Image capturing apparatus having a γ-characteristic corrector and/or image geometric distortion correction
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An image capturing apparatus comprising:
- an image pickup device which photoelectrically picks up a light image of an object to generate image data including a number of pixel data;
a block setter which sets a plurality of blocks over the number of pixel data;
a first γ
-characteristic setter which sets a first γ
-characteristic for pixel data at a center position of each block based on pixel data included in its block;
a second γ
-characteristic setter which sets second γ
-characteristics for pixel data at other positions than the center position of each block based on set first γ
-characteristics; and
a γ
-characteristic corrector which corrects pixel data of each block in accordance with the set first and second γ
-characteristics.
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Abstract
An image capturing apparatus capable of performing a suitable illuminance nonuniformity correction by setting a suitable γ-characteristic every block even in the case that the size of a character image projected on a sensing surface changes according to an image capturing magnification, and capable of extracting a boundary area between a white board portion and a background portion and applying a suitable image processing to this boundary area during the illuminance nonuniformity correction for a picked image, and capable of image capturing a representation such as characters drawn on a white board in such a manner that an obtained image is clear and easy to see by suitably performing an illuminance nonuniformity correction even in the case of color image capturing, and capable of detecting a regularly reflected light with high accuracy and can thereby securely prevent an error of obtaining an image of low quality by image capturing, and capable of preventing an error in flash-image capturing a representation such as characters drawn on a white board under insufficient illumination light and effectively perform an illuminance nonuniformity correction.
196 Citations
47 Claims
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1. An image capturing apparatus comprising:
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an image pickup device which photoelectrically picks up a light image of an object to generate image data including a number of pixel data;
a block setter which sets a plurality of blocks over the number of pixel data;
a first γ
-characteristic setter which sets a first γ
-characteristic for pixel data at a center position of each block based on pixel data included in its block;
a second γ
-characteristic setter which sets second γ
-characteristics for pixel data at other positions than the center position of each block based on set first γ
-characteristics; and
a γ
-characteristic corrector which corrects pixel data of each block in accordance with the set first and second γ
-characteristics.- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
a plurality of sub-blocks over pixel data at positions other than the center positions, the sub-block being smaller than each block; and
a second γ
-characteristic for each sub-block interpolating first γ
-characteristics.
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5. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second γ
- -characteristic setter sets a second γ
-characteristic for pixel data at each position excluding the center position interpolating first γ
-characteristics.
- -characteristic setter sets a second γ
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6. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second γ
- -characteristic setter sets;
a plurality of sub-blocks over pixel data at positions other than the center positions, the sub-block being smaller than each block; and
a second γ
-characteristic for each sub-block interpolating first γ
-characteristics.
- -characteristic setter sets;
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7. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an image geometric distortion corrector which corrects a geometric distortion of the image data having been corrected by the γ
- -characteristic corrector.
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8. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising an angle setter which sets an angle between an image pickup surface of the image pickup device and a surface of the object.
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9. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the image geometric distortion corrector corrects, based on the set angle, an image geometric distortion of the image data that is caused by an oblique image capture.
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10. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising:
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a taking lens which focuses the light image of the object onto an image pickup surface of the image pickup device;
an angle setter which sets an angle between the image pickup surface and a surface of the object;
a distance meter which meters a distance to the object; and
a calculator which calculates a distribution of image capturing magnifications within a specified portion of the surface of the object based on an angle set by the angle setter, a focal length of the taking lens, and an object distance metered by the distance meter;
wherein the image geometric distortion corrector corrects a geometric distortion of the image data based on a calculated distribution of image capturing magnifications.
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11. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:
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a taking lens having changeable image capturing magnifications;
a detector which detects an image capturing magnification of the taking lens;
a block size setter which sets a size of each block based on a detected image capturing magnification.
