Efficient detection of constant regions of a region
First Claim
1. A method for detecting a constant region of an image frame, comprising:
- at a previous position of an image analysis window, determining whether the image analysis window contains a constant region;
should the determining whether the image analysis window contains a constant region result in a determination that the image analysis window contains a constant region, then the following process is performed;
shifting the image analysis window to a current position so that the image analysis window includes a new line of pixels from the image frame in comparison to the previous position of the image analysis window, wherein an entire area of the image analysis window at the previous position is a first constant region of pixels and wherein a constant region is defined as a region wherein all pixels contained therein are substantially similar in value;
determining whether the entire area of the image analysis window at the current position is a second constant region by analyzing a first pixel at a predetermined location in the image analysis window at the current position, the predetermined location being defined relative to a boundary of the image analysis window, wherein the analyzing comprises;
determining if the first pixel has a value equal to a value of a second pixel at the predetermined location relative to the boundary of the image analysis window when the image analysis window was at the previous position,if the value of the first pixel has a value equal to the value of the second pixel, then analyzing only the new line of pixels to determine if the second constant region is present.
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Abstract
A technique that improves image analysis efficiency by reducing the number of computations needed to detect constant regions. Constant region detection according to the present techniques includes determining whether an image analysis window at a current position contains a constant region by analyzing a new line of pixels in the image analysis window if a pixel at a predetermined location in the image analysis window in the current position has a value equal to a pixel at the predetermined location from a previous position of the image analysis window. Analyzing only the new line of pixels saves the computational time that would otherwise go into analyzing all of the pixels in the image analysis window.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method for detecting a constant region of an image frame, comprising:
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at a previous position of an image analysis window, determining whether the image analysis window contains a constant region; should the determining whether the image analysis window contains a constant region result in a determination that the image analysis window contains a constant region, then the following process is performed; shifting the image analysis window to a current position so that the image analysis window includes a new line of pixels from the image frame in comparison to the previous position of the image analysis window, wherein an entire area of the image analysis window at the previous position is a first constant region of pixels and wherein a constant region is defined as a region wherein all pixels contained therein are substantially similar in value; determining whether the entire area of the image analysis window at the current position is a second constant region by analyzing a first pixel at a predetermined location in the image analysis window at the current position, the predetermined location being defined relative to a boundary of the image analysis window, wherein the analyzing comprises; determining if the first pixel has a value equal to a value of a second pixel at the predetermined location relative to the boundary of the image analysis window when the image analysis window was at the previous position, if the value of the first pixel has a value equal to the value of the second pixel, then analyzing only the new line of pixels to determine if the second constant region is present. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An image processing system comprising:
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means for holding an image frame; and means for
1) determining that an entire area of an image analysis window that included a plurality of pixels of the image frame at a previous position is a first constant region of pixels and wherein a constant region is defined as a region wherein all pixels contained therein are substantially similar in value and
2) detecting whether an entire area of the image analysis window at a current position is a second constant region of the image frame by analyzing a first pixel at a predetermined location in the image analysis window at the current position, predetermined location being defined relative to a boundary of the image analysis window, wherein the analyzing comprises;determining whether the first pixel has a value equal to a value of a second pixel at the predetermined location in the image analysis window relative to the boundary of the image analysis window when the image analysis window was at the previous position; if the value of the first pixel has a value equal to the value of the second pixel, then analyzing only a new line of pixels present in the image analysis window at the current position when compared with the image analysis window at the previous position to determine if the second constant region is present; and if the value of the first pixel does not have a value equal to the value of the second pixel, then analyzing all pixels present in the image analysis window at the current position to determine if the second constant region is present. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A device, comprising:
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an image buffer that holds an image frame; and an image processor that detects a current constant region of the image frame by shifting an image analysis window to a current position so that the image analysis window includes a new line of pixels from the image frame in comparison to a previous position of the image analysis window, wherein an entire area of the image analysis window at the previous position is a previous constant region of pixels and wherein a constant region is defined as a region wherein all pixels contained therein are substantially similar in value; and
the image processor determines whether an entire area of the image analysis window at the current position is the current constant region by analyzing a first pixel at a predetermined location in the image analysis window, wherein the analyzing comprises;at a previous position of an image analysis window, determining whether the image analysis window contains a constant region; should the determining result in a determination that the image analysis window contains a constant region, then the following process is performed; determining if the first pixel has a value equal to a value of a second pixel at the predetermined location defined relative to the boundary of the image analysis window when the image analysis window was at the previous position, if the value of the first pixel has a value equal to the value of the second pixel, then analyzing only the new line of pixels to determine if the current constant region is present. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for detecting a constant region of an image frame, comprising:
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moving an image analysis window from a first position to a second position; determining whether an entire area of the image analysis window containing a plurality of pixels at the second position is a constant region by analyzing less than all of the plurality of pixels in the image analysis window at the second position, wherein a constant region is defined as a region wherein all pixels contained therein are substantially similar in value. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A device, comprising:
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an image buffer that holds an image frame; and an image processor that detects a current constant region of the image frame by moving an image analysis window from a first position to a second position and determining whether an entire area of the image analysis window containing a plurality of pixels at the second position is a constant region by analyzing less than all of the plurality of pixels in the image analysis window at the second position, wherein a constant region is defined as a region wherein all pixels contained therein are substantially similar in value. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23)
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Specification