APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR IMAGE PROCESSING, AND PROGRAM

• US 20100060915A1
• Filed: 09/01/2009
• Published: 03/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Nakamura, Yusuke, Suzuki, Masaru, Gomi, Shinichiro, Masuno, Tomonori
• Granted Patent: US 8,390,884 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/1.900
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/50 by performing operations within image blocks; by using histograms, e.g. histogram of oriented gradients [HoG]; by summing image-intensity values; Projection analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/56 relating to colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/35 Categorising the entire scene, e.g. birthday party or wedding scene

Abstract

An image processing apparatus includes a frequency information extracting unit configured to extract frequency information of an input image, a color information extracting unit configured to extract color information of the input image, a feature amount calculating unit configured to calculate a feature amount of the input image on the basis of the frequency information extracted by the frequency information extracting unit and the color information extracted by the color information extracting unit, and a scene determining unit configured to determine a scene of the input image on the basis of the feature amount calculated by the feature amount calculating unit.

Claims

1. An image processing apparatus comprising:

frequency information extracting means for extracting frequency information of an input image;

color information extracting means for extracting color information of the input image;

feature amount calculating means for calculating a feature amount of the input image on the basis of the frequency information extracted by the frequency information extracting means and the color information extracted by the color information extracting means; and

scene determining means for determining a scene of the input image on the basis of the feature amount calculated by the feature amount calculating means.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

dividing means for dividing the input image into blocks, wherein

the frequency information extracting means extracts a frequency information item of the input image from each block, and

the color information extracting means extracts a color information item of the input image from each block.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:

weighting means for weighting a block having an integrated value of the frequency information item, extracted from the block by the frequency information extracting means, equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold value, wherein

the feature amount calculating means calculates a feature amount of the input image on the basis of the frequency information items and the color information items of the blocks weighted by the weighting means.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising:

edge region detecting means for detecting an edge region from each block of the input image, wherein

the weighting means weights a block having an integrated value of the frequency information item, extracted from the block excluding the edge region, equal to or higher than the predetermined threshold value.

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

saturation calculating means for calculating a saturation of each pixel of the input image; and

weighting means for weighting a block having an integrated value of the saturations, extracted from the block by the saturation calculating means, equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold value, wherein

the feature amount calculating means calculates a feature amount of the input image on the basis of the frequency information items and the color information items of the blocks weighted by the weighting means.

6. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:

highest-frequency color setting means for setting a highest-frequency-color information item indicating a color with the highest frequency of appearance in each block on the basis of the color information items of the input image, wherein

the feature amount calculating means calculates a feature amount of the input image on the basis of the frequency information items and the highest-frequency-color information items set for the blocks by the highest-frequency color setting means.

7. A method for image processing, comprising the steps of:

extracting frequency information of an input image;

extracting color information of the input image;

calculating a feature amount of the input image on the basis of the extracted frequency information and the extracted color information; and

determining a scene of the input image on the basis of the calculated feature amount.

8. A program that allows a computer to perform a process comprising the steps of:

extracting frequency information of an input image;

extracting color information of the input image;

calculating a feature amount of the input image on the basis of the extracted frequency information and the extracted color information; and

determining a scene of the input image on the basis of the calculated feature amount.

9. An image processing apparatus comprising:

a frequency information extracting unit configured to extract frequency information of an input image;

a color information extracting unit configured to extract color information of the input image;

a feature amount calculating unit configured to calculate a feature amount of the input image on the basis of the frequency information extracted by the frequency information extracting unit and the color information extracted by the color information extracting unit; and

a scene determining unit configured to determine a scene of the input image on the basis of the feature amount calculated by the feature amount calculating unit.