Image processing apparatus and method, and program

• US 20050271274A1
• Filed: 05/17/2005
• Published: 12/08/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Koda, Natsuo, Urano, Izumi
• Granted Patent: US 7,627,172 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/001 Texturing; Colouring; Generation of texture or colour inpainting G06T5/77
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20061 Hough transform
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20192 Edge enhancement; Edge preservation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/12 Edge-based segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/168 involving transform domain methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/42 using transform domain methods

Abstract

An image processing apparatus for processing an image includes the following elements. A repeating-component extracting unit extracts repeating components, which are repeatedly appearing, similar components in the image, from the image. A repeating-component location adjusting unit adjusts the location of the repeating components by equally locating the repeating components extracted by the repeating-component extracting unit at regular intervals on a screen. An area interpolator interpolates a representative value of an image without the repeating components into some of the areas forming the image in which the location of the repeating components is not adjusted. A feature information generator generates feature information indicating the repeating components in the image interpolated by the areas interpolator and a feature of the location of the repeating components.

Claims

1. An image processing system for processing an image, comprising:

edge extracting means for extracting edges in at least one of a substantially horizontal direction and a substantially vertical direction from an input image;

mode-value calculating means for calculating a mode value of intervals between two edges on the image in the substantially horizontal direction or in the substantially vertical direction for all possible combinations of edge pairs of the edges extracted by the edge extracting means;

repeating-cycle calculating means for detecting linkage portions of a set of edge pairs having the mode value of the intervals calculated by the mode-value calculating means, areas sandwiched between the two edges of the edge pairs having the mode value being continuously adjacent to each other, and for calculating a statistically representative value of the intervals of the two edges of the edge pairs having the linkage portions as a repeating cycle of the extracted edges;

image dividing means for dividing the input image by the repeating cycle of the extracted edges in a direction in which the edges repeatedly appear so as to generate a plurality of first blocks, which are small areas divided from the input image, and for setting a statistically representative color of each of the plurality of first blocks for the corresponding first block;

block integrating means for coupling, among the plurality of first blocks generated by dividing the input image by the image dividing means, a plurality of adjacent first blocks whose color difference is within a predetermined range into a second block and for setting the statistically representative color of the coupled first blocks for the color of the second block so as to integrate the plurality of first blocks into the second block;

area generating means for dividing the input image by boundaries of the second block in the substantially horizontal direction or in the substantially vertical direction generated by integrating the plurality of first blocks by the block integrating means so as to generate a plurality of areas for substituting the color;

area substituting means for substituting, among the plurality of areas generated by the area generating means, an area having the largest proportion of a predetermined statistically representative color for colors of the other areas;

area extracting means for extracting areas having a predetermined or greater size among the areas substituted by the area substituting means;

repeating-component extracting means for extracting repeating components, which are repeatedly appearing, similar components, in an image including the areas extracted by the area extracting means;

repeating-component location adjusting means for adjusting the location of the repeating components by equally locating the repeating components extracted by the repeating-component extracting means at regular intervals on a screen;

area interpolation means for interpolating a representative value of an image without the repeating components into some of the areas forming the image in which the location of the repeating components is not adjusted;

feature information generating means for generating feature information indicating the repeating components located in the image interpolated by the area interpolation means and a feature of the location of the repeating components;

acquiring means for acquiring the feature information generated by the feature information generating means; and

reproduction means for reproducing the image based on the feature information acquired by the acquiring means.

2. An image processing apparatus for processing an image, comprising:

repeating-component extracting means for extracting repeating components, which are repeatedly appearing, similar components in the image, from the image;

repeating-component location adjusting means for adjusting the location of the repeating components by equally locating the repeating components extracted by the repeating-component extracting means at regular intervals on a screen;

area interpolation means for interpolating a representative value of an image without the repeating components into some of the areas forming the image in which the location of the repeating components is not adjusted; and

feature information generating means for generating feature information indicating the repeating components in the image interpolated by the area interpolation means and a feature of the location of the repeating components.

3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the repeating-component location adjusting means adjusts the location of the repeating components on the image so that intervals at which the repeating components appear on the screen are equal.

4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the feature information generating means generates, as the feature information, information concerning positions at which the repeating components appear, information concerning the length in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the repeating components are repeated, information concerning the number of repetitions of the repeating components, information concerning the interval at which the repeating components appear, and information concerning blocks, which are partial images of the image, forming the repeating components.

