Image processing device, image processing method and image processing program

• US 8,682,103 B2
• Filed: 10/15/2010
• Issued: 03/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Morpho Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Morpho Incorporated
• Inventors: Habuka, Kensuke
• Primary Examiner(s): COUSO, YON JUNG
• Application Number:
  US13/259,031
• Publication Number:
  US 20120093436A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,257 Days
• Field of Search: 382/284, 382/286, 382/288, 382/294, 382/103, 382/107, 382/154
• US Class Current: 382/284
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/4038 Image mosaicing, e.g. composing plane images from plane sub-images
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/3876 Recombination of partial images to recreate the original image
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/698 for achieving an enlarged field of view, e.g. panoramic image capture

Abstract

An image processing device that accumulatively generates a synthetic image by joining a first image, which is a single image or is constituted by a plurality of the images joined together, and a second image that is input, every time when the second image is input, the device comprising: a center-position obtainment portion (11) that obtains position information on a first center point being a center point of each of the images constituting the first image and position information on a second center point being a center point of the second image; and a synthetic image generation portion (12) that obtains the first center point of an image overlapping the second image among the images constituting the first image, and that joins the first image and the second image to generate the synthetic image, using perpendicular bisectors between the obtained first center points and the second center point as a joint between the first image and the second image, based on the obtained position information on the first center points and the obtained position information on the second center point.

Claims

1. An image processing device that accumulatively generates a synthetic image by joining a first image, which is a single image or is constituted by a plurality of the images joined together, and a second image that is input, the device comprising:

at least one processor that executes;

a center-position obtainment portion that obtains position information on a first center point being a center point of each of the images constituting the first image and position information on a second center point being a center point of the second image; and

a synthetic image generation portion that obtains the first center points of an image overlapping the second image among the images constituting the first image, and that joins the first image and the second image to generate the synthetic image, using perpendicular bisectors between the obtained first center points and the second center point as a joint between the first image and the second image, based on the obtained position information on the first center points and the obtained position information on the second center point,

wherein the synthetic image generation portion determines a pixel value at a predetermined position of the synthetic image based on a distance from a perpendicular bisector between the first center point being closest to the predetermined position and the second center point, and

wherein the synthetic image generation portion;

determines a pixel value of the first image as the pixel value at the predetermined position when the distance is more than a predetermined value and the predetermined position is closer to the first center point than to the second center point,

determines a pixel value of the second image as the pixel value at the predetermined position when the distance is more than the predetermined value and the predetermined position is closer to the second center point than to the first center point, and

determines a pixel value at the predetermined position by synthesizing the pixel value of the first image and the pixel value of the second image when the distance is not more than the predetermined value.

2. The image processing device of claim 1, wherein the first image is either an image input immediately before the second image or the synthetic image generated by the synthetic image generation portion.

3. The image processing device of claim 1, wherein the center-position obtainment portion obtains a motion vector based on the first image and the second image, and obtains the position information based on the obtained motion vector.

4. The image processing device of claim 1, wherein the synthetic image generation portion regards a position in grid points arranged in the grid-arrayed points as the predetermined position and records the first center point being closest to the grid point for each of the grid points.

5. The image processing device of claim 4, wherein the synthetic image generation portion determines a pixel value within a block surrounded by the grid points based on the distance determined for each of the grid points.

6. The image processing device of claim 5, wherein the synthetic image generation portion:

determines the pixel values of the first image as the pixel values within the block when the distances of all the grid points surrounding the block are more than the predetermined value and positions of all the grid points surrounding the block are closer to the first center point than to the second center point, and

determines the pixel values of the second image as the pixel values within the block when the distances of all the grid points surrounding the block are more than the predetermined value and positions of all the grid points surrounding the block are closer to the second center point than to the first center point.

7. The image processing device of claim 4, wherein the synthetic image generation portion updates, after generating the synthetic image, the closest first center point for each of the grid points.

8. An image processing method of accumulatively generating a synthetic image by joining a first image, which is a single image or is constituted by a plurality of the images joined together, and a second image that is input, the method comprising:

acquiring position information on a first center point which is a center point of each of the images constituting the first image and position information on a second center point which is a center point of the second image; and

acquiring, by at least one processor, the first center points of images which overlaps the second image among the images constituting the first image, and joining the first image and the second image to generate the synthetic image, using perpendicular bisectors between the acquired first center points and the second center point as a joint between the first image and the second image, based on the acquired position information on the first center points and the acquired position information on the second center point,

wherein the synthetic image generation portion determines a pixel value at a predetermined position of the synthetic image based on a distance from a perpendicular bisector between the first center point being closest to the predetermined position and the second center point, and

wherein the synthetic image generation portion;

determines a pixel value of the first image as the pixel value at the predetermined position when the distance is more than a predetermined value and the predetermined position is closer to the first center point than to the second center point,

determines a pixel value of the second image as the pixel value at the predetermined position when the distance is more than the predetermined value and the predetermined position is closer to the second center point than to the first center point, and

determines a pixel value at the predetermined position by synthesizing the pixel value of the first image and the pixel value of the second image when the distance is not more than the predetermined value.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing an image processing program causing a computer so as to accumulatively generates a synthetic image by joining a first image, which is a single image or is constituted by a plurality of the images joined together, and a second image that is input, the program causing the computer to function as:

a center-position obtainment portion that obtains position information on a first center point which is a center point of each of the images constituting the first image and position information on a second center point which is a center point of the second image; and

a synthetic image generation portion that obtains the first center points of images which overlaps the second image among the images constituting the first image, and that joins the first image and the second image to generate the synthetic image, using perpendicular bisectors between the obtained first center points and the second center point as a joint between the first image and the second image, based on the obtained position information on the first center points and the obtained position information on the second center point,

wherein the synthetic image generation portion determines a pixel value at a predetermined position of the synthetic image based on a distance from a perpendicular bisector between the first center point being closest to the predetermined position and the second center point, and

wherein the synthetic image generation portion;

determines a pixel value of the first image as the pixel value at the predetermined position when the distance is more than a predetermined value and the predetermined position is closer to the first center point than to the second center point,

determines a pixel value of the second image as the pixel value at the predetermined position when the distance is more than the predetermined value and the predetermined position is closer to the second center point than to the first center point, and

determines a pixel value at the predetermined position by synthesizing the pixel value of the first image and the pixel value of the second image when the distance is not more than the predetermined value.

