IMAGE COMBINING APPARATUS, IMAGE COMBINING METHOD AND PROGRAM PRODUCT

• US 20120008015A1
• Filed: 07/08/2011
• Published: 01/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Inventors: MANABE, Yoshitsugu
• Granted Patent: US 8,570,401 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/234
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/741 by increasing the dynamic range of the image compared to the dynamic range of the electronic image sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/772 the recording apparatus and the television camera being placed in the same enclosure

Abstract

A plurality of image data different in exposure condition are separated into a plurality of luminance component image data and a plurality of color-difference component image data, and the luminance component image data and the color-difference component image data are inputted to an image combining portion 11. A luminance component combining section 21 averages and smoothes the plurality of image data different in exposure condition and sets combining rates of the plurality of image data different in exposure condition by using the smoothed average luminance component image data. The separated plurality of luminance component image data are combined by using the set combining rates with respect to each attention pixel. On the other hand, a color-difference component combining portion 22 combines the separated plurality of color-difference component image data by using the combining rates used in the luminance component combining section 21.

Claims

1. An image combining apparatus comprising:

a separator configured to separate each of a plurality of image data captured in different exposure conditions and at the same field angle into a plurality of first image data and a plurality of second image data, each of the plurality of first image data composed of luminance components specified in a certain color space, each of the plurality of second image data composed of other components than the luminance components;

a first combining unit configured to combine, by using certain combining rates, the separated plurality of first image data that are different in exposure condition; and

a second combining unit configured to combine, by using the certain combining rates used for combining by the first combining unit, the plurality of second image data that are different in exposure condition.

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

an averaging unit configured to average the plurality of first image data that are different in exposure condition;

a smoothing unit configured to smooth the averaged image data; and

a combining rate setting unit configured to set the certain combining rates by using the image data smoothed by the smoothing unit.

3. The image combining apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a gain setting unit configured to set gains for adjusting brightness of the first image data combined by the first combining unit with respect to each of the plurality of first image data; and

a combining rate adjusting unit configured to adjust the certain combining rates by multiplying the certain combining rates by the gains set by the gain setting unit.

4. The image combining apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein the second combining unit is configured to combine the second image data by using the certain combining rates adjusted by the combining rate adjusting unit.

5. The image combining apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising

a processing unit configured to multiply the combined second image data by gains to emphasize saturation of the second image data combined by the second combining unit.

6. The image combining apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising

a first image region detection unit configured to detect a face image region from at least one of the plurality of image data captured in different exposure conditions and at the same field angle,

wherein the first combining unit is configured to to adjust the certain combining rates based on brightness of image data in an exposure condition where brightness in the face image region is correct when the face image region is detected by the first image region detection unit.

7. The image combining apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a second image region detection unit configured to detect a face image region from captured image data; and

an image capturing control unit configured to adjust an exposure value to make the face image region correctly bright and to perform control to capture a plurality of image data in different exposure conditions based on the adjusted exposure value when the face image region is detected by the second image region detection unit.

8. The image combining apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the first combining unit is configured to combine data of each pixel located in the same position in the plurality of first image data by using first combining rates varying according to coordinates; and

the second combining unit is configured to combine data of each pixel located in the same position in the plurality of second image data by using the same first combining rates for corresponding position in the first image data.

9. An image combining method comprising:

separating each of a plurality of image data captured in different exposure conditions and at the same field angle into a plurality of first image data and a plurality of second image data, each of the plurality of first image data composed of luminance components specified in a certain color space, each of the plurality of second image data composed of other components than the luminance components;

combining, by using certain combining rates, the separated plurality of first image data that are different in exposure condition; and

combining, by using the certain combining rates, the plurality of second image data that are different in exposure condition.

10. A program product for causing a computer to serve as:

a separator configured to separate each of a plurality of image data captured in different exposure conditions and at the same field angle into a plurality of first image data and a plurality of second image data, each of the plurality of first image data composed of luminance components specified in a certain color space, each of the plurality of second image data composed of other components than the luminance components;

a first combining unit configured to combine, by using certain combining rates, the separated plurality of first image data that are different in exposure condition; and

a second combining unit configured to combine, by using the certain combining rates used for combining by the first combining unit, the plurality of second image data that are different in exposure condition.