＴの概念がないことである。これは、適正視差表示が可能な奥行き範囲Ｔと言い換えることができる。
【０２２８】
図１７および図１８に示したように、立体画像を生成するためのカメラ設定に必要なパラメータはカメラ間隔Ｅ、光軸交差距離Ａ、画角θ、基本表現空間の前面である前方投影面３０からカメラ配置面、すなわち視点面２０８までの距離Ｓ、光軸交差面２１０の視点面２０８からの距離Ｄ、奥行き範囲Ｔの６種類である。そしてこれらの間には、以下の関係式が満たされる。
Ｅ＝２（Ｓ＋Ａ）ｔａｎ（θ／２）・（ＳＭ＋ＳＮ＋ＴＮ）／（ＬＴ）
Ａ＝ＳＴＭ／（ＳＭ＋ＳＮ＋ＴＮ）
Ｄ＝Ｓ＋Ａ
したがって、６種類のパラメータＥ、Ａ、θ、Ｓ、Ｄ、Ｔのうち、３種類を指定すれば、残りのパラメータを算出できる。一般に、いずれのパラメータを指定するかは自由であるが、先に示した実施の形態では、θ、Ｓ、Ｔを指定し、Ｅ、Ａ、Ｄを算出した。θやＳを自動的に変更すると拡大率が変わるため、プログラマや撮影者が意図する表現ができなくなる恐れがあり、これらを自動的に決めることは好ましくないことが多い。Ｔについても、表現範囲の制限を表すパラメータともいえ、予め決めるのが好ましい。そして、三次元データの場合には、いずれのパラメータを変えるのも手間はほとんど同一である。ところが、実写の場合には異なる。カメラの構造によっては価格が大きく異なるうえに、操作性も変わるため、用途に応じて指定するパラメータを変えることが望ましい。
【０２２９】
図８１は、娯楽施設や写真館などで立体写真を撮影する立体写真撮影装置５１０と被写体５５２との関係を示している。この立体写真撮影装置５１０は、カメラ５５０と立体画像処理装置１００とを含んで構成されている。ここでは、撮影環境が固定される。つまり、カメラ５５０の位置と被写体５５２の位置が予め決められており、パラメータとしてθ、Ｓ、Ｔが決まっている。この撮影系は、図１８に示した例を、実際のカメラ５５０に置き換えた状態であり、二つのレンズ５２２、５２４が一台のカメラ５５０に備わり、このカメラ５５０のみで立体画像の基点となる二つの視差画像を撮影できる。
【０２３０】
図８２は、この処理を行う第６の立体画像処理装置１００の構成を示す。この立体画像処理装置１００は、図１２に示した立体画像処理装置１００において、視差検出部１５０をカメラ制御部１５１に置き換えたものである。カメラ制御部１５１は、レンズ間隔調整部１５３と光軸調整部１５５を有する。
【０２３１】
レンズ間隔調整部１５３は、二つのレンズ５２２、５２４の位置を調整することでカメラ間隔Ｅ、より詳細に言うとレンズ間隔Ｅを調整する。また、光軸調整部１５５は、二つのレンズ５２２、５２４それぞれの光軸方向を変更して、Ｄを調整する。被写体５５２は、自宅などに保有している立体画像表示装置の適正視差情報を、メモリやカードなどの持ち運び可能な記録媒体や、インターネットなどの通信手段を通じて入力する。情報取得部１１８が、この適正視差の入力を受け付け、カメラ制御部１５１に通知する。その通知を受けて、カメラ制御部１５１はＥ、Ａ、Ｄを算出し、レンズ５２２、５２４の調整することで、カメラ５５０は適正な視差で撮影を行う。これは、ライブラリにより、被写体が表示される立体表示装置と立体写真撮影装置５１０との処理が共通化されていることで実現する。
【０２３２】
なお、表示の際に被写体を画面上に配置したい場合は、Ｄ、Ａも決めておき、被写体をＤに位置させて撮影すればよく、この場合は、近置と遠置で別々に適正視差の計算を行い、Ｅが小さくなる方を選択すればよい。また、Ｔは、被写体が占める範囲より大きくしてもよい。背景がある場合、背景を含めてＴを決定するとよい。
【０２３３】
また、適正視差情報は、必ずしも被写体であるユーザが所有する立体画像表示装置で調べたものである必要はない。例えば、撮影現場で典型的な立体画像表示装置で好みの立体感を選択してもよい。この選択は、立体感調整部１１２により可能である。あるいは、単に「画面上／遠置／近置」、「立体感：大／中／小」のような項目から選択し、それらに対応して視差情報保持部１２０に保持されている、予め決められたカメラパラメータが用いられてもよい。また、光軸交差位置の変更は機構構造で変更されてもよいが、解像度の高いＣＣＤ（Ｃｈａｒｇｅ　Ｃｏｕｐｌｅｄ　Ｄｅｖｉｃｅ）を用いて、画像として利用する範囲を変えることで実現されてもよい。この処理には位置シフト部１６０の機能を使えばよい。
【０２３４】
図８３は、人間が入ることができない場所に移動可能なカメラ５５０が設置され、コントローラ５１９を使った遠隔操作によりそのカメラ５５０が操作され、撮影されている映像を立体画像表示装置５１１で観察している様子を示している。立体画像表示装置５１１には、図８２で示した構成の立体画像表示装置１００が組み込まれている。
【０２３５】
カメラ５５０には、レンズ間隔Ｅが自動調整できる機構がついている。またこのカメラ５５０には光学ズームもしくは電子ズーム機能がついており、これによりθが決まる。ところが、このズーム操作により視差量が変化する。一般に遠くを撮影するほど表示の際に視点間の光軸の成す角度が小さくなるので、そのレンズ間隔Ｅでは視差が小さくなり立体感が乏しくなる。そこで、レンズ間隔Ｅやズーム量などのカメラ設定を適切に変更する必要が生じる。ここでは、このような場合にカメラ設定を自動的に制御し、煩雑なカメラ設定を大幅に軽減する。なお、コントローラ５１９を使用して、カメラ設定を調整してもよい。
【０２３６】
操作者は、まずコントローラ５１９を使い光学ズームもしくは電子ズームを操作すると、θが決定される。次に、カメラ５５０を動かし、撮影したい被写体を立体表示装置５１１において中央に表示させる。カメラ５５０はオートフォーカスの機能により被写体に焦点を合わせ、同時に距離を取得する。初期状態では、この距離をＤとする。つまり、被写体が表示画面付近に位置して見えるようにカメラ５５０を自動設定する。Ｔは手動で範囲を変更でき、操作者は予め前後関係を把握したい物体の奥行き方向の分布を指定しておく。こうして、θ、Ｄ、Ｔが決まる。それによって、先に示した３つの関係式よりＥ、Ａ、Ｓが決まり、カメラ５５０が適切に自動調整される。この例の場合には、Ｓが後から決まるため、Ｔが最終的にどの範囲となるかは不確定である。そこで、Ｔはある程度大きく設定しておくとよい。
【０２３７】
なお、被写体を画面端に表示したい場合には、一度被写体を中央に表示し、所定のボタンを押して焦点およびＤを固定できるようにし、その後カメラ５５０の向きを変更すればよい。また、焦点やＤを手動でに変更できるようにすれば、被写体の奥行き位置を自由に変えることができる。
【０２３８】
図８４は、立体画像撮影装置５１０による撮影の一例を示す。立体画像撮影装置５１０は、図８２で示した構成を有する。このカメラ５５０には、予め撮影者が保持する立体画像表示装置の適正視差が、持ち運び可能なメモリなどの記録媒体やインターネットなどの通信手段を通じて入力されている。ここでは、カメラ５５０として、簡単な構造を有する、比較的低価格で入手可能なカメラを想定する。ここでは、カメラ間隔Ｅ、光軸交差距離Ｄ、画角θが固定されており、先に示した３つの関係式よりＡ、Ｓ、Ｔが決まる。これらの値から被写体までの距離の適切な範囲を計算することができるので、被写体までの距離を実時間で測定し、計算された距離が適切であるかどうかをメッセージやランプの色などで撮影者に通知できる。被写体までの距離は、オートフォーカスの距離測定機能など既知の技術で取得すればよい。
【０２３９】
以上のように、いずれのカメラパラメータを変数または定数とするかの組合せは自由で、用途に合わせて様々な形態がある。また、カメラ５５０は上記以外にも、顕微鏡、医療用の内視鏡、携帯端末など様々な機器に取り付けられた形態が考えられる。
【０２４０】
なお、特定の立体表示装置に対して視差を最適化すると、他の立体表示装置で立体視が困難な場合がある。しかし、一般的に装置の性能は向上するものであり、次に購入する立体表示装置に対しては視差が大きすぎると言うことは稀と考えられる。むしろ、撮影装置の設定不備により、立体表示装置の性能に関係なく立体視が困難となる危険を避けるために、上記のような調整を行うことは重要である。なお、ここで、立体表示装置とは、立体視を実現するための立体画像処理装置を備える構成とする。
【０２４１】
第１から第６の立体画像処理装置１００の立体感調整部１１２で得られる適正視差は、特定の立体画像処理装置１００に対してユーザが立体視しながら決めるパラメータであり、その立体画像処理装置１００においては、以後その適正視差が守られる。この立体感調整の操作には立体表示装置固有の「画像分離性能」と観察者固有の「生理的限界」という二つの因子が加味されている。「画像分離性能」とは複数の視点画像を分離する性能を表す客観的因子で、この性能が低い立体表示装置はほとんど視差を付けていなくともクロストークが感知されやすく、複数の観察者が調整を行った場合の適正視差の範囲は平均的に狭くなる。逆に、画像分離性能が高ければ大きな視差を付けてもクロストークはほとんど感知されず、適正視差の範囲は平均的に広くなる傾向がある。一方、「生理的限界」は主観的因子で、例えば画像分離性能が非常に高く完全に画像が分離していても、観察者によって不快感を覚えない視差範囲が異なる。これは、同じ立体画像処理装置１００における適正視差のばらつきとして現れる。
【０２４２】
画像分離性能は分離度とも呼ばれ、図８５のように最適観察距離で照度計５７０を水平方向に移動しながら基準画像５７２の照度を測定する方法で決めることができる。その際、２眼式の場合は例えば左眼画像に全白を表示し、右眼画像に全黒を表示する。画像が完全に分離していれば、右眼画像が見える位置の照度は０になる。それに対して、左眼画像の白の漏れの程度を測定することで、画像分離性能が得られる。本図、右端のグラフは測定結果の例である。また、この測定は、モアレの濃淡を測定することとほとんど等価であるので、図８６のようなモアレが観察される距離でモアレ画像を取り込み、その濃淡を解析することでも画像分離性能を測定することができる。
【０２４３】
メガネ式の立体表示装置などでも、同じように漏れ光を測定することで画像分離性能を測定することができる。また、実際には、左右両方の画像を全黒としたときの測定値をバックグラウンドとして加味して計算してもよい。また、画像分離性能は、多数の観察者によるランク付け評価の平均値で決定することもできる。
【０２４４】
このように、立体表示装置の画像分離性能については客観的な数値などの判断基準を与えることができるので、例えば、ユーザ保有の図５４の立体表示装置４５０のランクとその立体表示装置４５０に対するユーザの適正視差が分かれば、他の立体表示装置４４０のランクにあうよう適正視差を変換することができる。また、立体表示装置には画面サイズ、画素ピッチ、最適観察距離などの固有値となるパラメータもあり、これらパラメータの情報も適正視差の変換には利用する。
【０２４５】
以下に、適正視差の変換例について、図８７および図８８を用いてパラメータ毎に順に説明する。ここでは、適正視差は、Ｎ／ＬとＭ／Ｌにより保持されているものとする。ここで、Ｍは近置限界視差、Ｎは遠置限界視差、Ｌは画面サイズである。このように比の値で表すことで、立体表示装置間の画素ピッチの違いを無視することができる。そこで、以下に使用する図では、説明を容易にするために画素ピッチが等しいとして説明する。
【０２４６】
まず、画面サイズの違いに対する変換について説明する。図８７に示すように、画面サイズによらず視差の絶対値を変えないように処理するのが好ましい。つまり、前後方向の立体表現範囲を同じにする。図上側に示す状態から下側に示す状態のように、画面サイズがａ倍になったとする。このとき、Ｎ／ＬをＮ／（ａＬ）に変換し、Ｍ／ＬをＭ／（ａＬ）に変換することで画面サイズが異なる場合でも、適正視差が実現される。本図では最近置点の例を示している。
【０２４７】
次に、観察距離の違いに対する変換について説明する。図８８に示すように、最適観察距離ｄがｂ倍になれば、視差の絶対値もｂ倍にするのが好ましい。つまり、眼が見込む視差の角度を一定に保つ。従って、Ｎ／ＬをｂＮ／Ｌに変換し、Ｍ／ＬをｂＭ／Ｌに変換することで最適観察距離が異なる場合でも、適正視差が実現される。本図では、最近置点の例として表している。
【０２４８】
最後に、画像分離性能の因子を加味することに関して説明する。ここでは、画像分離性能のランクｒを０以上の整数であるとし、視差を付けることができないほど性能が悪いものを０とする。そして、第１の立体表示装置の画像分離性能をｒ０とし、第２の立体表示装置の画像分離性能をｒ１とすると、ｃ＝ｒ１／ｒ０として、Ｎ／ＬをｃＮ／Ｌに、Ｍ／ＬをｃＭ／Ｌに変換する。これによって画像分解性が異なる立体表示装置であっても、適正視差が実現される。なお、ここで示した、ｃを導出するた式は一例であり、他の数式から導出してもよい。
【０２４９】
以上の処理を全て行うと、結局、Ｎ／ＬはｂｃＮ／（ａＬ）に、Ｍ／ＬをｂｃＭ／（ａＬ）に変換される。なお、この変換は、水平方向の視差、垂直方向の視差のいずれにも適用できる。なお、以上の適正視差の変換は、図５２、図５３、および図５４で示した構成で実現できる。
【０２５０】
また、基本表現空間の前面と背面はＺバッファを利用して決められてもよい。Ｚバッファは陰面処理の手法で、カメラから視たオブジェクト群のデプスマップが得られる。このＺ値を取り除く最小値と最大値を、最前面、最背面の位置として用いてもよい。処理としては、仮想カメラの位置からＺ値を取得する処理が追加される。この処理には、最終の解像度は必要がないので、画素数を減らして処理を行うと処理時間が短くなる。この手法により、隠れている部分が無視されるので適正視差範囲を有効に利用できる。また、オブジェクトが複数であっても扱いやすい。
【０２５１】
また、視差制御部は１１４は、三次元データにより立体画像を生成する際に、視差画像を生成するために設定されるカメラ配置に関するパラメータが変更される場合、前記カメラパラメータを前記パラメータの変動に対して予め設けられている閾値に収まるよう制御してもよい。また、視差制御部１１４は、デプス情報が与えられた二次元動画像より動画像の立体画像を生成する際に、二次元動画像の進行に伴い発生する、デプス情報に含まれるデプスの最大値もしくは最小値の変動が、予め設けられている閾値に収まるように制御してもよい。それら制御の際に利用される閾値は、視差情報保持部１２０に保持さていればよい。
【０２５２】
三次元データにより立体画像を生成する際に、視界内に存在するオブジェクトから基本表現空間を決定していると、オブジェクトの急速な移動やフレームイン、フレームアウトによって、基本表現空間の大きさが急激に変わり、カメラ配置に関するパラメータが大きく変動することがある。この変動が予め決められた閾値よりも大きい場合には、閾値を限度として変動を許可してもよい。また、デプス情報が与えられた二次元動画像より立体画像を生成する際にも、デプスの最大値もしくは最小値から視差量の最大値や最小値を決定していると、同様の不都合が考えられる。この変動に対しても閾値を設けるとよい。
【０２５３】
【発明の効果】
本発明によれば、以下のような効果がある。
１．人の生理に適合しやすい立体画像を生成または表示できる。
２．表示対象画像が変わってもユーザに適切な立体画像を生成または表示できる。
３．簡単な操作で立体表示の立体感を調整できる。
４．適切な立体表示が可能なコンテンツまたはアプリケーションづくりに際し、プログラマの負担を軽減できる。
５．立体表示を最適化しようとするユーザの手間が軽減される。
６．通常、プラグアンドプレイ機能の対象にならない立体感調整やヘッドトラッキング情報を容易に実現でき、後付のパララックスバリアのように、原理上プラグアンドプレイができない装置についても同様である。
【図面の簡単な説明】
【図１】理想的な立体視ができているユーザ、スクリーン、再生オブジェクト１４の位置関係を示す図である。
【図２】図１の状態を実現する撮影系の例を示す図である。
【図３】図１の状態を実現する撮影系の別の例を示す図である。
【図４】図１の状態を実現する撮影系の別の例を示す図である。
【図５】第１の立体画像処理装置に利用するモデル座標系を示す図である。
【図６】第１の立体画像処理装置に利用するワールド座標系を示す図である。
【図７】第１の立体画像処理装置に利用するカメラ座標系を示す図である。
【図８】第１の立体画像処理装置に利用するビューボリュームを示す図である。
【図９】図８のボリュームの透視変換後の座標系を示す図である。
【図１０】第１の立体画像処理装置に利用するスクリーン座標系を示す図である。
【図１１】第１の立体画像処理装置の構成図である。
【図１２】第２の立体画像処理装置の構成図である。
【図１３】第３の立体画像処理装置の構成図である。
【図１４】図１４（ａ）、図１４（ｂ）は、それぞれ、第１の立体画像処理装置の立体感調整部によって表示される左眼画像と右眼画像を示す図である。
【図１５】第１の立体画像処理装置の立体感調整部によって表示される、異なる視差をもつ複数のオブジェクトを示す図である。
【図１６】第１の立体画像処理装置の立体感調整部によって表示される、視差が変化するオブジェクトを示す図である。
【図１７】適正視差が実現される際のカメラ画角、画像サイズ、視差の関係を示す図である。
【図１８】図１７の状態を実現する撮影系の位置関係を示す図である。
【図１９】図１７の状態を実現する撮影系の位置関係を示す図である。
【図２０】多視点画像を適正視差で生成する際のカメラ配置を示す図である。
【図２１】第１の立体画像処理装置の歪処理部が利用する視差補正マップを示す図である。
【図２２】図２１の視差補正マップにしたがって視差画像を生成する際のカメラ視点を示す図である。
【図２３】図２１の視差補正マップにしたがって視差画像を生成する際の別のカメラ視点を示す図である。
【図２４】第１の立体画像処理装置の歪処理部が利用する視差補正マップを示す図である。
【図２５】図２４の視差補正マップにしたがって視差画像を生成する際のカメラ視点を示す図である。
【図２６】第１の立体画像処理装置の歪処理部が利用する距離感補正マップを示す図である。
【図２７】図２６の距離感補正マップにしたがって視差画像を生成する際のカメラ視点を示す図である。
【図２８】第１の立体画像処理装置の歪処理部が利用する別の距離感補正マップを示す図である。
【図２９】図２８の距離感補正マップにしたがって視差画像を生成する際のカメラ視点を示す図である。
【図３０】図３０（ａ）、図３０（ｂ）、図３０（ｃ）、図３０（ｄ）、図３０（ｅ）、図３０（ｆ）は、いずれも第１の立体画像処理装置の歪処理部が三次元空間に処理を施した結果得られる視差分布の上面図である。
【図３１】第１の立体画像処理装置の歪処理部による処理の原理を示す図である。
【図３２】図３１の処理を具体的に示す図である。
【図３３】図３１の処理を具体的に示す図である。
【図３４】図３１の処理を具体的に示す図である。
【図３５】第１の立体画像処理装置の歪処理部による処理の別の例を示す図である。
【図３６】図３５の処理を具体的に示す図である。
【図３７】デプスマップを示す図である。
【図３８】第３の立体画像処理装置の歪処理部による処理の例を示す図である。
【図３９】第３の立体画像処理装置の歪処理部による処理によって生成されたデプスマップを示す図である。
【図４０】第３の立体画像処理装置の歪処理部による処理の別の例を示す図である。
【図４１】第２の立体画像処理装置の二次元画像生成部による処理の例を示す図である。
【図４２】視差画像の例を示す図である。
【図４３】第２の立体画像処理装置の二次元画像生成部によって合成位置がシフトされた視差画像を示す図である。
【図４４】第２の立体画像処理装置の画像端調整部の処理を示す図である。
【図４５】第２の立体画像処理装置の処理を示す図である。
【図４６】第２の立体画像処理装置の別の処理を示す図である。
【図４７】第２の立体画像処理装置の別の処理を示す図である。
【図４８】デプスマップが付加された平面画像を示す図である。
【図４９】デプスマップを示す図である。
【図５０】第２の立体画像処理装置の二次元画像生成部でデプスマップをもとに視差画像を生成する様子を示す図である。
【図５１】第２の立体画像処理装置の二次元画像生成部で補正されたデプスマップを示す図である。
【図５２】実施の形態に係る立体画像処理装置をライブラリ化して利用する様子を示す図である。
【図５３】立体表示ライブラリを三次元データソフトに組み込んだ構成図である。
【図５４】立体表示ライブラリをネットワーク利用型のシステムで利用する様子を示す図である。
【図５５】三次元データにより構成された画像が表示画面に表示されている状態を示す図である。
【図５６】三次元データにより構成された画像が表示画面に表示されている別の状態を示す図である。
【図５７】三次元データにより構成された画像が表示画面に表示されている別の状態を示す図である。
【図５８】表示すべきオブジェクトが有する界面を表示画面に一致させる手法を示す図である。
【図５９】二つの仮想カメラの光軸交差位置を水槽の一つの面と一致させて画像を撮影する別の様子を示す図である。
【図６０】第４の立体画像処理装置の構成図である。
【図６１】第４の立体画像処理装置により表示される画像に関して便宜的基本表現空間Ｔについて表す図である。
【図６２】オブジェクトが何も存在しない領域を、基本表現空間Ｔに含ませて表現する図である。
【図６３】オブジェクトが何も存在しない領域を、基本表現空間Ｔに含ませて表現する図である。
【図６４】視差を計算する対象として、鳥だけでなくその前後の空間を含める形で移動オブジェクトを形成している様子を示す図である。
【図６５】移動オブジェクトが前方投影面を越えた後、あらかじめ含めておいた空間を鳥３３０移動させる様子を示す図である。
【図６６】表示画面において、観察者が立体画像を観察している様子を示す図である。
【図６７】カメラ配置決定部によって定められるカメラ配置を示す図である。
【図６８】図６７のカメラ配置で得られた視差画像を観察者が観察している様子を示す図である。
【図６９】図６７のカメラ配置で適正視差が得られた画像を、図６６で示した観察者の位置で観察者が表示画面を観察している様子を示す図である。
【図７０】図６７に示したカメラ配置で、表示画面からの距離がＡに位置する球の最近置点を撮影する様子を示す図である。
【図７１】二つのカメラとカメラの光軸公差距離および、図７０で示した視差を得るために必要なカメラ間隔の関係を示す図である。
【図７２】図６７に示したカメラ配置で、表示画面からの距離がＴ−Ａに位置する球の最遠置点を撮影する様子を示す図である。
【図７３】二つのカメラとカメラの光軸公差距離および、図７２で示した視差を得るために必要なカメラ間隔Ｅ１の関係を示す図である。
【図７４】適正視差範囲内に立体画像の視差を設定するために必要とされるカメラパラメータの関係を示す図である。
【図７５】適正視差範囲内に立体画像の視差を設定するために必要とされるカメラパラメータの関係を示す図である。
【図７６】第５の立体画像処理装置の構成図である。
【図７７】三次元データを作成する制作者により設定される仮カメラ位置、画角、および第１から第３のオブジェクトの関係を示す図である。
【図７８】図７７で定められた仮カメラ位置をもとに、二つの仮想カメラが配置された状態を示す図である。
【図７９】オブジェクト情報が存在しない領域が発生しないようカメラ配置が調整された状態を示す図である。
【図８０】画角調整の処理を示す図である。
【図８１】娯楽施設や写真館などで立体写真を撮影する立体写真撮影装置と被写体との関係を示す図である。
【図８２】第６の立体画像処理装置の構成を示す図である。
【図８３】遠隔操作によりカメラを操作し、撮影された映像を立体画像表示装置で観察している様子を示す図である。
【図８４】第６の立体画像処理装置を備える立体画像撮影装置による撮影の一例を示す図である。
【図８５】照度計により画像分解性の測定する様子を示す図である。
【図８６】画像分解性の測定に利用するモアレ画像を示す図である。
【図８７】適正視差の変換例を示す図である。
【図８８】適正視差の別の変換例を示す図である。
【図８９】視差および基本表現空間の簡易決定の際に利用するテーブルを示す図である。
【符号の説明】
１０　ユーザ、　１２　スクリーン、　１４　再生オブジェクト、　２０　現実のオブジェクト、　２２，２４，２６，２８　カメラ、　３０　前方投影面、３２　後方投影面、　１００　立体画像処理装置、　１１２　立体感調整部、１１４，１５２，１７０　視差制御部、　１１６　フォーマット変換部、　１１８　情報取得部、　１２２　指示取得部、　１２４　視差特定部、　１３２　カメラ配置決定部、　１３６，１７４　歪処理部、　１４０，１７６　補正マップ保持部、　１４２　二次元画像生成部、　１５０　視差量検出部、　１５１　カメラ制御部、　１５６　ヘッダ検査部、　１５８　マッチング部、　１６０　位置シフト部、　１６４　視差書込部、　１６８　画像端調整部、　１７８　二次元画像生成部、　１８０　オブジェクト指定部、　１９０　画像判定部、　１９２　周波数成分検出部、　１９４　シーン判定部、　２１０　光軸交差面、　３００　立体表示ライブラリ、　４００　表示画面、　４０２　三次元データソフト、　４０６　撮影指示処理部、　４３０　ネットワーク利用型のシステム、４３２　ゲーム機、　４３４　ユーザ端末、　４３６　サーバ、　４５２　ビュアプログラム、　５１０　立体写真撮影装置。[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a stereoscopic image processing technique, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for generating or displaying a stereoscopic image based on a parallax image.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, the lack of network infrastructure has been regarded as a problem, but the transition to broadband has entered the period, and rather, the types and the number of contents that make effective use of a wide band have begun to stand out. Video has always been the most important means of expression, but much of the work up to now has been related to improving display quality and data compression ratios. There is a feeling that such efforts are behind.
[0003]
Under such circumstances, stereoscopic video display (hereinafter simply referred to as stereoscopic display) has been studied in various ways for a long time, and has been put to practical use in a somewhat limited market using theater applications and special display devices. In the future, research and development in this area will be accelerated with the aim of providing more realistic content, and an era in which individual users will enjoy stereoscopic display at home is expected.
[0004]
In addition, stereoscopic display is expected to be widely used in the future, and therefore, display forms that cannot be imagined with current display devices have been proposed. For example, a technique for displaying a selected partial image of a two-dimensional image in three dimensions has been disclosed (see Patent Document 1).
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-11-39507
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In such a trend, several problems have been pointed out in stereoscopic display. For example, it is difficult to optimize parallax, which causes a three-dimensional effect. Originally, instead of really projecting a three-dimensional object, the image is cast with a pixel shift for both the left and right eyes, and it is not easy to give the artificial three-dimensional effect a natural feeling. Absent.
[0007]
In addition, excessive parallax may cause a problem, and some observers of the stereoscopic video (hereinafter, simply referred to as users) may complain of slight discomfort. Of course, this is caused not only by the stereoscopic display but also by various factors such as a situation in which the displayed scene does not match the situation or sensation around the user. However, as a rule of thumb, such a problem is easily observed when the parallax is too large, in other words, when the stereoscopic effect is too strong.
[0008]
