Metadata based alignment of distorted images
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
- automatically selecting a particular profile for a set of distorted component images from among a plurality of profiles according to metadata corresponding to the set of distorted component images, wherein each of the plurality of profiles stores information for a particular camera/lens combination including corresponding pre-calculated unwarping functions each operable to detect feature points in individual images associated with a corresponding camera/lens combination, match detected feature points one to another to establish feature correspondences between the individual images, and generate substantially rectilinear feature point coordinates for unwarping according to the matching;
determining a pre-calculated unwarping function for the set of distorted component images that is stored in the particular profile; and
applying the pre-calculated unwarping function to generate a composite image from the set of distorted component images by joining the distorted component images one to another using the rectilinear feature point coordinates generated using the pre-calculated unwarping function.
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Abstract
A method for aligning and unwarping distorted images in which lens profiles for a variety of lens and camera combinations are precomputed. Metadata stored with images is used to automatically determine if a set of component images include an excessive amount of distortion, and if so the metadata is used to determine an appropriate lens profile and initial unwarping function. The initial unwarping function is applied to the coordinates of feature points of the component images to generate substantially rectilinear feature points, which are used to estimate focal lengths, centers, and relative rotations for pairs of the images. A global nonlinear optimization is applied to the initial unwarping function(s) and the relative rotations to generate optimized unwarping functions and rotations for the component images. The optimized unwarping functions and rotations may be used to render a panoramic image.
90 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
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automatically selecting a particular profile for a set of distorted component images from among a plurality of profiles according to metadata corresponding to the set of distorted component images, wherein each of the plurality of profiles stores information for a particular camera/lens combination including corresponding pre-calculated unwarping functions each operable to detect feature points in individual images associated with a corresponding camera/lens combination, match detected feature points one to another to establish feature correspondences between the individual images, and generate substantially rectilinear feature point coordinates for unwarping according to the matching; determining a pre-calculated unwarping function for the set of distorted component images that is stored in the particular profile; and applying the pre-calculated unwarping function to generate a composite image from the set of distorted component images by joining the distorted component images one to another using the rectilinear feature point coordinates generated using the pre-calculated unwarping function. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A computing system comprising:
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one or more processing devices; memory storing program instructions executable via the one or more processing devices to perform operations comprising; automatically selecting a particular profile for a set of distorted component images from among a plurality of profiles according to metadata corresponding to the set of distorted component images, wherein each of the plurality of profiles stores information for a particular camera/lens combination and contains corresponding pre-calculated unwarping functions; obtaining a pre-calculated unwarping function for the set of distorted component images that is contained in the particular profile, the pre-calculated unwarping function configured to detect feature points in individual images of the distorted component images, match detected feature points one to another to establish feature correspondences between the set of the distorted component images, and generate substantially rectilinear feature point coordinates for unwarping according to the matching; and joining the distorted component images one to another to generate a composite image by applying the pre-calculated unwarping function to the set of distorted component images. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. One or more computer-readable storage media other than a signal per se storing program instructions executable via a computing device to perform operations comprising:
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automatically selecting a particular profile for a set of distorted component images from among a plurality of profiles according to metadata corresponding to the set of distorted component images, wherein each of the plurality of profiles stores a pre-calculated unwarping function for a particular camera/lens combination; obtaining the pre-calculated unwarping function for the set of distorted component images from the particular profile; and generating a set of substantially rectilinear feature points for the set of distorted component images used to align the distorted component images one to another; and applying the pre-calculated unwarping function to the set of distorted component images to generate a composite image, the pre-calculated unwarping function configured to unwarp the distorted component images and align the distorted component images based upon the set of substantially rectilinear feature points. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification