SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENHANCING IMAGES AND VIDEO FRAMES

• US 20150002745A1
• Filed: 07/01/2013
• Published: 01/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Conduent Business Services, LLC (Conduent, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Bernal, Edgar A., Wu, Wencheng
• Granted Patent: US 10,909,845 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/575
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30236 Traffic on road, railway or crossing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30252 Vehicle exterior; Vicinity of vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/00 Image enhancement or restoration
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/54 of traffic, e.g. cars on the road, trains or boats
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0175 by photographing vehicles, e.g. when violating traffic rules
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/04 using optical or ultrasonic detectors
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/052 with provision for determining speed or overspeed speed measuring in general G01P

Abstract

A system and method for performing vehicle-velocity aware image enhancement. Embodiments generally include a video capture module configured to receive image data of the scene being monitored, an image extraction module configured to extract still images from incoming video data, a vehicle detection module that detects the approximate location of a target vehicle in the scene being monitored, a velocity determination module configured to determine the amplitude and direction of a vector that describes the velocity of the target vehicle in image pixel coordinates, and a velocity-aware enhancing module configured to enhance the image(s) of the target vehicle extracted from the video feed based on the vehicle'"'"'s velocity. Embodiments may also include an infraction detection module configured to detect the occurrence of a violation of traffic law(s) by a target vehicle.

Claims

1. An image enhancement system comprising:

an image capture module configured to obtain video data;

an image extraction module operably connected to said image capture module and configured to extract at least one image from said video data;

a vehicle detection module operably connected to said image extraction module and configured to detect a location of a target vehicle within said at least one image; and

a vehicle-velocity aware enhancement module operably connected to said image extraction module and configured to enhance said at least one image based on a velocity of said target vehicle.

2. The image enhancement system of claim 1 further comprising a velocity determination module operably connected to said vehicle detection module and configured to determine the velocity of said target vehicle in image pixel coordinates.

3. The image enhancement system of claim 1 further comprising an infraction detection module operably connected to said image capture module and configured to detect a violation of a traffic law by said target vehicle.

4. The image enhancement system of claim 1 wherein said image capture module is a video camera.

5. The image enhancement system of claim 1 further comprising a trigger device operably connected to said image capture module and configured to indicate the occurrence of predefined events in a monitoring area.

6. The image enhancement system of claim 1 wherein said vehicle-velocity aware enhancement module enhances said at least one image utilizing velocity-aware de-blurring.

7. The image enhancement system of claim 1 wherein said vehicle-velocity aware enhancement module enhances said at least one image utilizing velocity-aware de-noising.

8. A non-transitory computer-usable medium for velocity-aware image enhancement, said computer-usable medium embodying computer program code, said computer program code comprising computer executable instructions configured for:

obtaining video data utilizing an image capture module;

extracting at least one image from said video data utilizing an image extraction module;

detecting a location of a target vehicle within said at least one image utilizing a vehicle detection module; and

enhancing said at least one image based on a velocity of said target vehicle utilizing a vehicle-velocity aware enhancement module.

9. The non-transitory computer-usable medium of claim 8 further configured for determining the velocity of said target vehicle in image pixel coordinates utilizing a velocity determination module.

10. The non-transitory computer-usable medium of claim 8 further configured for detecting a violation of a traffic law by said target vehicle utilizing an infraction detection module.

11. The non-transitory computer-usable medium of claim 8 further configured for indicating the occurrence of predefined events in a monitoring area utilizing a trigger device.

12. The non-transitory computer-usable medium of claim 8 further configured for enhancing said at least one image utilizing velocity-aware de-blurring.

13. The non-transitory computer-usable medium of claim 8 further configured for enhancing said at least one image utilizing velocity-aware multi-frame super-resolution.

14. A computer-implemented method of velocity-aware image enhancement comprising:

obtaining video data utilizing an image capture module;

extracting at least one image from said video data utilizing an image extraction module;

detecting a location of a target vehicle within said at least one image utilizing a vehicle detection module; and

enhancing said at least one image based on a velocity of said target vehicle utilizing a vehicle-velocity aware enhancement module.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14 further comprising determining the velocity of said target vehicle in image pixel coordinates utilizing a velocity determination module.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 14 further comprising detecting a violation of a traffic law by said target vehicle utilizing an infraction detection module.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 14 further comprising indicating the occurrence of predefined events in a monitoring area utilizing a trigger device.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 14 further comprising enhancing said at least one image utilizing velocity-aware de-blurring.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 14 further comprising enhancing said at least one image utilizing velocity-aware multi-frame super-resolution.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 14 further comprising enhancing said at least one image utilizing velocity-aware de-noising.