The above is a description of human physiology, but there are technical factors that prevent the spread of stereoscopic video contents and applications. Although stereoscopic vision is realized by parallax, even if parallax is represented by the amount of pixel shift between left and right images, there may be cases where the same stereoscopic image can be appropriately stereoscopically viewed due to differences in hardware of the display device, and cases where it is not. . If the parallax representing a distant place exceeds the interocular distance, stereoscopic vision is theoretically impossible. As the resolution and screen size of display devices are diversifying as in today's PCs (personal computers), television receivers, portable devices, etc., creating optimal content for stereoscopic display by considering various hardware Is more challenging, or it is more accurate that no methodology has been given for it.
[0009]
And even if the methodology is given, it would be difficult for the average programmer to understand and use it to create content and applications.
[0010]
In the technology disclosed in the above-mentioned literature, it has been proposed as a method for solving the above-mentioned problems, but in order to spread stereoscopic display in the future, further techniques are proposed and new technologies are accumulated, and It is necessary to link technologies and apply them to products.
[0011]
The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and an object of the present invention is to propose a new expression method of stereoscopic display. Another object is to generate or display a stereoscopic image appropriate for a user even when the display target image or the display device changes. Still another object is to adjust the stereoscopic effect by a simple operation when stereoscopic display is performed. Still another object is to reduce the burden on a programmer when creating content or an application capable of appropriate three-dimensional display. Still another object is to provide a technology for realizing an appropriate three-dimensional display as a business model.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The inventor's knowledge that forms the basis of the present invention is to separate proper parallax from factors such as the hardware of the display device and the distance between the user and the display device (hereinafter, these are collectively referred to as "hardware"). It is in. That is, the expression of the appropriate parallax is generalized by a camera interval and an optical axis intersecting position, which will be described later, and is once described in a general form independent of hardware. “Independent of hardware” means that reading of hardware information unique to the display device is basically unnecessary, and if this general description is made, the parallax image is then based on the proper parallax. Is generated or adjusted, a desired stereoscopic display is realized.
[0013]
By providing the library with the control to acquire the proper parallax and realize the proper parallax when displaying the image stereoscopically, ordinary programmers can call this library without being aware of the complex stereoscopic principles and programming. 3D display is realized.
[0014]
Among the various aspects of the present invention, the first group is based on a technique for acquiring an appropriate parallax based on a user's response. This technique can be used for “initial setting” of parallax by a user, and once a proper parallax is acquired in the device, the proper parallax is realized even when another image is displayed. However, this technique is used not only in the initial setting but also in “manual adjustment” in which the user appropriately adjusts the parallax of the image being displayed. Hereinafter, the first group will be described.
[0015]
The present invention relates to a stereoscopic image processing apparatus, an instruction obtaining unit that obtains a user's response to a stereoscopic image displayed based on a plurality of viewpoint images corresponding to different parallaxes, and, based on the obtained response, A parallax specifying unit that specifies an appropriate parallax for the user.
[0016]
The instruction obtaining unit is provided, for example, as a GUI (graphical user interface, the same applies hereinafter), and first displays the image while changing the parallax between the viewpoint images. When the user has a stereoscopic effect that he or she likes, the user inputs that fact by operating a button or the like.
[0017]
A “stereoscopic image” is an image displayed with a stereoscopic effect, and the substance of the data is a “parallax image” in which a plurality of images have parallax. Generally, a parallax image is a set of a plurality of two-dimensional images. Each image forming the parallax image is a “viewpoint image” having a corresponding viewpoint. That is, a parallax image is formed by a plurality of viewpoint images, and when the parallax image is displayed, it is displayed as a stereoscopic image. Display of a stereoscopic image is also simply referred to as “stereoscopic display”.
[0018]
“Parallax” is a parameter for creating a three-dimensional effect, and can be defined in various ways. For example, it can be expressed by a shift amount of a pixel representing the same point between viewpoint images. Hereinafter, in this specification, the definition is followed unless otherwise specified.
[0019]
The range of the appropriate parallax may be specified. In that case, both ends of the range are referred to as “limit parallax”. The “specification of the appropriate parallax” may be performed with a maximum value allowable as the parallax of the nearby object described later.
[0020]
The stereoscopic image processing device of the present invention may further include a parallax control unit that performs processing so that the specified proper parallax is realized even when another image is displayed. When another image is a stereoscopic image generated from three-dimensional data as a starting point, the parallax control unit may determine a plurality of viewpoints for generating the stereoscopic image according to the appropriate parallax. More specifically, a distance between a plurality of viewpoints and an intersection position of an optical axis at which an object is viewed from those viewpoints may be determined. An example of these processes is performed by a camera arrangement determination unit described later. If these processes are performed in real time, optimal three-dimensional display is always realized.
[0021]
The parallax control unit may perform control such that appropriate parallax is realized in a predetermined basic three-dimensional space to be displayed. An example of this processing is performed by a projection processing unit described later.
[0022]
The parallax control unit may perform control such that the appropriate parallax is realized for the coordinates of the closest object and the coordinates of the farthest object in the three-dimensional space. An example of this processing is performed by a projection processing unit described later. Objects can be static.
[0023]
“Near” refers to the line of sight of the camera placed at each of a plurality of viewpoints, that is, a plane at the intersection of the optical axes (hereinafter, also referred to as “optical axis intersection position”) (hereinafter, also referred to as “optical axis intersection plane”). It refers to a state in which parallax is provided so as to be stereoscopically viewed earlier. The term “distant” refers to a state in which parallax is provided so that the image is stereoscopically viewed behind the plane intersecting the optical axis. The closer the parallax of the near object is, the closer to the user is perceived, and the larger the parallax of the far object is, the farther the user is perceived. That is, unless otherwise specified, the parallax is defined as a non-negative value without reversing the sign of the parallax between the near position and the distant position, and both the near parallax and the far parallax are set to zero at the optical axis intersection plane.
[0024]
In a portion of the displayed object or space where there is no parallax, the optical axis intersection plane matches the screen surface of the display device. This is because, for a pixel to which no parallax is attached, the line of sight viewed from the left and right eyes reaches the same position in the screen plane, that is, intersects there.
[0025]
When the another image is a plurality of two-dimensional images to which parallax has already been given, the parallax control unit may determine a shift amount in the horizontal direction of the plurality of two-dimensional images according to an appropriate parallax. In this embodiment, the input for stereoscopic display is not generated with a high degree of freedom starting from the three-dimensional data, but is an already generated parallax image, and the parallax is fixed. In this case, it is not possible to return to the original three-dimensional space or the actual space where the image was actually taken, change the camera position, and perform a process of redrawing or re-imaging. Therefore, the parallax is adjusted by horizontally shifting the viewpoint images forming the parallax image or the pixels included therein.
[0026]
In the case where the another image is a plane image to which depth information is given (hereinafter also referred to as “image with depth information”), the parallax control unit may adjust the depth according to the appropriate parallax. An example of this processing is performed by a two-dimensional image generation unit of a third stereoscopic image processing device described later.
[0027]
The stereoscopic image processing apparatus further includes a parallax holding unit that records an appropriate parallax, and the parallax control unit performs a predetermined timing, for example, when the apparatus is activated, or when the stereoscopic image processing function of the apparatus or a part thereof is activated. In such a case, the appropriate parallax may be read, and the value may be used as an initial value for processing. That is, “activation” may have either a hardware meaning or a software meaning. According to this aspect, once the user determines the appropriate parallax, the automatic processing for adjusting the stereoscopic effect is realized thereafter. This is a function also referred to as “initial setting of proper parallax”.
[0028]
Another aspect of the present invention relates to a stereoscopic image processing method, wherein a step of displaying a plurality of stereoscopic images with different parallaxes to a user, and specifying an appropriate parallax for the user based on a response of the user to the displayed stereoscopic image. Steps.
[0029]
Still another embodiment of the present invention also relates to a stereoscopic image processing method, which includes a step of acquiring a proper parallax depending on a user and a step of performing processing on an image before display so that the acquired proper parallax is realized. Here, “acquisition” may be a process of positively identifying or a process of reading from the parallax holding unit or the like.
[0030]
If these steps are implemented as a function of a stereoscopic display library, and the functions of this library can be called as functions from multiple programs, the programmer must write the program in consideration of the hardware of the stereoscopic display device. Is no longer effective.
[0031]
The second group of the present invention is based on a technique for adjusting parallax based on a user's instruction. This technique can be used for “manual adjustment” of parallax by a user, and the user can appropriately change the stereoscopic effect of an image being displayed. However, this technique can be used not only for manual adjustment but also for reading an appropriate parallax and automatically adjusting the parallax of the image when stereoscopically displaying an image. The difference from the automatic adjustment of the first group is that the automatic adjustment of the second group acts on a two-dimensional parallax image or an image with depth information. Use a group of technologies. Hereinafter, the second group will be described.
[0032]
One embodiment of the present invention relates to a stereoscopic image processing apparatus, and an instruction acquisition unit that acquires a user instruction for a stereoscopic image displayed from a plurality of viewpoint images, and a parallax amount between the plurality of viewpoint images according to the acquired instruction. And a parallax control unit that changes An example of this processing is shown in FIG. 45 described later, and is a typical example of “manual adjustment”. It is convenient if the user's instruction is provided by a simple GUI such as a button operation.
[0033]
Another embodiment of the present invention also relates to a stereoscopic image processing apparatus, wherein a parallax amount detection unit that detects a first parallax amount generated when a stereoscopic image is displayed from a plurality of viewpoint images, and the first parallax amount is set by a user. A disparity controller configured to change a disparity amount between the plurality of viewpoint images so as to fall within a range of a second disparity amount that is a disparity amount. This is a typical example of “automatic adjustment”, and the above-described appropriate parallax can be used as the second parallax amount. An example of this processing is shown in FIG. 46 described later.
[0034]
The parallax amount detection unit detects the maximum value of the first parallax amount, and the parallax control unit changes the parallax amount between the plurality of viewpoint images so that the maximum value does not exceed the maximum value of the second parallax amount. Is also good. In order to avoid excessive stereoscopic effect due to excessive parallax, the maximum value of the parallax amount, that is, the limit parallax is intended to be kept. The maximum value here may be considered as the maximum value on the near side.
[0035]
The parallax amount detection unit calculates a corresponding point matching between the plurality of viewpoint images to detect a first parallax amount, or detects a first parallax amount recorded in advance in any header of the plurality of viewpoint images. It may be detected. An example of these processes is shown in FIG. 47 described later.
