Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and program

• US 8,363,900 B2
• Filed: 02/19/2009
• Issued: 01/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Huang, Yenshan
• Primary Examiner(s): ENTEZARI, MICHELLE M
• Application Number:
  US12/378,821
• Publication Number:
  US 20090231453A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,440 Days
• Field of Search: 382/103, 348/220.1, 348/E5.031
• US Class Current: 382/107
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/61 based on recognised objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/611 where the recognised objects include parts of the human body
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/631 Graphical user interfaces [GUI] specially adapted for controlling image capture or setting capture parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/635 Region indicators; Field of view indicators
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/64 Computer-aided capture of images, e.g. transfer from script file into camera, check of taken image quality, advice or proposal for image composition or decision on when to take image
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/144 Movement detection for video coding H04N19/503; analysis of motion in general G06T7/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/772 the recording apparatus and the television camera being placed in the same enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8047 using transform coding

Abstract

An image processing apparatus includes: a determining unit configured to determine whether processing-target image data has image content matching a previously set motion pattern; and a validating unit configured to validate image data that is determined to match the motion pattern by the determining unit.

Claims

1. An image processing apparatus comprising:

determining means for determining whether processing-target image data has image content matching a previously set motion pattern; and

validating means for validating image data that is determined to match the motion pattern by the determining means,

wherein the motion pattern corresponds to a plurality of motion detection windows, a direction for each window itself, and a spatial window order.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determining means performs:

moving object detection processing for detecting an image of a moving object from image data of one frame and determining whether the image data of the one frame is a candidate constituting the motion pattern using the detected image of the moving object;

temporary storage processing for temporarily storing image data that is determined to be a candidate constituting the motion pattern in the moving object detection processing; and

pattern matching determining processing for determining whether the image data temporarily stored in the temporary storage processing is an image matching the motion pattern.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the determining means determines, in the moving object detection processing, whether the image data of the one frame is a candidate constituting the motion pattern using the image of the moving object detected from the image data of the one frame and a motion detection window specifying a range on a screen as setting information of the motion pattern.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the determining means checks, in the moving object detection processing, whether at least part of the image of the moving object is included in the range of the motion detection window as one kind of the processing for determining whether the image data is a candidate constituting the motion pattern.

5. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the determining means checks, in the moving object detection processing, whether a moving direction or a moving amount of the image of the moving object matches a moving direction or a moving amount set for the motion detection window as one kind of the processing for determining whether the image data is a candidate constituting the motion pattern.

6. The apparatus according to claim 2, the determining means temporarily stores, in the temporary storage processing, image data of a plurality of frames including the image data that is determined to be a candidate constituting the motion pattern in the moving object detection processing.

7. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, when a plurality of motion detection windows specifying ranges on a screen are set as setting information of the motion pattern,

the determining means checks, in the pattern matching determining processing, whether the image of the moving object included in image data of each of the plurality of frames enters the respective ranges of the plurality of motion detection windows in motion represented by the plurality of frames in order to determine whether the temporarily stored image data of the plurality of frames is images matching the motion pattern.

8. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, when a plurality of motion detection windows specifying ranges on a screen are set as setting information of the motion pattern,

the determining means checks, in the pattern matching determining processing, the order that the image of the moving object included in the image data of each of the plurality of frames enters the respective ranges of the plurality of motion detection windows in motion represented by the plurality of frames in order to determine whether the temporarily stored image data of the plurality of frames is images matching the motion pattern.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a motion detection window specifying a range on a screen is set as setting information of the motion pattern, and

wherein the determining means determines whether the image data including the image of the moving object has image content matching the motion pattern using a result obtained by checking whether the image of the moving object included in each image data enters the range of the motion detection window.

10. The apparatus according claim 1, wherein a plurality of motion detection windows specifying ranges on a screen are set as setting information of the motion pattern, and

wherein the determining means determines whether the image data including the image of the moving object has image content matching the motion pattern using a result obtained by checking whether the image of the moving object included in each image data enters the respective ranges of the plurality of motion detection windows.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a motion detection window specifying a range on a screen is set as setting information of the motion pattern, and

wherein the determining means determines whether the image data including the image of the moving object has image content matching the motion pattern using a result obtained by checking whether the image of the moving object included in each image data enters the range of the motion detection window while having a direction or a moving amount set for the motion detection window.

12. The apparatus according claim 1, wherein a plurality of motion detection windows specifying ranges on a screen are set as setting information of the motion pattern, and

wherein the determining means determines whether the image data including the image of the moving object has image content matching the motion pattern using a result obtained by checking the order that the image of the moving object included in each image data enters the respective ranges of the plurality of motion detection windows.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the validating means records, as the validation, image data that is determined to match the motion pattern on a recording medium.

14. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the validating means creates, as the validation, a state in which the image data that is determined to match the motion pattern can be extracted as valid image data.

15. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the validating means discards image data that is determined not to match the motion pattern.

16. An image processing method comprising the steps of using a processor for:

determining whether processing-target image data has image content matching a previously set motion pattern; and

processing image data determined to match the motion pattern as valid image data,

wherein the motion pattern corresponds to a plurality of motion detection windows, a direction for each window itself, and a spatial window order.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a computer-readable program for allowing a computer to execute an image processing method, the image processing method comprising the steps of:

determining whether processing-target image data has image content matching a previously set motion pattern; and

processing image data determined to match the motion pattern as valid image data,

wherein the motion pattern corresponds to a plurality of motion detection windows, a direction for each window itself, and a spatial window order.

18. An image processing apparatus comprising:

a determining unit configured to determine whether processing-target image data has image content matching a previously set motion pattern; and

a validating unit configured to validate image data that is determined to match the motion pattern by the determining unit,

wherein the motion pattern corresponds to a plurality of motion detection windows, a direction for each window itself, and a spatial window order.