Image output apparatus, image output method, and program

• US 9,875,521 B2
• Filed: 06/04/2012
• Issued: 01/23/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: I-Cubed Research Center, Inc.
• Original Assignee: I-Cubed Research Center, Inc.
• Inventors: Kondo, Tetsujiro
• Primary Examiner(s): WU, XIAO MIN
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lhymn, Sarah
• Application Number:
  US14/131,115
• Publication Number:
  US 20140146086A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,059 Days
• Field of Search: 345418, 345501, 345619, 345660, 345661, 345665, 345 66, 356 23, 356217
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/40 Scaling of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. expanding or contracting
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/103 Detection of image changes, e.g. determination of an index representative of the image change
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/12 Overlay of images, i.e. displayed pixel being the result of switching between the corresponding input pixels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/125 wherein one of the images is motion video
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/14 Display of multiple viewports
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/391 Resolution modifying circuits, e.g. variable screen formats
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/397 Arrangements specially adapted for transferring the contents of two or more bit-mapped memories to the screen simultaneously, e.g. for mixing or overlay G09G5/02 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• 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 21/440263 by altering the spatial resolution, e.g. for displaying on a connected PDA
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4516 involving client characteristics, e.g. Set-Top-Box type, software version or amount of memory available
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4854 for modifying image parameters, e.g. image brightness, contrast

Abstract

An image output apparatus includes an input image acquiring unit, a target attribute value acquiring unit that acquires at least one target attribute value, which is an original attribute value of a subject contained in an input image, an attribute value acquiring unit that acquires at least one attribute value of the subject contained in an output image formed using the input image, a difference information acquiring unit that acquires at least one piece of difference information indicating a difference between the at least one target attribute value acquired by the target attribute value acquiring unit and the at least one attribute value acquired by the attribute value acquiring unit, and an image output unit that, in a case where the at least one piece of difference information does not satisfy a predetermined condition, changes an output mode of the output image formed using the input image, and performs output.

Claims

1. An image output apparatus comprising one or more processors configured to implement:

an input image acquiring unit that acquires an input image;

a target attribute value acquiring unit that acquires at least one target attribute value, which is an original attribute value of an identifiable object contained within a particular region of the input image, wherein the at least one target attribute value comprises at least one of a target size of the object and a target speed of movement of the object and the original attribute value of the object comprises at least one of the original size of the object and original speed of movement of the object, respectively, and wherein the target attribute value acquiring unit comprises;

a target attribute value storage part that stores a plurality of subject identifiers and at least one associated target attribute value for each of the subject identifiers, wherein the plurality of subject identifiers identify a plurality of different types of objects, and

a target attribute value acquiring part that detects, from the plurality of subject identifiers, a subject identifier for identifying the type of the object contained in the input image and acquires an associated at least one target attribute value from the target attribute value storage part;

an attribute value acquiring unit that detects an object which corresponds to the object contained in the input image and which is contained in an output image formed using the input image, and acquires at least one attribute value of the object contained in the output image, wherein the at least one attribute value comprises at least one of a size of the object contained in the output image and a speed of movement of the object contained in the output image;

a difference information acquiring unit that acquires at least one piece of difference information indicating a difference between the at least one target attribute value acquired by the target attribute value acquiring unit and the at least one attribute value acquired by the attribute value acquiring unit; and

an image output unit that, in a case where the at least one piece of difference information does not satisfy a predetermined condition, changes an output mode of the output image formed using the input image, and performs output, and wherein the image output unit comprises;

a condition storage part in which the predetermined condition is stored,

a judging part that judges whether or not the at least one piece of difference information satisfies the predetermined condition,

a window size determining part that determines, in a case where the judging part judges that the at least one piece of difference information does not satisfy the predetermined condition, a size of a window to which the output image is to be output, and

an output generator generating the output image to the window having the size determined by the window size determining part.

2. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in a case where the difference between the at least one target attribute value and the at least one attribute value is so large that the at least one piece of difference information does not satisfy the predetermined condition, the image output unit changes the output mode of the output image formed using the input image, so as to reduce the difference between the at least one target attribute value and the at least one attribute value acquired by the attribute value acquiring unit, and performs output.

3. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image output unit further comprises an another image output part that, in a case where the size of the window is smaller than that of a screen frame, outputs an image different from the output image, to a second region different from a region of the window to which the output image is to be output.

4. The image output apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the another image output part performs stroboscopic output to at least two regions obtained by dividing the second region.

5. The image output apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a data broadcast receiver receiving a data broadcast,

wherein the another image output part outputs the data broadcast to the second region.

6. The image output apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to implement an input video storage unit in which input video that can be divided into at least two chapters can be stored,

wherein the input image acquiring unit sequentially reads each of at least two input images contained in the input video from the input video storage unit, and

the another image output part outputs an image representing each of the at least two chapters contained in the input video to the second region.

