High dynamic range image viewing on low dynamic range displays

• US 7,643,035 B2
• Filed: 03/10/2006
• Issued: 01/05/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Crow, William H., Uyttendaele, Matthew, Toyama, Kentaro
• Primary Examiner(s): Caschera; Antonio A
• Application Number:
  US11/372,650
• Publication Number:
  US 20060158462A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,397 Days
• Field of Search: 345/617, 345/640
• US Class Current: 345/589
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20208 High dynamic range [HDR] image processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/90 Dynamic range modification of images or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0271 Adjustment of the gradation levels within the range of the gradation scale, e.g. by redistribution or clipping
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/02 characterised by the way in which colour is displayed details of colour display specific for CRTs G09G1/28; specific for flat matrix panels other than liquid crystal displays G09G3/2003; specific for liquid crystal displays G09G3/3607

Abstract

In one aspect, a background image constructed from HDR image information is displayed along with portions of the HDR image corresponding to one or more regions of interest. The portions have at least one display parameter (e.g., a tone mapping parameter) that differs from a corresponding display parameter for the background image. Regions of interest and display parameters can be determined by a user (e.g., via a GUI). In another aspect, an intermediate image is determined based on image data corresponding to one or more regions of interest of the HDR image. The intermediate image has a narrower dynamic range than the HDR image. The intermediate image or a derived image is then displayed. The techniques and tools can be used to compare, for example, different tone mappings, compression methods, or color spaces in the background and regions of interest.

Claims

1. A method performed in a computer system of displaying one or more high dynamic range digital images on a display of a the computer system, the method comprising:

receiving high dynamic range image information defining a high dynamic range image;

receiving user-selected region of interest information, the user-selected region of interest information defining one or more user-selected regions of interest in the high dynamic range image, the one or more user-selected regions of interest selected by a user via a graphical user interface;

determining an intermediate image for the high dynamic range image based on image data in the one or more user-selected regions of interest in the high dynamic range image, the intermediate image having a narrower dynamic range than the high dynamic range image; and

displaying the intermediate image on the display;

wherein the intermediate image is a segmented version of the high dynamic range image.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the display has a narrower dynamic range than the high dynamic range image, and wherein the intermediate image has a dynamic range equal to the dynamic range of the display.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the intermediate image has a narrower dynamic range of exposure levels than the high dynamic range image.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the intermediate image has a narrower dynamic range of wavelengths than the high dynamic range image.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the intermediate image has a narrower dynamic range of color saturation levels than the high dynamic range image.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

after the receiving high dynamic range image information, processing the high dynamic range image information to yield processed image information; and

constructing the intermediate image using the processed image information.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising storing the intermediate image in an image cache.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the intermediate image is a tone-mapped version of the high dynamic range image.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the tone-mapped version has a dynamic range of exposure levels that differs from the dynamic range of exposure levels for the high dynamic range image.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the one or more regions is a segment defined in the segmented version of the high dynamic range image.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the intermediate image is retrieved from an image cache prior to the displaying.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the displaying the intermediate image comprises displaying a derived image, the derived image comprising:

a background image; and

a portion of the intermediate image defined by one of the one or more regions.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the one of the one or more regions is a rectangular region.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the rectangular region can be positioned by the user acting through the graphical user interface.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the high dynamic range image is a video image in a video image sequence.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the high dynamic range image is a three-dimensional image.

17. A method performed in a computer system of displaying one or more high dynamic range digital images on a display of the computer system, the method comprising:

receiving high dynamic range image information defining a high dynamic range image;

receiving region of interest information, the region of interest information defining one or more regions of the high dynamic range image;

determining an intermediate image for the high dynamic range image based on image data in the one or more regions of the high dynamic range image, the intermediate image having a narrower dynamic range than the high dynamic range image; and

displaying the intermediate image on the display;

wherein the displaying the intermediate image comprises displaying a derived image, the derived image comprising;

background image; and

a portion of the intermediate image defined by one of the one or more regions; and

wherein the intermediate image is compressed using a first compression method and the background image is compressed using a different compression method.

18. A method performed in a computer system of displaying one or more high dynamic range digital images on a display of the computer system, the method comprising:

receiving high dynamic range image information defining a high dynamic range image;

receiving region of interest information, the region of interest information defining one or more regions of the high dynamic range image;

determining an intermediate image for the high dynamic range image based on image data in the one or more regions of the high dynamic range image, the intermediate image having a narrower dynamic range than the high dynamic range image; and

displaying the intermediate image on the display;

wherein the displaying the intermediate image comprises displaying a derived image, the derived image comprising;

background image; and

a portion of the intermediate image defined by one of the one or more regions; and

wherein a color space for, the intermediate image differs from a color space for the background image.

19. A method performed in a computer system of displaying one or more high dynamic range digital images on a display of the computer system, the method comprising:

receiving high dynamic range image information defining a high dynamic range image;

receiving region of interest information, the region of interest information defining one or more regions of the high dynamic range image;

determining a first intermediate image for the high dynamic range image based on image data in the one or more regions of the high dynamic range image, the first intermediate image having a narrower dynamic range than the high dynamic range image;

displaying the first intermediate image on the display; and

displaying a second intermediate image in a derived image, the derived image comprising;

a background image; and

at least one portion of each of the two intermediate images, each portion defined by at least one of the one or more regions.

20. A method performed in a computer system of displaying one or more high dynamic range digital images on a display of the computer system, the method comprising:

receiving high dynamic range image information defining a high dynamic range image;

receiving region of interest information, the region of interest information defining one or more regions of the high dynamic range image;

determining a first intermediate image for the high dynamic range image based on image data in the one or more regions of the high dynamic range image, the first intermediate image having a narrower dynamic range than the high dynamic range image;

displaying the first intermediate image on the display; and

displaying a second intermediate image and a third intermediate image in a derived image, the derived image comprising;

a background image; and

at least one portion of each of the three intermediate images, each portion defined by at least one of the one or more regions.