Cascaded Video Stabilization for Rolling Shutter Correction

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Casual video recordings often suffer from camera shake due to handheld instability, especially when capturing moving subjects or during activities, and existing stabilization methods require professional equipment or user input, which is not accessible to most users, and legacy videos may also benefit from stabilization but lack effective processing tools.

Innovation Solution

An automated online video stabilization system that uses a cascaded motion model to correct camera motion in videos without user input, capable of detecting and correcting rolling shutter effects, and applicable to all types of video footage, including legacy content.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Stability of the object's composition

If professional stabilization equipment (tripods, dollies, steady-cam) is used, then video stability is improved, but device complexity and cost increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvevideo stabilityVSAvoidequipment complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Stability of the object's compositionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces mechanical stabilization systems (tripods, dollies, steady-cam) with a computational approach using image processing algorithms. The system analyzes motion between frames and applies geometric transformations to stabilize video content, substituting complex mechanical equipment with software-based motion compensation techniques.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Stability of the object's composition

If professional stabilization software is used, then video stabilization quality is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to requiring user input and parameter settings

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvevideo stabilization qualityVSAvoiduser input requirement
Core Design Contradiction:
Stability of the object's compositionVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements self-service stabilization by automatically analyzing the video content to detect camera motion patterns and apply appropriate correction parameters without requiring user input. The system performs motion estimation, feature tracking, and parameter optimization autonomously, making professional-grade stabilization accessible to casual users.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

3Manufacturing precision

If metadata from physical camera is required for stabilization, then manufacturing precision of stabilization is improved, but adaptability deteriorates as it cannot process legacy videos or videos without metadata

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvestabilization precisionVSAvoidvideo format compatibility
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent performs preliminary action by extracting motion information directly from the video content itself through feature tracking and motion estimation algorithms, rather than relying on pre-captured metadata. This allows the system to process any video format including legacy content, while maintaining stabilization precision through direct analysis of visual motion patterns.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

4Manufacturing precision

If complex motion models are used for stabilization, then manufacturing precision of correction is improved, but computing time and processing power increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecorrection precisionVSAvoidprocessing time
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the complex stabilization problem into multiple processing stages: feature detection, motion estimation, parameter optimization, and frame transformation. By dividing the computation into discrete steps that can be processed sequentially or in parallel, the system achieves high correction precision while managing computational time efficiently.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP3800878B1Cascaded camera motion estimation, rolling shutter detection, and camera shake detection for video stabilization
Publication Date: 2024.01.31 GOOGLE LLC
  • EP3800878B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3800878B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3800878B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

An easy-to-use online video stabilization system and methods for its use are described. Videos are stabilized after capture, and therefore the stabilization works on all forms of video footage including both legacy video and freshly captured video. In one implementation, the video stabilization system is fully automatic, requiring no input or parameter settings by the user other than the video itself. The video stabilization system uses a cascaded motion model to choose the correction that is applied to different frames of a video. In various implementations, the video stabilization system is capable of detecting and correcting high frequency jitter artifacts, low frequency shake artifacts, rolling shutter artifacts, significant foreground motion, poor lighting, scene cuts, and both long and short videos.