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12. An image capturing apparatus comprising:
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an image pickup device which photoelectrically picks up a light image of an object to generate image data including a number of pixel data;
a block setter which sets a plurality of blocks over the number of pixel data;
a γ
-characteristic setter which sets a γ
-characteristic for each block based on pixel data, included in its block;
a γ
-characteristic corrector which corrects pixel data of each block in accordance with the set γ
-characteristic, the image data including a perspective geometric distortion after the γ
-characteristic corrector corrects pixel data of each block; and
an image geometric distortion corrector which corrects the γ
-characteristic corrected image data which includes the perspective geometric distortion.- View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
a taking lens which focuses the light image of the object onto an image pickup surface of the image pickup device;
an angle setter which sets an angle between the image pickup surface and a surface of the object;
a distance meter which meters a distance to the object; and
a calculator which calculates a distribution of image capturing magnifications within a specified portion of the surface of the object based on an angle set by the angle setter, a focal length of the taking lens, and an object distance metered by the distance meter;
wherein the image geometric distortion corrector corrects a geometric distortion of the image data based on a calculated distribution of image capturing magnifications.
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16. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the block setter sets blocks respectively having different sizes in accordance with image capturing magnifications.
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17. An image capturing apparatus comprising:
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a taking lens having changeable image capturing magnifications;
a detector which detects an image capturing magnification of the taking lens;
an image pickup device which photoelectrically picks up a light image of an object passed through the taking lens to generate image data including a number of pixel data;
a block setter which sets a plurality of blocks over the number of pixel data;
a block size setter which sets a size of each block based on a detected image capturing magnification;
a γ
-characteristic setter which sets a γ
-characteristic for each block; and
a γ
-characteristic corrector which corrects pixel data of each block in accordance with the set γ
-characteristic.
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18. An image capturing apparatus comprising:
-
an image pickup device which photoelectrically picks up an light image of an object to generate image data including a number of pixel data;
an image geometric distortion corrector which corrects a perspective geometric distortion included in the image data;
a block setter which sets a plurality of blocks over the image data having been corrected by the image geometric distortion corrector;
a γ
-characteristic setter which sets a γ
-characteristic for each block based on pixel data included in its block; and
a γ
-characteristic corrector which corrects a pixel data of each block in accordance with the set γ
-characteristic.- View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
a taking lens which focuses the light image of the object onto an image pickup surface of the image pickup device;
an angle setter which sets an angle between the image pickup surface and a surface of the object;
a distance meter which meters a distance to the object; and
a calculator which calculates a distribution of image capturing magnifications within a specified portion of the surface of the object based on an angle set by the angle setter, a focal length of the taking lens, and an object distance metered by the distance meter;
wherein the image geometric distortion corrector corrects, based on a calculated distribution of image capturing magnifications, a geometric distortion of the image data that is cause by an oblique image capture.
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22. An image capturing apparatus comprising:
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an image pickup device which photoelectrically picks up a light image of an object to generate image data including a number of pixel data; and
an image geometric distortion corrector which corrects a geometric distortion of the image data by applying a reduction processing to a specified portion of the image data, and filling dummy pixel data in a portion where pixel data is to be lost due to the reduction processing. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
a taking lens which focuses the light image of the object onto an image pickup surface of the image pickup device;
an angle setter which sets an angle between the image pickup surface and a surface of the object;
a distance meter which meters a distance to the object; and
a calculator which calculates a distribution of image capturing magnifications within a specified portion of the surface of the object based on an angle set by the angle setter, a focal length of the taking lens, and an object distance metered by the distance meter;
wherein the image geometric distortion corrector corrects, based on a calculated distribution of image capturing magnifications, a geometric distortion of the image data that is caused by an oblique image capture.
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25. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the dummy pixel data is data representing white color.
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26. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 22, further comprising an angle setter which sets an angle between an image pickup surface of the image pickup device and a surface of the object.
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27. An image capturing apparatus according, to claim 26, wherein the image geometric distortion corrector corrects, based on an angle set by the angle setter, a geometric distortion of the image data that is caused by an oblique image capture.