10. An image processing device that accumulatively generates a synthetic image by joining a first image, which is a single image or is constituted by a plurality of the images joined together, and a second image that is input, the device comprising:

at least one processor that executes;

a center-position obtainment portion that obtains position information on a first center point being a center point of each of the images constituting the first image and position information on a second center point being a center point of the second image; and

a synthetic image generation portion that obtains the first center points of an image overlapping the second image among the images constituting the first image, and that joins the first image and the second image to generate the synthetic image, using perpendicular bisectors between the obtained first center points and the second center point as a joint between the first image and the second image, based on the obtained position information on the first center points and the obtained position information on the second center point,

wherein the synthetic image generation portion determines a pixel value at a predetermined position of the synthetic image based on a distance from a perpendicular bisector between the first center point being closest to the predetermined position and the second center point,

wherein the synthetic image generation portion regards a position in grid points arranged in the grid-arrayed points as the predetermined position and records the first center point being closest to the grid point for each of the grid points,

wherein the synthetic image generation portion determines a pixel value within a block surrounded by the grid points based on the distance determined for each of the grid points, and

wherein the synthetic image generation portion;

determines the pixel values of the first image as the pixel values within the block when the distances of all the grid points surrounding the block are more than the predetermined value and positions of all the grid points surrounding the block are closer to the first center point than to the second center point, and

determines the pixel values of the second image as the pixel values within the block when the distances of all the grid points surrounding the block are more than the predetermined value and positions of all the grid points surrounding the block are closer to the second center point than to the first center point.

11. The image processing device of claim 10, wherein the first image is either an image input immediately before the second image or the synthetic image generated by the synthetic image generation portion.

12. The image processing device of claim 10, wherein the center-position obtainment portion obtains a motion vector based on the first image and the second image, and obtains the position information based on the obtained motion vector.

13. The image processing device of claim 10, wherein the synthetic image generation portion updates, after generating the synthetic image, the closest first center point for each of the grid points.

14. An image processing method of accumulatively generating a synthetic image by joining a first image, which is a single image or is constituted by a plurality of the images joined together, and a second image that is input, the method comprising:

acquiring position information on a first center point which is a center point of each of the images constituting the first image and position information on a second center point which is a center point of the second image; and

acquiring, by at least one processor, the first center points of images which overlaps the second image among the images constituting the first image, and joining the first image and the second image to generate the synthetic image, using perpendicular bisectors between the acquired first center points and the second center point as a joint between the first image and the second image, based on the acquired position information on the first center points and the acquired position information on the second center point,

wherein the synthetic image generation portion determines a pixel value at a predetermined position of the synthetic image based on a distance from a perpendicular bisector between the first center point being closest to the predetermined position and the second center point,

wherein the synthetic image generation portion regards a position in grid points arranged in the grid-arrayed points as the predetermined position and records the first center point being closest to the grid point for each of the grid points,

wherein the synthetic image generation portion determines a pixel value within a block surrounded by the grid points based on the distance determined for each of the grid points, and

wherein the synthetic image generation portion;

determines the pixel values of the first image as the pixel values within the block when the distances of all the grid points surrounding the block are more than the predetermined value and positions of all the grid points surrounding the block are closer to the first center point than to the second center point, and

determines the pixel values of the second image as the pixel values within the block when the distances of all the grid points surrounding the block are more than the predetermined value and positions of all the grid points surrounding the block are closer to the second center point than to the first center point.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing an image processing program causing a computer so as to accumulatively generates a synthetic image by joining a first image, which is a single image or is constituted by a plurality of the images joined together, and a second image that is input, the program causing the computer to function as:

a center-position obtainment portion that obtains position information on a first center point which is a center point of each of the images constituting the first image and position information on a second center point which is a center point of the second image; and

a synthetic image generation portion that obtains the first center points of images which overlaps the second image among the images constituting the first image, and that joins the first image and the second image to generate the synthetic image, using perpendicular bisectors between the obtained first center points and the second center point as a joint between the first image and the second image, based on the obtained position information on the first center points and the obtained position information on the second center point,

wherein the synthetic image generation portion determines a pixel value at a predetermined position of the synthetic image based on a distance from a perpendicular bisector between the first center point being closest to the predetermined position and the second center point,

wherein the synthetic image generation portion regards a position in grid points arranged in the grid-arrayed points as the predetermined position and records the first center point being closest to the grid point for each of the grid points,

wherein the synthetic image generation portion determines a pixel value within a block surrounded by the grid points based on the distance determined for each of the grid points, and

wherein the synthetic image generation portion;

determines the pixel values of the first image as the pixel values within the block when the distances of all the grid points surrounding the block are more than the predetermined value and positions of all the grid points surrounding the block are closer to the first center point than to the second center point, and

determines the pixel values of the second image as the pixel values within the block when the distances of all the grid points surrounding the block are more than the predetermined value and positions of all the grid points surrounding the block are closer to the second center point than to the first center point.