Method and apparatus for background replacement in still photographs
First Claim
1. An imaging system for photographing a subject, the system comprising:
- a foreground light source arranged and configured to illuminate the subject;
a background light source arranged and configured to illuminate a background;
a digital camera configured to capture still photographs of a subject arranged between the digital camera and the background; and
a controller configured to;
synchronize illumination of the background light source with a capture of a background illuminated image taken by the digital camera; and
synchronize illumination of the foreground light source with a capture of a foreground illuminated image taken by the digital camera.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A first digital image is acquired of a framed area while illuminating the background and foreground object under a first lighting condition. A second digital image is then acquired of the same framed area while illuminating the background and foreground object under a second lighting condition. Preferably, the first lighting condition illuminates the background without illuminating the foreground object so that a silhouette of the foreground object is acquired in the first image. The second lighting condition illuminates the foreground object (e.g., with frontal lights). Due to the difference in the illumination between the background and silhouette in the first image, an alpha mask can be created from the first acquired image. Using the mask, the background from the second image can be removed and replaced by virtually any other desired background image.
41 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An imaging system for photographing a subject, the system comprising:
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a foreground light source arranged and configured to illuminate the subject; a background light source arranged and configured to illuminate a background; a digital camera configured to capture still photographs of a subject arranged between the digital camera and the background; and a controller configured to; synchronize illumination of the background light source with a capture of a background illuminated image taken by the digital camera; and synchronize illumination of the foreground light source with a capture of a foreground illuminated image taken by the digital camera. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of photographing a subject arranged in front of a background, the method comprising:
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synchronizing a flash of a background light source to occur while capturing a background illuminated image with a digital camera, the digital camera configured to capture still photographs, and the background light source positioned to illuminate the background; and synchronizing a flash of a foreground light source to occur while capturing a foreground illuminated image with the digital camera. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An imaging system for photographing a subject, the system comprising:
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a background; a foreground light source arranged and configured to illuminate the subject; a background light source arranged and configured to illuminate the background; a digital camera configured to capture still photographs of a subject arranged between the digital camera and the background; and a controller configured to; synchronize illumination of the foreground light source with a capture of a foreground illuminated image with the digital camera; and synchronize illumination of the background light source with a capture of a background illuminated image with the digital camera. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification