Image-dependent luminance enhancement
US5450502A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 7, 1993 |
| Grant date | Sep 12, 1995 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 7, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T2207/20021
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method of improving the contrast in a natural scene image, in which the image is converted from an original set of color coordinates to an expression where one term has a relationship to overall image intensity. A global histogram of the image is derived for that term, which plots the populations of pixels at each possible level of intensity in the image. The signal describing the histogram is operated on with a filter having the characteristic of weakening strong peaks and valleys in the function, but not effecting flat portions of the signal. The filtered histogram signal is used for controlling the TRC mapping in a device at which the image is to be printed. Contrast is improved in areas likely to have the most image information, using the method described above, and further, dividing the image into a number of segments, each describable by a local histogram signal for that image segment. Each local histogram signal is compared to the global histogram, to determine which signals are flatter. If any of the local histograms have signals flatter than the global histogram, the signals are summed into a relevant histogram signal and directed to the flattening filter in its place.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.