US 12,002,233 B2
Systems and methods for estimating depth and visibility from a reference viewpoint for pixels in a set of images captured from different viewpoints
Florian Ciurea, Campbell, CA (US); Kartik Venkataraman, San Jose, CA (US); Gabriel Molina, Grass Valley, CA (US); and Dan Lelescu, Morgan Hill, CA (US)
Assigned to Adeia Imaging LLC, San Jose, CA (US)
Filed by Adeia Imaging LLC, San Jose, CA (US)
Filed on Jan. 29, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/162,542.
Application 17/162,542 is a continuation of application No. 16/537,369, filed on Aug. 9, 2019, granted, now 10,909,707.
Application 16/537,369 is a continuation of application No. 15/858,974, filed on Dec. 29, 2017, granted, now 10,380,752, issued on Aug. 13, 2019.
Application 15/858,974 is a continuation of application No. 14/988,680, filed on Jan. 5, 2016, granted, now 9,858,673, issued on Jan. 2, 2018.
Application 14/988,680 is a continuation of application No. 14/526,392, filed on Oct. 28, 2014, granted, now 9,235,900, issued on Jan. 12, 2016.
Application 14/526,392 is a continuation of application No. 14/329,754, filed on Jul. 11, 2014, granted, now 9,240,049, issued on Jan. 19, 2016.
Application 14/329,754 is a continuation of application No. 14/144,458, filed on Dec. 30, 2013, granted, now 8,780,113, issued on Jul. 15, 2014.
Application 14/144,458 is a continuation of application No. 13/972,881, filed on Aug. 21, 2013, granted, now 8,619,082, issued on Dec. 31, 2013.
Claims priority of provisional application 61/780,906, filed on Mar. 13, 2013.
Claims priority of provisional application 61/691,666, filed on Aug. 21, 2012.
Prior Publication US 2021/0150748 A1, May 20, 2021
Int. Cl. G06T 7/593 (2017.01); G02B 27/00 (2006.01); G06T 7/557 (2017.01); G06T 7/80 (2017.01); G06T 15/20 (2011.01); H04N 13/128 (2018.01); H04N 13/232 (2018.01); H04N 13/243 (2018.01); H04N 23/16 (2023.01); H04N 13/00 (2018.01)
CPC G06T 7/593 (2017.01) [G02B 27/0075 (2013.01); G06T 7/557 (2017.01); G06T 7/85 (2017.01); G06T 15/20 (2013.01); H04N 13/128 (2018.05); H04N 13/232 (2018.05); H04N 13/243 (2018.05); H04N 23/16 (2023.01); G06T 2200/21 (2013.01); G06T 2207/10012 (2013.01); G06T 2207/10024 (2013.01); G06T 2207/10052 (2013.01); H04N 2013/0081 (2013.01); H04N 2013/0088 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of estimating distances to objects within a scene from a light field comprising a set of images captured from different viewpoints using a processor configured by an image processing application, the method comprising:
selecting a reference image from a reference viewpoint relative to the viewpoints of the set of images captured from different viewpoints;
determining depth estimates for pixel locations in the reference image using at least a subset of the set of images, where a depth estimate for a given pixel location in the reference image is determined by:
dividing the reference image into spatial blocks;
generating depth measurements for a sparser subset of indicator pixels within the spatial blocks, where the spatial block includes a plurality of indicator pixels;
assigning a depth to the pixels in each of the spatial blocks based upon the depths of the indicator pixels.