Digital image compression with spatially varying quality levels determined by identifying areas of interest
First Claim
1. A method of digital image compression, comprising:
- identifying a plurality of areas of interest in a subset of digital images in a sequence of related images;
extrapolating areas of interest for a remainder of images in the sequence from the identified areas of interest;
using a histogram to determine most popular identified area of interest; and
encoding the most popular identified areas of interest at a first quality level and unidentified areas of the image at a second and lower quality level than the most popular identified areas in order to produce a single compressed copy of each image which can be decoded at a decoder, wherein;
a size of the identified areas of interest corresponds to an angular coverage of an average human fovea at a predetermined viewing distance;
the areas of interest are identified by a group of viewers; and
said group of viewers comprises a statistically representative subset of an intended audience for the sequence of related images in order to predict areas of interest of the intended audience.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems for compression of digital images (still or motion sequences) are provided wherein predetermined criteria may be used to identify a plurality of areas of interest in the image, and each area of interest is encoded with a corresponding quality level (Q-factor). In particular, the predetermined criteria may be derived from measurements of where a viewing audience is focusing their gaze (area of interest). In addition, the predetermined criteria may be used to create areas of interest in an image in order to focus an observer'"'"'s attention to that area. Portions of the image outside of the areas of interest are encoded at a lower quality factor and bit rate. The result is higher compression ratios without adversely affecting a viewer'"'"'s perception of the overall quality of the image.
69 Citations
46 Claims
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1. A method of digital image compression, comprising:
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identifying a plurality of areas of interest in a subset of digital images in a sequence of related images; extrapolating areas of interest for a remainder of images in the sequence from the identified areas of interest; using a histogram to determine most popular identified area of interest; and encoding the most popular identified areas of interest at a first quality level and unidentified areas of the image at a second and lower quality level than the most popular identified areas in order to produce a single compressed copy of each image which can be decoded at a decoder, wherein; a size of the identified areas of interest corresponds to an angular coverage of an average human fovea at a predetermined viewing distance; the areas of interest are identified by a group of viewers; and said group of viewers comprises a statistically representative subset of an intended audience for the sequence of related images in order to predict areas of interest of the intended audience. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A system for digital image compression, comprising:
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a digital image display; means for a group of viewers to identify a plurality of areas of interest in a subset of digital images in a sequence of related images provided by said display; a means for extrapolating area of interest for a remainder of images in the sequence from the identified areas of interest; means for using a histogram to determine most popular identified area of interest; and an encoder, wherein the encoder encodes the most popular identified areas of interest at a first quality level and unidentified areas of the image at a second and lower quality level than the most popular identified areas in order to produce a single compressed copy of each image which can be decoded at a decoder wherein; a size of the identified areas of interest corresponds to an angular coverage of an average human fovea at a predetermined viewing distance; and the group of viewers comprises a statistically representative subset of an intended audience for the sequence of related images in order to predict areas of interest of the intended audience. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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45. A method of digital image compression, comprising:
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identifying a plurality of areas of interest in each digital image in a digital motion picture by tracking the eye gaze point of a plurality of viewers as the viewers view each image; creating a histogram of the identified areas of interest to determine the most popular identified areas of interest; and encoding the most popular identified areas of interest of each image at a first quality level and remaining areas of each image at a second and lower quality level than the most popular identified areas in order to produce a single compressed copy of each image which can be decoded at a standard decoder; wherein the plurality of viewers comprises a statistically representative subset of an intended audience for the motion picture in order to predict areas of interest of the intended audience.
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46. A system for digital image compression, comprising:
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a digital image display device for displaying a related sequence of digital images comprising a digital motion picture; a plurality of eye tracking mechanisms for tracking the eye gaze of a plurality of viewers as the viewers view each digital image in the digital motion picture order to identify a plurality of areas of interest in each digital image; means for creating a histogram of the identified areas of interest to determine the most popular identified areas of interest; and an encoder, wherein the encoder encodes the most popular identified areas of interest of each image at a first quality level and encodes remaining areas of each image at a second and lower quality level than the most popular identified areas in order to produce a single compressed copy of each image which can be decoded at a standard decoder; wherein the plurality of viewers comprises a statistically representative subset of an intended audience for the motion picture in order to predict areas of interest of the intended audience.
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Specification