Method and apparatus for conveying image attributes

• US 20050074170A1
• Filed: 10/01/2003
• Published: 04/07/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Debrito, Daniel N.
• Granted Patent: US 7,221,811 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/232
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/00 General purpose image data processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2210/32 Image data format
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/70 Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras camera calibration G06T7/80
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/0492 Change of orientation of the displayed image, e.g. upside-down, mirrored
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/00 Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators image data processing or generation, in general G06T
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32101 Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2101/00 Still video cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3229 further additional information (metadata) being comprised in the file name (including path, e.g. directory or folder names at one or more higher hierarchical levels)
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3254 Orientation, e.g. landscape or portrait; Location or order of the image data, e.g. in memory

Abstract

Attributes of a digital image are conveyed using the case of letters in an extension of a file name associated with the digital image. The technique is applicable to a wide variety of image attributes, including orientation.

Claims

1. A method for conveying an attribute of a digital image, comprising encoding the attribute using the case of letters in an extension of a file name associated with the digital image.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the case of each letter in the extension is one of upper case and lower case.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the extension comprises N letters such that the case of the N letters is capable of representing 2^N combinations.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the encoded attribute is the orientation of the digital image.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein all the letters in the extension being in the same case indicates the digital image is right side up in landscape orientation.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein a leftmost letter in the extension being in a case different from that of the remaining letters in the extension indicates the digital image is rotated by 90 degrees in a first sense relative to a right-side-up landscape orientation and a rightmost letter in the extension being in a case different from that of the remaining letters in the extension indicates the digital image is rotated by 90 degrees in a second sense opposite the first sense relative to a right-side-up landscape orientation.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first sense is counterclockwise and the second sense is clockwise.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein a central letter in the extension having a case different from the case of the remaining letters in the extension indicates the digital image is inverted relative to a right-side-up landscape orientation.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting the orientation of the digital image when the digital image is captured by a digital imaging device and wherein the encoded attribute is the orientation of the digital image.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the letters in the extension are one of “

jpg,”

“

gif,” and

“

tif.”

11. A method for displaying a digital image, comprising:

reading a file name associated with the digital image, the file name including an extension, the extension comprising at least one letter, each of the at least one letters being represented in one of at least two possible cases;

interpreting the case of the at least one letters as an encoded attribute of the digital image; and

displaying the digital image in accordance with the encoded attribute.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least two possible cases are upper case and lower case.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the encoded attribute is the orientation of the digital image.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein displaying the digital image in accordance with the encoded attribute comprises rotating the digital image to compensate for the orientation of the digital image.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one letters in the extension are one of “

jpg,”

“

gif,” and

“

tif.”

16. A digital imaging device, comprising:

an imaging module to convert an optical image to a digital image, the digital image having an attribute;

a memory in which to store the digital image; and

control logic configured to associate a file name with the digital image, the file name including an extension, the extension comprising at least one letter, the case of the at least one letters being selected by the control logic to encode the attribute.

17. The digital imaging device of claim 16, wherein the case of each of the at least one letters is one of upper case and lower case.

18. The digital imaging device of claim 16, wherein the attribute is the orientation of the digital image.

19. The digital imaging device of claim 18, further comprising an orientation detection subsystem to detect the orientation of the digital image when the optical image is converted to the digital image.

20. The digital imaging device of claim 16, wherein the digital imaging device is one of a digital camera, a digital camcorder, and a PDA.

21. A digital imaging device, comprising:

means for converting an optical image to a digital image;

means for storing the digital image; and

means for associating a file name with the digital image, the file name including an extension, the extension comprising at least one letter and for selecting the case of the at least one letters so as to encode an attribute of the digital image.

22. The digital imaging device of claim 21, wherein the case of each of the at least one letters in the extension is one of upper case and lower case.

23. The digital imaging device of claim 21, wherein the encoded attribute is the orientation of the digital image.

24. A system programmed to perform the following method:

reading a file name associated with a digital image, the file name including an extension, the extension comprising at least one letter, each of the at least one letters being represented in one of at least two possible cases;

interpreting the case of the at least one letters as an encoded attribute of the digital image; and

displaying the digital image in accordance with the encoded attribute.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the at least two possible cases are upper case and lower case.

26. The system of claim 24, wherein the encoded attribute is the orientation of the digital image.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein displaying the digital image in accordance with the encoded attribute comprises rotating the digital image to compensate for the orientation of the digital image.

28. A computer-readable storage medium containing program code to display a digital image, comprising:

a first code segment that reads a file name associated with a digital image, the file name including an extension, the extension comprising at least one letter, each of the at least one letters being represented in one of at least two possible cases;

a second code segment that interprets the case of the at least one letters as an encoded attribute of the digital image; and

a third code segment that causes the digital image to be displayed in accordance with the encoded attribute.

29. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 28, wherein the at least two possible cases are upper case and lower case.

30. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 28, wherein the encoded attribute is the orientation of the digital image.

31. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 30, wherein the third code segment, to compensate for the orientation of the digital image, rotates the digital image.