Compact color feature vector representation
First Claim
1. A system comprising:
- an image data store containing a plurality of images;
a color feature vector data store including a variable-length color feature vector for each of the plurality of images in the image data store; and
a computer program operable toreceive an image having one or more colors;
estimate a number of colors that can be used to represent the received image so that one or more fuzzy error criteria are satisfied;
set a value of a variable to be the estimated number of colors and until a length of the color feature vector is determined;
apply a medium-cut quantizer to the received image to produce a quantized image having a number of colors that is equal to the current value of the variable;
calculate an error between the quantized image and the received image; and
if the calculated error satisfies an error threshold, determine the length of color feature vector based on the current value of the variable; and
if the calculated error does not satisfy the error threshold, increment the value of the variable; and
generate a color feature vector that is representative of and specific to the received image, the color feature vector having the determined length.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for representing images using a compact color feature vector. A color feature vector includes a color element for each color in an image-specific set of colors. A color element includes a color identifier and a relative color occurrence. A compact color feature vector may be used in a content-based image retrieval (CBIR) system. The CBIR system includes an image data store containing multiple images. A color feature vector data store includes a variable-length color feature vector for each image in the image data store. A computer program receives a query and uses the variable-length color feature vectors in the color feature vector data store to identify which images satisfy the query.
43 Citations
38 Claims
-
1. A system comprising:
-
an image data store containing a plurality of images; a color feature vector data store including a variable-length color feature vector for each of the plurality of images in the image data store; and a computer program operable to receive an image having one or more colors; estimate a number of colors that can be used to represent the received image so that one or more fuzzy error criteria are satisfied; set a value of a variable to be the estimated number of colors and until a length of the color feature vector is determined; apply a medium-cut quantizer to the received image to produce a quantized image having a number of colors that is equal to the current value of the variable; calculate an error between the quantized image and the received image; and if the calculated error satisfies an error threshold, determine the length of color feature vector based on the current value of the variable; and
if the calculated error does not satisfy the error threshold, increment the value of the variable; andgenerate a color feature vector that is representative of and specific to the received image, the color feature vector having the determined length. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A computer-implemented method comprising:
-
receiving an image having one or more colors; estimating a number of colors that can be used to represent the received image; setting a value of a variable to be the estimated number of colors and until a length of the color feature vector is determined; applying a medium-cut quantizer to the received image to produce a quantized image having a number of colors that is equal to the current value of the variable; calculating an error between the quantized image and the received image; and if the calculated error satisfies an error threshold, determining the length of color feature vector based on the current value of the variable, and if the calculated error does not satisfy the error threshold incrementing the value of the variable; and generating a color feature vector that is representative of and specific to the received image, the color feature vector having the determined length. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
-
-
27. A computer-program product, tangibly stored on machine-readable medium, the product comprising instructions to cause a processor to:
-
receive an image having one or more colors; estimate a number of colors that can be used to represent the received image so that one or more fuzzy error criteria are satisfied; set a value of a variable to be the estimated number of colors and until a length of the color feature vector is determined; apply a medium-cut quantizer to the received image to produce a quantized image having a number of colors that is equal to the current value of the variable; calculate an error between the quantized image and the received image; and if the calculated error satisfies an error threshold, determine the length of color feature vector based on the current value of the variable, and if the calculated error does not satisfy the error threshold, increment the value of the variable; and generate a color feature vector that is representative of and specific to the received image, the color feature vector having the determined length. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
-
Specification