5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:

edge extracting means for extracting edges in at least one of a substantially horizontal direction and a substantially vertical direction from an input image;

mode-value calculating means for calculating a mode value of intervals between two edges on the image in the substantially horizontal direction or in the substantially vertical direction for all possible combinations of edge pairs of the edges extracted by the edge extracting means;

repeating-cycle calculating means for detecting linkage portions of a set of edge pairs having the mode value of the intervals calculated by the mode-value calculating means, areas sandwiched between the two edges of the edge pairs having the mode value being continuously adjacent to each other, and for calculating a statistically representative value of the intervals of the two edges of the edge pairs having the linkage portions as a repeating cycle of the extracted edges;

image dividing means for dividing the input image by the repeating cycle of the extracted edges in a direction in which the edges repeatedly appear so as to generate a plurality of first blocks, which are small areas divided from the input image, and for setting a statistically representative color of each of the plurality of first blocks for the corresponding first blocks;

block integrating means for coupling, among the plurality of first blocks generated by dividing the input image by the image dividing means, a plurality of adjacent first blocks whose color difference is within a predetermined range into a second block and for setting the statistically representative color of the coupled first blocks for the color of the second block so as to integrate the plurality of first blocks into the second block;

area generating means for dividing the input image by boundaries of the second block in the substantially horizontal direction or in the substantially vertical direction generated by integrating the plurality of first blocks by the block integrating means so as to generate a plurality of areas for substituting the color;

area substituting means for substituting, among the plurality of areas generated by the area generating means, an area having the largest proportion of a predetermined statistically representative color for colors of the other areas; and

area extracting means for extracting areas having a predetermined or greater size among the areas substituted by the area substituting means,

wherein the repeating-component extracting means extracts the repeating components from the image including the areas having the predetermined or greater size extracted by the area extracting means.

6. An image processing method for an image processing apparatus for processing an image, comprising the steps of:

extracting repeating components, which are repeatedly appearing, similar components in the image, from the image;

adjusting the location of the repeating components by equally locating the repeating components extracted by the extracting step at regular intervals on a screen;

interpolating a representative value of an image without the repeating components into some of the areas forming the image in which the location of the repeating components is not adjusted; and

generating feature information indicating the repeating components located in the image interpolated by the interpolating step and a feature of the location of the repeating components.

7. A program for processing an image, allowing a computer to execute processing comprising the steps of:

extracting repeating components, which are repeatedly appearing, similar components in the image, from the image;

adjusting the location of the repeating components by equally locating the repeating components extracted by the extracting step at regular intervals on a screen;

interpolating a representative value of an image without the repeating components into some of the areas forming the image in which the location of the repeating components is not adjusted; and

generating feature information indicating the repeating components located in the image interpolated by the interpolating step and a feature of the location of the repeating components.

8. An image processing apparatus for processing an image, comprising:

acquiring means for acquiring feature information indicating repeating components, which are repeatedly appearing, similar image components in the image, and a feature of the location of the repeating components; and

reproduction means for reproducing the image based on the feature information acquired by the acquiring means.

9. The image processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the feature information includes information concerning positions at which the repeating components appear, information concerning the length in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the repeating components are repeated, information concerning the number of repetitions of the repeating components, information concerning the interval at which the repeating components appear, and information concerning blocks, which are partial images of the image, forming the repeating components.

10. An image processing method for an image processing apparatus for processing an image, comprising:

controlling the acquisition of feature information indicating repeating components, which are repeatedly appearing, similar image components in the image, and a feature of the location of the repeating components; and

reproducing the image based on the feature information acquired by the acquisition control step.

11. A program for processing an image, allowing a computer to execute processing comprising:

controlling the acquisition of feature information indicating repeating components, which are repeatedly appearing, similar image components in the image, and a feature of the location of the repeating components; and

reproducing the image based on the feature information acquired by the acquisition control step.

12. An image processing apparatus for processing an image, comprising:

edge extracting means for extracting edges in at least one of a substantially horizontal direction and a substantially vertical direction from an input image;

mode-value calculating means for calculating a mode value of intervals between two edges on the image in the substantially horizontal direction or in the substantially vertical direction for all possible combinations of edge pairs of the edges extracted by the edge extracting means; and

repeating-cycle calculating means for detecting linkage portions of a set of edge pairs having the mode value of the intervals calculated by the mode-value calculating means, areas sandwiched between the two edges of the edge pairs having the mode value being continuously adjacent to each other, and for calculating a statistically representative value of the intervals of the two edges of the edge pairs having the linkage portions as a repeating cycle of the extracted edges.

