Patent · US Expired

Image processing apparatus, method and storage medium

US6654497B1 · kind B1 · utility

18Cited by
8References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJan 18, 2000
Grant dateNov 25, 2003
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 18, 2020

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06T7/181
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

There is disclosed an image processing apparatus. A contour interval intended to be extracted is designated (S1). A start point designated in S1 is used as the initial position of an attended point, and an end point is set as a target point of contour tracing (S2). A positional relation of the attended point and the target point is calculated (S3). A blind mask for blinding pixels in the vicinity of the attended point is prepared (S4). This mask processing permits a considerably free contour line tracing, while setting a restriction to securely converge to the target point. The pixel with the maximum edge strength is searched for from the pixels in the vicinity of the attended point (S5), and the searched contour pixel is set as a new attended point (S6). The operation is repeated from S3 to S6 until the new attended point reaches the target point (S7).

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.