APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR REMOVING BLOOMING OF CAMERA IMAGE

• US 20090303356A1
• Filed: 06/04/2009
• Published: 12/10/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Innotek Company Limited (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: MIN, Chol, AHN, Namkyu, SEO, Sungha
• Granted Patent: US 8,208,022 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/241
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/70 Circuitry for compensating brightness variation in the scene
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/621 for the control of blooming

Abstract

An apparatus and a method for removing blooming of a camera image are provided. When a lane marking is not normally detected from an image obtained by photographing a front view or a rear view of a car, it is determined whether the blooming is generated in the image. When it is determined that the blooming is generated, a mask for removing the blooming is generated and superposed on the image. Accordingly, a situation that the lane marking is not normally detected due to the blooming caused by a head light of a car can be reduced or prevented in advance.

Claims

1. A method for removing blooming of a camera image, the method comprising:

detecting a lane marking from an image obtained by photographing a front view or a rear view of a car;

determining whether the blooming is generated in the image when the lane marking is not normally detected; and

generating a mask for removing the blooming and superposing the mask on the blooming of the image when it is determined that the blooming is generated.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of whether the blooming is generated comprises scanning pixels of the image and determining that the blooming is generated when at least a predetermined number of pixels having luminance levels higher than a high luminance reference level are detected.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the high luminance reference level is set to a value greater than 80% of a maximum luminance level of each pixel, and the predetermined number of pixels is set to a value greater than 1% of a maximum number of pixels of the image.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating and superposing comprises generating the mask having a low luminance level and superposing the mask on a high luminance level region corresponding to the blooming in the image.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the mask has a shape corresponding to the high luminance level region in the image.

6. An apparatus for removing blooming of a camera image, the apparatus comprising:

a signal processor configured to detect a lane marking from an image obtained by photographing a front view or a rear view of a car;

a luminance detector configured to detect a luminance of the image;

a mask generator configured to generate a mask; and

a controller configured to confirm whether the blooming is generated through the luminance detector when the signal processor does not normally detect the lane marking, and generate the mask for removing the blooming and superpose the mask on blooming of the image through the mask generator when the blooming being generated is confirmed.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the controller determines that the blooming is generated when the luminance detector detects more than a predetermined number of pixels having high luminance levels higher than a high luminance reference level.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the high luminance reference level is set to a value greater than 80% of a maximum luminance level of each pixel and the predetermined number of pixels is set to a value greater than 1% of a maximum number of pixels of the image.

9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the controller controls the mask generator to generate the mask having a low luminance level and superposes the mask on a high luminance level region corresponding to the blooming in the image.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the mask generator generates the mask having a shape corresponding to the high luminance level region in the image.

11. A method of compensating an image from an image capture device, the method comprising:

obtaining the image using the image capture device, the image having pixels with different luminance values;

determining whether a defined percentage of the pixels exceeds a defined luminance level;

generating a mask if the defined percentage of the pixels exceeds the defined luminance level; and

compensating a region of the image that includes the pixels that exceeds the defined luminance level using the mask.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the compensating of the region includes covering the region with the mask.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein a shape of the mask corresponds to a shape of the region.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the mask is a graphic symbol.

15. An apparatus for compensating an image, the apparatus comprising:

a luminance detector configured to detect luminance levels of pixels of the image;

a controller configured to determine whether a defined percentage of pixels of the image exceeds a defined luminance level; and

a mask generator to generate a mask if the defined percentage of the pixels exceeds the defined luminance level,

wherein the controller compensates a region of the image that includes the pixels that exceeds the defined luminance level using the mask.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the compensating of the region includes covering the region with the mask.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein a shape of the mask corresponds to a shape of the region.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the mask is a graphic symbol.