13. The image processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the repeating-cycle calculating means detects the linkage portions of a set of edge pairs including two edges whose intervals are within a predetermined range around the mode value, areas sandwiched between the two edges of the edge pairs being continuously adjacent to each other.

14. An image processing method for an image processing apparatus for processing an image, comprising the steps of:

extracting edges in at least one of a substantially horizontal direction and a substantially vertical direction from an input image;

calculating a mode value of intervals between two edges on the image in the substantially horizontal direction or in the substantially vertical direction for all possible combinations of edge pairs of the edges extracted by the extracting step; and

detecting linkage portions of a set of edge pairs having the mode value of the intervals calculated by the calculating step, areas sandwiched between the two edges of the edge pairs having the mode value being continuously adjacent to each other, and for calculating a statistically representative value of the intervals of the two edges of the edge pairs having the linkage portions as a repeating cycle of the extracted edges.

15. A program for processing an image, allowing a computer to execute processing comprising the steps of:

extracting edges in at least one of a substantially horizontal direction and a substantially vertical direction from an input image;

calculating a mode value of intervals between two edges on the image in the substantially horizontal direction or in the substantially vertical direction for all possible combinations of edge pairs of the edges extracted by the extracting step; and

detecting linkage portions of a set of edge pairs having the mode value of the intervals calculated by the calculating step, areas sandwiched between the two edges of the edge pairs having the mode value being continuously adjacent to each other, and for calculating a statistically representative value of the intervals of the two edges of the edge pairs having the linkage portions as a repeating cycle of the extracted edges.

16. An image processing apparatus for processing an input image, comprising:

image dividing means for dividing the input image in which a plurality of edges repeatedly appear at predetermined intervals in one of a substantially horizontal direction and a substantially vertical direction by a repeating cycle of the edges in a direction in which the edges repeatedly appear so as to generate a plurality of first blocks, which are small areas divided from the input image, and for setting a statistically representative color of each of the plurality of first blocks for the corresponding first block; and

block integrating means for coupling, among the plurality of first blocks generated by dividing the input image by the image dividing means, a plurality of adjacent first blocks whose color difference is within a predetermined range into a second block and for setting the statistically representative color of the coupled first blocks for the color of the second block so as to integrate the plurality of first blocks into the second block.

17. The image processing apparatus according to claim 16, further comprising:

area generating means for dividing the input image by boundaries of the second block in the substantially horizontal direction or in the substantially vertical direction generated by integrating the plurality of first blocks by the block integrating means so as to generate a plurality of areas for substituting the color.

18. The image processing apparatus according to claim 17, further comprising:

area substituting means for substituting, among the plurality of areas generated by the area generating means, an area having the largest proportion of a predetermined statistically representative color for colors of the other areas; and

area extracting means for extracting areas having a predetermined or greater size among the areas substituted by the area substituting means.

19. An image processing method for an image processing apparatus for processing an input image, comprising the steps of:

dividing the input image in which a plurality of edges repeatedly appear at predetermined intervals in one of a substantially horizontal direction and a substantially vertical direction by a repeating cycle of the edges in a direction in which the edges repeatedly appear so as to generate a plurality of first blocks, which are small areas divided from the input image, and for setting a statistically representative color of each of the plurality of first blocks for the corresponding first block; and

coupling, among the plurality of first blocks generated by the dividing step, a plurality of adjacent first blocks whose color difference is within a predetermined range into a second block and for setting the statistically representative color of the coupled first blocks for the color of the second block so as to integrate the plurality of first blocks into the second block.

20. A program allowing a computer to perform image processing, comprising the steps of:

dividing the input image in which a plurality of edges repeatedly appear at predetermined intervals in one of a substantially horizontal direction and a substantially vertical direction by a repeating cycle of the edges in a direction in which the edges repeatedly appear so as to generate a plurality of first blocks, which are small areas divided from the input image, and for setting a statistically representative color of each of the plurality of first blocks for the corresponding first block; and

coupling, among the plurality of first blocks generated by the dividing step, a plurality of adjacent first blocks whose color difference is within a predetermined range into a second block and for setting the statistically representative color of the coupled first blocks for the color of the second block so as to integrate the plurality of first blocks into the second block.

