Method and system for providing formatted data to image processing means in accordance with a standard format

• US 7,724,977 B2
• Filed: 06/05/2002
• Issued: 05/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/12/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lens Correction Technologies Corporation
• Original Assignee: DXO Labs
• Inventors: Guichard, Frederic, Liege, Bruno
• Primary Examiner(s): Strege; John B
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rush; Eric
• Application Number:
  US10/483,497
• Publication Number:
  US 20050002586A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,911 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100, 382/167, 382/254, 382/255, 382/276, 382/277
• US Class Current: 382/254
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/0007 Image acquisition
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/10 Selection of transformation methods according to the characteristics of the input images
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/00 Image enhancement or restoration
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/70 Denoising; Smoothing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/73 Deblurring; Sharpening
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/80 Geometric correction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00007 relating to particular apparatus or devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00045 using a reference pattern designed for the purpose, e.g. a test chart
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00071 characterised by the action taken
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/387 Composing, repositioning or otherwise geometrically modifying originals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/40093 Modification of content of picture, e.g. retouching geometric modifications H04N1/387
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/58 Edge or detail enhancement; Noise or error suppression, e.g. colour misregistration correction H04N1/62 takes precedence

Abstract

A method and system for providing, in accordance with a standard format, formatted information to an image-processor, especially software and/or components. The formatted information is related to defects of a chain of appliances including an image-capture appliance and/or an image-restitution appliance. The image-processor uses the formatted data to modify the quality of at least one image derived from or addressed to the chain of appliances. The formatted information includes data characterizing defects of the image-capture appliance, especially distortion characteristics, and/or data characterizing defects of the image-restitution appliance, especially distortion characteristics. The method fills in at least one field of the standard format with the formatted information. This field is designated by a field name and contains at least one field value.

Claims

1. A method for providing formatted information in a standard format to an image-processor, the formatted information being related to defects of an appliance chain, the appliance chain including at least one image-capture appliance and/or one image-restitution appliance, the image-processor using the formatted information to modify quality of at least one image derived from or addressed to the appliance chain;

the formatted information including;

data characterizing the defects of the image-capture appliance; and

/or

data characterizing the defects of the image-restitution appliance, said defects of the image-capture appliance or of the image-restitution appliance being related to characteristics of an optical system or of a sensor or of an electronic unit or of software integrated in the at least one image-capture appliance; and

said defects including at least one of geometric defects, sharpness defects, colorimetry defects, geometric distortion defects, geometric chromatic aberration defects, geometric vignetting defects, contrast defects, colorimetry defects, rendering of colors and color cast, defects of flash uniformity, sensor noise, grain, astigmatism defects, and spherical aberration defects;

the method comprising;

storing the formatted information in a database of characteristics integrated into a remote server;

filling in, by a data-processing unit integrated in the remote server, at least one field of the standard format with the formatted information, the field being designated by a field name, the field containing at least one field value;

providing, from the remote server, the formatted information in the standard format to the image-processor;

the formatted information being composed at least partly of parameters of a parameterizable transformation model representative of defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance; and

the method comprising a calculation algorithm for choosing between a set of parameterizable transformation models, one minimizing a difference between a first image and a second image, wherein

the first image is an image obtained by application of the parameterizable transformation model to an image of a reference scene obtained with the image-capture appliance or image-restitution appliance, and

the second image is an image obtained by mathematical projection of the reference scene.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the field is related to sharpness defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance, wherein the field contains at least one value related to the sharpness defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the field is related to colorimetry defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance, wherein the field contains at least one value related to the colorimetry defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the field is related to geometric distortion defects and/or to geometric chromatic aberration defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance, wherein the field contains at least one value related to the geometric distortion defects and/or to the geometric chromatic aberration defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the field is related to geometric vignetting defects and/or to contrast defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance, wherein the field contains at least one value related to the geometric vignetting defects and/or to the contrast defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the field contains at least one value related to deviations.

7. A method according to claim 2, wherein the formatted information is composed at least partly of parameters of a parameterizable transformation model representative of the sharpness defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance, wherein the value or values contained in the field related to the sharpness defects are composed at least partly of parameters of the parameterizable transformation model;

wherein the image-processor can use the parameters of the parameterizable transformation model to calculate a corrected shape or corrected restitution shape of a point of the image.

8. A method according to claim 3, wherein the formatted information is composed at least partly of parameters of a parameterizable transformation model representative of the colorimetry defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance, wherein the value or values contained in the field related to the colorimetry defects are composed at least partly of parameters of the parameterizable transformation model;

wherein the image-processor can use the parameters of the parameterizable transformation model to calculate a corrected color or corrected restitution color of a point of the image.

9. A method according to claim 4, wherein the formatted information is composed at least partly of parameters of a parameterizable transformation model representative of the geometric distortion defects and/or of the geometric chromatic aberration defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance, wherein the value or values contained in the field related to the geometric distortion defects and/or to the geometric chromatic aberration defects are composed at least partly of parameters of the parameterizable transformation model;

wherein the image-processor can use the parameters of the parameterizable transformation model to calculate a corrected position or the corrected restitution position of a point of the image.

10. A method according to claim 5, wherein the formatted information is composed at least partly of parameters of a parameterizable transformation model representative of the geometric vignetting defects and/or of the contrast defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance, wherein the value or values contained in the field related to the geometric vignetting defects and/or to the contrast defects are composed at least partly of parameters of the parameterizable transformation model;

wherein the image-processor can use the parameters of the parameterizable transformation model to calculate a corrected intensity or the corrected restitution intensity of a point of the image.

