A method for determining a best match between a first pixel array in a picture currently being encoded and a plurality of second pixel arrays in a search region of a reference picture, wherein each of the first and second pixel arrays includes a plurality of rows and columns of individual pixel values. The method is designed to be performed in a motion estimation search engine of a digital video encoder, and includes the steps of producing a first orthogonal-sum signature of the first pixel array comprised of a set of horizontal sums representative of the sums of the individual pixel values of the rows of the first pixel array and a first set of vertical sums representative of the sums of the individual pixel values of the columns of the first pixel array; producing a plurality of second orthogonal-sum signatures for respective ones of at least selected ones of the plurality of second pixel arrays, each of the plurality of second orthogonal-sum signatures being comprised of a set of horizontal sums representative of the sums of the individual pixel values of the rows of a respective one of the second pixel arrays and a set of vertical sums representative of the sums of the individual pixel values of the columns of a respective one of the second pixel arrays; and, comparing the first orthogonal-sum signature with each of the second orthogonal-sum signatures in order to determine the best match between the first and second pixel arrays. In a disclosed embodiment, the first and second pixel arrays are either decimated or undecimated macroblocks having a structure defined by an MPEG standard, e.g., the MPEG-2 standard.
A digital camera delays the capture of a digital image after image capture has been requested until the motion of the digital camera satisfies a motion criterion. The digital camera thereby reduces image blur that would otherwise occur due to camera motion.
A first image (or other pattern) is represented by a first ordered set of elements A each having a value and a second pattern is represented by a second such set. A comparison of the two involves performing, for each of a plurality of elements x of the first ordered set the steps of selecting from the first ordered set a plurality of elements x' in the vicinity of the element x under consideration, selecting an element y of the second ordered set and comparing the elements x' of the first ordered set with elements y' of the second ordered set (each of which has the same position relative to the selected element y' of the second ordered set as a respective one x' of the selected plurality of elements of the first ordered set has relative to the element x under consideration). The comparison itself comprises comparing the value of each of the selected plurality of elements x' of the first set with the value of the correspondingly positioned element y' of the like plurality of elements of the second set in accordance with a predetermined match criterion to produce a decision that the plurality of elements of the first ordered set matches the plurality of elements of the second ordered set. The comparison is them repeated with a fresh selection of the plurality of elements x' of the first set and/or a fresh selection of an element y of the second ordered set generating a similarity measure V as a function of the number of matches. Preferably, following a comparison resulting in a match decision, the next comparison is performed with a fresh selection of the plurality of elements x' of the first set and the same selection of an element y of the second set.
A first visual image or other pattern (A) is represented by a first ordered set of elements (x.sub.i) each having a value and a second pattern (B) is a represented by a second ordered set of element (u.sub.i) each having a value. Iteratively, a comparison is made by: (i) selecting a plurality of elements from the first ordered set;(ii) for each selected element of the first ordered set, selecting an element from the second ordered set, such that the selected elements of the second ordered set have, within the second ordered set, a set of positional relationships relative to each other that is the same as, or a transformation of, the set of positional relationships that the selected plurality of elements of the first ordered set have relative to each other; (iii) selecting a random shift value (.gamma.); and (iv) determining whether the selected elements meet the match criterion that the value of each of the selected elements of the first ordered set differs from the value of the correspondingly positioned selected element of the second ordered set by an amount that is equal to, or within a set margin of, and in the same sense as, said shift value. In the event of a match, a similarity score (S.sub.AB) is updated. Alternatively, or in addition, the shift amount in the event of a match is recorded and, at the conclusion of the iteration, a single representative shift value is estimated from said recorded shift value.
According to the invention, a technique for operating a digital versatile disk (DVD) system is disclosed. First digital information is read from a DVD player. The first digital information is decompressed to create second digital information that is stored. In order to produce third digital information different from the second digital information, the second digital information is manipulated. At some point, the third digital information is displayed.