21. An image processing system for processing an image, comprising:

an edge extracting unit extracting edges in at least one of a substantially horizontal direction and a substantially vertical direction from an input image;

a mode-value calculator calculating a mode value of intervals between two edges on the image in the substantially horizontal direction or in the substantially vertical direction for all possible combinations of edge pairs of the edges extracted by the edge extracting unit;

a repeating-cycle calculator detecting linkage portions of a set of edge pairs having the mode value of the intervals calculated by the mode-value calculator, areas sandwiched between the two edges of the edge pairs having the mode value being continuously adjacent to each other, and calculating a statistically representative value of the intervals of the two edges of the edge pairs having the linkage portions as a repeating cycle of the extracted edges;

an image dividing unit dividing the input image by the repeating cycle of the extracted edges in a direction in which the edges repeatedly appear so as to generate a plurality of first blocks, which are small areas divided from the input image, and setting a statistically representative color of each of the plurality of first blocks for the corresponding first block;

a block integrator coupling, among the plurality of first blocks generated by dividing the input image by the image dividing unit, a plurality of adjacent first blocks whose color difference is within a predetermined range into a second block and setting the statistically representative color of the coupled first blocks for the color of the second block so as to integrate the plurality of first blocks into the second block;

an area generator dividing the input image by boundaries of the second block in the substantially horizontal direction or in the substantially vertical direction generated by integrating the plurality of first blocks by the block integrator so as to generate a plurality of areas for substituting the color;

an area substituting unit substituting, among the plurality of areas generated by the area generator, an area having the largest proportion of a predetermined statistically representative color for colors of the other areas;

an area extracting unit extracting areas having a predetermined or greater size among the areas substituted by the area substituting unit;

a repeating-component extracting unit extracting repeating components, which are repeatedly appearing, similar components, in an image including the areas extracted by the area extracting unit;

a repeating-component location adjusting unit adjusting the location of the repeating components by equally locating the repeating components extracted by the repeating-component extracting unit at regular intervals on a screen;

an area interpolator interpolating a representative value of an image without the repeating components into some of the areas forming the image in which the location of the repeating components is not adjusted;

a feature information generator generating feature information indicating the repeating components located in the image interpolated by the areas interpolator and a feature of the location of the repeating components;

an acquiring unit acquiring the feature information generated by the feature information generator; and

a reproduction unit reproducing the image based on the feature information acquired by the acquiring unit.

22. An image processing apparatus for processing an image, comprising:

a repeating-component extracting unit extracting repeating components, which are repeatedly appearing, similar components in the image, from the image;

a repeating-component location adjusting unit adjusting the location of the repeating components by equally locating the repeating components extracted by the repeating-component extracting unit at regular intervals on a screen;

an area interpolator interpolating a representative value of an image without the repeating components into some of the areas forming the image in which the location of the repeating components is not adjusted; and

a feature information generator generating feature information indicating the repeating components in the image interpolated by the areas interpolator and a feature of the location of the repeating components.

23. An image processing apparatus for processing an image, comprising:

an edge extracting unit extracting edges in at least one of a substantially horizontal direction and a substantially vertical direction from an input image;

a mode-value calculator calculating a mode value of intervals between two edges on the image in the substantially horizontal direction or in the substantially vertical direction for all possible combinations of edge pairs of the edges extracted by the edge extracting unit; and

a repeating-cycle calculator detecting linkage portions of a set of edge pairs having the mode value of the intervals calculated by the mode-value calculator, areas sandwiched between the two edges of the edge pairs having the mode value being continuously adjacent to each other, and calculating a statistically representative value of the intervals of the two edges of the edge pairs having the linkage portions as a repeating cycle of the extracted edges.

24. An image processing apparatus for processing an input image, comprising:

an image dividing unit dividing the input image in which a plurality of edges repeatedly appear at predetermined intervals in one of a substantially horizontal direction and a substantially vertical direction by a repeating cycle of the edges in a direction in which the edges repeatedly appear so as to generate a plurality of first blocks, which are small areas divided from the input image, and setting a statistically representative color of each of the plurality of first blocks for the corresponding first block; and

a block integrator coupling, among the plurality of first blocks generated by dividing the input image by the image dividing unit, a plurality of adjacent first blocks whose color difference is within a predetermined range into a second block and setting the statistically representative color of the coupled first blocks for the color of the second block so as to integrate the plurality of first blocks into the second block.