Image processing apparatus, image processing method and program

• US 8,564,679 B2
• Filed: 07/20/2007
• Issued: 10/22/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Ono, Hiroaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho, Tuan
• Assistant Examiner(s): SPINKS, ANTOINETTE T
• Application Number:
  US11/780,904
• Publication Number:
  US 20080024619A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,286 Days
• Field of Search: 348/161, 348/155, 348169-172, 348/152, 382/107
• US Class Current: 348/222.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/70 Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras camera calibration G06T7/80
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/61 based on recognised objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/63 by using electronic viewfinders
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/73 by influencing the exposure time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/951 by using two or more images to influence resolution, frame rate or aspect ratio
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/2621 Cameras specially adapted for the electronic generation of special effects during image pickup, e.g. digital cameras, camcorders, video cameras having integrated special effects capability
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/183 for receiving images from a single remote source

Abstract

An image processing apparatus includes: an object state detector detecting a state of an object in input images inputted in time series; an image-capturing controller controlling image-capturing of the input images in accordance with the detected state of an object; and an image combiner combining pixel values at corresponding pixel positions of the input images, and outputting the pixel values as an output image, the input images being subjected to image-capturing control by the image-capturing controller.

Claims

1. An image processing apparatus comprising:

object state detecting means for detecting a state of an object in input images inputted in time series;

image-capturing control means for controlling image-capturing of the input images in accordance with the detected state of the object, wherein the image-capturing control means controls an image-capturing interval and an exposure time based on the detected state of the object; and

image combining means for combining pixel values at corresponding pixel positions of the input images, and outputting the pixel values as an output image, the input images being subject to image-capturing control by the image-capturing control means.

2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the output image is an image showing a trajectory of the object.

3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the image combining means include:

image selecting means for selecting, as selection images, a predetermined number of input images from the input images;

background creating means for creating, with respect to each of corresponding pixel positions of the selection images, a pixel value having a predetermined distribution in pixel values of the selection images, as a pixel value of a corresponding pixel position of a background image;

background image holding means for holding pixel values of the background image;

output image holding means for holding pixel values of the output image;

degree-of-difference generating means for generating a degree-of-difference indicating a degree that the pixel values of the input images are different from the corresponding pixel values of the background image held by the background image holding means; and

output image combining means for combining, with respect to the pixel values of the output image, pixel values at the corresponding pixel positions of the input images in accordance with the degree-of-difference, and holding as pixel values of a new output image in the output image holding means.

4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the object state detecting means detect a motion of the object as a state of the object;

and

the image-capturing control means calculate an image-capturing interval according to a speed of the detected motion of the object, and control the image-capturing based on the image-capturing interval.

5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein

the image-capturing control means control the image-capturing interval such that the image-capturing interval decreases as the speed of the detected motion of the object increases.

6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the object state detecting means detect a motion of the object as a state of the object;

and

the image-capturing control means calculate an exposure time according to a speed of the detected motion of the object, and controls the image-capturing based on the exposure time.

7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein

the image-capturing control means control the exposure time such that the exposure time decreases as the speed of the detected motion of the object increases.

8. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object state detecting means detect a motion of the object as a state of the object;

and

the image-capturing control means perform control such that the input image is captured if the object moves, and that the image-capturing of the input image is stopped if the object does not move.

9. The image processing apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising:

start detecting means for detecting a designation of an image-capturing start position of the input image, wherein

the image-capturing control means perform control such that the input image is captured if the object moves after the image-capturing start position, and that the image-capturing of the input image is stopped if the object does not move.

10. The image processing apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising:

end detecting means for detecting a designation of an image-capturing end position of the input image, wherein

the image-capturing control means perform control such that the input image is captured if the object moves between the image-capturing start position and the image-capturing end position, and that the image-capturing of the input image is stopped if the object does not move.

11. An image processing method comprising:

detecting a motion of an object as a state of the object in input images inputted in time series;

calculating an image-capturing interval and exposure time according to a speed of the detected motion of the object;

controlling image-capturing of the input images based the image-capturing interval and the exposure time; and

outputting an output image by combining pixel values at corresponding pixel positions of the input images subjected to the image-capturing control.

12. A program embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium causing a computer to execute:

an object state detecting procedure detecting a motion of an object as a state of the object in input images inputted in time series;

a calculation procedure calculating an image-capturing interval and exposure time according to a speed of the detected motion of the object;

an image-capturing control procedure controlling image-capturing of the input images based on the image-capturing interval and the exposure time; and

an image combining procedure for outputting an output image by combining pixel values at corresponding pixel positions of the input images subjected to the image-capturing control.

13. An image processing apparatus comprising:

an object state detector detecting a state of an object in input images inputted in time series;

an image-capturing controller controlling image-capturing of the input images in accordance with the detected state of the object, wherein the image-capturing controller controls an image-capturing interval and an exposure time based on the detected state of the object; and

an image combiner combining pixel values at corresponding pixel positions of the input images, and outputting the pixel values as an output image, the input images being subject to image-capturing control by the image-capturing controller.