Color management apparatus and color management system

• US 20030016289A1
• Filed: 04/26/2002
• Published: 01/23/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Motomura, Hideto
• Granted Patent: US 7,133,156 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/211.5
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/46 Colour picture communication systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/60 Colour correction or control H04N1/54 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/603 controlled by characteristics of the picture signal generator or the picture reproducer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/6086 by scene illuminant, i.e. conditions at the time of picture capture, e.g. flash, optical filter used, evening, cloud, daylight, artificial lighting, white point measurement, colour temperature
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/6088 by viewing conditions, i.e. conditions at picture output

Abstract

The present invention allows the transmitting side and receiving side to exchange the device characteristic, color matching function and visual environment information used according to task assignment of color reproduction pursuant with a color reproduction target, sets color control parameters on the transmitting side or color control parameters on the receiving side, and thereby allows the transmitting side and receiving side to share the color reproduction target in such a way as to be flexibly applicable to a plurality of color reproduction targets and assigned tasks of color reproduction.

Claims

1. A color management apparatus on the transmitting side that sends images captured by an image capturing section to a color management apparatus on the receiving side including an image display section that displays images, comprising:

a transmitting side control section that determines a color reproduction target and task assignment of color reproduction processing according to said color reproduction target by communicating with said receiving side and sets transmitting side color control parameters according to said task assignment using at least one of a device characteristic of said image display section, color matching function on said receiving side, visual environment information of said receiving side, device characteristic of said image capturing section, color matching function on said transmitting side and visual environment information of said transmitting side; and

a transmit image processing section that converts said image to an image signal for transmission using said transmitting side color control parameters and sends the image signal to said receiving side.

3. A color management system that connects the color management apparatus according to claim 1 on the transmitting side and the color management apparatus according to claim 2 on the receiving side through a transmission path and performs overall color control in image capturing, transmission and image display.

4. The color management system according to claim 3, wherein said target of color reproduction is to keep the colorimetric value of the display image displayed on said image display section within an allowable error range for the spectral reflectance distribution of said image captured by said image capturing section, color matching function on said transmitting side and colorimetric value of said image calculated from visual environment information on said transmitting side.

5. The color management system according to claim 3, wherein said target of color reproduction is to keep the colorimetric value of the display image displayed on said image display section within an allowable error range for the spectral reflectance distribution of said image captured by said image capturing section, color matching function on said receiving side and colorimetric value of said image calculated from visual environment information on said receiving side.

6. The color management system according to claim 3, wherein said target of color reproduction is to keep the colorimetric value of the display image displayed on said image display section within an allowable error range for the spectral reflectance distribution of said image captured by said image capturing section, color matching function on said transmitting side and colorimetric value of said image calculated from visual environment information on said receiving side.

7. The color management system according to claim 3, wherein said target of color reproduction is to keep the colorimetric value of the display image displayed on said image display section within an allowable error range for the spectral reflectance distribution of said image captured by said image capturing section, color matching function on said receiving side and colorimetric value of said image calculated from visual environment information on said transmitting side.

8. The color management system according to claim 3, wherein said task assignment of color reproduction is for said transmit image processing section to estimate a spectral reflectance distribution of said image, calculate a colorimetric value of said image using said spectral reflectance distribution and calculate said image display signal using said colorimetric value.

9. The color management system according to claim 3, wherein said task assignment of color reproduction is for said received image processing section to estimate a spectral reflectance distribution of said image, calculate a colorimetric value of said image using said spectral reflectance distribution and calculate said image display signal using said colorimetric value.

10. The color management system according to claim 3, wherein said task assignment of color reproduction is for said transmit image processing section to estimate a spectral reflectance distribution of said image, calculate a colorimetric value of said image using said spectral reflectance distribution and for said received image processing section to calculate said image display signal using said colorimetric value.

11. The color management system according to claim 3, wherein said task assignment of color reproduction is for said transmit image processing section to estimate a spectral reflectance distribution of said image, for said received image processing section to calculate a colorimetric value of said image using said spectral reflectance distribution and calculate said image display signal using said colorimetric value.

12. The color management system according to claim 3, wherein-said task assignment of color reproduction is for said transmit image processing section to estimate a spectral reflectance distribution of said image and calculate the main component of said spectral reflectance distribution and main component coefficient and for said received image processing section to calculate a colorimetric value of said image using the main component of said spectral reflectance distribution and main component coefficient and calculate said image display signal using said colorimetric value.

13. The color management system according to claim 3, wherein said target of color reproduction and said task assignment of color reproduction are determined by said transmitting side control section and said receiving side control section is subordinate thereto.

