System and method for blending images

• US 20060187234A1
• Filed: 02/18/2005
• Published: 08/24/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Silverstein, D. Amnon, Deng, Yining
• Granted Patent: US 7,450,137 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/592
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1446 display composed of modules, e.g. video walls
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/026 Video wall, i.e. juxtaposition of a plurality of screens to create a display screen of bigger dimensions
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/0232 Special driving of display border areas
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/10 Mixing of images, i.e. displayed pixel being the result of an operation, e.g. adding, on the corresponding input pixels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/16 Calculation or use of calculated indices related to luminance levels in display data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/2624 for obtaining an image which is composed of whole input images, e.g. splitscreen

Abstract

A method of blending a pair of images, each image comprising a plurality of pixels having an intensity. A blending edge is determined for each image, each blending edge comprising at least one group of pixels, with each pixel at a pixel position, and an average intensity of pixels of the blending edges is determined at each pixel position. The method includes determining a scaling factor based on a relationship between the average intensity and the intensity of the pixel of the at least one group of pixels of the blending edge at each pixel position of each image. A blending area is determined for each image, each blending area comprising at least one group of pixels having a pixel at each of the pixel positions. The intensity of the pixel at each pixel position of the at least one group of pixels of the blending area of each image is scaled with the corresponding scaling factor.

Claims

1. A method of blending a pair of images, each image comprising a plurality of pixels having an intensity, the method comprising:

determining a blending edge for each image, each blending edge comprising at least one group of pixels, with each pixel at a pixel position;

determining an average intensity of pixels of the blending edges at each pixel position;

determining a scaling factor based on a relationship between the average intensity and the intensity of the pixel of the at least one group of pixels of the blending edge at each pixel position of each image;

determining a blending area for each image, each blending area comprising at least one group of pixels having a pixel at each of the pixel positions; and

scaling the intensity of the pixel at each pixel position of the at least one group of pixels of the blending area of each image with the corresponding scaling factor.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the scaling factor is based on a difference between the average intensity and the intensity of the pixel of the at least one group of pixels of the blending edge at each pixel position of each image.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the scaling factor is based on a ratio of the average intensity to the intensity of the pixel of the at least one group of pixels of the blending edge at each pixel position of each image.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the scaling factor for each pixel position of each image is based on the ratio corresponding to the pixel position and ratios corresponding to one or more selected pixel positions.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the scaling factor for each pixel position of each image is based on an average of the ratio corresponding to the pixel position and ratios corresponding to a selected range of pixel positions adjacent to and including the pixel position.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein each blending area comprises a plurality of groups of pixels, each group having a pixel at each of the pixel positions, and wherein the scaling factor corresponding to each pixel position adjusts based on a proximity of the corresponding group of pixels of the blending area to the blending edge.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the scaling factor adjusts to a value of one as the corresponding groups of pixels are further removed from the blending edge.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein the scaling factor scales each pixel of the at least one group of pixels of each blending edge so that each pixel has an intensity substantially equal to the average intensity of the corresponding pixel position.

9. A method of blending a first and a second image, each image comprising a plurality of pixels having an intensity, the method comprising:

determining a blending edge for each image, each blending edge comprising at least one group of pixels, with each pixel at a pixel position;

determining a first ratio comprising a ratio of an average intensity of pixels at a first pixel position of the blending edges of both images to the intensity of the pixel at the first pixel position of the blending edge of the first image;

determining a second ratio comprising a ratio of an average intensity of pixels at a second pixel position of the blending edges of both images to the intensity of the pixel at the second pixel position of the blending edge of the first image;

determining a blending area for each image, each blending area comprising at least one group of pixels having a pixel at each of the pixel positions; and

scaling the intensity of the pixel at the first pixel position of the at least one group of pixels of the blending area of the first mage with a scaling factor based on the first and second ratios.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the scaling factor comprises an average of the first and second ratios.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the blending area of each image comprises a plurality of groups of pixels, with each pixel of each group at a pixel position, wherein the scaling factor scales the pixel at the first pixel position of each group of pixels of the blending area and adjusts based on a proximity of each group of pixels to the blending edge.