7. The image output apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the another image output part outputs, to the second region, an image obtained by performing image processing different from that performed on the output image, on the same input image from which the output image that is to be output to the window is formed.

8. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image output unit further comprises a PinP output part that, in a case where the size of the window determined by the window size determining part is larger than that of a screen frame of the image output apparatus, outputs part of the output image to the screen frame, and outputs an image obtained by reducing the output image, to a window smaller than the screen frame.

9. The image output apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the target attribute value acquiring unit acquires a target size, which is an original size of the object contained in the input image,

the attribute value acquiring unit acquires a size of the object contained in the output image formed using the input image, and

the difference information acquiring unit acquires size difference information, which is difference information indicating a difference between the target size acquired by the target attribute value acquiring unit and the object size acquired by the attribute value acquiring unit.

10. The image output apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the target attribute value acquiring unit acquires target speed information, which is information on a target value relating to a speed of movement of the object contained in the input image,

the attribute value acquiring unit acquires speed information relating to a speed of movement of the object contained in the output image formed using the input image, and

the difference information acquiring unit acquires speed difference information, which is difference information indicating a difference between the target speed information acquired by the target attribute value acquiring unit and the speed information acquired by the attribute value acquiring unit.

11. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in a case where the at least one piece of difference information does not satisfy the predetermined condition, the image output unit forms and outputs an output image obtained by changing a predetermined at least one attribute value of the input image.

12. The image output apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the predetermined at least one attribute value of the input image is a brightness of the input image.

13. The image output apparatus according to claim 11,

wherein the input image acquiring unit acquires at least two input images, and

the predetermined at least one attribute value of the input image is a reproduction speed of the at least two input images.

14. The image output apparatus according to claim 11,

wherein the input image acquiring unit acquires at least two input images, and

the predetermined at least one attribute value of the input image is the number of fields of the at least two input images that are to be output per unit time.

15. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to implement a display attribute value acquiring unit that acquires at least one display attribute value, which is an attribute value of a display screen of the image output apparatus,

wherein a manner of the image output unit for changing the output mode varies depending on the at least one display attribute value.

16. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to implement:

an accepting unit that accepts a change instruction, which is an instruction to change the predetermined condition; and

a condition changing unit that changes the predetermined condition according to the change instruction.

17. The image output apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein at least one target attribute value is stored in advance, and

the one or more processors are further configured to implement:

an accepting unit that accepts a target attribute value change instruction, which is an instruction to change the target attribute value; and

a target attribute value changing unit that changes the target attribute value according to the target attribute value change instruction.

18. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to implement:

an accepting unit that accepts change information, which is a degree of changing the output mode of the output image; and

a change information changing unit that changes a degree of changing the output mode of the output image, according to the change information;

wherein, in a case where the at least one piece of difference information does not satisfy the predetermined condition, the image output unit changes the output mode of the output image formed using the input image, according to the change information, and performs output.

19. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object is a human or an animal and detecting the object comprises recognizing a face of the human or animal.

20. The image output apparatus of claim 1, wherein the type of the object contained in the input image is a vehicle and the associated at least one target attribute value is a target size of the vehicle.

21. The image output apparatus of claim 1, wherein the type of the object contained in the input image is a natural object and the associated at least one target attribute value is a target speed of movement of the natural object.

22. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the at least one target attribute value comprises a target size of the object and a target speed of movement of the object,

the at least one original attribute value of the object comprises the original size of the object and original speed of movement of the object, and

the at least one attribute value of the object contained in the output image comprises a size of the object contained in the output image and a speed of movement of the object contained in the output image.

23. An image output method, realized with an input image acquiring unit, a target attribute value acquiring unit, an attribute value acquiring unit, a difference information acquiring unit, and an image output unit, comprising:

an input image acquiring step of the input image acquiring unit acquiring an input image;

a target attribute value acquiring step of the target attribute value acquiring unit acquiring at least one target attribute value, which is an original attribute value of an identifiable object contained within a particular region of the input image, wherein the at least one target attribute value comprises at least one of a target size of the object and a target speed of movement of the object and the original attribute value of the object comprises at least one of the original size of the object and original speed of movement of the object, respectively, wherein the target attribute value acquiring step further comprises;

storing, in a target attribute value storage part of the target attribute value acquiring unit, a plurality of subject identifiers and at least one associated target attribute value for each of the subject identifiers, wherein the plurality of subject identifiers identify a plurality of different types of objects, and

detecting, by a target attribute value acquiring part of the target attribute value acquiring unit, a subject identifier from the plurality of subject identifiers for identifying the type of the object contained in the input image, and acquiring, by the target attribute value acquiring part, an associated at least one target attribute value from the target attribute value storage part;

