Tone mapping of very large aerial image mosaic
First Claim
1. A method for converting a first image represented by HDR pixels having a predetermined dynamic range, said first image comprising a plurality of tiles each including a two-dimensional array of a plurality of said HDR pixels, into a second image with corresponding LDR pixels having a lower dynamic range, the method including:
- performing a local tone mapping on each HDR pixel of said first image using a local transfer function for converting HDR pixels into LDR pixels having a locally tone mapped value, said local transfer function being derived from at least one image parameter of said HDR pixels in a plurality of tiles proximate to a tile containing a particular HDR pixel, wherein the number of the plurality of tiles proximate to said tile containing the particular HDR pixel depends on content of a scene that has been captured by said first image;
performing a global tone mapping on each HDR pixel using a global transfer function for converting HDR pixels into LDR pixels having a globally tone mapped value, said global transfer function being derived from an average value of said at least one image parameter of all said HDR pixels;
deriving a final value for each LDR pixel by weighting said locally and globally tone mapped pixel values using a first weighting factor applied to each said locally tone mapped LDR pixel value and a second weighting factor applied to each said globally tone mapped LDR pixel value and combining said weighted locally and globally tone mapped LDR pixel values; and
storing one or more derived final values in a storage device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for tone mapping a high dynamic range image of a large terrestrial area into a lower dynamic range image uses a globally aware, locally adaptive approach whereby local tonal balancing parameter values are derived from known tone mapping parameters for a local 3×3 matrix of image tiles and used in turn to derive a local sigmoid transfer function for pixels in the tile in the middle of the matrix. A global sigmoid transfer function is derived based on values of the tone mapping parameters applicable to the entire image. A lower dynamic range image pixel will have a local tone mapped value and a globally tone mapped value, which are combined by giving each a weighted value to provide a final low dynamitic range pixel value.
36 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method for converting a first image represented by HDR pixels having a predetermined dynamic range, said first image comprising a plurality of tiles each including a two-dimensional array of a plurality of said HDR pixels, into a second image with corresponding LDR pixels having a lower dynamic range, the method including:
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performing a local tone mapping on each HDR pixel of said first image using a local transfer function for converting HDR pixels into LDR pixels having a locally tone mapped value, said local transfer function being derived from at least one image parameter of said HDR pixels in a plurality of tiles proximate to a tile containing a particular HDR pixel, wherein the number of the plurality of tiles proximate to said tile containing the particular HDR pixel depends on content of a scene that has been captured by said first image; performing a global tone mapping on each HDR pixel using a global transfer function for converting HDR pixels into LDR pixels having a globally tone mapped value, said global transfer function being derived from an average value of said at least one image parameter of all said HDR pixels; deriving a final value for each LDR pixel by weighting said locally and globally tone mapped pixel values using a first weighting factor applied to each said locally tone mapped LDR pixel value and a second weighting factor applied to each said globally tone mapped LDR pixel value and combining said weighted locally and globally tone mapped LDR pixel values; and storing one or more derived final values in a storage device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A computer system for converting a first image represented by HDR pixels having a predetermined dynamic range, said first image comprising a plurality of tiles each including a two-dimensional array of a plurality of said HDR pixels, into a second image with corresponding LDR pixels having a lower dynamic range, the system comprising:
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a processor module with executable instructions in an operating system module stored on a computer storage medium for carrying out operations that; perform a local tone mapping on each HDR pixel of said first image using a local transfer function for converting HDR pixels into LDR pixels having a locally tone mapped value, said local transfer function being derived from at least one image parameter of said HDR pixels in a plurality of tiles proximate to a tile containing a particular HDR pixel, wherein the number of the plurality of tiles near said tile containing the particular HDR pixel depends on content of a scene of said first image, each tile including a plurality of pixels, perform a global tone mapping on each HDR pixel using a global transfer function for converting HDR pixels into LDR pixels having a globally tone mapped value, said global transfer function being derived from an average value of said at least one image parameter of all said HDR pixels, and derive a final value for each LDR pixel by weighting said locally and globally tone mapped pixel values using a first weighting factor applied to each said locally tone mapped LDR pixel value and a second weighting factor applied to each said globally tone mapped LDR pixel value and combining said weighted locally and globally tone mapped LDR pixel values; and a storage module storing one or more derived final values in a storage device. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A computer usable storage device with a computer program stored thereon, the computer program upon execution by a processor performs a method for converting a first image represented by HDR pixels having a predetermined dynamic range, said first image comprising a plurality of tiles each including a two-dimensional array of a plurality of said pixels, into a second image with corresponding LDR pixels having a lower dynamic range, said first image and second image being color images comprising pixels with red (R), green (G), blue (B), and infrared (IR) components, the method comprising:
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performing a local tone mapping on each HDR pixel of said first image using a local transfer function for converting HDR pixels into LDR pixels having a locally tone mapped value, said local transfer function being derived from at least one image parameter of said HDR pixels in plural tiles proximate to a said tile containing a particular HDR pixel; performing a global tone mapping on each HDR pixel using a global transfer function for converting HDR pixels into LDR pixels having a globally tone mapped value, said global transfer function being derived from an average value of said at least one image parameter of all said HDR pixels; deriving a final value for each LDR pixel by weighting said locally and globally tone mapped pixel values using a first weighting factor applied to each said locally tone mapped LDR pixel value and a second weighting factor applied to each said globally tone mapped LDR pixel value and combining said weighted locally and globally tone mapped LDR pixel values; determining neighborhood values of the following tonal balancing parameters for all of said neighborhoods in said image by; setting a RGB shadow percentile tonal balancing parameter for each respective tile to the minimum value of the shadow percentile value of each of the R, G and B components; setting an IR shadow percentile tonal balancing parameter for each respective tile to the minimum value of the shadow percentile value of each of the R, G and IR components; setting a RGB highlight percentile tonal balancing parameter for each respective tile to the maximum value of the highlight percentile value of each of the R, G and B components; and setting an IR highlight percentile tonal balancing parameter for each respective tile to the maximum value of the highlight percentile value of each of the R, G and IR components; assigning to a predetermined tile in each said neighborhood said neighborhood values of said tonal balancing parameters; and deriving from said neighborhood tonal balancing parameters plural transfer functions for tone mapping each said component of each HDR pixel in said predetermined tile to an LDR pixel; and storing said final LDR pixel values in a storage device for outputting said second image, wherein said at least one image parameter includes a shadow percentile value and a highlight percentile value and said transfer functions comprise sigmoid tone mapping functions embodied in a look-up table of a computer processor, each said component being represented by 16 bits of data in said first HDR image and 8 bits of data in said second LDR image, and wherein aid plural tiles proximate to said tile define a neighborhood of said tiles and each said neighborhood has a shadow percentile value and a highlight percentile value for each component of said HDR image comprising said neighborhood.
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Specification