Image Processing Apparatus and Method

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an image processing apparatus and a method therefor capable of reducing the amount of memory required for intra-frame prediction. The apparatus includes: a sampling unit that performs sampling to thin out pixel values to be used as adjacent pixels in intra-frame prediction according to a size in an horizontal direction of an image to be coded or a size in a vertical direction of regions obtained by dividing the image; a reconstruction unit that performs interpolation by using the pixel values sampled by the sampling unit to reconstruct the adjacent pixels; a predicted image generation unit that performs the intra-frame prediction by using the adjacent pixels reconstructed by the reconstruction unit to generate a predicted image; and a coding unit that codes the image by using the predicted image generated by the predicted image generation unit. The present technology can be applied to an image processing apparatus, for example.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . An image processing apparatus, comprising:
 a central processing unit (CPU) configured to:
 determine a sampling method based on block size of a current block for intra prediction; 
 sample neighboring pixels of an image, wherein the neighboring pixels are adjacently located to the current block for intra prediction by the sampling method; 
 execute interpolation with the sampled neighboring pixels to reconstruct the neighboring pixels; and 
 execute the intra prediction on a current pixel within the current block by use of the neighboring pixels as reference pixels for the intra prediction to generate a prediction image. 
   
     
     
         22 . The image processing apparatus according to  claim 21 , wherein the CPU is further configured to determine the sampling method based on whether the block size of current block is larger than determined block size. 
     
     
         23 . The image processing apparatus according to  claim 21 , wherein the sampling method determines a rate of the sampling to reconstruct the neighboring pixels. 
     
     
         24 . The image processing apparatus according to  claim 21 , wherein the CPU is further configured to determine whether to sample the neighboring pixels based on the block size of the current block for the intra prediction. 
     
     
         25 . The image processing apparatus according to  claim 24 , wherein the CPU is further configured to
 determine the sampling method based on the block size of the current block for intra prediction in response to the determination that the neighboring pixels are to be sampled based on the block size of the current block for the intra prediction.   
     
     
         26 . The image processing apparatus according to  claim 21 , wherein the CPU is further configured to determine whether to sample the neighboring pixels based on a horizontal size of the current block or a vertical size of the current block. 
     
     
         27 . The image processing apparatus according to  claim 26 , wherein the CPU is further configured to determine that the sampling is executed in an event the vertical size or the horizontal size is larger than a second determined threshold. 
     
     
         28 . The image processing apparatus according to  claim 21 , wherein the CPU is further configured to execute sub-sampling on the neighboring pixels based on the block size of the current block for the intra prediction. 
     
     
         29 . The image processing apparatus according to  claim 21 , wherein the CPU is further configured to encode image data by use of the prediction image. 
     
     
         30 . The image processing apparatus according to  claim 21 , wherein the CPU is further configured to decode encoded image data by use of the prediction image. 
     
     
         31 . A method, comprising:
 in an information processing apparatus:
 determining, by a central processing unit (CPU) in the information processing apparatus, a sampling method based on a block size of a current block for intra prediction; 
 executing, by the CPU, a sampling on neighboring pixels of an image, the neighboring pixels being adjacently located to the current block for intra prediction by the sampling method; 
 executing, by the CPU, interpolation with the sampled neighboring pixels to reconstruct the neighboring pixels; and 
 executing, by the CPU, the intra prediction on a current pixel within the current block using the neighboring pixels as reference pixels for the intra prediction to generate a prediction image. 
   
     
     
         32 . The method according to  claim 31 , wherein the sampling method is determined based on whether the block size of current block is larger than determined block size. 
     
     
         33 . The method according to  claim 31 , wherein the sampling method determines a rate of the sampling to reconstruct the neighboring pixels. 
     
     
         34 . The method according to  claim 31 , further comprising determining whether to execute the sampling on the neighboring pixels based on the block size of the current block for the intra prediction. 
     
     
         35 . The method according to  claim 34 , wherein the sampling method is determined based on the block size of the current block for intra prediction in response to the determination that the sampling on the neighboring pixels is to be executed based on the block size of the current block for the intra prediction. 
     
     
         36 . The method according to  claim 31 , further comprising determining whether to execute the sampling on the neighboring pixels based on a horizontal size of the current block or a vertical size of the current block. 
     
     
         37 . The method according to  claim 36 , further comprising determining that the sampling is executed in an event the vertical size or the horizontal size is larger than a second determined threshold. 
     
     
         38 . The method according to  claim 31 , further comprising executing sub-sampling on the neighboring pixels based on the block size of the current block for the intra prediction. 
     
     
         39 . The method according to  claim 31 , further comprising encoding image data using the prediction image. 
     
     
         40 . The method according to  claim 31 , further comprising decoding encoded image data using the prediction image.