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Mechanism for determining parallax between digital images

  • US 5,220,441 A
  • Filed: 09/28/1990
  • Issued: 06/15/1993
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/28/1990
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
Patent Images

1. For use with a digitized image processing system wherein first and second digitized images respectively representative of first and second views of a contoured surface as seen from first and second respectively different look angles are generated, said first and second digitized images containing respective first and second arrays of image pixels, a method of determining parallax between locations on said contoured surface as seen in said first digitized image and corresponding locations on said contoured surface as seen in said second digitized image, comprising the steps of:

  • (a) correlating image contents of a plurality of first image pattern windows distributed throughout said first array, each first image pattern window containing a respective sub-array of pixels of said first array, with image contents of respective first correlation windows positioned at locations including initial and subsequent correlation windows positioned at respective initial and subsequent locations, each first correlation window containing a respective sub-array of pixels of said second array, by different placements of said first correlation windows within a plurality of first search windows distributed throughout said second array to determine the locations, where said different placements of the first correlation windows include initial different placements of the initial correlation window within the initial search window to determine the initial location of the initial correlation window, and subsequent different placements of the subsequent correlation window within the subsequent search window to determine the subsequent location of the subsequent correlation window responsive to one of an initial parallax responsive to the initial location and a subsequent parallax;

    (b) identifying, on the basis of correlations carried out in step (a), an initial pixel of said second array representing an initial location on said contoured surface corresponding to an initial prescribed pixel of said first array responsive to said initial different placements, and identifying, on the basis of correlations carried out in step (a), pixels of said second array representing locations on said contoured surface that correspond to prescribed pixels of said first array responsive to said subsequent different placements;

    (c) determining the initial parallax between the initial pixel and the initial prescribed pixel, and determining the parallax between respective ones of the prescribed pixels of said first array and the pixels of said second array; and

    (d) determining the parallax between locations on said contoured surface as seen in said first digitized image and corresponding locations on said contoured surface as seen in said second digitized image, in accordance with the initial parallax and the parallax determined in step (c).

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