Color grading apparatus and methods

• US 9,532,022 B2
• Filed: 03/19/2015
• Issued: 12/27/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation (Dolby Laboratories Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation (Dolby Laboratories Incorporated)
• Inventors: Atkins, Robin, Longhurst, Peter W., Messmer, Neil W., Margerm, Steve
• Primary Examiner(s): Sajous, Wesner
• Application Number:
  US14/663,281
• Publication Number:
  US 20150195499A1
• Time in Patent Office: 649 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/64 Circuits for processing colour signals H04N9/77 takes precedence; camera processing pipelines for processing colour signals H04N23/84
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/68 for controlling the amplitude of colour signals, e.g. automatic chroma control circuits H04N9/71, H04N9/73 take precedence; camera processing pipelines for controlling the colour saturation of colour signals H04N23/86
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/73 Colour balance circuits, e.g. white balance circuits or colour temperature control camera processing pipelines for colour balance H04N23/88

Abstract

A method for color grading input video data for display on a target display comprises obtaining target display metadata indicative of a capability of the target display, obtaining input video data metadata indicative of image characteristics of the input video data, automatically determining initial values for parameters of a parameterized sigmoidal transfer function, at least one of the initial values based at least in part on at least one of the target display metadata and the input video data metadata and mapping the input video data to color-graded video data according to the parameterized transfer function specified using the initial values.

Claims

1. A method for color grading input video data for display on a target display, the method comprising:

by apparatus comprising one or more data processors configured by software, one or more programmable logic devices, one or more logic circuits or a combination thereof;

obtaining target display metadata indicative of a capability of the target display;

obtaining input video data metadata indicative of image characteristics of the input video data;

automatically determining initial values for parameters of a parameterized transfer function, at least one of the initial values based at least in part on at least one of the target display metadata and the input video data metadata;

mapping the input video data to color-graded video data according to the parameterized transfer function specified using the initial values, wherein the parameterized transfer function comprises a non-linear region in log-log space;

and providing a control for manually adjusting a value of a first parameter, the control configured to, in response to a manual control adjustment, adjust the value of a first parameter and adjust a value of a second parameter by an amount proportional to the adjustment of the value of the first parameter.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the parameters comprise a plurality of control points which characterize the parameterized transfer function.

3. A method according to claim 2 wherein the control points comprise a minimum extremity control point, a mid-tone control point, and a maximum extremity control point.

4. A method according to claim 3 wherein the control points further comprise a footroom control point and a headroom control point.

5. A method according to claim 2 wherein the control points are established on a scene-by-scene basis of the input video data.

6. A method according to claim 1 wherein the adjustment of the second parameter value is calibrated to maintain a pre-adjustment ratio among the first parameter value, the second parameter value and a value of a third parameter.

7. A method according to claim 1 wherein obtaining the input video data metadata comprises extracting input video data metadata from the input video data.

8. A method according to claim 7 wherein extracting input video data metadata from the input video data comprises computing a luminance statistic.

9. A method according to claim 8 wherein automatically determining the at least one of the initial values comprises determining a maximum extremity parameter based on the luminance statistic.

10. A method according to claim 8 wherein automatically determining the at least one of the initial values comprises determining a minimum extremity control parameter based on the luminance statistic.

11. A method according to claim 8 wherein automatically determining the at least one of the initial values comprises determining a mid-tone control parameter based on the luminance statistic.

12. A method according to claim 7 wherein extracting input video data metadata comprises obtaining a map of light sources for at least one frame of the input video data and determining a light source luminance threshold based on the map of light sources.

13. A method according to claim 12 wherein automatically determining the at least one of the initial values comprises determining a high range sharpness parameter based on the light source luminance threshold.

14. A method according to claim 7 wherein extracting input video data metadata comprises obtaining a low level noise threshold for the input video data.

15. A method according to claim 14 wherein automatically determining the at least one of the initial values comprises determining a low range sharpness parameter based on the low level noise threshold.

16. A method according to claim 1 wherein the input video data metadata comprises one or more video data acquisition parameters for the input video data.

17. A method according to claim 1 comprising obtaining an identification of a salient region of the input video data, and wherein obtaining the input video data metadata comprises extracting input video data metadata from the salient region.

18. Apparatus for color grading input video data for display on a target display, the apparatus comprising:

an input configured to receive input video data;

an initial parameter generator configured to generate initial values for parameters of a parameterized transfer function, wherein the parameters comprise a plurality of control points which characterize the parameterized transfer function, at least one of the initial values based at least in part on at least one of target display metadata indicative of a capability of a target display and input video data metadata indicative of image characteristics of the input video data;

a mapping unit configured to apply the parameterized transfer function characterized by the initial values to the input video data to generate color-graded video data, wherein the parameterized transfer function comprises a non-linear region in log-log space;

and a control interface comprising a control for manually adjusting a value of a first parameter, the control configured to, in response to a manual control adjustment, adjust the value of a first parameter and adjust a value of a second parameter by an amount proportional to the adjustment of the value of the first parameter.

19. Apparatus according to claim 18 wherein the control points comprise a minimum extremity control point, a mid-tone control point, and a maximum extremity control point.

20. Apparatus according to claim 19 wherein the control points further comprise a footroom control point and a headroom control point.

21. Apparatus according to claim 18 wherein the control points are established on a scene-by-scene basis of the input video data.

22. Apparatus according to claim 18 wherein the adjustment of the second parameter value is calibrated to maintain a pre-adjustment ratio among the first parameter value, the second parameter value and a value of a third parameter.

23. Apparatus according to claim 18 wherein the initial parameter generator is configured to extract input video data metadata from the input video data.

24. Apparatus according to claim 23 wherein the initial parameter generator is configured to extract input video data metadata from the input video data by computing a luminance statistic.

25. Apparatus according to claim 24 wherein the initial parameter generator is configured to automatically determine the at least one of the initial values by determining a maximum extremity parameter based on the luminance statistic.

26. Apparatus according to claim 24 wherein the initial parameter generator is configured to automatically determine the at least one of the initial values by determining a minimum extremity control parameter based on the luminance statistic.

27. Apparatus according to claim 24 wherein the initial parameter generator is configured to automatically determine the at least one of the initial values by determining a mid-tone control parameter based on the luminance statistic.

28. Apparatus according to claim 23 wherein the initial parameter generator is configured to obtain a map of light sources for at least one frame of the input video data and determine a light source luminance threshold based on the map of light sources.

29. Apparatus according to claim 28 wherein the initial parameter generator is configured to automatically determine the at least one of the initial values by determining a high range sharpness parameter based on the light source luminance threshold.

30. Apparatus according to claim 23 wherein the initial parameter generator is configured to obtain a low level noise threshold for the input video data.

31. Apparatus according to claim 30 wherein the initial parameter generator is configured to automatically determine the at least one of the initial values by determining a low range sharpness parameter based on the low level noise threshold.

32. Apparatus according to claim 18 wherein the input video data metadata comprises one or more video data acquisition parameters for the input video data.

33. Apparatus according to claim 18 wherein the initial parameter generator is configured to obtain an identification of a salient region of the input video data, and wherein obtaining the input video data metadata comprises extracting input video data metadata from the salient region.