12. A method of blending image of a series of frames, each frame comprising at least one pair of images, and for each pair of images the method comprising:

determining a blending edge for each image, each blending edge comprising at least one group of pixels, with each pixel at a pixel position;

determining an average intensity of pixels of the blending edges at each pixel position;

determining a ratio of the average intensity to the intensity of the pixel of the at least one group of pixels of the blending edge at each pixel position for each image;

determining a blending area for each image, each blending area comprising at least one group of pixels having a pixel at each of the pixel positions; and

scaling the intensity of the pixel at each pixel position of the at least one group of pixels of the blending area of each image with a corresponding scaling factor based at least on the ratio corresponding to the pixel position.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the scaling factor for each pixel position of each image is based on the ratio corresponding to the pixel position and ratios corresponding to one or more selected pixel positions.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the scaling factor for each pixel position of each image is based on an average of the ratio corresponding to the pixel position and ratios corresponding to a selected range of pixel positions adjacent to the pixel position.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the scaling factor for each pixel position of each image is based on the ratio corresponding to the pixel position of the image and ratios of corresponding pixel positions of corresponding images of selected frames of the series of frames.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the selected frames comprise a range of frames including and adjacent to the frame of the image corresponding to the scaling factor.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the scaling factor comprises an average of the ratio corresponding to the pixel position of the image and the ratios of the corresponding pixel positions of the corresponding images of the frames of the selected range.

18. A system for processing a pair of images, each image comprising a plurality of pixels having an intensity, the system comprising:

a blending edge module for determining a blending edge for each image, each blending edge comprising at least one group of pixels, with each pixel at a pixel position;

an intensity module for determining an average intensity of pixels of the blending edges at each pixel location;

a blending ratio module for determining a ratio of the average intensity of the pixel of the at least one group of pixels of the blending edge at each of the pixel positions; and

a scaling module for determining a blending area for each image, each blending area comprising at least one group of pixels having a pixel at each of the pixel positions, and for scaling the intensity of the pixel at each pixel position of the at least one group of pixels of the blending area of each image with a corresponding scaling factor based at least on the ratio corresponding to the pixel position.

19. A computer-readable medium including instructions executable by a processing system for performing a process for blending a pair of images, each image comprising a plurality of pixels having an intensity, the instruction comprising:

determining a blending edge for each image, each blending edge comprising at least one group of pixels, with each pixel at a pixel position;

determining an average intensity of pixels of the blending edges at each pixel position;

determining a scaling factor based on a relationship between the average intensity and the intensity of the pixel of the at least one group of pixels of the blending edge at each pixel position of each image;

determining a blending area for each image, each blending area comprising at least one group of pixels having a pixel at each of the pixel positions; and

scaling the intensity of the pixel at each pixel position of the at least one group of pixels of the blending area of each image with the corresponding scaling factor.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, including instructions for determining the corresponding scaling factor for each pixel position of the blending area of each image based on the scaling factor corresponding to the pixel position and on one or more scaling factors corresponding to selected pixel positions of the image.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, including instructions for determining the corresponding scaling factor for each pixel position of the blending area of each image based on an average of the scaling factor corresponding to the pixel position and on one or more scaling factors corresponding to selected range of pixel positions of the image.

22. A system for blending image of a series of frames, each frame comprising at least one pair of images, and for each pair of images the system comprising:

means for determining a blending edge for each image, each blending edge comprising at least one group of pixels, with each pixel at a pixel position;

means for determining an average intensity of pixels of the blending edges at each pixel position;

means for determining a scaling factor based on a relationship between the average intensity and the intensity of the pixel of the at least one group of pixels of the blending edge at each pixel position of each image;

means for determining a blending area for each image, each blending area comprising at least one group of pixels having a pixel at each of the pixel positions;

means for determining a scaling factor for each pixel position of the blending area of each image based at least on the ratio corresponding to the pixel position; and

means for scaling the intensity of the pixel at each pixel position of the at least one group of pixels of the blending area of each image with the corresponding scaling factor.

23. A system for blending a first and a second image, each image comprising a plurality of pixels having an intensity, the system comprising:

means for determining a blending edge for each image, each blending edge comprising at least one group of pixels, with each pixel at a pixel position;

means for determining a first scaling factor based on a relationship between an average intensity of pixels at a first pixel position of the blending edges of both images to the intensity of the pixel at the first pixel position of the blending edge of the first image;

means for determining a second scaling factor based on a relationship between an average intensity of pixels at a second pixel position of the blending edges of both images to the intensity of the pixel at the second pixel position of the blending edge of the first image;

means for determining a blending area for each image, each blending area comprising at least one group of pixels having a pixel at each of the pixel positions; and

means for scaling the intensity of the pixel at the first position of the at least one group of pixels of the blending area of the first mage based on the first and second scaling factors.