Method and apparatus for processing an image based on detected information

• US 9,927,867 B2
• Filed: 03/20/2014
• Issued: 03/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Yeom, Jee-young, Lee, Min-Woo, Kim, Jong-Ho, Park, Hyun-Hee, Bae, Hak-gyun, Jang, Seul-ki, Park, Jeong-hoon
• Primary Examiner(s): Iluyomade, Ifedayo
• Application Number:
  US14/220,876
• Publication Number:
  US 20140285431A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,468 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/00 Image enhancement or restoration
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0626 for control of overall brightness
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2354/00 Aspects of interface with display user
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/144 the light being ambient light
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/00 Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators image data processing or generation, in general G06T
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42202 environmental sensors, e.g. for detecting temperature, luminosity, pressure, earthquakes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4318 by altering the content in the rendering process, e.g. blanking, blurring or masking an image region image enhancement or restoration in general G06T5/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44008 involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in the video stream arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/20 Circuitry for controlling amplitude response
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/58 in dependence upon ambient light
• 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 and apparatus for processing an image based on detected information are provided. The method includes obtaining information relating to properties of the image, property information related to the image; obtaining ambient environment information of a display device for displaying the image; and processing the image based on the property information and the ambient environment information.

Claims

1. A method of processing an image to be displayed, the method comprising:

obtaining property information related to an inherent property of the image;

obtaining ambient environment information of a display device for displaying the image; and

processing the image based on the property information and the ambient environment information,

wherein the processing comprises adjusting a sharpness level of the image, based on a difference between a brightness of the image and a brightness of an ambient environment, and

wherein the sharpness level of the image is adjusted inversely proportional to the difference between the brightness of the image and the brightness of the ambient environment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the property information comprises at least one of a white point, a gamma value, a color temperature, and a color gamut of the image.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the property information further comprises information related to a variation in the property information, and

wherein the variation is a difference value in at least one type of the property information between a previous image and a current image.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the ambient environment information comprises at least one of brightness information of an ambient environment of the display device, color information of ambient lighting and the distance between the user and the display device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining of the ambient environment information comprises:

recognizing a certain body part of the user;

obtaining a size value of the recognized body part one or more times in a certain time cycle;

calculating an average value of the obtained size values; and

obtaining the distance between the user and the display device, based on the average value of the obtained size values.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing of the image comprises:

determining a parameter of an image processing algorithm based on the property information and the ambient environment information; and

processing the image by using the determined parameter.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the determining of the parameter comprises determining the parameter by using a certain mathematical expression having the property information and the ambient environment information as input values, and having the parameter as an output value.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the determining of the parameter comprises determining the parameter by using a lookup table comprising parameter values determinable according to values of the property information and the ambient environment information.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the image processing algorithm comprises an algorithm to control quality of the image by performing at least one of sharpness improvement, contrast control, noise reduction and saturation control.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing of the image comprises:

determining a physical property of the image based on the property information and the ambient environment information; and

processing the image by using the determined physical property.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the determined physical property comprises at least one of a color temperature, a gamma value, a white point, and primary colors.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing of the image comprises, in response to it being sensed that at least one of the property information of the image and the ambient environment information obtained in a certain time cycle varies by a value equal to or greater than a reference value, processing the image based on the property information and the ambient environment information.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining of the property information of the image comprises obtaining property information related to images comprised in a certain unit, and

wherein the processing of the image comprises processing the images in the certain unit based on the property information and the ambient environment information.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the image is processed in units of one of a frame, a scene and a sequence.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing of the image comprises processing the image by gradually increasing or reducing a variable for processing the image based on the property information and the ambient environment information.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the processed image.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the image comprises a screen displayable on the display device comprising one of a user interface screen, a web page screen and an application execution screen.

35. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a computer program for executing the method of claim 1.

36. The method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting the sharpness level comprises reducing the sharpness level as the distance between the user and the display device becomes shorter.

37. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing further comprises darkening the image as the distance between the user and the display device becomes shorter.

38. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing further comprises reducing a level of details of the image as the distance between the user and the display device becomes shorter.

18. An apparatus for processing an image to be displayed, the apparatus comprising:

a memory that obtains inherent property information of the image;

a sensor that obtains ambient environment information of a display device to display the image, the ambient environment information comprising a distance between a user and the display device;

an image processor that adjusts a sharpness level of the image based on the property information and the distance between the user and the display device,

wherein the image processor adjusts a sharpness level of the image, based on a difference between a brightness of the image and a brightness of an ambient environment, and

wherein the sharpness level of the image is adjusted inversely proportional to the difference between the brightness of the image and the brightness of the ambient environment.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the property information comprises at least one of a white point, a gamma value, a color temperature and a color gamut of the image.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the property information further comprises information related to a variation in the property information, and

wherein the variation is a difference value in at least one type of the property information between a previous image and a current image.

21. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the ambient environment information comprises at least one of brightness information of an ambient environment of the display device, color information of ambient lighting and the distance between the user and the display device.

22. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising a sensor that recognizes a certain body part of the user,

wherein the sensor obtains a size value of the recognized body part one or more times in a certain time cycle, calculates an average value of the obtained size values, and obtains the distance between the user and the display device, based on the average value.

23. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the image processor determines a parameter of an image processing algorithm based on the property information and the ambient environment information, and processes the image by using the determined parameter.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the image processor determines the parameter by using a certain mathematical expression having the property information and the ambient environment information as input values, and having the parameter as an output value.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the image processor determines the parameter by using a lookup table comprising parameter values determinable according to values of the property information and the ambient environment information.

26. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the image processor comprises an algorithm to control quality of the image by performing at least one of sharpness improvement, contrast control, noise reduction and saturation control.

27. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the image processor determines a physical property of the image based on the property information and the ambient environment information, and process the image by using the determined physical property.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the determined physical property comprises at least one of a color temperature, a gamma value, a white point and primary colors.

29. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising a variation detector that senses whether at least one of the property information of the image and the ambient environment information obtained in a certain time cycle varies by a value equal to or greater than a reference value,

wherein, in response to the variation detector sensing that at least one of the property information of the image and the ambient environment information varies by the value equal to or greater than the reference value, the image processor processes the image based on the property information and the ambient environment information.

30. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the memory obtains property information related to images comprised in a certain unit, and the image processor processes the images in the certain unit based on the property information and the ambient environment information.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the image is processed in units of one of a frame, a scene and a sequence.

32. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the image processor processes the image by gradually increasing or reducing a variable for processing the image based on the property information and the ambient environment information.

33. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising a display that displays the processed image.

34. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the image comprises a screen displayable on the display device comprising one of a user interface screen, a web page screen, and an application execution screen.