Method and device for extracting principal image subjects
First Claim
1. A method for extracting a principal image subject comprising the steps of:
- performing a plurality of subject extractions having different characteristics;
synthesizing subjects extracted by the respective subject extractions; and
extracting the principal image subject from a result of a synthesis if the result of said synthesis satisfies a specified criterion of judgment;
but if the result of said synthesis does not satisfy the criterion of judgment, performing an auxiliary image subject extraction having a different characteristic after said synthesizing and extracting the principal image subject using the result of said synthesis and a result of extraction by said auxiliary image subject extraction.
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Abstract
The method for extracting a principal image subject performs a plurality of subject extractions having different characteristics, synthesizes extracted subjects and extracts the principal image subject from a result of a synthesis if it satisfies a specified criterion of judgment, but if it does not satisfy, further performs an auxiliary image subject extraction having a different characteristic and extracts the principal image subject using the result of the synthesis and a result of extraction by the auxiliary image subject extraction. The device for extracting a principal image subject has a cascated extracting units at least one of which comprises a plurality of extracting subunits processed in parallel and a condition evaluating section for evaluating conditions the subject extractions based on results in the respective subunits. The method and device can be used with photoprinters, both digital and analog alike, and yet principal image subjects can be extracted in high precision and with satisfactory efficiency in response to diverse states of images and principal subjects.
201 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method for extracting a principal image subject comprising the steps of:
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performing a plurality of subject extractions having different characteristics;
synthesizing subjects extracted by the respective subject extractions; and
extracting the principal image subject from a result of a synthesis if the result of said synthesis satisfies a specified criterion of judgment;
butif the result of said synthesis does not satisfy the criterion of judgment, performing an auxiliary image subject extraction having a different characteristic after said synthesizing and extracting the principal image subject using the result of said synthesis and a result of extraction by said auxiliary image subject extraction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A device for extracting a principal image subject comprising:
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a plurality of extracting units which are cascaded and at least one of which comprises;
a plurality of extracting subunits which are processed in parallel and which perform subject extractions having different characteristics; and
a condition evaluating section which evaluates conditions for said subject extractions based on results in the respective extracting subunits; and
whereinsaid condition evaluating section performs weighting on respective extracting regions of subjects extracted by said extracting subunits, and/or evaluation of appropriateness of said subjects, as well as selection of at least one of said extracting units which is located downstream and to which extraction processing is applied based on the results thereof. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for extracting a principal image subject, comprising:
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a plurality of extracting steps which are cascaded, at least one of said plurality of extracting steps comprising;
a plurality of extracting substeps processed in parallel for performing subject extractions having different characteristics; and
a condition evaluating substep for evaluating conditions for said subject extractions based on results in the respective extracting substeps; and
whereinsaid condition evaluating substep is performing weighting on respective extracting regions of subjects extracted in said extracting substeps, and/or evaluation of appropriateness of said subjects, as well as selection of at least one of said extracting steps which is located downstream and to which extraction processing is applied based on the results thereof. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of extracting a principal image subject, comprising the steps of:
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preliminarily classifying a state of a principal subject in an image into a plurality of types;
setting an appropriate parameter for the extraction of the principal subject for each state of the principal subjects;
evaluating the similarity between two images; and
,if similarity is found to exist between the image from which the principal subject is to be extracted and the image from which the principal subject has already been extracted, extracting the principal subject using a parameter for the extraction of the principal subject that corresponds to the state of the principal subject in the image that has already been subjected to the extraction of the principal subject. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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18. A method of extracting a principal image subject, comprising the steps of:
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extracting a principal subject from an image;
using luminance data on shooting of the image to determine luminance relationship between a region containing the extracted principal subject and its surrounding region, as well as density relationship between the region containing the extracted principal subject and the surrounding region; and
judging for the match between said luminance and density relationships to see if a result of extracting said principal subject is appropriate or not.
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Specification