[0036]
The parallax control unit may change the amount of parallax between the plurality of viewpoint images by shifting the synthesis position of the plurality of viewpoint images. This is common to FIGS. The shift of the combining position is a shift in the horizontal or vertical direction in units of pixels or the entire image. If the input is an image with depth information, the parallax control unit may adjust the depth information to change the amount of parallax.
[0037]
Another aspect of the present invention relates to a stereoscopic image processing method, wherein a step of acquiring a user instruction for a stereoscopic image displayed based on a plurality of viewpoint images, and a parallax amount between the plurality of viewpoint images according to the instruction. Is changed.
[0038]
Still another embodiment of the present invention also relates to a stereoscopic image processing method, wherein a step of detecting a first parallax amount generated when displaying a stereoscopic image from a plurality of viewpoint images, and the first parallax amount is a permissible parallax amount of a user. And changing the amount of parallax between the plurality of viewpoint images so as to fall within the range of the second amount of parallax.
[0039]
These steps may be implemented as a function of a library for stereoscopic display, and a function of the library may be called as a function from a plurality of programs.
[0040]
A third group of the present invention is based on a technique for correcting parallax based on a position in an image. This “automatic correction” acts to reduce the user's feeling of discomfort or rejection of the stereoscopic display, and can be used in combination with the technologies of the first and second groups. In general, in stereoscopic display, technical or physiological problems are pointed out, such as a plurality of viewpoint images being displaced closer to the end of the image and being more likely to produce a sense of incongruity. In the third group, this problem is reduced by processing such as reducing the parallax in a portion near the end of the image or adjusting the parallax so that the object moves from the near side to the far side. Hereinafter, the third group will be described.
[0041]
One embodiment of the present invention relates to a stereoscopic image processing apparatus, and stores a parallax control unit that corrects parallax between a plurality of viewpoint images for displaying a stereoscopic image, and a correction map to which the parallax control unit refers when performing the processing. The correction map is described so that the parallax is corrected based on the position in the viewpoint image. The correction maps include a parallax correction map, a distance feeling correction map, and the like.
[0042]
The parallax control unit reduces the parallax, for example, in the periphery of the plurality of viewpoint images, or changes the parallax so that the object is sensed farther from the user. The parallax control unit may change the parallax by selectively performing processing on any of the plurality of viewpoint images.
[0043]
When the plurality of viewpoint images are generated from the three-dimensional data, that is, when the viewpoint images can be generated by returning to the three-dimensional space, the parallax control unit controls the camera parameters when generating the plurality of viewpoint images to generate the parallax. May be changed. The camera parameters include an interval between the left and right cameras, an angle at which an object is viewed from the camera, and an optical axis intersection position.
[0044]
Similarly, when a plurality of viewpoint images are generated from three-dimensional data, the parallax control unit may change the parallax by generating a plurality of viewpoint images by distorting the three-dimensional space itself in, for example, a world coordinate system. . On the other hand, when a plurality of viewpoint images are generated from images with depth information, the parallax control unit may change the parallax by operating the depth information.
[0045]
Another aspect of the present invention relates to a stereoscopic image processing method, wherein a step of acquiring a plurality of viewpoint images for displaying a stereoscopic image, and a method of calculating a parallax between the acquired plurality of viewpoint images based on a position in the viewpoint images. And changing it. These steps may be implemented as functions of a library for stereoscopic display, and a function of the library may be called as a function from a plurality of programs.
[0046]
A fourth group of the present invention relates to a technology that provides the first to third groups and their related functions as a software library, reduces the burden on programmers and users, and promotes the spread of stereoscopic image display applications. Hereinafter, the fourth group will be described.
[0047]
One embodiment of the present invention relates to a stereoscopic image processing method, in which information related to stereoscopic image display is stored in a memory, and the stored information is shared between a plurality of different programs, and one of the programs is used for stereoscopic image processing. Is displayed, the state of the image to be output is determined with reference to the stored information. An example of the state of the image is how much parallax is given to the parallax image and the degree thereof.
[0048]
The “held information” may include any information of the format of the image input to the stereoscopic image display device, the display order of the viewpoint images, and the amount of parallax between the viewpoint images. Further, in addition to sharing the held information, a process unique to stereoscopic image display may be shared by a plurality of programs. An example of “processing unique to stereoscopic image display” is processing for determining held information. Another example is a process related to a graphical user interface for determining a proper parallax, a display process of a parallax adjustment screen for supporting realization of a proper parallax state, a process of detecting and tracking a user's head position, and a stereoscopic display device. For example, a process of displaying an image for adjusting is performed.
[0049]
Another embodiment of the present invention relates to a three-dimensional image processing apparatus, and a three-dimensional effect adjusting unit that provides a user with a graphical user interface for adjusting a three-dimensional effect of a three-dimensional display image, and a result of the three-dimensional effect adjustment performed by the user. A parallax control unit that generates a parallax image in a manner that protects the limit parallax.
[0050]
The apparatus further includes an information detection unit that obtains information to be referred to in order to optimize the stereoscopic image display, and a conversion unit that converts a format of the parallax image generated by the parallax control unit according to the obtained information. May be included.
[0051]
The parallax control unit may control the camera parameters based on the three-dimensional data, generate a parallax image while maintaining the limit parallax, or generate a parallax image by controlling the depth of the image with depth information. Alternatively, a parallax image may be generated after determining a horizontal shift amount of a plurality of two-dimensional images having parallax.
[0052]
A fifth group of the present invention relates to one application or business model using the above-described stereoscopic image processing technology or its related technology. A fourth group of software libraries is available. Hereinafter, the fifth group will be described.
[0053]
One embodiment of the present invention relates to a stereoscopic image processing method, in which a proper parallax for stereoscopically displaying a parallax image is once converted into an expression format that does not depend on the hardware of the display device, and the proper parallax based on this expression format is converted between different display devices. Distribute.
[0054]
Another aspect of the present invention also relates to a stereoscopic image processing method, wherein a step of reading a proper disparity of a user acquired by a first display device into a second display device, and a process of reading the proper disparity by the second display device according to the proper disparity. The method includes a step of adjusting the parallax between the parallax images and a step of outputting the adjusted parallax image from the second display device. For example, the first display device is a device normally used by the user, and the second display device is a device provided at another place. Reading information about the hardware of the first display device into the second display device; and reading the information about the read hardware of the first display device and the information about the hardware of the second display device. Correcting the parallax of the parallax image in which the parallax has been adjusted in the step of adjusting the parallax of the parallax image in accordance with the proper parallax on the second display device.
[0055]
The information on hardware may include at least one of the size of the display screen, the optimum observation distance of the display device, and the image separation performance of the display device.
[0056]
Another embodiment of the present invention relates to a stereoscopic image processing device, including a first display device, a second display device, and a server connected via a network, wherein the first display device is acquired by the device. The appropriate disparity information of the user to the server, the server receives the appropriate disparity information and records it in association with the user, and when the user requests the output of the image data on the second display device, the device Reads the appropriate parallax information of the user from the server, adjusts the parallax, and outputs a parallax image.
[0057]
A sixth group of the present invention is based on a technology for proposing a new expression method using a stereoscopic image.
[0058]
One embodiment of the present invention relates to a three-dimensional image processing device. This stereoscopic image processing device is a stereoscopic image processing device that displays a stereoscopic image based on a plurality of viewpoint images corresponding to different parallaxes, and is recommended when displaying a stereoscopic image using the stereoscopic image display device. A recommended disparity acquisition unit that acquires a disparity range to be obtained, and a disparity control unit that sets disparity so as to display the stereoscopic display image within the acquired recommended disparity range.
[0059]
In addition, an object specification unit that receives specification of a predetermined object included in the stereoscopic image from a user, and an optical axis intersection position associated with each of the plurality of viewpoint images is associated with the position of the specified object. An optical axis crossing position setting unit that sets the crossing position of the optical axis such that the object is represented near the position on the display screen where the stereoscopic image is displayed.
[0060]
Also, for the specified object, the optical axis correspondence information describing that the object is associated with the optical axis intersection position and that the object is expressed near the position on the display screen is described above. A designation information adding unit for associating with an object.
[0061]
The optical axis intersection position setting unit acquires the optical axis correspondence information, associates the optical axis intersection position with the object described in the acquired optical axis correspondence information, and associates the optical axis intersection position with the object. May be represented near the position on the display screen where the stereoscopic image is displayed.
[0062]
Also, it is associated with image data used when generating a stereoscopic image, and the object included in the stereoscopic image includes information on whether or not to express in the basic expression space including the object to be stereoscopically displayed. The image processing apparatus may further include an identification information acquisition unit that acquires identification information, and the parallax control unit may reflect the acquired identification information when expressing an object in a stereoscopic image.
[0063]
Further, the identification information may include information on timing when the object is expressed in the basic expression space, and the identification information acquisition unit may reflect the acquired timing when expressing the object in a stereoscopic image. Good.
[0064]
Another embodiment of the present invention relates to a stereoscopic image processing method. This stereoscopic image processing method allows a predetermined object included in a stereoscopic image displayed based on a plurality of viewpoint images corresponding to different parallaxes to be selectable, and when an object is selected, the position of the selected object is The optical axis intersection positions associated with the plurality of viewpoint images are made to correspond to each other, and the optical axis intersection positions are made to substantially match the positions on the display screen where the stereoscopic image is displayed. According to this stereoscopic image processing method, the display screen can be set at the boundary between the distant space and the near space, and it is possible to express the object as if it were going to the viewer beyond the display screen.
[0065]
Further, the designated object may have a predetermined interface, and the optical axis intersection position setting unit may associate the optical axis intersection position on the interface. Further, a three-dimensional image may be generated starting from three-dimensional data. When a three-dimensional image is generated starting from three-dimensional data, it is easy to add various effects to the three-dimensional image. For example, when an object is expressed so as to exceed an interface, that is, beyond a display screen, an effect of deforming the display screen can be added.
[0066]
Still another embodiment of the present invention also relates to a stereoscopic image processing method. This stereoscopic image processing method sets, as a part of a stereoscopic image, an interface separating a space near a display screen on which a stereoscopic image generated based on a plurality of viewpoint images corresponding to different parallaxes is displayed. At the same time, a three-dimensional image is expressed using the interface as a boundary between the near space and the far space. Further, the interface may be a boundary surface between substances or a thin plate. As a thin plate, there are a glass plate, and further, paper.
[0067]
Still another embodiment of the present invention relates to a stereoscopic image processing method. This stereoscopic image processing method includes a moving speed of an object to be expressed in a basic expression space that is included in a stereoscopic image generated based on a plurality of viewpoint images corresponding to different parallaxes and that includes an object to be stereoscopically displayed. Is changed for the near or far direction.
[0068]
Yet another embodiment of the present invention also relates to a stereoscopic image processing method. According to this stereoscopic image processing method, when a stereoscopic image is generated based on a plurality of viewpoint images corresponding to different parallaxes, an object to be expressed in a basic expression space including an object to be stereoscopically displayed is defined by a predetermined parallax range. And at least one of the foreground or last surface of the basic expression space is set at a position where no object exists.
[0069]
Yet another embodiment of the present invention also relates to a stereoscopic image processing method. This stereoscopic image processing method calculates a parallax of an object to be expressed in a basic expression space including an object to be stereoscopically displayed when generating a stereoscopic image based on a plurality of viewpoint images corresponding to different parallaxes. , The parallax of the object is calculated as a size including the extended area in front of the object instead of the actual size of the object. When the object moves to the front of the basic expression space by moving the object so as to include the front extended area, if the object moves further forward, the object is expressed to move in the front extended area. You may.
[0070]
Yet another embodiment of the present invention also relates to a stereoscopic image processing method. This stereoscopic image processing method calculates a parallax of an object to be expressed in a basic expression space including an object to be stereoscopically displayed when generating a stereoscopic image based on a plurality of viewpoint images corresponding to different parallaxes. , The parallax of the object is calculated as a size including the extended area behind the object instead of the actual size of the object. Also, if the object moves further rearward after moving to the rear of the basic representation space by including the front extended area, the object is represented as moving in the rear extended area. May be.
[0071]
A seventh group of the present invention is based on a technique of adjusting a parallax to be set according to an image state.
[0072]
One embodiment of the present invention relates to a three-dimensional image processing device. When generating a stereoscopic image from three-dimensional data, the stereoscopic image processing apparatus has a parallax that is smaller than the parallax in a range in which the ratio between the width and the depth of an object represented in the stereoscopic image is correctly perceived by human eyes. There is a parallax control unit for controlling the size to not increase.
[0073]
Another embodiment of the present invention also relates to a stereoscopic image processing device. This stereoscopic image processing apparatus is capable of generating a stereoscopic image from a two-dimensional image given depth information, in which the ratio of the width to the depth of the object represented in the stereoscopic image is correctly perceived by human eyes. And a parallax control unit that controls the parallax so that the parallax is not greater than the parallax.
[0074]
Still another embodiment of the present invention also relates to a stereoscopic image processing device. This stereoscopic image processing apparatus includes an image determination unit that performs frequency analysis on a stereoscopic image to be displayed based on a plurality of viewpoint images corresponding to different parallaxes, and a parallax amount according to an amount of a high-frequency component determined by the frequency analysis. And a parallax control unit that adjusts Further, when the amount of the high-frequency component is large, the parallax control unit may perform adjustment to increase the amount of parallax.
[0075]
Still another embodiment of the present invention also relates to a stereoscopic image processing device. This stereoscopic image processing apparatus adjusts the amount of parallax according to the amount of motion of a stereoscopic image, and an image determination unit that detects the motion of a stereoscopic image displayed based on a plurality of viewpoint images corresponding to different parallaxes. A parallax control unit. Further, the parallax control unit may perform adjustment to reduce the parallax amount when the amount of movement of the stereoscopic image is small.
[0076]
Still another embodiment of the present invention also relates to a stereoscopic image processing device. This stereoscopic image processing apparatus is provided with a camera parameter in advance for a change in the parameter when a parameter related to a camera arrangement set to generate a parallax image is changed when a stereoscopic image is generated from data. Control to be within the threshold value. According to this device, it is possible to reduce a situation in which the parallax changes abruptly and the observer of the stereoscopic image feels strange.
[0077]
Still another embodiment of the present invention also relates to a stereoscopic image processing device. This three-dimensional image processing apparatus, when generating a three-dimensional image of a moving image from a two-dimensional moving image given depth information, occurs with the progress of the two-dimensional moving image, the maximum value of the depth included in the depth information or Control is performed so that the change in the minimum value falls within a threshold value provided in advance. According to this device, it is possible to reduce a situation in which the parallax changes abruptly and the observer of the stereoscopic image feels strange.
[0078]
Still another embodiment of the present invention relates to a stereoscopic image processing method. In this stereoscopic image processing method, an appropriate parallax of a stereoscopic image displayed based on a plurality of viewpoint images corresponding to different parallaxes is set for each scene.
[0079]
Still another embodiment of the present invention relates to a stereoscopic image processing method. In this stereoscopic image processing method, an appropriate parallax of a stereoscopic image displayed based on a plurality of viewpoint images corresponding to different parallaxes is set at predetermined time intervals.
[0080]
Another embodiment of the present invention relates to a stereoscopic image processing device. The three-dimensional image processing apparatus includes a camera arrangement setting unit configured to set arrangement of a plurality of virtual cameras for generating a plurality of viewpoint images when original data serving as a starting point of a three-dimensional image is input. An object area determining unit that determines whether or not an area in which information of an object to be displayed does not exist in a correspondingly generated viewpoint image, and an area in which information of an object to be displayed does not exist. And a camera parameter adjustment unit that adjusts at least one of the angle of view of the virtual camera, the camera interval, and the intersection position of the optical axis so that there is no area where object information does not exist.
[0081]
It is to be noted that any combination of the above-described components and any conversion of the expression of the present invention between a method, an apparatus, a system, a recording medium, a computer program, and the like are also effective as embodiments of the present invention.
[0082]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows a positional relationship among a user 10, a screen 12, and a reproduction object 14 which is stereoscopically displayed. The distance between the eyes of the user 10 is E, the distance between the user 10 and the screen 12 is D, and the width of the reproduced object 14 when displayed is W. Since the reproduction object 14 is stereoscopically displayed, it has pixels that are sensed closer to the screen 12, ie, pixels that are closer, and pixels that are sensed farther than the screen 12, that is, pixels that are farther away. Pixels with no parallax are perceived on the screen 12 because they appear at the same position on both sides of the screen 12.
[0083]
FIG. 2 shows a photographing system for generating the ideal display of FIG. The distance between the two cameras 22 and 24 is E, the distance from the camera to the optical axis crossing position when viewing the real object 20 (this is called the optical axis crossing distance) is D, and the same width as the screen 12 is If the object 20 whose width is actually W at the expected angle of view is photographed, a parallax image can be obtained from the two cameras. If this is displayed on the screen 12 of FIG. 1, the ideal state of FIG. 1 is realized.
[0084]
3 and 4 show a state where the positional relationship of FIG. 2 is multiplied by A (A <1) and B (B> 1), respectively. The parallax images obtained with these positional relationships also realize the ideal state of FIG. That is, the basis of an ideal three-dimensional display starts with W: D: E being constant. This relationship is also the basis for parallax.
[0085]
FIG. 5 to FIG. 10 show the outline of processing until a three-dimensional display is performed based on the three-dimensional data of the object 20 in the embodiment.
FIG. 5 shows a model coordinate system, that is, a coordinate space of each three-dimensional object 20. In this space, coordinates when modeling the object 20 are given. Usually, the origin is located at the center of the object 20.
[0086]
FIG. 6 shows the world coordinate system. The world space is a large space in which a scene is formed by arranging the objects 20, floors, and walls. The process up to the modeling in FIG. 5 and the determination of the world coordinate system in FIG. 6 can be recognized as “construction of three-dimensional data”.
[0087]
FIG. 7 shows a camera coordinate system. By setting the camera 22 at an arbitrary angle of view in an arbitrary direction from an arbitrary position in the world coordinate system, conversion to the camera coordinate system is performed. The camera position, direction, and angle of view are camera parameters. In the case of a three-dimensional display, since the parameters are determined for the two cameras, the camera interval and the optical axis intersecting position are also determined. In addition, the origin is moved to set the midpoint of the two cameras as the origin.
[0088]
8 and 9 show a perspective coordinate system. First, as shown in FIG. 8, a space to be displayed is clipped by a front projection plane 30 and a rear projection plane 32. As will be described later, one feature of the embodiment resides in that a plane having a near maximum parallax point is a front projection plane 30 and a plane having a far maximum parallax point is a rear projection plane 32. After clipping, this view volume is converted into a rectangular parallelepiped as shown in FIG. 8 and 9 are also referred to as projection processing.
[0089]
FIG. 10 shows a screen coordinate system. In the case of stereoscopic display, images from each of a plurality of cameras are converted into a coordinate system of a screen, and a plurality of two-dimensional images, that is, parallax images are generated.
