1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for picture-in-picture insertion and to a circuit arrangement for picture-in-picture insertion.
2. Description of Related Art
In the case of such picture-in-picture (PIP) insertion, a smaller insertion picture (small picture) is inserted into a larger main picture. The insertion picture is decimated in accordance with the size reduction and is continuously read into a memory device, older stored pictures being overwritten, and then the insertion pictures are read out in a manner employing synchronization with the main pictures. Accordingly, the read-out speed of the insertion pictures is generally higher than the writing speed. In this case, the main picture and the insertion picture may, in a known manner, be fields which are used for displaying a monitor picture.
At specific phase angles of the rasters of the main picture and of the small picture, the higher read-out speed can lead, inter alia, to the read-out pointer overtaking the write pointer and reading out a previous picture stored in the memory device, with the result that a seam occurs in the middle of a displayed small picture and in part the preceding insertion picture is read out. If both insertion pictures originate from different motion phases, a disturbing effect results since moving objects through which the seam runs are displayed with distortion. If the frequencies of the pictures of the insertion channel and main channel correspond only approximately, the result is slow drifting of the disturbance location, which is found to be particularly unpleasant.
EP 0 739 130 A2 describes a method for eliminating this seam by storing two fields of a small picture, with the result that the field that can be read is always exactly the one which is currently not being written, and, consequently, the read pointer cannot overtake the write pointer. A first and a second memory, which each store a field, are provided for this purpose. This method has the disadvantage, however, that a storage capacity of two insertion pictures or fields is necessary, which entails corresponding costs.
Accordingly, the invention is based on the object of providing a method and a circuit arrangement for picture-in-picture insertion with which the occurrence of a seam in the insertion picture can be prevented in a cost-effective manner and with a relatively low outlay on apparatus.
The invention is based on the concept that it is not necessary, in principle, to store two whole insertion pictures in order to prevent the write pointer from being overtaken by the read pointer. Instead of using a storage capacity of two insertion pictures, a smaller memory device is subdivided into a suitable number of segments, and suitable decision-making is effected to stipulate whether the currently written or the preceding insertion picture is read out.
Consequently, according to the invention, in contrast to the use of two separate memory segments for the currently written and the preceding insertion picture, if appropriate even the currently written insertion picture is read out if it is ensured that the read pointer does not overtake the write pointer.
For this purpose, memory segments which, in particular, are the same size can be cyclically overwritten in a predetermined order since, in particular, good periodicity of the operation can also be ensured by this means.
The invention is explained in more detail below using a number of embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
a, 2b, and 2c are illustrations of a memory device according to a first embodiment of the invention; and
In accordance with
One-quarter (¼) picture-in-picture insertion is assumed below, where the small picture is correspondingly decimated in each case by the factor 2 in the horizontal and vertical. According to the invention, it is provided for this purpose that the memory device has a storage capacity of 1.5 fields (decimated relative to the main pictures) and, in accordance with
Accordingly, in a first storage operation in accordance with
For the read-out operation it must be ensured that, on the one hand, a whole field is read out and, on the other hand, the read pointer does not overtake the write pointer. For this purpose, a decision must be made as to whether the currently written field Kj or the immediately preceding field Kj−1 is read out. Since the difference in the writing and read-out speed is essentially determined by the vertical decimation VD, where VD is a natural number, the decision as to which field is to be read out can be made dependent in each case on VD and on the position of the write pointer in the currently written field.
This position of the write pointer generally depends on the position of the small picture in the main picture and hence primarily on the phase angle of the small picture and main picture, the read pointer generally being fixedly coupled to the main picture via the insertion position.
In the case of a vertical decimation of VD=2, the read-out speed is about twice as high as the writing speed, with the result that the read pointer would overtake the write pointer in the currently written field if the write pointer has only written less than half of the field, i.e. is still located in the start segment, as is the case in the position SZ1 in
Generally, it can be derived from these considerations that 2*VD−1 segments, each having a storage capacity which corresponds to the quotient of the storage capacity required for an insertion picture and VD, are necessary in order to ensure in each case that either the currently written or the immediately preceding insertion picture can be read out. The total memory space required is thus (2−1/VD) times the storage capacity required for an insertion picture. The saving in comparison with the use of two memory areas for a respective insertion picture thus falls with increasing vertical decimation VD. Since the quotient of reading speed and writing speed can, to a good approximation, be applied as VD, the decisive criterion for the selection of the reading start segment is whether the last segment required for writing the current insertion picture is already being written to.
In the case of 1/9 picture-in-picture insertion, VD=3 and, in accordance with
In addition to the elimination of the seam, it is furthermore possible to eliminate disturbances that may arise as a result of different field positions in the insertion channel 8 and main channel 7, e.g., in the case of a picture composed of line-offset fields, disturbances between the upper field in the main channel 7 and the lower field in the insertion channel 8. This can be ensured e.g. by storing an additional line, with the result that the lines of the upper field of the insertion channel, despite the dependence on the raster position of the field of the main channel, are always displayed relatively above the lines of the lower field of the insertion channel.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
198 43 660 | Sep 1998 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
PCT/DE99/02994 | 9/17/1999 | WO | 00 | 6/15/2001 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO00/18115 | 3/30/2000 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
4987493 | Canfield et al. | Jan 1991 | A |
5313303 | Ersoz et al. | May 1994 | A |
5353067 | Kaji | Oct 1994 | A |
5355150 | Murakami | Oct 1994 | A |
5369442 | Braun | Nov 1994 | A |
5432560 | Ersoz et al. | Jul 1995 | A |
5483296 | Nonweiler | Jan 1996 | A |
5729303 | Oku et al. | Mar 1998 | A |
5850266 | Gimby | Dec 1998 | A |
5923385 | Mills et al. | Jul 1999 | A |
6356313 | Champion et al. | Mar 2002 | B1 |
6493036 | Fernandez | Dec 2002 | B1 |
6559896 | Zwartenkot et al. | May 2003 | B1 |
6870572 | Brett et al. | Mar 2005 | B1 |
6873370 | Brett et al. | Mar 2005 | B1 |
6950146 | Brett et al. | Sep 2005 | B1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
29 37 133 | Sep 1979 | DE |
42 31 308 | Sep 1992 | DE |
0 739 130 | May 2000 | EP |
61-171293 | Aug 1986 | JP |
64-86769 | Mar 1989 | JP |
1-272270 | Oct 1989 | JP |