14. The color management system according to claim 3, wherein said target of color reproduction and said task assignment of color reproduction are determined by said receiving side control section and said transmitting side control section is subordinate thereto.

15. The color management system according to claim 3, wherein said target of color reproduction and said task assignment of color reproduction are determined by an arrangement between said transmitting side control section and said receiving side control section.

16. The color management system according to claim 3, wherein said transmit image processing section is constructed of a display system reverse direction model that estimates a spectral reflectance distribution of said image based on the output of said image capturing section that operates according to instructions of said transmitting side control section, calculates a colorimetric value of said image based on said spectral reflectance distribution, the color matching function on said transmitting side or the color matching function on said receiving side and the visual environment information on said transmitting side or the visual environment information on said receiving side, and converts the colorimetric value of said image to said display signal based on the colorimetric input/output characteristic of said image display section on said receiving side.

17. The color management system according to claim 3, wherein said received image processing section is constructed of a display system reverse direction model that estimates a spectral reflectance distribution of said image based on the output of said transmit image processing section that operates according to instructions of said receiving side control section, calculates a colorimetric value of said image based on said spectral reflectance distribution, the color matching function on said transmitting side or the color matching function on said receiving side and the visual environment information on said transmitting side or the visual environment information on said receiving side, and converts the colorimetric value of said image to said display signal based on the colorimetric input/output characteristic of said image display section on said receiving side.

2. A color management apparatus on the receiving side that displays images sent from a color management apparatus on the transmitting side that sends said images captured by an image capturing section that captures images, comprising:

a receiving side control section that determines a color reproduction target and task assignment of color reproduction processing according to said color reproduction target by communicating with said transmitting side and sets receiving side color control parameters according to said task assignment using at least one of a device characteristic of said image display section, color matching function on said transmitting side and visual environment information of said receiving side, device characteristic of said image capturing section, color matching function on said transmitting side and visual environment information of said transmitting side; and

a received image processing section that converts the image signal of said image sent from said transmitting side to a display image signal to be displayed on said image display section using said receiving side color control parameters.

18. A color management method on the transmitting side for sending images captured by an image capturing section that captures said images to the receiving side including an image display section that displays images, comprising the steps of:

determining a color reproduction target and task assignment of color reproduction processing according to said color reproduction target by communicating with said receiving side;

setting transmitting side color control parameters according to said task assignment using at least one of a device characteristic of said image display section, color matching function on said receiving side, visual environment information on said receiving side, device characteristic of said image capturing section, color matching function on said transmitting side and visual environment information on said transmitting side;

converting said image to an image signal for transmission using said transmitting side color control parameters; and

sending the image signal to said receiving side.

19. A color management method on the receiving side for displaying images sent from the transmitting side that sends said images captured by an image capturing section that captures said images on an image display section, comprising the steps of:

determining a color reproduction target and task assignment of color reproduction processing according to said color reproduction target by communicating with said transmitting side;

setting receiving side color control parameters according to said task assignment using at least one of a device characteristic of said image display section, color matching function on said receiving side, visual environment information on said receiving side, device characteristic of said image capturing section, color matching function on said transmitting side and visual environment information on said transmitting side; and

converting the image signal of said image sent from said transmitting side to a display image signal to be displayed on said image display section using said receiving side color control parameters.

20. A program allowing a computer to send an image captured by an image capturing section that captures said image to a receiving side including an image display section that displays images, said program allowing the computer to:

determine a color reproduction target and task assignment of color reproduction processing according to said color reproduction target by communicating with said receiving side;

set transmitting side color control parameters according to said task assignment using at least one of a device characteristic of said image display section, color matching function on said receiving side, visual environment information on said receiving side, device characteristic of said image capturing section, color matching function on said transmitting side and visual environment information on said transmitting side;

convert said image to an image signal for transmission using said transmitting side color control parameters; and

send the image signal to said receiving side.

21. A program on the receiving side allowing a computer to display images sent from the transmitting side that sends said images captured by an image capturing section that captures said images on an image display section, said program allowing the computer to:

determine a color reproduction target and task assignment of color reproduction processing according to said color reproduction target by communicating with said transmitting side;

set receiving side color control parameters according to said task assignment using at least one of a device characteristic of said image display section, color matching function on said receiving side, visual environment information on said receiving side, device characteristic of said image capturing section, color matching function on said transmitting side and visual environment information on said transmitting side; and

convert the image signal of said image sent from said transmission side to a display image signal to be displayed on said image display section using said receiving side color control parameters.