IMAGE-BASED BACKGROUNDS FOR IMAGES

• US 20100054584A1
• Filed: 08/28/2008
• Published: 03/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Wassyng, Andrew C., East, J. Anthony, Glenner, Steven C., Yang, William X., Schadt, Gyorgy K.
• Granted Patent: US 8,290,252 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/164
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/12 using a selected wavelength, e.g. to sense red marks and ignore blue marks
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10024 Color image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20004 Adaptive image processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/00 Image enhancement or restoration
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/90 Determination of colour characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/56 relating to colour
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/06 Colour space transformation
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/02 characterised by the way in which colour is displayed details of colour display specific for CRTs G09G1/28; specific for flat matrix panels other than liquid crystal displays G09G3/2003; specific for liquid crystal displays G09G3/3607

Abstract

In accordance with one or more aspects of the image-based backgrounds for images, an image is analyzed in order to identify a color that represents the image. An enhanced background is generated based at least in part on the identified color, and both the image and the enhanced background are output on a screen. In addition, or alternatively, the identified color can be saved as being associated with the image in order to be used to generate an enhanced background for the image when the image is displayed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

analyzing an image in order to identify a color that represents the image;

generating an enhanced background based at least in part on the identified color; and

outputting both the image and the enhanced background on a screen.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, the analyzing comprising identifying as the color that represents the image a particular color that is expected to be perceived by humans as a most prominent color in the image.

3. A method as recited in claim 2, the analyzing comprising:

resizing the image to decrease a number of pixels in the image;

separating possible colors for the image into a set of color buckets;

for each pixel in the image, adding to a score of one color bucket of the set of color buckets, the one color bucket for each pixel being determined based on a color of the pixel;

selecting a highest-scored bucket of the set of buckets; and

using a color associated with the highest-scored bucket as the color that represents the image.

4. A method as recited in claim 3, wherein adding to the score of the one color bucket comprises adding a weighted score to the score of the one color bucket based at least in part on a location of the pixel in the image.

5. A method as recited in claim 3, the analyzing further comprising decreasing, prior to selecting the highest-scored bucket, the score of each of one or more less saturated buckets.

6. A method as recited in claim 3, wherein the color associated with the highest-scored bucket comprises an average of colors of pixels in the highest-scored bucket.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, the analyzing comprising identifying as the color that represents the image a particular color that is expected to be perceived by humans as a general hue of the image.

8. A method as recited in claim 7, the analyzing comprising:

calculating, based at least in part on hue values in the image, a weighted score for each of multiple hue value slices; and

selecting a hue associated with a highest-scored hue value slice as a hue of the color that represents the image.

9. A method as recited in claim 8, the analyzing further comprising:

calculating an average intensity of pixels in the image; and

using the average intensity of pixels in the image as an intensity of the color that represents the image.

10. A method as recited in claim 8, the analyzing further comprising using a constant value for a saturation of the color that represents the image.

11. A method as recited in claim 1, the analyzing comprising:

generating an average of pixel values in the image; and

using the average of the pixel values in the image as the color that represents the image.

12. A method as recited in claim 1, the outputting comprising outputting the enhanced background with a halo effect around the image.

13. A method as recited in claim 12, the generating the enhanced background comprising overlaying, on the color, a semi-transparent grayscale mask that includes a grayscale version of the enhanced background.

14. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising saving the color that represents the image as being associated with the image.

15. One or more computer storage media having stored thereon multiple instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the one or more processors to:

analyze an image to identify a color that represents the image, the color being based at least in part on a prominent color of the image or a general hue of the image; and

save the color as being associated with the image in order to be used to generate an enhanced background for the image when the image is displayed.

16. One or more computer storage media as recited in claim 15, wherein to save the color is to save the color as metadata in a data structure that includes image data for the image.

17. One or more computer storage media as recited in claim 15, wherein to analyze the image is to:

resize the image to decrease a number of pixels in the image;

separate possible colors for the image into a set of color buckets;

for each pixel in the image, add to a score of one color bucket of the set of color buckets, the one color bucket for each pixel being determined based on a color of the pixel;

select a highest-scored bucket of the set of buckets; and

use a color associated with the highest-scored bucket as the color that represents the image.

18. One or more computer storage media as recited in claim 15, wherein to analyze the image is to:

resize the image to decrease a number of pixels in the image;

count an occurrence of hue values in the image occurring in each of multiple hue value slices;

calculate a score for each of the multiple hue value slices; and

select a hue associated with a highest-scored hue value slice as a hue of the color that represents the image.

19. One or more computer storage media as recited in claim 15, wherein the enhanced background displays a halo effect around the image.

20. A device comprising:

an image analysis module to analyze an image to identify a color that represents the image, the color being based at least in part on a prominent color of the image or a general hue of the image; and

a background color storage module to save the color as being associated with the image in order to be used to generate an enhanced background for the image when the image is displayed.