MCTi by Faroudja
MCTi by Faroujda is STMicroelectronics' proprietary motion blur and motion judder correction system. This technology is integrated into many of ST's TV processing and controller SoCs
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Motion blur
Motion blur is an LCD display artifact, which can be viewed during instances of medium to high motion content.
Motion judder
Motion judder is a discernable film/source artifact caused by the absence of sufficient frames to describe continuous movement. The low sampling rate of film may cause moving objects on screen to appear to jump irregularly from one point to another.
How MCTi works
MCTi utilizes successive frames in order to interpolate and construct the "in-between" frames; therefore virtually eliminating issues related to both motion judder and motion blur. Both film and video sequences on any display type will be presented with unparalleled fluidity and enhaced image quality.
Film mode detection
Progressive video graphics with 3:2/2:2 field sequences are processed in Freeman Premier (FLI7525) with the built-in adaptive film mode detection controller. The field sequence is first detected by examining the field motion values, and once a field sequence is identified, the corresponding film mode processing is applied by MCTi.
Motion vector estimation (MVE)
The role of the MVE block is to generate appropriate motion vectors which correspond to the movement in the video input. Data is retrieved from the external memory, stored in local cache, analyzed and processed, and then motion vector data is fed to the video pixel interpolation (VPI) block, where it is used to direct the generation of interpolated frames.
- Vector post processing
- Global analysis of vectors
- Repetitive pattern detection
- Overlay detection
Video pixel projection and interpolation (VPI)
The VPI block uses the estimated motion vectors that are generated from four consecutive frames in order to generate interpolated frames. The VPI takes the motion vectors from each field and projects onto two new interpolated motion vector fields according to the frame rate conversion ratio. Subsequently, the VPI takes these four pairs of projected motion vector fields and the corresponding pixels in block basis to generate the interpolated frames simultaneously. In order to improve the image quality of the interpolated frames, the output pixels are applied onto filters to reduce any visible artifacts as much as possible.
VPI — vector processing for occlusion handling:
Objects move in front and behind other objects in the real world. On a 2D screen, however, these same objects disappear and reappear; in essence data does not exist because the object does not appear. This poses a problem when interpolating frames as it is difficult to recreate data where no data exists. The MCTi VPI block utilizes and analyzes multiple frames and motion vectors to help fill in the occlusion area, resulting in error-free tracking and correctly interpolated frames.
Mode-switching:
A detection block is available to detect any abnormal projected motion vectors, due to variables such as occlusion, not matching in the motion vector among four frames. If any abnormality is present, the detection block will determine if it should apply MCTi processing entirely (full interpolation), partially (temporal filtering), or bypass MCTi processing completely. Mode switching thresholds are fully user configurable but, depending on the settings, may produce more motion judder or undesirable artifacts.
Modes of operation
Frame sequence diagrams of typically-utilized modes are shown below.
Film: 24 to 60 Hz
Film mode: 24 to 120 Hz
Film mode: 25 to 60 Hz
Film mode: 25 to 100 Hz
Video mode: 50 to 60 Hz
Video mode: 50 to 100 Hz / 60 to 120 Hz
It is important to note that there are multiple conversion schemes available depending on the type of output film sequence that is required.
Note: For increased flexibility, all the FRC sequences are user programmable.