11. A method according to claim 1, wherein to provide the formatted information in a standard format to the image-processor, the method further comprises associating the formatted information with the image.

12. A method according to claim 11, wherein the image is transmitted in a form of a file, the file further containing the formatted information.

13. A method according to claim 1, wherein the image-capture appliance and/or the image-restitution appliance includes at least one variable characteristic depending on the image, at least one of the defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance depending on the at least one variable characteristic, wherein at least one of the fields contains at least one value that is a function of the at least one variable characteristic depending on the image;

wherein the image-processor can process the image as a function of the variable characteristics.

14. A method according to claim 1, wherein the formatted information is measured formatted information, at least in part.

15. A method according to claim 1, wherein the formatted information is extended formatted information, at least in part.

16. A method according to claim 1, wherein the image is composed of color planes, the formatted information being at least partly related to the color planes.

33. A method according to claim 1, wherein represented defects are part of defects related to sharpness, colorimetry, geometric distortion, geometric chromatic aberration, geometric vignetting and/or of contrast defects.

17. A system for providing formatted information in a standard format to an image-processor, the formatted information being related to defects of an appliance chain, the appliance chain including at least one image-capture appliance and/or one image-restitution appliance, the image-processor using the formatted information to modify quality of at least one image derived from or addressed to the appliance chain;

the formatted information including;

data characterizing the defects of the image-capture appliance; and

/or

data characterizing the defects of the image-restitution appliance, said defects of the image-capture appliance or of the image-restitution appliance being related to characteristics of an optical system or of a sensor or of an electronic unit or of software integrated in the at least one image-capture appliance; and

said defects including at least one of geometric defects, sharpness defects, colorimetry defects, geometric distortion defects, geometric chromatic aberration defects, geometric vignetting defects, contrast defects, colorimetry defects, rendering of colors and color cast, defects of flash uniformity, sensor noise, grain, astigmatism defects, and spherical aberration defects;

the system comprising;

a database of characteristics integrated into a remote server, the database of characteristics configured to store the formatted information; and

a data-processor integrated in the remote server, the data-processor configured to fill in at least one field of the standard format with the formatted information, the field being designated by a field name, the field containing at least one field value,

wherein the formatted information in the standard format is provided from the remote server to the image-processor, and the formatted information is composed at least partly of parameters of a parameterizable transformation model representative of defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance, and

a calculation algorithm is used for choosing between a set of parameterizable transformation models, one minimizing a difference between a first image and a second image, wherein

the first image is an image obtained by application of the parameterizable transformation model to an image of a reference scene obtained with the image-capture appliance or image-restitution appliance, and

the second image is an image obtained by mathematical projection of the reference scene.

18. A system according to claim 17, wherein the field is related to sharpness defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance, wherein the field contains at least one value related to the sharpness defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance.

19. A system according to claim 17, wherein the field is related to colorimetry defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance, wherein the field contains at least one value related to the colorimetry defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance.

20. A system according to claim 17, wherein the field is related to geometric distortion defects and/or to geometric chromatic aberration defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance, wherein the field contains at least one value related to the geometric distortion defects and/or to the geometric chromatic aberration defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance.

21. A system according to claim 17, wherein the field is related to geometric vignetting defects and/or to contrast defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance, wherein the field contains at least one value related to the geometric vignetting defects and/or to the contrast defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance.

22. A system according to claim 17, wherein the field contains at least one value related to deviations.

23. A system according to claim 18, wherein the formatted information is composed at least partly of parameters of a parameterizable transformation model representative of the sharpness defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance, wherein the value or values contained in the field related to the sharpness defects are composed at least partly of parameters of the parameterizable transformation model.

24. A system according to claim 19, wherein the formatted information is composed at least partly of parameters of a parameterizable transformation model representative of the colorimetry defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance, wherein the value or values contained in the field related to the colorimetry defects are composed at least partly of parameters of the parameterizable transformation model.

25. A system according to claim 20, wherein the formatted information is composed at least partly of parameters of a parameterizable transformation model representative of the geometric distortion defects and/or of the geometric chromatic aberration defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance, wherein the value or values contained in the field related to the geometric distortion defects and/or to the geometric chromatic aberration defects are composed at least partly of parameters of the parameterizable transformation model.

26. A system according to claim 21, wherein the formatted information is composed at least partly of parameters of a parameterizable transformation model representative of the geometric vignetting defects and/or of the contrast defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance, wherein the value or values contained in the field related to the geometric vignetting defects and/or to the contrast defects are composed at least partly of parameters of the parameterizable transformation model.

27. A system according to claim 17, wherein to provide the formatted information in a standard format to the image-processor, the system further comprises a second data-processor configured to associate the formatted information with the image.

28. A system according to claim 27, further comprising a transmission device to transmit the image in a form of a file, the file further containing the formatted information.

29. A system according to claim 17, wherein the image-capture appliance and/or the image-restitution appliance include at least one variable characteristic depending on the image, at least one of the defects of the image-capture appliance and/or of the image-restitution appliance depending on the at least one variable characteristic, wherein at least one of the fields contains at least one value that is a function of the at least one variable characteristic depending on the image.

30. A system according to claim 17, wherein the formatted information is measured formatted information, at least in part.

31. A system according to claim 17, wherein the formatted information is extended formatted information, at least in part.

32. A system according to claim 17, wherein the image is composed of color planes, the formatted information being at least partly related to the color planes.