[0090]
11, 12, and 13 show the configuration of the stereoscopic image processing device 100 partially different from each other. Hereinafter, for convenience, those three-dimensional image processing apparatuses 100 are also referred to as first, second, and third three-dimensional image processing apparatuses 100, respectively. These three-dimensional image processing apparatuses 100 can be integrated into the apparatus, but are divided into three here to avoid complication of the drawing. The first three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100 is effective when the object to be drawn and the space can be obtained from the three-dimensional data stage, and therefore, the main input is the three-dimensional data. The second stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100 is effective for adjusting a plurality of two-dimensional images to which parallax has already been given, that is, parallax adjustment of an existing parallax image, and therefore inputs a two-dimensional parallax image. The third three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100 realizes proper parallax by operating depth information of an image with depth information. Therefore, the input is mainly an image with depth information. These three types of inputs are collectively referred to as “original data”.
[0091]
When the first to third stereoscopic image processing apparatuses 100 are integrally mounted, an “image format determination unit” is provided as a preprocessing unit for the three-dimensional data, the parallax image, and the image with depth information. A configuration may be adopted in which the optimal one of the first to third stereoscopic image processing apparatuses 100 is activated.
[0092]
The first three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100 has “initial setting” and “automatic adjustment” functions for setting a three-dimensional effect for a three-dimensional display. When the user specifies his or her proper parallax range for the stereoscopically displayed image, this is acquired by the system, and thereafter, when another stereoscopic image is displayed, conversion processing is performed in advance to realize this proper parallax. Is displayed. Therefore, with the first three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100, the user can enjoy a three-dimensional display suitable for himself after performing the setting procedure only once in principle.
[0093]
The first three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100 further has a sub-function of “parallax correction” for artificially reducing parallax in a peripheral portion of an image. As described above, the shift of a plurality of viewpoint images becomes more likely to be recognized as a “double image” as approaching the edge of the image. This is mainly due to a mechanical error such as a parallax barrier or a screen warpage of the display device. Therefore, in the peripheral part of the image, 1) reduce both the near parallax and the far parallax, 2) reduce the near parallax and leave the far parallax unchanged, 3) regardless of the near parallax and the far parallax, And various methods such as shifting to far parallax. Note that the “parallax correction” function also exists in the third stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100, but the processing is different due to a difference in input data.
[0094]
The first three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100 includes a three-dimensional effect adjusting unit 112 that adjusts a three-dimensional effect based on a response from a user to an image displayed three-dimensionally, and a parallax that stores an appropriate parallax specified by the three-dimensional effect adjusting unit 112. An information holding unit 120, a proper disparity is read from the disparity information holding unit 120, a disparity control unit 114 that generates a disparity image having an appropriate disparity from the original data, and hardware information of the display device are acquired, An information acquisition unit 118 having a function of acquiring a method and a format conversion unit 116 that changes the format of the parallax image generated by the parallax control unit 114 based on the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 118 are included. Original data is simply referred to as three-dimensional data. Strictly speaking, this refers to object and space data described in the world coordinate system.
[0095]
Examples of the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 118 include the number of viewpoints for stereoscopic display, the method of a stereoscopic display device such as space division or time division, whether or not shutter glasses are used, and the number of viewpoint images in a multi-view system. The arrangement, the presence or absence of the arrangement of the viewpoint images in which the parallax is inverted in the parallax images, the result of head tracking, and the like are included. It should be noted that only the result of head tracking is exceptionally input directly to the camera arrangement determining unit 132 via a path (not shown), and is processed there.
[0096]
The above configuration can be realized in terms of hardware by a CPU, a memory, and other LSIs of an arbitrary computer, and can be realized in terms of software by a program having a GUI function, a parallax control function, and other functions. Here, the functional blocks realized by their cooperation are drawn. Therefore, it is understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms by only hardware, only software, or a combination thereof, and the same applies to the subsequent configuration.
[0097]
The stereoscopic effect adjustment unit 112 includes an instruction acquisition unit 122 and a parallax identification unit 124. The instruction obtaining unit 122 obtains an appropriate parallax range when the user specifies the range of the parallax for the stereoscopically displayed image. The parallax specifying unit 124 specifies a proper parallax when the user uses the display device based on the range. The appropriate parallax is expressed in an expression format that does not depend on the hardware of the display device. Achieving proper parallax enables stereoscopic vision suited to the physiology of the user.
[0098]
The parallax control unit 114 first includes a camera provisional placement unit 130 for temporarily setting camera parameters, a camera placement determination unit 132 for correcting camera parameters provisionally set according to proper parallax, and a plurality of cameras when camera parameters are determined. , An origin moving unit 134 that performs an origin moving process so as to set the middle point as an origin, a projection processing unit 138 that performs the above-described projection process, and performs a conversion process to a screen coordinate system after the projection process to generate a parallax image. And a two-dimensional image generation unit 142. In addition, a distortion processing unit 136 that performs spatial distortion conversion (hereinafter, also simply referred to as distortion conversion) in order to reduce parallax in an image peripheral part is provided between the camera temporary arrangement unit 130 and the camera arrangement determination unit 132 as necessary. ing. The distortion processing unit 136 reads a correction map described later from the correction map holding unit 140 and uses the same.
[0099]
If it is necessary to adjust the display device for stereoscopic display, a GUI (not shown) for that purpose may be added. This GUI may be used to perform processing such as finely shifting the entire displayed parallax image vertically and horizontally to determine the optimal display position.
[0100]
The second stereoscopic image processing device 100 in FIG. 12 receives a plurality of parallax images as input. This is simply called an input image. The second three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100 reads the appropriate parallax acquired by the first three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100, adjusts the parallax of the input image to be within the range of the appropriate parallax, and outputs it. In that sense, the second stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100 has a “parallax“ automatic adjustment ”function. However, in addition to this, when the user wants to change the stereoscopic effect while the stereoscopic display is actually performed, a GUI function is provided, and a “manual adjustment” function for changing the parallax according to the user's instruction is also provided.
[0101]
Although the parallax of a parallax image that has already been generated cannot usually be changed, the second stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100 shifts the synthesis position of the viewpoint images forming the parallax image to a level sufficient for practical use. Can change the stereoscopic effect. The second stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100 exhibits a good stereoscopic effect adjusting function even in a situation where input data cannot be traced back to three-dimensional data. Hereinafter, differences from the first stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100 will be mainly described.
[0102]
The stereoscopic effect adjusting unit 112 is used for manual adjustment. The instruction obtaining unit 122 realizes input of numerical values such as “+ n” and “−n” on the screen, and the value is specified by the parallax specifying unit 124 as a parallax change amount. There are several possible relationships between the numerical values and the three-dimensional effect indicated. For example, “+ n” is an instruction to enhance the stereoscopic effect, and “−n” is an instruction to weaken the stereoscopic effect. The larger the n is, the larger the change amount to the stereoscopic effect may be. Further, “+ n” may be an instruction to move the object entirely in the near direction, and “−n” may be an instruction to move the object entirely in the far direction. As another method, the value of n may not be specified, and only “+” and “−” buttons may be displayed, and the parallax may be changed each time the button is clicked.
[0103]
The second stereoscopic image processing device 100 includes a parallax amount detection unit 150 and a parallax control unit 152. If the input image is a plurality of parallax images, the parallax amount detection unit 150 examines the header area of those parallax images, and sets the parallax amount described in the form of the number of pixels, in particular, the nearest maximum parallax pixel number and the far maximum parallax. If there is a pixel number, it is obtained. If the amount of parallax is not described, the matching unit 158 specifies the amount of parallax by detecting a corresponding point between the parallax images using a known method such as block matching. The matching unit 158 may perform processing only on an important region such as the central portion of the image, or may detect the narrowest parallax pixel number that is most important. The detected amount of parallax is sent to the parallax control unit 152 in the form of the number of pixels.
[0104]
In general, when a stereoscopic image is displayed on the display screen of a mobile phone, individual differences in stereoscopic effect are small, and it can be assumed that the user sometimes feels troublesome in inputting proper parallax. In addition, even with a stereoscopic display device used by an unspecified number of users, input of proper parallax may be felt to be inconvenient. In such a case, the range of the appropriate parallax may be determined by the manufacturer of the stereoscopic image display device, the creator of the content to be displayed on the stereoscopic image display device, or according to general guidelines. May be determined by the following method. For example, a guideline or a standard established by an industry group or an academic group related to stereoscopic images is reflected. As an example, if there is a guideline that “the maximum parallax should be about 20 mm on a 15-inch display screen”, processing such as following the guideline or performing correction based on the guideline can be mentioned. In this case, the stereoscopic effect adjusting unit 112 becomes unnecessary.
[0105]
The position shift unit 160 of the parallax control unit 152 shifts the synthesis position of the viewpoint images forming the parallax image in the horizontal direction so that the amount of parallax between the viewpoint images becomes an appropriate parallax. The shift may be performed for any of the viewpoint images. The position shift unit 160 also has another operation mode. When the user instructs to increase or decrease the parallax via the stereoscopic effect adjusting unit 112, the image shift position is simply changed according to the instruction. That is, the position shift unit 160 has two functions, an automatic adjustment function for proper parallax and a manual adjustment function by the user.
[0106]
The parallax writing unit 164 writes the parallax amount in the number of pixels in one of header regions of a plurality of viewpoint images constituting the parallax image for the above-described parallax amount detection unit 150 or for another use. The image edge adjustment unit 168 fills in the missing pixels at the image edge due to the shift by the position shift unit 160.
[0107]
The third stereoscopic image processing device 100 in FIG. 13 receives an image with depth information as an input. The third stereoscopic image processing device 100 adjusts the depth so as to realize proper parallax. Also, it has the “parallax correction” function described above. The distortion processing unit 174 of the parallax control unit 170 performs distortion conversion according to the correction map stored in the correction map holding unit 176 in a manner described later. The depth information and the image after the distortion conversion are input to the two-dimensional image generation unit 178, where a parallax image is generated. This two-dimensional image generation unit 178 is different from the two-dimensional image generation unit 142 of the first three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100, and here, an appropriate parallax is considered. Since the image with the depth information is also two-dimensional as an image, the two-dimensional image generation unit 178 has a function similar to the position shift unit 160 of the second three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100 therein (not shown). Therefore, the pixels in the image are shifted in the horizontal direction to generate a three-dimensional effect. At this time, proper parallax is realized by the processing described below.
[0108]
The processing operation and principle of each unit of each stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100 in the above configuration are as follows.
FIGS. 14A and 14B show the left-eye image 200 and the right-eye image 202 respectively displayed in the specific process of the appropriate parallax by the stereoscopic effect adjustment unit 112 of the first stereoscopic image processing device 100. . In each image, five black circles are displayed, and a larger parallax is set closer to the upper side, and a larger parallax is set closer to the lower side.
[0109]
FIG. 15 schematically shows the sense of distance perceived by the user 10 when these five black circles are displayed. The user 10 has responded that the range of these five senses of distance is “appropriate”, and the instruction acquisition unit 122 acquires this response. In the figure, five black circles having different parallaxes are displayed simultaneously or sequentially, and the user 10 inputs whether or not the parallax is acceptable. On the other hand, in FIG. 16, the display itself is performed by one black circle, but the parallax is continuously changed, and a response is made when the user 10 reaches the limit allowed in each of the far and near directions. The response may use a known technique such as a normal key operation, a mouse operation, or a voice input.
[0110]
Further, the determination of the parallax may be performed by a simpler method. Similarly, the setting range of the basic expression space may be determined by a simple method. FIG. 89 is a table used for simple determination of a parallax and a basic expression space. The setting range of the basic expression space is divided into four ranks of A to D from the setting of increasing the near space side to the setting of only the far space side. Are divided into ranks. Here, for example, if the user prefers the strongest three-dimensional effect and likes the most protruding three-dimensional display, the rank is set to 5A. Then, it is not necessary to determine the rank while checking the three-dimensional display, and only the button for determining the rank may be displayed. A button for confirming the three-dimensional effect may be provided beside them, and an image for confirming the three-dimensional effect may be displayed by pressing the button.
[0111]
In either case of FIGS. 15 and 16, the instruction acquisition unit 122 can acquire the appropriate parallax as a range, and the limit parallax on the near side and the far side is determined. The near maximum parallax is a parallax corresponding to the proximity allowed to a point seen at a position closest to the user, and the far maximum parallax is a parallax corresponding to a distance allowed to a point viewed at a position farthest from the user. However, in general, it is often necessary to care for the nearest disparity due to physiological problems of the user, and hereinafter, only the nearest disparity may be referred to as a limit disparity.
[0112]
FIG. 17 illustrates the principle of actually adjusting parallax between two viewpoints when an image to be stereoscopically displayed is extracted from three-dimensional data. First, the limit parallax determined by the user is converted to the estimated angle of the provisionally arranged camera. As shown in the figure, the limit parallax between the near position and the far position can be represented by M and N in the number of pixels, and the angle of view θ of the camera is equivalent to the number L of horizontal pixels on the display screen. The near maximum possible angle φ and the far maximum possible angle ψ, which are angles, are represented by θ, M, N, and L.
tan (φ / 2) = Mtan (θ / 2) / L
tan (ψ / 2) = Ntan (θ / 2) / L
Next, this information is applied to the extraction of a two-viewpoint image in a three-dimensional space. As shown in FIG. 18, first, a basic expression space T (the depth of which is described as T) is determined. Here, it is assumed that the basic expression space T is determined from restrictions on the arrangement of objects. Let S be the distance from the front projection plane 30, which is the front of the basic representation space T, to the camera arrangement plane, that is, the viewpoint plane 208. T and S can be specified by the user. There are two viewpoints, and the distance between the optical axis intersection plane 210 and the viewpoint plane 208 is D. Let A be the distance between the optical axis intersection plane 210 and the front projection plane 30.
[0113]
Next, assuming that the parallaxes of near and far positions in the basic representation space T are P and Q, respectively,
E: S = P: A
E: S + T = Q: TA
Holds. E is a distance between viewpoints. Now, the point G, which is a pixel without parallax, is located at a position where the optical axes K2 from both cameras intersect on the optical axis intersection plane 210, and the optical axis intersection plane 210 is the position of the screen plane. The ray K1 that produces the near maximum parallax P intersects on the front projection plane 30, and the ray K3 that produces the far maximum parallax Q intersects on the rear projection plane 32.
[0114]
P and Q are expressed by using φ and ψ as shown in FIG.
P = 2 (S + A) tan (φ / 2)
Q = 2 (S + A) tan (ψ / 2)
And as a result,
E = 2 (S + A) tan (θ / 2) · (SM + SN + TN) / (LT)
A = STM / (SM + SN + TN)
Is obtained. Now, since S and T are known, A and E are automatically determined in this way, so that the optical axis intersection distance D and the inter-camera distance E are automatically determined, and the camera parameters are determined. If the camera arrangement determining unit 132 determines the camera arrangement in accordance with these parameters, the processing of the projection processing unit 138 and the two-dimensional image generation unit 142 will be performed independently on the images from the cameras, and A parallax image having parallax can be generated and output. As described above, E and A do not include hardware information, and an expression format independent of hardware is realized.
[0115]
Thereafter, when a camera is arranged so as to protect A or D and E even when another image is stereoscopically displayed, appropriate parallax can be automatically realized. Since the entire process from identification of proper parallax to ideal stereoscopic display can be automated, providing this function as a software library eliminates the need for programmers who create content and applications to be conscious of programming for stereoscopic display. . When L, M, and N are represented by the number of pixels, L indicates a display range, so that L can be used to indicate whether display is to be performed on the entire screen or a part of the screen. L is also a parameter independent of hardware.
[0116]
FIG. 20 shows a four-lens camera arrangement using four cameras 22, 24, 26, and 28. To be more precise, the above-mentioned A and E should be determined so as to obtain an appropriate parallax between adjacent cameras, such as between the first camera 22 and the second camera 24. Even if A and E determined between the second camera 24 and the third camera 26 which are close to the above are diverted to other cameras, substantially the same effect can be obtained.
[0117]
Although T is a restriction on the arrangement of objects, it may be determined by a program as the size of a basic three-dimensional space. In this case, the object can be arranged only in the basic expression space T throughout the entire program, or a parallax may be given to the object so as to occasionally jump out of the space for effective display.
[0118]
As another example, T may be determined for the coordinates of the closest object and the farthest object in the three-dimensional space. If this is performed in real time, the basic expression space T Objects can be placed in As an exception to always placing an object in the basic expression space T, a short-time exception can be created by operating under a relaxed condition that “the average of the position for a certain time should be within the basic expression space T”. Further, the object defining the basic expression space T may be limited to a static object. In this case, an exceptional operation in which a dynamic object protrudes from the basic expression space T can be provided. As still another example, conversion for reducing the space in which the objects are already arranged to the size of the width T of the basic expression space may be performed, or may be combined with the operation described above. A method of intentionally displaying an object so as to protrude from the basic expression space will be described later.
[0119]
Note that if the stereoscopic image adjusting unit 112 of the first stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100 displays a double image as an image to be displayed to the user, the marginal parallax is determined to be small, and the image is displayed when another image is displayed. The appearance frequency of double images can be reduced. As an image in which a double image easily appears, an image in which the color and brightness of the object and the background are contrasted is known, and such an image may be used in the stage of specifying the limit parallax, that is, in the initial setting. .
[0120]
FIGS. 21 to 36 show processing by the distortion processing unit 136 of the first three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100 and the principle thereof.
FIG. 21 conceptually illustrates an example of the correction map stored in the correction map holding unit 140 of the first three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100. This map directly corrects the parallax, and the entire map directly corresponds to the parallax image, and becomes smaller as it goes to the peripheral portion. FIG. 22 shows a change in parallax resulting from the operation of the camera parameters by the camera arrangement determining unit 132 that has determined the camera arrangement by the distortion processing unit 136 according to this correction map. When viewing the front direction from the left and right viewpoint positions of the two cameras, “normal parallax” is assigned. On the other hand, when viewing the direction largely deviating from the front, “small disparity” is assigned. In actuality, the camera arrangement determining unit 132 makes the camera interval closer as approaching the periphery.
[0121]
FIG. 23 shows another example in which the camera arrangement determining unit 132 changes the parallax by changing the camera arrangement according to the instruction of the distortion processing unit 136. Here, the parallax changes as “normal parallax” → “medium parallax” → “small parallax” toward the periphery of the image while moving only the left camera of the two cameras. This method has a lower calculation cost than FIG.
[0122]
FIG. 24 shows another example of the correction map. This map also changes the parallax. The vicinity of the center of the image is not touched with the normal parallax, and the parallax is gradually reduced in other parallax correction areas. FIG. 25 shows the camera position changed by the camera arrangement determining unit 132 according to this map. When the direction of the camera deviates greatly from the front, the position of the left camera moves toward the right camera for the first time, and "small parallax" is given.
[0123]
FIG. 26 conceptually shows another example of the correction map. This map corrects the sense of distance from the viewpoint to the object, and in order to achieve this, the camera arrangement determination unit 132 adjusts the optical axis intersection distance of the two cameras. If the optical axis intersecting distance is reduced toward the periphery of the image, the object appears to be relatively deeper in the far direction, so that the object is achieved particularly in the sense of reducing near parallax. In order to reduce the optical axis intersection distance, the camera arrangement determining unit 132 may change the direction of the optical axis of the camera, and may change the direction of one of the cameras. FIG. 27 shows changes in the optical axis intersection position or the optical axis intersection plane 210 when a two-dimensional image is generated by the map of FIG. The optical axis crossing plane 210 is closer to the camera as the image is closer to the periphery.
