Image Stabilization Pre-Processing for Panoramic Stitching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for processing captured panoramic images introduce undesirable artifacts and inefficiencies due to the placement of stabilization processes at the end of the workflow, leading to suboptimal handling of low-contrast areas and excessive storage and bandwidth requirements for unrefined image data.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution involves pre-processing captured image data by performing a preliminary stitch and stabilization operation before encoding, allowing for efficient encoding into a target codec format like MPEG, which reduces transmission bandwidth and storage needs while preserving high image quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If stabilization is performed at the end of the workflow after encoding, then the encoding process can proceed with raw data, but motion-related jitter and artifacts remain in the final output
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary stabilization to the captured image data before encoding. The stabilization process corrects motion-related jitter and alignment issues in the raw image data from multiple sensors prior to the encoding step. This preliminary action ensures that the encoding process works with already-stabilized data, preventing artifacts from being introduced during subsequent processing steps.
2Reliability
If unrefined image data is stored and processed at high resolution throughout the workflow, then maximum image quality is retained, but storage requirements and bandwidth consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary stitching and stabilization on the high-resolution unrefined image data from multiple sensors before encoding. This preliminary processing creates a stabilized composite image that can then be encoded at lower resolutions. The key insight is that stabilization must occur before encoding to prevent artifacts, but the actual encoding to lower resolution can happen after this preliminary stabilization step.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary stabilized image format that serves as a bridge between the high-resolution unrefined data and the final encoded output. The preliminary stitching and stabilization processes create this intermediary representation that preserves essential motion correction information while allowing subsequent encoding to reduce data volume for storage and transmission.
3Area of stationary object
If multiple sensors capture overlapping fields of view simultaneously, then comprehensive panoramic coverage is achieved, but stitching complexity and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary stitching of images from multiple sensors before encoding and stabilization. This preliminary stitching operation combines the overlapping fields of view from multiple sensors into a single composite image structure, establishing the geometric relationships between sensors early in the workflow. This early stitching simplifies subsequent processing steps by providing a pre-organized data structure.
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus and methods for the pre-processing of image data so as to enhance quality of subsequent encoding and rendering. In one embodiment, a capture device is disclosed that includes a processing apparatus and a non-transitory computer readable apparatus comprising a storage medium have one or more instructions stored thereon. The one or more instructions, when executed by the processing apparatus, are configured to: receive captured image data (such as that sourced from two or more separate image sensors) and pre-process the data to enable stabilization of the corresponding images prior to encoding. In some implementations, the pre-processing includes combination (e.g., stitching) of the captured image data associated with the two or more sensors to facilitates the stabilization. Advantageously, undesirable artifacts such as object “jitter” can be reduced or eliminated. Methods and non-transitory computer readable apparatus are also disclosed.