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28. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 22, further comprising:
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a block setter which sets a plurality of blocks over image data corrected by the image geometric distortion corrector;
a block extractor which extracts a block including the dummy pixel data;
a first γ
-characteristic setter which sets a first γ
-characteristic for a block including no dummy pixel data based on pixel data included in its block;
a second γ
-characteristic setter which sets second γ
-characteristic for a block including the dummy pixel data, the second γ
-characteristic being equal to the first γ
-characteristic for a block including no dummy pixel data which is closest to the block including the dummy pixel data; and
a γ
-characteristic corrector which corrects pixel data of each block in accordance with the set first and second γ
-characteristics.
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29. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 28, wherein the image geometric distortion corrector corrects a geometric distortion of the image data by further applying an enlargement processing to a specified portion of the image data.
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30. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 29, further comprising:
-
a taking lens which focuses the light image of the object onto an image pickup surface of the image pickup device;
an angle setter which sets an angle between the image pickup surface and a surface of the object;
a distance meter which meters a distance to the object; and
a calculator which calculates a distribution of image capturing magnifications within a specified portion of the surface of the object based on an angle set by the angle setter, a focal length of the taking lens, and an object distance metered by the distance meter;
wherein the image geometric distortion corrector corrects, based on a calculated distribution of image capturing magnifications, a geometric distortion of the image data that is caused by an oblique image capture.
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31. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 30, wherein the block setter sets blocks respectively having different sizes in accordance with image capturing magnifications.
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32. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 28, wherein the dummy pixel data is data representing white color.
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33. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 28, further comprising an angle setter which sets an angle between an image pickup surface of the image pickup device and a surface of the object.
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34. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 33, wherein the image geometric distortion corrector corrects, based on an angle set by the angle setter, a geometric distortion of the image data that is caused by an oblique image capture.
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35. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 22, further comprising:
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a block setter which sets a plurality of blocks over image data corrected by the image geometric distortion corrector;
an effective pixel data extractor which extracts effective pixel data from the pixel data of each block;
a γ
-characteristic setter which sets a γ
-characteristic for each block based on effective pixel data included in its block; and
a γ
-characteristic corrector which corrects pixel data of each block in accordance with he set γ
-characteristic.
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36. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 35, wherein the image geometric distortion corrector corrects a geometric distortion of the image data by further applying an enlargement processing to a specified portion of the image data.
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37. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 36, further comprising:
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a taking lens which focuses the light image of the object onto an image pickup surface of the image pickup device;
an angle setter which sets an angle between the image pickup surface and a surface of the object;
a distance meter which meters a distance to the object; and
a calculator which calculates a distribution of image capturing magnifications within a specified portion of the surface of the object based on an angle set by the angle setter, a focal length of the taking lens, and an object distance metered by the distance meter;
wherein the image geometric distortion corrector corrects, based on a calculated distribution of image capturing magnifications, a geometric distortion of the image data that is caused by an oblique image capture.
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38. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 37, wherein the block setter sets blocks respectively having different sizes in accordance with image capturing magnifications.
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39. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 35, wherein the dummy pixel data is data representing white color.
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40. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 35, further comprising an angle setter which sets an angle between an image pickup surface of the image pickup device and a surface of the object.
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41. An image capturing apparatus according to claim 40, wherein the image geometric distortion corrector corrects, based on an angle set by the angle setter, a geometric distortion of the image data that is caused by an oblique image capture.
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42. An image capturing apparatus comprising:
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an image pickup device which photoelectrically picks up a light image of an object to generate image data including a number of pixel data;
a taking lens which focuses the light image onto an image pickup surface of the image pickup device;
a distance meter which meters a distance to the object;
a calculator which calculates a distribution of image capturing magnifications within a specified portion of the surface of the object based on a focal length of the taking lens and an object distance metered by the distance meter;
a block setter which sets a plurality of blocks over image data generated by the image pickup device, the plurality of blocks respectively having different sizes in accordance with image capturing magnifications;
a γ
-characteristic setter which sets a γ
-characteristic for each block based on pixel data included in its block;
a γ
-characteristic corrector which corrects pixel data of each block in accordance with the set γ
-characteristic, the γ
-characteristic corrected image data including a geometric distortion that is caused by an oblique image capture; and
an image geometric distortion corrector which corrects, based on a calculated distribution of image capturing magnifications, the geometric distortion of the γ
-characteristic corrected image data.
