Red-eye filter method and apparatus
First Claim
1. A portable digital camera device having no photographic film, comprising:
- (a) an integral flash for providing illumination during image acquisition;
(b) a digital image capturing apparatus including one or more image sensors for capturing a main image including a face, and for acquiring one or more reference images at least approximately of said same scene as the main image including said face;
(c) a face filter for correcting a face defect within the main image based on analysis of at least one reference image;
(d) a dedicated hardware subsystem which is provided reference image data directly from at least one of the one or more image sensors;
(e) a main system memory which receives raw image data and metadata as implemented by the dedicated hardware subsystem; and
(f) wherein the main system memory is configured to receive metadata that comprises one or more identified face defect areas within the main image; and
(g) a subsampling module for changing the degree of said subsampling is determined based on a complexity of calculation for said filter.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A digital image acquisition system having no photographic film, such as a digital camera, has a flash unit for providing illumination during image capture and a red-eye filter for detecting a region within a captured image indicative of a red-eye phenomenon, the detection being based upon a comparison of the captured image and a reference image of nominally the same scene taken without flash. In the embodiment the reference image is a preview image of lower pixel resolution than the captured image, the filter matching the pixel resolutions of the captured and reference images by up-sampling the preview image and/or sub-sampling the captured image. The filter also aligns at least portions of the captured image and reference image prior to comparison to allow for, e.g. movement in the subject.
364 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A portable digital camera device having no photographic film, comprising:
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(a) an integral flash for providing illumination during image acquisition; (b) a digital image capturing apparatus including one or more image sensors for capturing a main image including a face, and for acquiring one or more reference images at least approximately of said same scene as the main image including said face; (c) a face filter for correcting a face defect within the main image based on analysis of at least one reference image; (d) a dedicated hardware subsystem which is provided reference image data directly from at least one of the one or more image sensors; (e) a main system memory which receives raw image data and metadata as implemented by the dedicated hardware subsystem; and (f) wherein the main system memory is configured to receive metadata that comprises one or more identified face defect areas within the main image; and (g) a subsampling module for changing the degree of said subsampling is determined based on a complexity of calculation for said filter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of correcting an image defect within a digital image, comprising:
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providing illumination during image acquisition with a flash; acquiring a main image and one or more reference images of at least approximately the same scene as the main image with the main image sensor; identifying a face and a defect associated with said face within at least one of the one or more reference images; identifying the same face and correcting the approximately same defect in the main image based on an analysis of the face and the defect in the at least one reference image by a face filter; providing reference image data directly from the at least one sensor to a dedicated hardware subsystem; receiving raw image data at a main image memory, along with metadata as implemented by the dedicated hardware subsystem; and
wherein the metadata comprises one or more candidate defect regions identified in the at least one reference image each having a certain enhanced probability of appearing as a defect in the main image; anddetermining the degree of a subsampling by a subsampling module, based on a complexity of calculation for said filter. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. One or more digital non-transitory storage media having code embodied therein for programming one or more processors of a portable digital camera that includes at least one image sensor to perform a method of correcting an image defect within a digital image, wherein the method comprises:
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providing illumination during image acquisition with a flash; acquiring a main image and one or more reference images of at least approximately the same scene as the main image with the main image sensor; identifying a face and a defect associated with said face within at least one of the one or more reference images; identifying the same face and correcting the approximately same defect in the main image based on an analysis of the face and the defect in the at least one reference image by a face filter; providing reference image data directly from the at least one sensor to a dedicated hardware subsystem; receiving raw image data at a main image memory, along with metadata as implemented by the dedicated hardware subsystem; and
wherein the metadata comprises one or more candidate defect regions identified in the at least one reference image each having a certain enhanced probability of appearing as a defect in the main image; anddetermining the degree of a subsampling based on a complexity of calculation for said filter. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification