IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD

• US 20120027317A1
• Filed: 12/17/2010
• Published: 02/02/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: CHOI, Sungha, KIM, Kyunggeun
• Granted Patent: US 8,565,541 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/244
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/103 Selection of coding mode or of prediction mode
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/115 Selection of the code volume for a coding unit prior to coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/12 Selection from among a plurality of transforms or standards, e.g. selection between discrete cosine transform [DCT] and sub-band transform or selection between H.263 and H.264
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/136 Incoming video signal characteristics or properties
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/137 Motion inside a coding unit, e.g. average field, frame or block difference
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/14 Coding unit complexity, e.g. amount of activity or edge presence estimation H04N19/146 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/146 Data rate or code amount at the encoder output
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/172 the region being a picture, frame or field

Abstract

An image processing apparatus and method capable of compressing a current image using one of a plurality of compression algorithms based upon similarity (or fluctuation level) between a previous image and the current image are discussed.

Claims

1. An image processing method comprising:

calculating a similarity between a current image and a previous image;

selecting a compression algorithm from a plurality of preset compression algorithms based upon the calculated similarity; and

compressing the current image based upon the selected compression algorithm.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting of the compression algorithm comprises:

comparing the calculated similarity with a preset threshold value;

selecting a first compression algorithm from the plurality of compression algorithms, the first compression algorithm included in a lossless compression algorithm, when the calculated similarity is higher than the threshold value; and

selecting a second compression algorithm from the plurality of compression algorithms, the second compression algorithm included in a lossy compression algorithm, when the calculated similarity is lower than or equal to the threshold value.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first compression algorithm comprises a Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) or a Graphics Interchange Format (GIF).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting of the compression algorithm comprises:

comparing the calculated similarity with a preset threshold value;

providing preset compression algorithms organized by levels, each subsequent level having a higher loss factor;

selecting a compression algorithm having a priority one level higher than that of a compression algorithm used upon compression of the previous image, from a plurality of compression algorithms each having a preset priority, when the calculated similarity is higher than the threshold value; and

selecting a compression algorithm having a priority one level lower than that of a compression algorithm used upon compression of the previous image, from the plurality of compression algorithms each having the preset priority, when the calculated similarity is lower than or equal to the threshold value.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the selecting of the compression algorithm comprises selecting a compression algorithm corresponding to the calculated similarity from the plurality of preset compression algorithms.

6. An image processing method comprising:

checking an application program, the program using an image;

selecting a compression algorithm corresponding to the checked application program from a plurality of preset compression algorithms; and

compressing the image based upon the selected compression algorithm.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the selecting of the compression algorithm comprises selecting one of a plurality of lossless compression algorithms when the checked application program is a navigation program.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the selecting of the compression algorithm comprises selecting one of a plurality of lossy compression algorithms when the checked application program is a video player.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

calculating similarity between a current image and a previous image;

selecting a loss factor corresponding to the calculated similarity from a plurality of preset loss factors; and

setting a loss factor of the selected compression algorithm based upon the selected loss factor.

10. An image processing method comprising:

receiving a control signal including touch input information;

selecting a compression algorithm having the highest loss factor from a plurality of preset compression algorithms based upon the received control signal;

compressing an image based upon the selected compression algorithm; and

transmitting the compressed image to an external terminal.

11. An image processing method comprising:

receiving a control signal including touch input information;

setting a loss factor of a specific compression algorithm to a preset maximum value based upon the received control signal;

compressing an image based upon the compression algorithm with the set loss factor; and

transmitting the compressed image to an external terminal.

12. An image processing apparatus comprising:

a storage unit configured to store a plurality of preset compression algorithms; and

a controller configured to select a compression algorithm based upon similarity between a current image and a previous image from the plurality of compression algorithms, and compress the current image based upon the selected compression algorithm.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the controller is configured to select a first compression algorithm from the plurality of compression algorithms when the similarity is higher than a preset threshold value, the first compression algorithm included in a lossless compression algorithm.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the controller is configured to select a second compression algorithm from the plurality of compression algorithms when the similarity is lower than or equal to the threshold value, the second compression algorithm included in a lossy compression algorithm.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising:

preset compression algorithms organized by levels, each subsequent level having a higher loss factor,

wherein the controller is configured to select a compression algorithm having a priority one level higher than a compression algorithm used upon compression of the previous image, when the similarity is higher than the preset threshold value.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising:

preset compression algorithms organized by levels, each subsequent level having a higher loss factor,

wherein the controller is configured to select a compression algorithm having a priority one level lower than a compression algorithm used upon compression of the previous image, when the similarity is lower than or equal to the preset threshold value.

17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the controller is configured to check an application program, the application program using the current image.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the controller is configured to select one of a plurality of lossless compression algorithms, when the checked application program is a navigation program, the plurality of lossless compression algorithms included in the plurality of preset compression algorithms.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the controller is configured to select one of a plurality of lossy compression algorithms when the checked application program is a video player program, the plurality of lossy compression algorithms included in the plurality of preset compression algorithms.

20. An image processing apparatus comprising:

a storage unit configured to store a plurality of preset compression algorithms and a plurality of preset loss factors; and

a controller configured to select a compression algorithm corresponding to an application program using an image from the plurality of compression algorithms, select a loss factor corresponding to the similarity from the plurality of loss factors, and compress the image based upon the selected loss factor and compression algorithm.

21. An image processing apparatus comprising:

a storage unit configured to store a plurality of preset compression algorithms;

a communication unit configured to receive a control signal including touch input information; and

a controller configured to select a compression algorithm having the highest loss factor from the plurality of compression algorithms based upon the received control signal, and compress an image based upon the selected compression algorithm.

22. An image processing apparatus comprising:

a storage unit configured to store a plurality of preset loss factors;

a communication unit configured to receive a control signal including touch input information; and

a controller configured to set a loss factor of a specific compression algorithm to a preset maximum value based upon the received control signal, and compress an image based upon the compression algorithm with the set loss factor.