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43. A method for processing image data generated by an image pickup device, the image data including a number of pixel data, the method comprising the steps of:
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setting a plurality of blocks over the number of pixel data;
setting a first γ
-characteristic for pixel data at a center position of each block based on pixel data included in its block;
setting second γ
-characteristics for pixel data at other positions than the center position of each block based on set first γ
-characteristics; and
correcting pixel data of each block in accordance with the set first and second γ
-characteristics.
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44. A method for processing image data generated by an image pickup device, the image data including a number of pixel data, the method comprising the steps of:
-
setting a plurality of blocks over the number of pixel data;
setting a γ
-characteristic for each block based on pixel data included in its block;
correcting pixel data of each block in accordance with the set γ
-characteristic, the image data including a perspective geometric distortion; and
correcting the γ
-characteristic corrected image data which includes the perspective geometric distortion is created.
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45. A method for processing image data which is generated by an image pickup device photoelectrically picking up a light image of an object through a taking lens having changeable image capturing magnifications, the image data including a number of pixel data, the method comprising the steps of:
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detecting an image capturing magnification of the taking lens;
setting a plurality of blocks over the number of pixel data;
setting a size of each block based on a detected image capturing magnification;
setting a γ
-characteristic for each block; and
correcting pixel data of each block in accordance with the set γ
-characteristic.
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46. A method for processing image data generated by an image pickup device, the image data including a number of pixel data, the method comprising the steps of:
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correcting a perspective geometric distortion included in the image data;
setting a plurality of blocks over the corrected image data;
setting a γ
-characteristic for each block based on pixel data included in its block; and
correcting pixel data of each block in accordance with the set γ
-characteristic.
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47. A method for processing image data which is generated by an image pickup device photoelectrically picking up a light image of an object through a taking lens having a focal length, the image data including a number of pixel data, the method comprising the steps of:
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metering a distance to an object;
calculating a distribution of image capturing magnifications within a specified portion of a surface of the object based on a focal length of the taking lens and a metered object distance;
setting a plurality of blocks over the number of pixel data, the plurality of blocks respectively having different sizes in accordance with image capturing magnifications;
setting a γ
-characteristic for each block based on pixel data included in its block;
correcting pixel data of each block in accordance with the set γ
-characteristic, the γ
-characteristic corrected image data including a geometric distortion that is caused by an oblique image capture; and
correcting, based on a calculated distribution of image capturing magnifications, the geometric distortion of γ
-characteristic corrected image data.
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Specification
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Current AssigneeMinolta Corporation Limited (Konica Minolta Inc.)
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Original AssigneeMinolta Corporation Limited (Konica Minolta Inc.)
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InventorsFuji, Shinichi, Okisu, Noriyuki
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Primary Examiner(s)Garber, Wendy R.
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Assistant Examiner(s)Rosendale, Matthew L
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Application NumberUS09/013,055Time in Patent Office2,458 DaysField of Search348/222.1, 348/254, 348/674, 348/690, 348/169, 348/170, 382/254, 382/289, 382/295, 382/296, 358/455, 358/519US Class Current348/254CPC Class CodesG06V 30/10 Character recognitionG06V 30/162 Quantising the image signalG06V 30/18124 related to illumination pro...H04N 1/2112 using still video camerasH04N 1/387 Composing, repositioning or...H04N 1/4072 dependent on the contents o...H04N 2101/00 Still video camerasH04N 23/63 by using electronic viewfin...H04N 23/80 Camera processing pipelines...H04N 23/843 Demosaicing, e.g. interpola...H04N 25/61 the noise originating only ...H04N 5/202 Gamma control circuits for ...H04N 9/69 for modifying the colour si...