[0124]
FIG. 28 shows another correction map for the sense of distance, and FIG. 29 shows how the camera arrangement determining unit 132 changes the optical axis crossing plane 210 according to the instruction of the distortion processing unit 136 according to the map of FIG. In this example, the object is arranged at the normal position without correction in the central region of the image, and the position of the object is corrected in the peripheral region of the image. For that purpose, there is no change in the optical axis crossing plane 210 near the center of the image in FIG. 29, and after a certain point, the optical axis crossing plane 210 approaches the camera. In FIG. 29, only the left camera is turned around.
[0125]
FIGS. 30A to 30F show another distortion conversion by the distortion processing unit 136. Unlike the previous examples, instead of changing the camera position, the 3D space itself is directly distorted in the camera coordinate system. 30A to 30F, a rectangular area is a top view of the original space, and a hatched area is a top view of the converted space. For example, a point U in the original space in FIG. This means that this point has been moved in the remote direction. In FIG. 30 (a), the space is crushed in the direction of the arrow in the depth direction toward the peripheral portion, and the distance close to a certain sense of distance, such as point W in FIG. I get a feeling. As a result, the sense of distance is uniform in the peripheral portion of the image, and there is no specially placed object, so that the problem of the double image is solved and the expression is easily adapted to the physiology of the user.
[0126]
FIGS. 30 (b), 30 (c), 30 (d), and 30 (e) each show a modification of the conversion for bringing the sense of distance closer to a constant value in the peripheral portion of the image, and FIG. An example is shown in which all points are converted in the far direction.
[0127]
FIG. 31 shows the principle for realizing the conversion of FIG. The rectangular parallelepiped space 228 includes a space where the projection processing of the first camera 22 and the second camera 24 is performed. The view volume of the first camera 22 is determined by the angle of view of the camera and the front projection plane 230 and the rear projection plane 232, and that of the second camera 24 is determined by the angle of view of the camera and the front projection plane 234 and the rear projection plane Determined at 236. The distortion processing unit 136 performs distortion conversion on the rectangular parallelepiped space 228. The origin is the center of the rectangular parallelepiped space 228. In the case of a multi-view system, the conversion principle is the same, only the number of cameras increases.
[0128]
FIG. 32 shows an example of distortion conversion, which employs a reduction conversion in the Z direction. Actually, processing is performed on individual objects in the space. FIG. 33 is a representation of this conversion compared to a parallax correction map, where the normal parallax is on the Y axis, the parallax decreases as the absolute value of X increases, and there is no parallax at X = ± A. Here, since the reduction conversion is performed only in the Z direction, the conversion formula is as follows.
(Equation 1)

The conversion will be described with reference to FIG. First, consider the range of X ≧ 0 and Z ≧ 0. When the point (X0, Y0, Z0) moves to the point (X0, Y0, Z1) by the reduction processing, the reduction ratio Sz is

It is. The coordinates of C are (X0, Y0, 0) and the coordinates of D are (X0, Y0, B).
E is an intersection of a straight line and a plane, and when coordinates are (X0, Y0, Z2), Z2 can be obtained as follows.
[0129]
Z = BX-B / A (plane)
X = X0, Y = Y0 (straight line)
Z2 = B−X0 × B / A
Therefore,

In general for X
Sz = 1−X / A
It becomes. When the same calculation is performed for other ranges of X and Z, the following results are obtained, and the conversion can be verified.
[0130]
When X ≧ 0, Sz = 1−X / A
When X <0, Sz = 1 + X / A
FIG. 35 shows another example of the distortion conversion. More strictly, taking into account that the image is radially taken from the camera, the reduction processing in the X-axis and Y-axis directions is also combined. Here, the conversion is performed with the center of the two cameras as a representative of the camera position. The conversion formula is as follows.
(Equation 2)

FIG. 36 verifies this conversion. Again, consider the range of X ≧ 0 and Z ≧ 0. When the point (X0, Y0, Z0) moves to the point (X1, Y1, Z1) by the reduction processing, the reduction ratios Sx, Sy, Sz are

It becomes. Since E is the intersection of the plane and the straight line, Sx, Sy, and Sz can be obtained as described above.
[0131]
When the converted space is represented by a set of planes as described above, the processing changes at the boundary of the tangent between the planes, and in some cases, a feeling of strangeness may occur. In such a case, the connection may be made by a curved surface, or the space may be constituted only by the curved surface. The calculation is simply replaced with the calculation of the intersection E between the curved surface and the straight line.
[0132]
In the above example, the reduction ratio is the same on the same straight line CD, but may be weighted. For example, a weighting function G (L) for the distance L from the camera may be applied to Sx, Sy, and Sz.
[0133]
FIGS. 37 to 40 show the processing by the distortion processing unit 174 of the third stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100 and the principle thereof.
FIG. 37 shows a depth map of an image with depth information input to the third stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100. Here, it is assumed that the depth range has a value of K1 to K2. Here, the near depth is represented by positive, and the far depth is represented by negative.
[0134]
FIG. 38 shows the relationship between the original depth range 240 and the converted depth range 242. The depth approaches a constant value toward the periphery of the image. The distortion processing unit 174 converts the depth map according to the correction. The same applies to the case where parallax is provided in the vertical direction. Since this conversion is only reduction in the Z direction, it can be expressed by the following equation.
[Equation 3]

Sz is classified according to the value of X.
When X ≧ 0, Sz = 1−2X / L
When X <0, Sz = 1 + 2X / L
It becomes. By the above conversion, a new depth map having new elements shown in FIG. 39 is generated.
[0135]
FIG. 40 shows another principle of distortion transformation for a depth map. Since the space is more strictly observed radially from the user 10, reduction processing in the X-axis and Y-axis directions is also combined. Here, the interocular center is set as the observation position. The specific processing is the same equation as in FIG. Although the original depth map has only the Z value, when this calculation is performed, the X value and the Y value are also held. The Z value is converted into a pixel shift amount in the X direction or the Y direction, but the X value and the Y value may be held as offset values for them.
[0136]
In any case, the depth map and the original image converted by the distortion processing unit 174 are input to the two-dimensional image generation unit 178, where a synthesis process is performed in which the image is shifted in the horizontal direction so as to have an appropriate parallax. The details will be described later.
[0137]
FIGS. 41 to 51 show the processing of the position shift unit 160 of the second stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100 and the processing of the two-dimensional image generation unit 178 of the third stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100 that can be grasped as an extension thereof.
FIG. 41 shows the principle of shifting the combined position of two parallax images by the position shift unit 160. As shown in the figure, the positions of the right-eye image R and the left-eye image L match in the initial state. However, when the left-eye image L is relatively shifted rightward as in the upper part of the figure, the parallax at the near point increases and the parallax at the far point decreases. Conversely, when the left eye image L is relatively shifted to the left as shown in the lower part of the figure, the parallax at the near point decreases and the parallax at the far point increases.
[0138]
The above is the essence of the parallax adjustment by shifting the parallax image. The image may be shifted by one or both may be shifted in opposite directions. Also, from this principle, it is understood that the stereoscopic display method can be applied to all methods using parallax regardless of the glasses method or the method without glasses. The same processing can be performed for a multi-view video and a vertical parallax.
[0139]
FIG. 42 shows the shift processing at the pixel level. In the left-eye image 200 and the right-eye image 202, both a first rectangle 250 and a second rectangle 252 are shown. The first quadrangle 250 has near parallax, and when the parallax amount is represented by a positive number, it is “6 pixels”. On the other hand, the second rectangle 252 has a far parallax, and when the parallax amount is represented by a negative number, it becomes “−6 pixels”. Here, the parallax amounts are F2 and F1, respectively.
[0140]
On the other hand, it is assumed that the appropriate parallax of the display device held by the user is found to be J1 to J2. The position shift unit 160 shifts the combination start position of both images by (J2-F2) pixels. FIG. 43 shows the state after the end of the shift. Now, assuming that F1 = −6, F2 = 6, and J1 = −5 and J2 = 4, the synthesis start positions are −2 pixels from each other, that is, It will be shifted in the direction in which the whole shifts in the far direction. The final amount of parallax is E1 = −8 and E2 = 4, as shown in FIG. 43, and falls within the limit parallax at least in the near direction. In general, it is considered that the double image in the close direction is more uncomfortable than the far direction, and the subject is often photographed in a state where it is arranged in the close direction. It is desirable to keep the parallax in the direction within the limit. The following is an example of processing.
1. When the near point is outside the limit parallax and the far point is within the limit parallax, the near point is shifted to the limit parallax point. However, if the parallax of the distant point reaches the interocular distance, the processing is stopped.
2. When the near point is outside the limit parallax and the far point is outside the limit parallax, the near point is shifted to the limit parallax point. However, if the parallax of the distant point reaches the interocular distance, the processing is stopped.
3. If both the near point and the far point are within the limit parallax, no processing is performed.
4. If the near point is within the limit disparity and the far point is outside the limit disparity, the far point is shifted to the limit disparity point, but the process is stopped if the near point reaches the limit disparity point during the processing. .
[0141]
FIG. 44 shows the loss of the image edge due to the shift of the combining position. Here, the shift amount between the left-eye image 200 and the right-eye image 202 is one pixel, and missing portions 260 each having a width of one pixel are generated at the right end of the left-eye image 200 and the left end of the right-eye image 202, respectively. At this time, the image edge adjustment unit 168 duplicates the pixel row at the image edge as shown in FIG. 44 to compensate for the number of horizontal pixels.
[0142]
As another method, the missing portion 260 may be displayed in a specific color such as black or white, or may be hidden. Further, cutout and addition processing may be performed so as to be the same as the size of the initial image. In addition, the size of the initial image may be made larger than the actual display size in advance so that the missing portion 260 does not affect the display.
[0143]
FIG. 45 shows the flow of manual adjustment of parallax by the second stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100. As shown in the figure, first, left and right images are manually created as parallax images (S10), and are distributed via a network or another route (S12). This is received by the second stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100 (S14), and in the example of this figure, the image is first synthesized and displayed in a normal state without any shift (S16). That is, here, a case is considered where a proper parallax has not yet been acquired or a case where the position shift unit 160 has not been operated. Subsequently, the user instructs the parallax image to be stereoscopically displayed via the stereoscopic effect adjustment unit 112, and the position shift unit 160 receives the instruction in the “manual adjustment mode” to adjust the image combining position. Is displayed (S18). S10 and S12 are the procedure 270 of the image creator, and S14 and subsequent steps are the procedure 272 of the second stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100. Although not shown, if the shift amount is recorded in the header and is synthesized by referring to it from the next time, readjustment can be omitted.
[0144]
FIG. 46 shows the flow of automatic adjustment by the second stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100. The generation 270 of the left and right images (S30) and the image distribution (S32) as the image creator procedure 270 are the same as those in FIG. In the procedure 272 of the second three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100, the same applies to the image reception (S34). Next, the matching section 158 of the parallax amount detection section 150 detects a parallax pre-set between parallax images, in particular, a maximum parallax (S36), and obtains a proper parallax, especially a limit parallax from the parallax information holding section 120. (S38). Thereafter, the position shift unit 160 shifts the combined position of the image so as to satisfy the limit parallax by the above-described processing (S40), and performs the processing by the parallax writing unit 164, the image edge adjustment unit 168, and the format conversion unit 116 to perform the stereoscopic display. Is performed (S42).
[0145]
FIG. 47 shows a flow of still another automatic adjustment by the second stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100. After the left and right images are generated (S50) in the procedure 270 of the image creator, the maximum parallax is detected at this time (S52) and recorded in the header of any viewpoint image of the parallax image (S54). This detection may be performed by corresponding point matching. However, when a creator manually generates a parallax image, the parallax image is naturally known in an editing process, and may be recorded. Thereafter, the image is distributed (S56).
[0146]
On the other hand, of the procedure 272 of the second three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100, image reception (S58) is the same as that in FIG. Next, the above-described maximum parallax is read from the header by the header inspection unit 156 of the parallax amount detection unit 150 (S60). On the other hand, the limit parallax is acquired from the parallax information holding unit 120 (S62), and the following processes S64 and S66 are the same as the processes S40 and S42 in FIG. 46, respectively. According to this method, there is no need to calculate the maximum disparity. Also, an appropriate three-dimensional effect can be realized over the entire image. Further, since the shift amount can be recorded in the header, there is no possibility of damaging the original image itself. Although not shown, if the detected maximum parallax is also recorded in the header in FIG. 46, processing can be performed in accordance with the procedure in FIG. 47 from then on.
[0147]
Note that the same processing can be performed with a multi-view system, and the same processing may be performed on the amount of parallax between adjacent viewpoint images. However, in practice, the maximum parallax among the parallaxes between the plurality of viewpoint images may be regarded as the “maximum parallax” between all the viewpoint images, and the shift amount of the combining position may be determined.
[0148]
Although it is sufficient that the header information is present in at least one of the multi-view images, if the multi-view image is combined into one image, the header of the image may be used.
[0149]
In some cases, images that have already been combined are distributed.In such a case, the images are separated by an inverse transformation process, and the combined position shift amount is calculated and recombined. May be performed.
[0150]
FIGS. 48 to 51 show a process of shifting the combining position for an image with depth information. This is performed by the two-dimensional image generation unit 178 of the third stereoscopic image processing device 100. FIGS. 48 and 49 show a plane image 204 and a depth map, respectively, which constitute an image with depth information. Here, the near depth is represented by positive and the far depth is represented by negative. There are a first rectangle 250, a second rectangle 252, and a third rectangle 254 as objects. The first rectangle 250 has a depth of "4", the second rectangle 252 has a depth of "2", and the third rectangle 254 has a depth of "-4". . The first rectangle 250 is located at the nearest point, the second rectangle 252 is located at an intermediate point, and the third rectangle 254 is located at the furthest point.
[0151]
The two-dimensional image generation unit 178 first performs a process of shifting each pixel by the value of the depth map based on the original plane image 204, and generates the other viewpoint image. If the reference is a left-eye image, the original plane image 204 becomes the left-eye image as it is. The first square 250 is shifted by 4 pixels to the left, the second square 252 is shifted by 2 pixels to the left, and the third square 254 is shifted by 4 pixels to the right, and the right eye image 202 is created as shown in FIG. The image edge adjustment unit 168 fills the missing part 260 of the pixel information due to the movement of the object with the neighboring pixel whose parallax is “0” and is determined to be the background.
[0152]
Subsequently, the two-dimensional image generation unit 178 calculates a depth that satisfies the appropriate parallax. Assuming that the depth range is K1 to K2 and the depth value of each pixel is Gxy, the depth map has a shape in which Hxy is changed to Gxy in FIG. Further, it is assumed that the appropriate parallax of the display device held by the user is found to be J1 to J2. In this case, in the depth map, the depth value G of each pixel is converted as follows, and a new depth value Fxy is obtained.
[0153]
Fxy = J1 + (Gxy-K1) × (J2-J1) / (K2-K1)
In the above example, if K1 = −4, K2 = 4, and J1 = −3, J2 = 2, the depth map of FIG. 49 is converted into the depth map of FIG. You. That is, "4" is converted to "2", "2" is converted to "1", and "-4" is converted to "-3". The intermediate value between K1 and K2 is converted between J1 and J2. For example, the second rectangle 252 has Gxy = 2 and Fxy = 0.75. If Fxy does not become an integer, processing may be performed to round off or reduce parallax.
[0154]
Although the above conversion formula is an example of linear conversion, a weighting function F (Gxy) for Gxy may be further applied, or various other non-linear conversions may be considered. Further, the left and right images can be newly generated by shifting the objects in the directions opposite to each other from the original plane image 204. In the case of a multi-view system, the same processing may be performed a plurality of times to generate a multi-viewpoint image.
[0155]
The above is the configuration and operation of the stereoscopic image processing device 100 according to the embodiment. Although the three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100 has been described as an apparatus, this may be a combination of hardware and software, or may be configured only with software. In this case, it is convenient if an arbitrary part of the three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100 is made into a library and can be called from various programs. The programmer can skip programming where the knowledge of stereoscopic display is required. For the user, the operation related to the three-dimensional display, that is, the GUI becomes common irrespective of the software and the content, and the set information can be shared by other software, so that the trouble of resetting can be omitted.
[0156]
In addition, it is useful to simply share information between a plurality of programs instead of processing related to stereoscopic display. Various programs can determine the state of the image with reference to the information. An example of the shared information is information acquired by the information acquisition unit 118 of the stereoscopic image processing device 100 described above. This information may be stored in a recording unit (not shown), the correction map storage unit 140, or the like.
[0157]
FIGS. 52 to 54 show an example in which the above-described stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100 is used as a library. FIG. 52 shows an application of the stereoscopic display library 300. The stereoscopic display library 300 is referred to by calling functions from a plurality of programs A302, program B304, program C306, and the like. The parameter file 318 stores the user's proper parallax and the like in addition to the above information. The stereoscopic display library 300 is used by a plurality of devices A312, B314, C316, and the like via an API (application program interface) 310.
[0158]
Examples of the program A302 include a game, a three-dimensional application called so-called Web3D, a three-dimensional desktop screen, a three-dimensional map, a viewer of a parallax image as a two-dimensional image, and a viewer of an image with depth information. Of course, some games use coordinates differently, but the three-dimensional display library 300 can cope with that.
[0159]
On the other hand, as an example of the device A312 or the like, any stereoscopic display device using parallax, such as a binocular or multi-view parallax barrier system, a shutter glasses system, and a polarized glasses system, is used.
[0160]
FIG. 53 shows an example in which the three-dimensional display library 300 is incorporated in the three-dimensional data software 402. The three-dimensional data software 402 includes a program main body 404, a three-dimensional display library 300 for realizing appropriate parallax therefor, and a shooting instruction processing unit 406. The program body 404 communicates with the user via the user interface 410. The shooting instruction processing unit 406 virtually shoots a predetermined scene during operation of the program body 404 according to a user's instruction. The photographed image is recorded in the image recording device 412. Also, it is output to the stereoscopic display device 408.
[0161]
For example, assume that the three-dimensional data software 402 is game software. In this case, the user can execute the game while experiencing an appropriate three-dimensional effect by using the three-dimensional display library 300 during the game. During the game, when the user wants to keep a record, for example, when a complete victory has been achieved in a competitive battle game, an instruction is issued to the photographing instruction processing unit 406 via the user interface 410, and the scene is recorded. At that time, a parallax image is generated using the stereoscopic display library 300 so that the parallax image becomes appropriate when reproduced on the stereoscopic display device 408 later, and this is recorded in an electronic album or the like of the image recording device 412. Note that by performing recording with a two-dimensional image called a parallax image, the three-dimensional data itself of the program body 404 does not leak out, and copyright protection can be considered.
[0162]
FIG. 54 shows an example in which the three-dimensional data software 402 of FIG. 53 is incorporated in a network-based system 430.