an attribute value acquiring step of the attribute value acquiring unit detecting an object which corresponds to the object contained in the input image, and which is contained in an output image formed using the input image and acquiring at least one attribute value of the object contained in the output image formed using the input image, wherein the at least one attribute value of the object contained in the output image comprises at least one of a size of the object contained in the output image and a speed of movement of the object contained in the output image;

a difference information acquiring step of the difference information acquiring unit acquiring at least one piece of difference information indicating a difference between the at least one target attribute value acquired in the target attribute value acquiring step and the at least one attribute value acquired in the attribute value acquiring step; and

an image output step of the image output unit, in a case where the at least one piece of difference information does not satisfy a predetermined condition, changing an output mode of the output image formed using the input image, and performing output, and wherein the image output step further comprises;

storing the predetermined condition in a condition storage part of the image output unit,

judging, by a judging part of the image output unit, whether or not the at least one piece of difference information satisfies the predetermined condition,

determining, by a window size determining part of the image output unit, in a case where the judging part judges that the at least one piece of difference information does not satisfy the predetermined condition, a size of a window to which the output image is to be output, and

generating, by an output generator of the image output unit, the output image to the window having the size determined by the window determining part.

24. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium in which a program is stored, the program being for causing a computer to function as:

an input image acquiring unit that acquires an input image;

a target attribute value acquiring unit that acquires at least one target attribute value, which is an original attribute value of an identifiable object contained within a particular region of the input image, wherein the at least one target attribute value comprises at least one of a target size of the object and a target speed of movement of the object and the original attribute value of the object comprises at least one of the original size of the object and original speed of movement of the object, respectively, and wherein the target attribute value acquiring unit comprises;

a target attribute value storage part that stores a plurality of subject identifiers and at least one associated target attribute value for each of the subject identifiers, wherein the plurality of subject identifiers identify a plurality of different types of objects, and

a target attribute value acquiring part that detects, from the plurality of subject identifiers, a subject identifier for identifying the type of the object contained in the input image and acquires an associated at least one target attribute value from the target attribute value storage part;

an attribute value acquiring unit that detects an object which corresponds to the object contained in the input image and which is contained in an output image formed using the input image and acquires at least one attribute value of the object contained in the output image formed using the input image, wherein the at least one attribute value comprises a size of the object contained in the output image and a speed of movement of the object contained in the output image;

a difference information acquiring unit that acquires at least one piece of difference information indicating a difference between the at least one target attribute value acquired by the target attribute value acquiring unit and the at least one attribute value acquired by the attribute value acquiring unit; and

an image output unit that, in a case where the at least one piece of difference information does not satisfy a predetermined condition, changes an output mode of the output image formed using the input image, and performs output, and wherein the image output unit comprises;

a condition storage part in which the predetermined condition is stored,

a judging part that judges whether or not the at least one piece of difference information satisfies the predetermined condition,

a window size determining part that determines, in a case where the judging part judges that the at least one piece of difference information does not satisfy the predetermined condition, a size of a window to which the output image is to be output, and

an output generator generating the output image to the window having the size determined by the window size determining part.

25. An image output apparatus comprising one or more processors configured to implement:

an input image acquiring unit that acquires an input image;

a target attribute value acquiring unit that acquires at least one target attribute value, which is an original attribute value of an identifiable object contained in the input image, and wherein the target attribute value acquiring unit comprises;

a target attribute value storage part that stores a plurality of subject identifiers and an associated attribute identifier and associated target attribute value for each of the subject identifiers, wherein the plurality of subject identifiers identify a plurality of different types of objects, and

a target attribute value acquiring part that detects, from the plurality of subject identifiers, a subject identifier for identifying the type of the object contained in the input image and acquires the associated target attribute value from the target attribute value storage part;

an attribute value acquiring unit that detects an object contained in an output image formed using the input image, and acquires at least one attribute value of the object contained in the output image;

a difference information acquiring unit that acquires at least one piece of difference information indicating a difference between the at least one target attribute value acquired by the target attribute value acquiring unit and the at least one attribute value acquired by the attribute value acquiring unit; and

an image output unit that, in a case where the at least one piece of difference information does not satisfy a predetermined condition, changes an output mode of the output image formed using the input image, and performs output, and wherein the image output unit comprises;

a condition storage part in which the predetermined condition is stored,

a judging part that judges whether or not the at least one piece of difference information satisfies the predetermined condition,

a window size determining part that determines, in a case where the judging part judges that the at least one piece of difference information does not satisfy the predetermined condition, a size of a window to which the output image is to be output, and

an output generator generating the output image to the window having the size determined by the window size determining part.