Information processing apparatus and resolution enhancement processing control program

• US 7,941,005 B2
• Filed: 10/15/2009
• Issued: 05/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Tanaka, Akira
• Primary Examiner(s): CHANG, JON CARLTON
• Application Number:
  US12/579,926
• Publication Number:
  US 20100135593A1
• Time in Patent Office: 572 Days
• Field of Search: 382/299, 382/300, 382/263, 382/266, 382/199, 382/108, 382/190, 345/698, 348/14.12
• US Class Current: 382/299
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/403 Edge-driven scaling; Edge-based scaling

Abstract

According to one embodiment, an information processing apparatus includes an image quality improvement processing module which applies first image quality improvement processing for image quality enhancement to each of corresponding pixels in the temporary high-resolution image corresponding to a region other than the flat part region, and applies second image quality improvement processing for sharpening to each of corresponding pixels in the temporary high-resolution image corresponding to an edge region which is not located on the texture region. The apparatus further includes a controller which controls at least one of the texture determination reference value applied to the detecting the texture region and the flat part determination reference value applied to the detecting the flat part region based on a predetermined rule.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus configured to execute resolution enhancement in order to generate a second moving image signal with a second resolution from a first moving image signal with a first resolution lower than the second resolution, the information processing apparatus comprising:

an edge detection module configured to detect an edge region in which luminance values are changed to values beyond a predetermined edge determination reference value in a to-be-processed frame of the first moving image signal with the first resolution;

a texture detection module configured to detect a texture region where a change in luminance value is substantially regular and continuous in the to-be-processed frame based on a predetermined texture determination reference value;

a flat region detection module configured to detect a flat region where a change in luminance value is smaller than a predetermined flat region determination reference value in the to-be-processed frame;

a resolution convertor configured to generate a temporary high-resolution image with the second resolution by converting a resolution of the to-be-processed frame from the first resolution to the second resolution;

an image quality improvement module configured to execute first image quality improvement processing in order to enhance image quality of pixels in the temporary high-resolution image corresponding to a region other than the detected flat region, and to execute second image quality improvement processing in order to sharpen the pixels in the temporary high-resolution image corresponding to the detected edge region not in the detected texture region; and

a controller configured to adjust the texture determination reference value in order to limit a time of the resolution enhancement per frame within a predetermined time.

2. An information processing apparatus configured to execute resolution enhancement in order to generate a second moving image signal with a second resolution from a first moving image signal with a first resolution lower than the second resolution, the information processing apparatus comprising:

an edge detection module configured to detect an edge region in which luminance values are changed to values beyond a predetermined edge determination reference value in a to-be-processed frame of the first moving image signal with the first resolution;

a texture detection module configured to detect a texture region where a change in luminance value is substantially regular and continuous in the to-be-processed frame based on a predetermined texture determination reference value;

a flat region detection module configured to detect a flat region where a change in luminance value is smaller than a predetermined flat region determination reference value in the to-be-processed frame;

a resolution convertor configured to generate a temporary high-resolution image with the second resolution by converting a resolution of the to-be-processed frame from the first resolution to the second resolution;

an image quality improvement module configured to execute first image quality improvement processing in order to enhance image quality of pixels in the temporary high-resolution image corresponding to a region other than the detected flat region, and to execute second image quality improvement processing in order to sharpen the pixels in the temporary high-resolution image corresponding to the detected edge region not in the detected texture region; and

a controller configured to adjust the flat region determination reference value in order to limit a time of the resolution enhancement per frame from within a predetermined time.

3. A computer readable medium having stored thereon a resolution enhancement processing control program, causes a computer to:

generate a second moving image signal with a second resolution from a first moving image signal with a first resolution lower than the second resolution;

detect an edge region in which luminance values are changed to values beyond a predetermined edge determination reference value in a to-be-processed frame of the first moving image signal with the first resolution;

detect a texture region where a change in luminance value is substantially regular and continuous in the to-be-processed frame based on a predetermined texture determination reference value;

detect a flat region where a change in luminance value is smaller than a predetermined flat region determination reference value in the to-be-processed frame;

generate a temporary high-resolution image with the second resolution by converting a resolution of the to-be-processed frame from the first resolution to the second resolution;

execute first image quality improvement processing in order to enhance image quality of pixels in the temporary high-resolution image corresponding to a region other than the detected flat region;

execute second image quality improvement processing in order to sharpen the pixels in the temporary high-resolution image corresponding to the detected edge region not in the detected texture region; and

adjust the texture determination reference value in order to limit a time of the resolution enhancement per frame within a predetermined time.