The game machine 432 is connected to a server 436 and a user terminal 434 via a network (not shown). The game machine 432 is for a so-called arcade game, and includes a communication unit 442, three-dimensional data software 402, and a three-dimensional display device 440 that locally displays the game. The three-dimensional data software 402 is shown in FIG. The parallax image displayed on the stereoscopic display device 440 from the three-dimensional data software 402 is optimally set for the stereoscopic display device 440 in advance. The adjustment of the parallax by the three-dimensional data software 402 is used when transmitting an image to a user via the communication unit 442 as described later. The display device used here only needs to have a function of generating a stereoscopic image by adjusting parallax, and need not necessarily be a device capable of performing stereoscopic display.
[0163]
The user terminal 434 includes a communication unit 454, a viewer program 452 for viewing a stereoscopic image, and a stereoscopic display device 450 of any size and type for displaying the stereoscopic image locally. The stereoscopic image processing device 100 is mounted on the viewer program 452.
[0164]
The server 436 associates the communication unit 460, the image holding unit 462 for recording an image virtually shot by the user in connection with the game, and the user's proper parallax information, the user's mail address, and other personal information with the user. And a user information storage unit 464 for recording. The server 436 functions as, for example, an official website of the game, and records a scene that the user liked during the game execution, or a moving image or a still image of a famous game. The three-dimensional display can be any of a moving image and a still image.
[0165]
An example of image capturing in the above configuration is performed in the following manner. The user performs stereoscopic display on the stereoscopic display device 450 of the user terminal 434 in advance, obtains an appropriate parallax based on the function of the stereoscopic image processing device 100, notifies the server 436 via the communication unit 454, and notifies the user information. It is stored in the holding unit 464. This proper parallax is a general-purpose description irrespective of the hardware of the stereoscopic display device 450 held by the user.
[0166]
The user plays a game using the game machine 432 at an arbitrary timing. During that time, the stereoscopic display device 440 performs stereoscopic display based on the initially set parallax or the parallax manually adjusted by the user. If the user desires to record an image during game play or replay, the three-dimensional display library 300 built in the three-dimensional data software 402 of the game machine 432 transmits the three-dimensional display library 300 to the server 436 via the two communication units 442 and 460. The appropriate parallax of the user is obtained from the user information holding unit 464, a parallax image is generated in accordance with the proper parallax, and the parallax image related to the image virtually captured in the image holding unit 462 via the two communication units 442 and 460 again. Is stored. When the user returns to his / her home and downloads this parallax image to the user terminal 434, stereoscopic display can be performed with a desired stereoscopic effect. At this time, the parallax can be manually adjusted by the stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100 included in the viewer program 452.
[0167]
As described above, according to this application example, the programming related to the three-dimensional effect that should be set for each hardware of the display device and for each user is mainly collected in the three-dimensional image processing device 100 and the three-dimensional display library 300. The programmer does not have to worry about any complex requirements for stereoscopic display. This applies not only to game software but also to any software that uses stereoscopic display, and eliminates restrictions on the development of content and applications that use stereoscopic display. Therefore, their dissemination can be drastically promoted.
[0168]
In particular, in the case of games and other applications that originally have three-dimensional CG data, it is difficult to code an accurate three-dimensional display in the past. Often not used for 3D display. According to the three-dimensional image processing device 100 or the three-dimensional display library 300 according to the embodiment, such an adverse effect can be eliminated, and the stereoscopic display application can be enhanced.
[0169]
In FIG. 54, the user's proper parallax is registered in the server 436. However, the user may bring the IC card or the like in which the information is recorded and use the game machine 432. On this card, the score of this game or a favorite image may be recorded.
[0170]
The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. This embodiment is an exemplification, and it is understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to the combination of each component and each processing process, and that such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. is there. The following is an example.
[0171]
The first three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100 can perform processing with high accuracy by inputting three-dimensional data. However, the three-dimensional data may be temporarily dropped into an image with depth information, and a parallax image may be generated using the third stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100. In some cases, this may have lower computational costs. Similarly, when inputting a plurality of viewpoint images, it is also possible to create a depth map using high-precision corresponding point matching. The parallax image may be generated using the image processing device 100.
[0172]
In the first three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100, the temporary camera arrangement unit 130 is configured as the three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100. However, this may be a pre-process of the three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100. This is because processing up to temporary placement of cameras can be performed regardless of proper parallax. Similarly, an arbitrary processing unit constituting the first, second, and third three-dimensional image processing apparatuses 100 can be taken out of the three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100, and the degree of freedom of the configuration of the three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100 can be increased. Is well understood by those skilled in the art.
[0173]
In the embodiment, the case where the control of the parallax is performed in the horizontal direction has been described, but the same processing can be performed in the vertical direction.
[0174]
During the operation of the stereoscopic display library 300 or the stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100, a unit for enlarging character data may be provided. For example, in the case of a parallax image with two horizontal viewpoints, the horizontal resolution of an image visible to the user is halved. As a result, the legibility of the character may be reduced, and therefore, a process of extending the character twice in the horizontal direction is effective. If there is also a parallax in the vertical direction, it is also useful to stretch the characters in the vertical direction.
[0175]
During the operation of the stereoscopic display library 300 or the stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100, an “operating display unit” for putting characters or marks such as “3D” on the displayed image may be provided. In that case, the user can know whether or not the image can adjust the parallax.
[0176]
A switching unit for stereoscopic display / normal display may be provided. This unit includes a GUI, and it is convenient if the display is switched from stereoscopic display to normal two-dimensional display when the user clicks a predetermined button, and vice versa.
[0177]
The information acquisition unit 118 does not necessarily acquire information by user input, but may include information that can be automatically acquired by a function such as plug and play.
[0178]
In the embodiment, the method of deriving E and A is adopted. However, a method of deriving E and A and deriving other parameters may be used, and the specification of variables is free.
[0179]
For stereoscopic display, another expression method is proposed. In general, in a planar image display, an object is described as "an object passes through a certain interface", and there is a limit in terms of realism, especially in the depth direction. Further, it is difficult for an observer to recognize that the window surface has an interface that actually separates the space. Therefore, as described below, by displaying an object in a three-dimensional manner on a three-dimensional image display device, it is possible to recognize an entity such as a screen or a frame so that an interface on the object represented in the image matches. And such a display creates a new expression method. In general, the display screen and its surrounding frame are visually perceived, so a display method that uses this as a window can be considered, and a designation to place an interface between spaces and a plate-like object on that surface is considered. Is required. In this case, the optical axis crossing position D is specified in the positional relationship shown in FIG.
[0180]
In the positional relationship of the photographing system shown in FIG. 18, assuming that near and far limit parallaxes in the basic expression space T are P and Q, respectively,
E: S = P: A
E: S + T = Q: TA
Is obtained. Solving these relational expressions for the near and far limit parallax respectively,
E = PS / A
E = Q (S + T) / (TA)
Is obtained. By selecting the smaller E of these two Es, a stereoscopic image with an appropriate parallax range can be obtained.
[0181]
FIG. 55 shows a state where an image composed of three-dimensional data is displayed on the display screen 400. This image indicates that one glass surface 401 of the water tank 410 matches the display screen 400, and that the fish 301 is swimming in the water tank 410. If the processing is performed such that the far side is the far space and the near side is the near space from the display screen 400, the fish 301 is normally represented as swimming in the far space as shown in FIG. 56, and Occasionally, as shown in FIG. 57, an expression such as “the fish 301 breaks through the display screen 400 and appears in the nearby space” can be made. Further, when the fish 301 passes through the display screen 400, for example, the expression "splashes fly from the periphery of the display screen 400 and the interface is reproduced when the fish 301 passes through" can be used. An example of another expression is, for example, “Because there is no water in the near space before the display screen, the fish 301 becomes stuffy after swimming for a while in the close space, and again penetrates the interface, that is, the far space through the display screen 400. Return to "."
[0182]
Note that it is not always necessary to reproduce the broken interface when the object passes through the interface and then when the object passes, and the interface remains broken or the interface is deformed in accordance with the collision of the object. It is clear that various expressions can be made regarding the interaction between the interface and the object, such as not passing through, or transmitting only a shock at that time, and applying an electric shock as an effect on the image, for example. The interface may be a single surface, but a plate-like object such as glass or a thin object such as paper may be arranged. In addition, the interface does not need to completely match the display screen, but may be in the vicinity of the interface. It is clear that the above-described expression effects cannot sufficiently convey the situation to the observer with a two-dimensional image. In particular, if the original data serving as the starting point of the three-dimensional image is three-dimensional data, editing for expressing the above-described effects becomes easy.
[0183]
Such an expression that matches the interface of the object to be displayed with the display screen can be generated by the method shown in FIG. That is, the virtual water tank 410 is arranged in the three-dimensional space, and two images having parallax are generated from the two virtual cameras 430 and 440 arranged on the left side thereof. At this time, the optical axis intersection positions of the two virtual cameras 430 and 440 are made to coincide with one surface of the water tank. Further, such an image can be taken as shown in FIG. Two virtual cameras 430 and 440 are arranged above the actual water tank 410 to photograph the water tank 410. At that time, the optical axis intersection positions of the two cameras are made to coincide with the water surface.
[0184]
FIG. 60 shows a configuration of a fourth stereoscopic image processing device 100 for realizing the above processing. This stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100 has a configuration in which an object designating section 180 is further provided in the stereoscopic effect adjusting section 112 of the first stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. The object specifying unit 180 performs a process of positioning or matching the interface of the object specified by the user near the display screen. Here, the user is assumed to be a creator of a three-dimensional image, and the above-described processing is performed when a three-dimensional image is created or edited. Note that the user may be an observer.
[0185]
First, the processing procedure of the stereoscopic image processing device 100 shown in FIG. 60 will be described. The object designation unit 180 receives designation of an object corresponding to the optical axis crossing plane of the two virtual cameras 430 and 440 from a user using a predetermined input device such as a mouse, and notifies the parallax control unit 114 of the designated object. The parallax control unit 114, more specifically, the camera arrangement determination unit 132, adjusts the plane of the object designated by the user so that the plane is the optical axis intersection plane of the two virtual cameras 430 and 440. Operations other than this processing may be the same as the operations of the three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. Information indicating that the object is to be displayed near the display screen is added to the object determined in this manner. At the time of display, it is read out as appropriate to determine the intersection distance D of the optical axis, and the inter-camera distance E is determined by the processing described above.
[0186]
We also propose another representation method. When there are a plurality of objects to be displayed on the display screen, it is not always necessary to keep all the objects within the proper parallax. At times, for an effective display, some objects may be displayed under certain conditions, for example, for a certain period of time, out of the condition of proper parallax. As described above, the basic expression space is determined for a stationary object. More specifically, it is determined whether each object is an object to be expressed in the basic expression space including the object to be stereoscopically displayed. Information for determination (hereinafter, also simply referred to as “identification information”) may be provided. The object to be expressed in the basic expression space is also referred to as “calculation object of the basic expression space”. The basic expression space may be determined at any time based on the identification information.
[0187]
If the identification information is configured to be able to be changed as needed, it is possible to flexibly set conditions for excluding proper parallax. For example, if the specification of the time to be excluded from the proper parallax condition is described in the identification information, it is possible to automatically return to the range of the proper parallax after the specified time has passed.
[0188]
A method for temporarily removing some objects from the appropriate parallax condition and displaying the objects on the display screen will be described below. For example, in the first stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 11, the camera arrangement determination unit 132 corrects the temporarily set camera parameters according to the appropriate parallax, but if the function is further extended as follows. Good. That is, the camera arrangement determination unit 132 reads the identification information associated with each object, and arranges the camera parameters in a manner that reflects the identification information.
[0189]
We propose another representation method. When the front and back of the basic representation space, that is, the front projection plane which is the near limit and the rear projection plane which is the far limit, are determined by an object, the expression that moves in the space before and after the space corresponding to the object becomes become unable. FIG. 61 illustrates the image displayed by the fourth stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100 in the depth direction, particularly, the basic expression space T for convenience. A front projection plane 310 is set on the left side of the figure and a rear projection plane 312 is set on the right side. The basic expression space T is between the front projection plane 310 and the rear projection plane 312. Within the range of the basic expression space T, a house 350 is represented as a stationary object on the front projection plane 310 side, and a tree 370 is represented on the rear projection plane 312 side. Furthermore, a bird 330, which is a dynamic object, is moving forward in the space above these two stationary objects. The bird 330 can express its movement if it moves within the range of the basic expression space T. However, when the bird 330 reaches the front projection plane 310 or the rear projection plane 312, the bird 330 thereafter moves to the left side of FIG. The bird 330 is an object located on the front projection plane or the rear projection plane 312 (not shown) like the bird 330 shown in FIG. 3, and the bird 330 is fixed at the maximum parallax, and cannot move further forward or backward in the real space. If it is possible to express the object as if it is moving at all, it is possible to maintain a sense of realism for the object.
[0190]
As described above, a process of excluding a dynamic object from the target of the basic expression space T can be considered. However, the user may feel uncomfortable except when aiming for an effect as described above. In many cases, it is preferable to express in the range.
[0191]
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 62, a region where no object exists is included in the basic expression space T. In FIG. 62, a space where nothing exists is provided as a part of the basic expression space T further in front of the front stationary object house 350, and the bird 330, which is a dynamic object, can move in front of the house 350. It is like that. In FIG. 63, a space in which nothing exists further behind the still object tree 370 placed behind is provided as a part of the basic expression space T. Thereby, for example, even if the bird 330, which is a dynamic object, moves from the rear and exceeds the position corresponding to the front of the house 350, the bird 330 is located within the range of the basic expression space T. Even if it moves, it is expressed with proper parallax, and the observer who is the user does not feel uncomfortable with the movement.
[0192]
Further, as shown in FIG. 64, a moving object 390 is formed as a target for calculating the parallax, for example, in a form including the bird 330 as well as the space before and after itself. When the foreground of the moving object 390 reaches the front projection plane 310, only the bird 330 is moved. In this case, for example, by making the moving speed of the bird 330 slower than the original speed, the time until the bird 330 originally reaches the front projection plane 310 immediately and the subsequent movement cannot be expressed can be reduced.
[0193]
Further, as shown in FIG. 65, for example, after the moving object 390 has passed over the front projection plane 310, the bird 330 may be moved in a space that is included in advance. Thus, the maximum parallax is determined by the moving object 390, and the bird 330 gradually approaches the maximum parallax, so that it is possible to continue moving forward in the real space. This can be realized by determining whether to enable or disable the movement based on the position of the object, that is, the bird 330. The moving speed may be set to any of the originally assumed moving speed, a high speed, and a low speed. By giving flexibility to the moving speed, various expressions are possible. For example, by changing the moving speed to be slower as approaching the end of the moving object 390, it is possible to express the moving forward while preventing the parallax amount from becoming excessively large in the front-back direction.
[0194]
Also, if another object appears before or after it, the bird 330 will gradually return to its original position in the moving object 390, since the maximum parallax will now depend on that object.
[0195]
Next, the principle of preventing a sudden change in parallax while changing the maximum parallax will be described with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18 described above. As mentioned above,
tan (φ / 2) = Mtan (θ / 2) / L
E: S = P: A
P = 2 (S + A) tan (φ / 2)
Is established, and from these equations, the parallax amount on the near side of a certain object in a certain camera setting is
M = LEA / (2S (A + S) tan (θ / 2))
It can be expressed as. Here, if the object moves forward, unless the camera settings are changed, A increases and S decreases, so that the amount of parallax increases.
[0196]
Here, assuming that M becomes M ′, S becomes S ′, and A becomes A ′ when the object moves forward,
M ′ = LEA ′ / (2S ′ (A ′ + S ′) tan (θ / 2))
M <M '
It can be expressed as.
[0197]
Change E and A 'in the camera settings,
M "= LE" A "/ (2S '(A" + S') tan (θ / 2))
And at this time
M <M ”<M '
If the relationship is satisfied, a sudden change in the amount of parallax can be prevented when the object moving toward the observer is displayed three-dimensionally. Note that only either E or A ′ may be changed. At this time, M ″
M ″ = LE ″ A ′ / (2S ′ (A ′ + S ′) tan (θ / 2))
Or
M ″ = LEA ″ / (2S ′ (A ″ + S ′) tan (θ / 2))
It is expressed as
[0198]
To prevent a sudden change in the amount of parallax for movement toward the back of the object,
M> M "> M '
What is necessary is to satisfy the relationship.
[0199]
Also, the same applies to the parallax amount N on the far side,
N = LE (TA) / (2 (T + S) (A + S) tan (θ / 2))
And similarly,
N ′ = LE (TA ′) / (2 (T + S ′) (A ′ + S ′) tan (θ / 2))
N ″ = LE ″ (TA ″) / (2 (T + S ′) (A ″ + S ′) tan (θ / 2))
Ask for. here
N> N "> N '
If the relationship is satisfied, the movement speed on the actual coordinates with respect to the movement of the object toward the observer can prevent a sudden change in the amount of parallax,
N <N ”<N '
If the relationship is satisfied, it is possible to prevent a sudden change in the amount of parallax with respect to the movement toward the back of the object.
[0200]
The configuration of the three-dimensional image display device 100 that realizes the expression method shown in FIGS. 61 to 65 will be described. The three-dimensional image display device 100 can be realized by the three-dimensional image display device 100 shown in FIG. However, when correcting the camera parameters provisionally set according to the appropriate parallax, the camera arrangement determination unit 132 uses the original data to obtain information on the range to be calculated in the basic expression space and information on a change in the amount of parallax of the object. There is also a function to read and reflect it in camera parameters. This information may be included in the original data itself, or may be stored in the parallax information storage unit 120, for example.
[0201]
In the embodiment, for example, when it is determined that the parallax is too large by the proper parallax processing with respect to a correct parallax state in which a sphere can be correctly viewed, the processing is performed so that the parallax of the stereoscopic image is reduced. At this time, the sphere looks like a shape that is crushed in the depth direction, but generally the feeling of strangeness to such display is small. Since a person is usually used to seeing a planar image, if the parallax is between the state of 0 and the state of correct parallax, the person often does not feel uncomfortable.
[0202]
Conversely, if it is determined that the parallax of the stereoscopic image is too small in the proper parallax processing for the parallax state in which the sphere looks correct, processing is performed to increase the parallax. At this time, for example, the sphere looks like a shape bulging in the depth direction, and a person may feel a sense of discomfort greatly for such a display.
[0203]
When displaying a single object in 3D, the above-mentioned phenomena tend to cause a sense of discomfort to humans, and this is especially true for the display of objects seen in real life, such as buildings and vehicles, due to this difference in parallax. Tends to be clearly recognized. Therefore, in order to reduce the discomfort, it is necessary to add correction to the processing that increases the parallax.
[0204]
When a three-dimensional image is generated from three-dimensional data, adjustment of parallax can be performed relatively easily by changing the arrangement of cameras. A procedure for correcting the parallax will be described with reference to FIGS. The correction of the parallax can be performed by the first to fourth stereoscopic image processing devices 100 described above. Here, it is assumed that the first three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 11 generates a three-dimensional image from three-dimensional data. It should be noted that the above-described correction processing can also be realized in fourth and sixth stereoscopic image display devices 100 described later.
