System and method for monochromatic tinting using saturation maps

• US 8,581,922 B2
• Filed: 11/30/2012
• Issued: 11/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Disney Enterprises Incorporated (The Walt Disney Company)
• Original Assignee: Disney Enterprises Incorporated (The Walt Disney Company)
• Inventors: Moore, Matthew, Dunstan, Jackson B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sajous, Wesner
• Application Number:
  US13/691,321
• Publication Number:
  US 20130100155A1
• Time in Patent Office: 347 Days
• Field of Search: 345/581, 345589-594, 345600-601, 345/604, 345/606, 345/619, 345629-630, 345/501, 345548-549, 345/690, 358517-520, 358523-525, 358537-538, 358/540, 358/448, 358452-453, 382/162, 382/167, 382/254, 382/274, 382/276, 382/305, 382/300, 382/307, 382/311, 715/700, 715/733, 715/744, 715/764, 715/781, 715866-867
• US Class Current: 345/589
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/02 characterised by the way in which colour is displayed details of colour display specific for CRTs G09G1/28; specific for flat matrix panels other than liquid crystal displays G09G3/2003; specific for liquid crystal displays G09G3/3607
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/40012 Conversion of colour to monochrome
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/60 Colour correction or control H04N1/54 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/62 Retouching, i.e. modification of isolated colours only or in isolated picture areas only
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/622 with simulation on a subsidiary picture reproducer

Abstract

There are provided systems and methods for tinting an image by monochromatic tinting using saturation maps for use by an application providing a user interface supporting customizable tinted images. By using saturation map and a monochromatic value map derived from the image and configuring the saturation map to specify areas for tinting, a tint color can be applied to the image by a series of quickly processed arithmetic calculations. This provides a lightweight and high quality method for tinting images within an application without wasting unnecessary network bandwidth or processor resources. Furthermore, the method can be adapted to apply multiple tint colors for multiple tints or use an alpha channel to restore color information lost due to the monochromatic value map. The resulting tinted image can also be used as a texture for a three-dimensional rendering engine.

Claims

1. A system for tinting an image, the system comprising:

a memory;

a display; and

a processor configured to;

obtain the image from a server via a network, the image embedding a saturation map and a value map;

extract the saturation map and the value map from the image;

store the saturation map and the value map extracted from the image into the memory;

create an intermediate image by screen blending a tint color as a solid fill color with the saturation map;

multiply the intermediate image by the value map;

normalize the intermediate image within a red, green, blue (RGB) color space of the tint color to create a tinted image;

display the tinted image in a user interface on the display; and

manipulate the tinted image based on user manipulations of the tinted image using the user interface.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to execute a Flash application to display the tinted image on the display.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to execute a Java application to display the tinted image on the display.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to execute a Silverlight application to display the tinted image on the display.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to process the tinted image in a three-dimensional renderer before displaying the tinted image on the display.

6. A method of tinting an image for use by a system having a memory, a display and a processor in communication with a server via a network, the method comprising:

obtaining the image from a server via a network, the image embedding a saturation map and a value map;

extracting the saturation map and the value map from the image;

storing the saturation map and the value map extracted from the image into the memory;

creating an intermediate image by screen blending a tint color as a solid fill color with the saturation map;

multiplying the intermediate image by the value map;

normalizing the intermediate image within a red, green, blue (RGB) color space of the tint color to create a tinted image;

displaying the tinted image in a user interface on the display; and

manipulating the tinted image based on user manipulations of the tinted image using the user interface.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to execute a Flash application to display the tinted image on the display.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to execute a Java application to display the tinted image on the display.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to execute a Silverlight application to display the tinted image on the display.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to process the tinted image in a three-dimensional renderer before displaying the tinted image on the display.

11. A software application stored in a memory of a computer for execution by a processor of the computer in communication with a display of the computer and a sever via a network, when executed by the processor, the software application performing the steps of:

obtaining the image from a server via a network, the image embedding a saturation map and a value map;

extracting the saturation map and the value map from the image;

storing the saturation map and the value map extracted from the image into the memory;

creating an intermediate image by screen blending a tint color as a solid fill color with the saturation map;

multiplying the intermediate image by the value map;

normalizing the intermediate image within a red, green, blue (RGB) color space of the tint color to create a tinted image;

displaying the tinted image in a user interface on the display ; and

manipulating the tinted image based on user manipulations of the tinted image using the user interface.

12. The software application of claim 11, wherein the software application is a Flash application.

13. The software application of claim 11, wherein the software application is a Java application.

14. The software application of claim 11, wherein the software application is a Silverlight application.

15. The software application of claim 14, wherein when executed by the processor, the software application further performing the step of processing the tinted image in a three-dimensional renderer before displaying the tinted image on the display.