[0205]
FIG. 66 shows a state in which an observer is observing a stereoscopic image on a display screen 400 of a certain stereoscopic image display device 100. The screen size of the display screen 400 is L, the distance between the display screen 400 and the observer is d, and the interocular distance is e. Further, the near limit parallax M and the far limit parallax N are obtained in advance by the stereoscopic effect adjusting unit 112, and the proper parallax is between the near limit parallax M and the far limit parallax N. Here, only the near limit parallax M is displayed for easy understanding, and the maximum pop-out amount m is determined from this value. The pop-out amount m indicates the distance from the display screen 400 to the near point. Note that the unit of L, M, and N is “pixel”, and unlike the other parameters such as d, m, and e, it is originally necessary to adjust using a predetermined conversion formula. Are expressed in the same unit system.
[0206]
At this time, it is assumed that the camera arrangement is determined as shown in FIG. 67 by the camera arrangement determining unit 132 of the parallax control unit 114 with reference to the nearest point and the farthest point of the ball 21 in order to display the ball 21. . The optical axis intersection distance of the two cameras 22 and 24 is D, and the camera interval is Ec. However, in order to facilitate the comparison of the parameters, the coordinate system is enlarged or reduced so that the expected width of the camera at the optical axis intersection distance matches the screen size L. At this time, for example, it is assumed that the camera interval Ec is equal to the interocular distance e and the optical axis intersection distance D is smaller than the observation distance d. Then, in this system, as shown in FIG. 68, when the observer observes from the camera position shown in FIG. 67, the sphere 21 can be seen correctly. When the sphere 21 is observed with the original stereoscopic image display device 100 based on an image generated by such a photographing system, the sphere 21 extending in the depth direction over the entire appropriate parallax range is observed as shown in FIG.
[0207]
A method for determining whether or not a stereoscopic image needs to be corrected using this principle will be described below. FIG. 70 illustrates a state in which the camera arrangement illustrated in FIG. 67 captures the nearest point of a sphere whose distance from the display screen 400 is A. At this time, the maximum parallax M corresponding to the distance A is obtained by two straight lines connecting each of the two cameras 22 and 24 and the point at the distance A. Further, FIG. 71 shows the camera interval E1 required to obtain the parallax M shown in FIG. 70 when the optical axis tolerance distance between the two cameras 22 and 24 and the camera is d. This can be said to be a conversion that makes all the parameters of the imaging system other than the camera interval coincide with the parameters of the observation system. 70 and 71 hold the following relationship.
M: A = Ec: DA
M: A = E1: d-A
Ec = E1 (DA) / (dA)
E1 = Ec (d−A) / (DA)
When E1 is greater than the interocular distance e, it is determined that correction is required to reduce the parallax. Since E1 may be set to the interocular distance e, Ec may be corrected as in the following equation.
Ec = e (DA) / (dA)
[0208]
The same applies to the furthest point. In FIGS. 72 and 73, if the distance between the nearest point and the farthest point of the sphere 21 is T, which is the basic expression space,
N: TA = Ec: D + TA
N: TA = E2: d + TA
Ec = E2 (D + TA) / (d + TA)
E2 = Ec (d + TA) / (D + TA)
Further, when E2 is greater than the interocular distance e, it is determined that correction is necessary. Subsequently, since E2 may be set to the interocular distance e, Ec may be corrected as in the following equation.
Ec = e (D + TA) / (d + TA)
[0209]
Ultimately, if the smaller one of the two Ec obtained from the nearest point and the farthest point is selected, the parallax does not become too large for both the near point and the far point. The camera is set by returning the selected Ec to the original coordinate system in the three-dimensional space.
[0210]
More generally,
Ec <e (DA) / (dA)
Ec <e (D + TA) / (d + TA)
What is necessary is just to set the camera interval Ec so as to simultaneously satisfy the two expressions. This is due to two optical axes K4 connecting the two cameras 22, 24 placed at the position of the observation distance d at the distance of the interocular distance e and the closest point of the object in FIGS. 74 and 75, or This shows that the interval between the two cameras 22 and 24 and the two cameras on the two optical axes K5 connecting the furthest points is the upper limit of the camera interval Ec. That is, the two cameras 22 and 24 may be arranged so as to be included between the narrower optical axis of the interval between the two optical axes K4 in FIG. 74 or the interval between the two optical axes K5 in FIG.
[0211]
Although the correction was performed only at the camera interval without changing the optical axis crossing distance, the position of the object may be changed by changing the optical axis crossing distance, or the camera distance and the optical axis crossing distance may be changed. Both may be changed.
[0212]
Correction is also required when using a depth map. If the depth map value represents the shift amount of the point by the number of pixels, and the initial value, generally the value described in the original data is in a state of realizing the optimal stereoscopic vision, by appropriate parallax processing, The above processing is not performed when the range of the depth map value needs to be increased, and the above processing is performed only when it is necessary to reduce the range of the depth map value, that is, when it is necessary to reduce the parallax. Just do it.
[0213]
When the initial value of the parallax is set to be relatively small, the maximum allowable value may be held in a header area of the image or the like, and the appropriate parallax processing may be performed so as to be within the maximum allowable value. In these cases, hardware information is required for an appropriate distance, but higher-performance processing can be realized as compared with the above-described processing in which hardware information is not dependent. The above processing can be used not only when parallax is automatically set but also when manually set.
[0214]
In addition, the limit of parallax at which an observer feels strange varies depending on the image. In general, in an image having little change in pattern or color and an image in which edges are conspicuous, crosstalk is conspicuous when parallax is increased. Also, an image having a large difference in luminance on both sides of an edge has noticeable crosstalk when the parallax is increased. In other words, when an image to be stereoscopically displayed, that is, a parallax image, and further a viewpoint image, have a small amount of high-frequency components, the user tends to feel discomfort when viewing the image. Therefore, the image may be subjected to frequency analysis by a method such as Fourier transform, and the appropriate parallax may be corrected according to the distribution of frequency components obtained as a result of the analysis. That is, for an image having a large amount of high-frequency components, a correction is made so that the parallax becomes larger than the proper parallax.
[0215]
Further, crosstalk is conspicuous in an image with less movement. In general, it is often possible to determine whether a file type is a moving image or a still image by checking the extension of the file name. Therefore, when it is determined that the moving image is a moving image, the state of the motion may be detected by a known motion detecting method such as a motion vector, and the appropriate amount of parallax may be corrected according to the state. In other words, a correction is made so that the parallax becomes smaller than the original parallax to the image with little motion. On the other hand, no correction is applied to an image having many motions. Alternatively, when it is desired to emphasize the motion, a correction may be made so that the parallax becomes larger than the original parallax. Note that the correction of the appropriate parallax is an example, and any correction can be performed within a predetermined parallax range. Further, the depth map can be corrected, and the amount of shift of the synthesis position of the parallax image can be corrected.
[0216]
Alternatively, these analysis results may be recorded in the header area of the file, and the three-dimensional image processing apparatus may read the header and use the header when displaying the next and subsequent three-dimensional images.
[0219]
In addition, the amount and motion distribution of the high-frequency component may be ranked by an actual creator or a user based on stereoscopic vision, or may be ranked by stereoscopic vision by a plurality of evaluators, and the average value may be used. The ranking may be performed in any manner.
[0218]
Further, the proper parallax does not need to be strictly observed, and the calculation of the camera parameters does not need to be performed constantly, but may be performed at regular time intervals or at each scene change. This is particularly effective when the processing is performed by a device having a low processing capacity. For example, when calculating camera parameters at regular intervals, in the case of generating a stereoscopic image from three-dimensional data, in the first stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100, the parallax control unit 114 uses an internal timer to arrange the camera at regular intervals. What is necessary is just to instruct the determination unit 132 to recalculate the camera parameters. The internal timer may use the reference frequency of the CPU that performs the arithmetic processing of the three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100, or a dedicated timer may be separately provided.
[0219]
FIG. 76 illustrates a configuration of a fifth stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100 that calculates an appropriate parallax according to the state of an image. Here, in the first three-dimensional image processing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 11, an image determination unit 190 is newly provided. Since other configurations and operations are the same, different points will be mainly described. The image determination unit 190 analyzes the frequency components of the image to determine the amount of the high frequency components, and notifies the parallax control unit 114 of a parallax suitable for the image. If the original data is a moving image, The camera includes a scene determination unit 194 that notifies the parallax control unit 114 of camera parameter calculation timing by detecting a scene change or detecting a motion in an image. The detection of a scene change may be performed using a known method.
[0220]
When the original data is a moving image, the processing load of the frequency component detection unit 192 increases if the process of adjusting the appropriate parallax based on the amount of the high frequency component of the image is always performed. If an arithmetic processing device that matches the processing load is used, there is a concern that the cost of the stereoscopic image processing device 100 will increase. As described above, since the proper parallax does not need to be strictly maintained at all times, the configuration is such that the frequency component of the image is analyzed when the image greatly changes, such as a scene change, based on the detection result of the scene determination unit 190. Thus, the processing load of the image determination 190 can be reduced.
[0221]
When a plurality of virtual cameras are arranged in a three-dimensional space and parallax images corresponding to the respective virtual cameras are generated, an area where object information does not exist in the parallax images may occur. In the following, taking as an example a case where a three-dimensional image is generated with three-dimensional data as a starting point, a principle in which an area where no object information exists in a parallax image will be described, and a solving method thereof will be described. FIG. 77 shows the relationship among the temporary camera position S (Xs, Ys, Zs), the angle of view θ, and the first to third objects 700, 702, and 704 set by the creator who creates the three-dimensional data. I have.
[0222]
The temporary camera position S (Xs, Ys, Zs) becomes the center of the virtual cameras when each of the parallax images is generated based on the plurality of virtual cameras (hereinafter, also referred to as a camera group center position S). The first object 700 corresponds to the background. Here, the creator sets the angle of view so that the second and third objects 702 and 704 fall within the angle of view θ and the object information exists within the angle of view θ by the first object 700 which is the background image. θ and the camera group center position S are set.
[0223]
Next, according to a predetermined program, a desired parallax is obtained as shown in FIG. 78, and an optical axis crossing position A (Xa, Ya, Za) which is a reference for near and far is obtained. The parameters of the two virtual cameras 722 and 724, specifically, the camera positions and their respective optical axes are determined. At this time, when the angle of view θ is equal to the previously determined value, the camera positions of the two virtual cameras 722 and 724 are, for example, shown in the drawing depending on the size of the first object that is the background image. Thus, the first and second object zero areas 740 and 742 where no object information exists are generated.
[0224]
The first object zero region 740 is represented by an angle α, and the second object zero region 742 is represented by β, and there is no object information in these angle ranges. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 79, the angle of view θ may be adjusted so that α and β disappear. That is, the larger value of the values of α and β is subtracted from the angle of view θ. At this time, a new angle of view θ1 is determined from θ1 = θ1-2 × α or θ1-2 × β in order to reduce the value to be subtracted from both the left and right of the angle of view θ so as not to change the optical axis direction. Can be However, since α and β may not be immediately known from the parallax image, the angle of view θ is adjusted little by little, and each time there is an area in the parallax image where no object information exists. You may check. In addition, the presence or absence of an area where no object information exists may be actually confirmed by checking whether there is data to be input to the pixels on the display screen. Further, the adjustment is not limited to the adjustment so that the object information exists in all the pixels only by adjusting the angle of view θ, and the camera interval E and the optical axis intersection position A may be changed.
[0225]
FIG. 80 is a flowchart showing the angle-of-view adjustment processing. This angle-of-view adjustment process can be realized by the first stereoscopic image display device 100 shown in FIG. First, when original data serving as a starting point of a stereoscopic image is input to the stereoscopic image display device 100, the temporary camera placement unit 130 determines a camera group center position S (S110). Subsequently, the camera arrangement determination unit 132 determines the camera angle of view θ based on the camera group center position S (S112), determines the camera interval E (S114), and determines the optical axis intersection position A of the virtual camera. Is determined (S116). Further, the camera arrangement determination unit 132 performs a coordinate conversion process on the original data based on the camera interval E and the optical axis intersection position A (S118), and determines whether or not object information exists in all pixels on the display screen. (S120).
[0226]
When there is a pixel having no object information (N in S120), a correction for slightly narrowing the angle of view θ is performed (S122), and the process returns to S114. Thereafter, until the object information is present in all the pixels. The processing from S114 to S120 is continued. However, when the adjustment is performed so that the object information exists in all the pixels only by correcting the angle of view θ, the processing of determining the camera interval E in S114 and the processing of determining the optical axis intersection position A in S116 are skipped. If the object information exists in all the pixels (Y in S120), the process of the angle-of-view adjustment ends.
[0227]
In the above embodiment, a description has been given mainly of a three-dimensional image generated starting from three-dimensional data. Hereinafter, a method of expressing a stereoscopic image starting from a real image will be described. The difference between the case where the three-dimensional data is used as the starting point and the case where the real image is used as the starting point is that there is no concept of the depth T of the basic expression space when using the real image as the starting point. This can be rephrased as a depth range T in which proper parallax display is possible.
[0228]
As shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, parameters necessary for camera setting for generating a stereoscopic image include a camera interval E, an optical axis intersection distance A, an angle of view θ, and a front projection plane 30 which is a front surface of the basic expression space. , The distance S from the camera arrangement plane, that is, the viewpoint plane 208, the distance D of the optical axis intersection plane 210 from the viewpoint plane 208, and the depth range T. The following relational expression is satisfied between them.
E = 2 (S + A) tan (θ / 2) · (SM + SN + TN) / (LT)
A = STM / (SM + SN + TN)
D = S + A
Therefore, if three of the six parameters E, A, θ, S, D, and T are designated, the remaining parameters can be calculated. In general, any parameter can be specified, but in the above-described embodiment, θ, S, and T are specified, and E, A, and D are calculated. If θ and S are automatically changed, the enlargement ratio changes, so that the expression intended by the programmer or the photographer may not be possible, and it is often undesirable to automatically determine these. T can also be said to be a parameter representing the limitation of the expression range, and is preferably determined in advance. In the case of three-dimensional data, changing any of the parameters is almost the same. However, it is different in the case of live action. Depending on the structure of the camera, the price varies greatly and the operability also changes. Therefore, it is desirable to change the designated parameter according to the application.
[0229]
FIG. 81 shows the relationship between a subject 552 and a three-dimensional photographing device 510 that takes a three-dimensional photo at an entertainment facility or a photo studio. The stereoscopic photographing apparatus 510 includes a camera 550 and the stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100. Here, the shooting environment is fixed. That is, the position of the camera 550 and the position of the subject 552 are determined in advance, and θ, S, and T are determined as parameters. This photographing system is a state in which the example shown in FIG. 18 is replaced with an actual camera 550. Two lenses 522 and 524 are provided in one camera 550, and only this camera 550 serves as a base point of a stereoscopic image. Two parallax images can be taken.
[0230]
FIG. 82 shows a configuration of a sixth stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100 that performs this processing. This stereoscopic image processing device 100 is obtained by replacing the parallax detection unit 150 with a camera control unit 151 in the stereoscopic image processing device 100 shown in FIG. The camera control unit 151 has a lens interval adjustment unit 153 and an optical axis adjustment unit 155.
[0231]
The lens interval adjuster 153 adjusts the camera interval E, more specifically, the lens interval E by adjusting the positions of the two lenses 522 and 524. Further, the optical axis adjustment unit 155 adjusts D by changing the optical axis direction of each of the two lenses 522 and 524. The subject 552 inputs the proper parallax information of the stereoscopic image display device held at home or the like through a portable recording medium such as a memory or a card or a communication means such as the Internet. The information acquisition unit 118 receives the input of the appropriate parallax and notifies the camera control unit 151. Upon receiving the notification, the camera control unit 151 calculates E, A, and D, and adjusts the lenses 522 and 524, so that the camera 550 shoots with an appropriate parallax. This is realized because the library uses a common process for the stereoscopic display device for displaying the subject and the stereoscopic photographing device 510.
[0232]
If the subject is to be placed on the screen during display, D and A may be determined, and the subject may be positioned at D and photographed. In this case, the proper parallax is set separately for near and far positions. May be calculated, and the smaller E may be selected. T may be larger than the range occupied by the subject. If there is a background, T may be determined including the background.
[0233]
Further, the proper parallax information does not necessarily need to have been checked by a stereoscopic image display device owned by the user who is the subject. For example, a desired stereoscopic effect may be selected by a typical stereoscopic image display device at the shooting site. This selection can be made by the stereoscopic effect adjusting unit 112. Alternatively, simply select from items such as “on screen / distant / close” and “stereoscopic effect: large / medium / small”, and determine in advance the parallax information holding unit 120 corresponding to them. The set camera parameters may be used. Further, the change of the optical axis crossing position may be changed by a mechanism structure, but may be realized by changing a range used as an image by using a high-resolution CCD (Charge Coupled Device). The function of the position shift unit 160 may be used for this processing.
[0234]
FIG. 83 shows a state in which a movable camera 550 is installed in a place where no human can enter, and the camera 550 is operated by remote control using a controller 519, and a captured image is observed on a stereoscopic image display device 511. Is shown. The stereoscopic image display device 511 having the configuration shown in FIG. 82 is incorporated in the stereoscopic image display device 511.
[0235]
The camera 550 has a mechanism capable of automatically adjusting the lens interval E. The camera 550 has an optical zoom function or an electronic zoom function, which determines θ. However, the amount of parallax changes due to this zoom operation. In general, the farther an image is taken, the smaller the angle formed by the optical axis between the viewpoints at the time of display. Therefore, it is necessary to appropriately change camera settings such as the lens interval E and the zoom amount. Here, in such a case, the camera settings are automatically controlled to greatly reduce complicated camera settings. Note that the controller 519 may be used to adjust camera settings.
[0236]
When the operator first operates the optical zoom or the electronic zoom using the controller 519, θ is determined. Next, the camera 550 is moved, and the subject to be photographed is displayed at the center on the stereoscopic display device 511. The camera 550 focuses on the subject by an autofocus function, and at the same time acquires the distance. In the initial state, this distance is D. That is, the camera 550 is automatically set so that the subject appears to be located near the display screen. T can manually change the range, and the operator specifies in advance the distribution in the depth direction of the object whose context is to be grasped. Thus, θ, D, and T are determined. Thus, E, A, and S are determined from the above-described three relational expressions, and the camera 550 is appropriately and automatically adjusted. In the case of this example, since S is determined later, it is uncertain what range T will eventually be. Therefore, it is preferable to set T to a somewhat large value.
[0237]
If the subject is to be displayed at the edge of the screen, the subject may be displayed once in the center, a predetermined button may be pressed to fix the focus and D, and then the direction of the camera 550 may be changed. If the focus and D can be manually changed, the depth position of the subject can be freely changed.
[0238]
FIG. 84 illustrates an example of shooting with the stereoscopic image shooting device 510. The stereoscopic image photographing device 510 has the configuration shown in FIG. The proper parallax of the stereoscopic image display device held by the photographer is input to the camera 550 in advance through a recording medium such as a portable memory or a communication unit such as the Internet. Here, it is assumed that the camera 550 has a simple structure and is available at a relatively low price. Here, the camera interval E, the optical axis crossing distance D, and the angle of view θ are fixed, and A, S, and T are determined from the above three relational expressions. Since the appropriate range of the distance to the subject can be calculated from these values, the distance to the subject is measured in real time, and whether the calculated distance is appropriate is photographed using a message or lamp color etc. Can be notified. The distance to the subject may be obtained by a known technique such as an autofocus distance measurement function.
[0239]
As described above, the combination of which camera parameter is used as a variable or a constant is free, and there are various forms according to the application. In addition to the above, the camera 550 may be attached to various devices such as a microscope, a medical endoscope, and a portable terminal.
[0240]
If the parallax is optimized for a specific stereoscopic display device, stereoscopic viewing may be difficult with another stereoscopic display device. However, in general, the performance of the device is improved, and it is rare that the parallax is too large for the stereoscopic display device to be purchased next. Rather, it is important to make the above adjustments in order to avoid the danger that stereoscopic viewing becomes difficult regardless of the performance of the stereoscopic display device due to improper setting of the photographing device. Here, the stereoscopic display device includes a stereoscopic image processing device for realizing stereoscopic vision.
[0241]
The proper parallax obtained by the stereoscopic effect adjustment unit 112 of the first to sixth stereoscopic image processing apparatuses 100 is a parameter determined by the user while stereoscopically viewing the specific stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100. In 100, the proper parallax is maintained thereafter. Two factors, the "image separation performance" specific to the stereoscopic display device and the "physiological limit" specific to the observer, are taken into account in the operation for adjusting the stereoscopic effect. "Image separation performance" is an objective factor that indicates the performance of separating multiple viewpoint images. A stereo display device with low performance can easily detect crosstalk even with little parallax, and can be adjusted by multiple viewers. , The range of the appropriate parallax becomes narrow on average. Conversely, if the image separation performance is high, crosstalk is hardly perceived even with a large parallax, and the range of proper parallax tends to be wide on average. On the other hand, the “physiological limit” is a subjective factor. For example, even if the image separation performance is very high and the image is completely separated, the parallax range where the observer does not feel discomfort differs. This appears as a variation in proper parallax in the same stereoscopic image processing apparatus 100.
[0242]
The image separation performance is also called a degree of separation, and can be determined by a method of measuring the illuminance of the reference image 572 while moving the illuminometer 570 in the horizontal direction at the optimum observation distance as shown in FIG. At that time, in the case of the binocular system, for example, all white is displayed on the left eye image, and all black is displayed on the right eye image. If the images are completely separated, the illuminance at the position where the right eye image can be seen becomes zero. In contrast, by measuring the degree of white leakage of the left-eye image, image separation performance can be obtained. In this figure, the graph on the right end is an example of the measurement result. Further, since this measurement is almost equivalent to measuring the density of moire, a moire image is captured at a distance at which moire is observed as shown in FIG. 86, and the image separation performance is also measured by analyzing the density. be able to.
[0243]
Even in a glasses-type stereoscopic display device or the like, the image separation performance can be measured by measuring leaked light in the same manner. Actually, the calculation may be performed taking into account the measured value when both the left and right images are all black as the background. Further, the image separation performance can be determined by an average value of ranking evaluations by a large number of observers.
[0244]
As described above, it is possible to give an objective criterion such as a numerical value for the image separation performance of the stereoscopic display device. For example, the rank of the stereoscopic display device 450 in FIG. If the proper parallax of is known, the proper parallax can be converted so as to match the rank of the other stereoscopic display device 440. In addition, the stereoscopic display device also has parameters that are eigenvalues such as a screen size, a pixel pitch, and an optimum viewing distance, and information on these parameters is also used for conversion of proper parallax.
[0245]
Hereinafter, conversion examples of the appropriate parallax will be sequentially described for each parameter with reference to FIGS. 87 and 88. Here, it is assumed that the proper parallax is held by N / L and M / L. Here, M is the near limit parallax, N is the far limit parallax, and L is the screen size. By expressing the ratio in this manner, a difference in pixel pitch between the stereoscopic display devices can be ignored. Therefore, in the drawings used below, description will be made assuming that the pixel pitch is equal for ease of description.
[0246]
First, conversion for a difference in screen size will be described. As shown in FIG. 87, it is preferable to perform processing so that the absolute value of parallax does not change regardless of the screen size. That is, the stereoscopic expression range in the front-back direction is made the same. It is assumed that the screen size has been increased by a times from the state shown on the upper side of the figure to the state shown on the lower side. At this time, by converting N / L to N / (aL) and converting M / L to M / (aL), proper parallax is realized even when the screen size is different. This figure shows an example of the closest position.
[0247]
Next, conversion for a difference in observation distance will be described. As shown in FIG. 88, when the optimal observation distance d increases by a factor of b, the absolute value of the parallax is preferably increased by a factor of b. That is, the angle of parallax that the eye sees is kept constant. Therefore, by converting N / L to bN / L and converting M / L to bM / L, proper parallax is realized even when the optimum viewing distance is different. In this drawing, this is shown as an example of the closest position.
[0248]
Lastly, a description will be given of adding the factors of the image separation performance. Here, it is assumed that the rank r of the image separation performance is an integer equal to or greater than 0, and that the performance r is so poor that parallax cannot be provided. Then, assuming that the image separation performance of the first stereoscopic display device is r0 and the image separation performance of the second stereoscopic display device is r1, c / r1 / r0, N / L becomes cN / L, and M / L Is converted to cM / L. As a result, proper parallax is realized even in a stereoscopic display device having different image resolution. Note that the expression for deriving c shown here is an example, and may be derived from another expression.
[0249]
When all the above processes are performed, N / L is converted to bcN / (aL) and M / L is converted to bcM / (aL). This conversion can be applied to both the horizontal parallax and the vertical parallax. The conversion of the appropriate parallax described above can be realized by the configurations shown in FIGS. 52, 53, and 54.
[0250]
The front and back of the basic expression space may be determined using a Z buffer. The Z-buffer is a technique of hidden surface processing, and a depth map of an object group viewed from a camera is obtained. The minimum and maximum values from which the Z value is removed may be used as the frontmost and rearmost positions. As a process, a process of acquiring a Z value from the position of the virtual camera is added. Since this process does not require a final resolution, if the process is performed with a reduced number of pixels, the process time will be shortened. With this method, the hidden portion is ignored, so that the appropriate parallax range can be used effectively. Also, even if there are a plurality of objects, it is easy to handle.
[0251]
Further, the parallax control unit 114, when generating a stereoscopic image from the three-dimensional data, if the parameter related to the camera arrangement set to generate the parallax image is changed, the camera parameters to the change of the parameter Alternatively, control may be performed so as to fall within a predetermined threshold value. Also, when generating a stereoscopic image of a moving image from a two-dimensional moving image to which the depth information is given, the parallax control unit 114 generates the maximum value of the depth included in the depth information, which occurs with the progress of the two-dimensional moving image. Alternatively, control may be performed so that the change in the minimum value falls within a threshold value provided in advance. The thresholds used for these controls may be stored in the parallax information storage unit 120.
[0252]
When generating a three-dimensional image from three-dimensional data, if the basic expression space is determined from objects existing in the field of view, the size of the basic expression space may be suddenly increased due to rapid movement of objects or frame-in / frame-out. , The parameters related to the camera arrangement may fluctuate greatly. If this variation is greater than a predetermined threshold, the variation may be allowed up to the threshold. Also, when a stereoscopic image is generated from a two-dimensional moving image to which depth information is given, similar inconvenience is considered if the maximum value or the minimum value of the parallax amount is determined from the maximum value or the minimum value of the depth. Can be A threshold may be provided for this variation.
[0253]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.
1. It is possible to generate or display a stereoscopic image that is easily adapted to human physiology.
2. Even if the display target image changes, a stereoscopic image appropriate for the user can be generated or displayed.
3. The stereoscopic effect of stereoscopic display can be adjusted by simple operations.
4. The burden on the programmer can be reduced when creating content or an application that enables appropriate three-dimensional display.
5. The labor of the user trying to optimize the stereoscopic display is reduced.
6. Normally, the same applies to a device that cannot be plug-and-play in principle, such as a retrofit parallax barrier, which can easily realize a three-dimensional effect adjustment and head tracking information that are not targets of the plug-and-play function.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between a user, a screen, and a reproduction object 14 that can perform ideal stereoscopic viewing.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a photographing system that realizes the state of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of a photographing system for realizing the state of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another example of a photographing system for realizing the state of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a model coordinate system used in the first stereoscopic image processing apparatus.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a world coordinate system used in the first stereoscopic image processing apparatus.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a camera coordinate system used in the first stereoscopic image processing apparatus.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a view volume used in the first stereoscopic image processing apparatus.
9 is a diagram illustrating a coordinate system after perspective transformation of the volume in FIG. 8;
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a screen coordinate system used in the first stereoscopic image processing apparatus.
FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of a first stereoscopic image processing apparatus.
FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram of a second stereoscopic image processing device.
FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram of a third stereoscopic image processing device.
FIGS. 14A and 14B are diagrams respectively showing a left-eye image and a right-eye image displayed by a stereoscopic effect adjusting unit of the first stereoscopic image processing device.
FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a plurality of objects having different parallaxes displayed by the stereoscopic effect adjusting unit of the first stereoscopic image processing device.
FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an object whose parallax changes, which is displayed by the stereoscopic effect adjustment unit of the first stereoscopic image processing device.
FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a relationship among a camera angle of view, an image size, and parallax when an appropriate parallax is realized.
18 is a diagram illustrating a positional relationship of a photographing system that realizes the state of FIG.
FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a positional relationship of a photographing system for realizing the state of FIG. 17;
FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a camera arrangement when generating a multi-viewpoint image with proper parallax.
FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a parallax correction map used by a distortion processing unit of the first stereoscopic image processing device.
22 is a diagram illustrating a camera viewpoint when generating a parallax image according to the parallax correction map of FIG. 21;
23 is a diagram illustrating another camera viewpoint when generating a parallax image according to the parallax correction map of FIG. 21;
FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating a parallax correction map used by a distortion processing unit of the first stereoscopic image processing device.
25 is a diagram illustrating a camera viewpoint when generating a parallax image according to the parallax correction map of FIG. 24.
FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating a sense of distance correction map used by a distortion processing unit of the first stereoscopic image processing apparatus.
FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating a camera viewpoint when generating a parallax image according to the distance sense correction map of FIG. 26;
FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating another sense of distance correction map used by the distortion processing unit of the first stereoscopic image processing apparatus.
FIG. 29 is a diagram illustrating a camera viewpoint when generating a parallax image according to the sense of distance correction map of FIG. 28;
FIGS. 30 (a), 30 (b), 30 (c), 30 (d), 30 (e), and 30 (f) are first stereoscopic image processing apparatuses. FIG. 14 is a top view of a parallax distribution obtained as a result of performing processing on a three-dimensional space by the distortion processing unit of FIG.
FIG. 31 is a diagram illustrating a principle of processing by a distortion processing unit of the first stereoscopic image processing apparatus.
FIG. 32 is a diagram specifically showing the processing of FIG. 31.
FIG. 33 is a diagram specifically showing the process of FIG. 31.
FIG. 34 is a diagram specifically showing the process of FIG. 31.
FIG. 35 is a diagram illustrating another example of the processing by the distortion processing unit of the first stereoscopic image processing device.
FIG. 36 is a diagram specifically showing the process of FIG. 35.
FIG. 37 is a diagram showing a depth map.
FIG. 38 is a diagram illustrating an example of processing by a distortion processing unit of the third stereoscopic image processing device.
FIG. 39 is a diagram illustrating a depth map generated by a process performed by a distortion processing unit of the third stereoscopic image processing apparatus.
FIG. 40 is a diagram illustrating another example of the processing by the distortion processing unit of the third stereoscopic image processing device.
FIG. 41 is a diagram illustrating an example of processing performed by a two-dimensional image generation unit of the second stereoscopic image processing device.
FIG. 42 is a diagram illustrating an example of a parallax image.
FIG. 43 is a diagram illustrating a parallax image whose combination position has been shifted by the two-dimensional image generation unit of the second stereoscopic image processing apparatus.
FIG. 44 is a diagram illustrating processing of an image edge adjustment unit of the second stereoscopic image processing device.
FIG. 45 is a diagram illustrating processing of the second stereoscopic image processing device.
FIG. 46 is a diagram illustrating another process of the second stereoscopic image processing device.
FIG. 47 is a diagram illustrating another process of the second stereoscopic image processing device.
FIG. 48 is a diagram showing a planar image to which a depth map has been added.
FIG. 49 is a diagram showing a depth map.
FIG. 50 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a two-dimensional image generation unit of the second stereoscopic image processing apparatus generates a parallax image based on a depth map.
FIG. 51 is a diagram illustrating a depth map corrected by the two-dimensional image generation unit of the second stereoscopic image processing device.
FIG. 52 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the stereoscopic image processing apparatus according to the embodiment is used as a library.
FIG. 53 is a configuration diagram in which a three-dimensional display library is incorporated in three-dimensional data software.
FIG. 54 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a stereoscopic display library is used in a network-based system.
FIG. 55 is a diagram showing a state in which an image composed of three-dimensional data is displayed on a display screen.
FIG. 56 is a diagram showing another state in which an image constituted by three-dimensional data is displayed on a display screen.
FIG. 57 is a diagram showing another state in which an image formed by three-dimensional data is displayed on a display screen.
FIG. 58 is a diagram illustrating a method of matching an interface of an object to be displayed with a display screen.
FIG. 59 is a diagram illustrating another state in which an image is captured by making the optical axis intersection positions of two virtual cameras coincide with one surface of an aquarium.
FIG. 60 is a configuration diagram of a fourth stereoscopic image processing device.
FIG. 61 is a diagram illustrating a convenient basic expression space T with respect to an image displayed by a fourth stereoscopic image processing apparatus.
FIG. 62 is a diagram illustrating an area in which no object exists by including the area in the basic expression space T.
FIG. 63 is a diagram illustrating a region in which no object exists by including the region in a basic expression space T.
FIG. 64 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a moving object is formed so as to include not only a bird but also the space before and after the target object for calculating the parallax.
FIG. 65 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a bird 330 moves in a previously included space after a moving object has passed over a front projection plane.
FIG. 66 is a diagram showing a state where an observer is observing a stereoscopic image on a display screen.
FIG. 67 is a diagram illustrating a camera arrangement determined by a camera arrangement determining unit.
68 is a diagram illustrating a manner in which an observer is observing a parallax image obtained by the camera arrangement in FIG. 67.
69 is a diagram illustrating a state in which an observer is observing a display screen at the position of the observer illustrated in FIG. 66 on an image for which an appropriate parallax has been obtained with the camera arrangement in FIG. 67.
70 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the nearest point of a sphere located at a distance A from the display screen is photographed with the camera arrangement illustrated in FIG. 67.
71 is a diagram showing the relationship between the optical axis tolerance distance between two cameras and the camera interval required to obtain the parallax shown in FIG. 70.
FIG. 72 is a diagram showing a situation where the camera arrangement shown in FIG. 67 captures the farthest point of a sphere located at a distance TA from the display screen.
73 is a diagram showing the relationship between the optical axis tolerance distance between two cameras and the camera interval E1 required to obtain the parallax shown in FIG. 72.
FIG. 74 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between camera parameters required to set a parallax of a stereoscopic image within an appropriate parallax range.
FIG. 75 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between camera parameters required for setting a parallax of a stereoscopic image within an appropriate parallax range.
FIG. 76 is a configuration diagram of a fifth stereoscopic image processing device.
FIG. 77 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a temporary camera position, an angle of view, and first to third objects set by a creator who creates three-dimensional data.
FIG. 78 is a diagram showing a state where two virtual cameras are arranged based on the temporary camera positions determined in FIG. 77.
FIG. 79 is a diagram showing a state where the camera arrangement is adjusted so that an area where no object information exists does not occur.
FIG. 80 is a diagram showing a view angle adjustment process.
FIG. 81 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a stereoscopic photographing apparatus that photographs a stereoscopic photograph in an entertainment facility, a photo studio, or the like, and a subject.
FIG. 82 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a sixth stereoscopic image processing apparatus.
Fig. 83 is a diagram illustrating a state where a camera is operated by remote control and a captured image is observed on a stereoscopic image display device.
FIG. 84 is a diagram illustrating an example of imaging by a stereoscopic imaging device including a sixth stereoscopic image processing device.
FIG. 85 is a diagram illustrating a state in which image resolution is measured by an illuminometer.
FIG. 86 is a diagram showing a moire image used for measuring image resolvability.
Fig. 87 is a diagram illustrating a conversion example of an appropriate parallax.
FIG. 88 is a diagram illustrating another example of conversion of proper parallax.
FIG. 89 is a diagram illustrating a table used for simple determination of a parallax and a basic expression space.
[Explanation of symbols]
Reference Signs List 10 user, 12 screen, 14 playback object, 20 real object, 22, 24, 26, 28 camera, 30 front projection plane, 32 rear projection plane, 100 stereoscopic image processing device, 112 stereoscopic effect adjustment unit, 114, 152 170 parallax control unit, 116 format conversion unit, 118 information acquisition unit, 122 instruction acquisition unit, 124 parallax identification unit, 132 camera arrangement determination unit, 136, 174 distortion processing unit, 140, 176 correction map holding unit, 142 two-dimensional image Generation unit, 150 parallax amount detection unit, 151 camera control unit, 156 header inspection unit, 158 matching unit, 160 position shift unit, 164 parallax writing unit, 168 image edge adjustment unit, 178 two-dimensional image generation unit, 180 object designation Section, 190 image determination section, 192 frequency component detection section, 94 scene determination unit, 210 optical axis crossing plane, 300 stereoscopic display library, 400 display screen, 402 three-dimensional data software, 406 shooting instruction processing unit, 430 network-based system, 432 game machine, 434 user terminal, 436 server, 452 viewer program, 510 stereo photography device.

Claims (7)

Reading the user's proper parallax acquired by the first display device into the second display device;
Adjusting the parallax of the parallax image according to the proper parallax on the second display device;
Outputting the adjusted parallax image from the second display device;
A stereoscopic image processing method comprising: Reading information about hardware of the first display device into the second display device;
Based on the read information about the hardware of the first display device and the information about the hardware of the second display device, the parallax image in which the parallax has been adjusted in the step of adjusting the parallax of the parallax image, Correcting the parallax in the second display device according to the proper parallax;
The stereoscopic image processing method according to claim 1, further comprising: The three-dimensional image processing method according to claim 2, wherein the information about the hardware includes a size of a display screen. The stereoscopic image display method according to claim 2, wherein the information about the hardware includes an optimal observation distance of the display device. The stereoscopic image display method according to claim 2, wherein the information on the hardware includes information on an image separation performance of a display device. A first display device, a second display device, and a server connected via a network,
The first display device transmits the appropriate disparity information of the user acquired by the device to the server,
The server receives the appropriate disparity information and records it in association with the user,
When a user requests output of image data on a second display device, the device reads proper user's parallax information from a server, adjusts parallax, and outputs a parallax image. apparatus. A stereoscopic image processing method comprising: converting an appropriate parallax for stereoscopically displaying a parallax image into an expression format that does not depend on hardware of a display device, and distributing the appropriate parallax in the expression format between different display devices.

Images