Combining images including transparency by selecting color components
US6825852B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | May 16, 2000 |
| Grant date | Nov 30, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 16, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T11/001
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Methods and apparatus including computer program products for combining source images to form a final image, each image being a digital image defined by color component values and a transparency value. The invention performs the steps of receiving two or more source images, each defined by color component and alpha information; assembling a new, mixed image in per-component format by applying a selection operation on the color and alpha information of the source images to define color component and alpha information of the new image according to a source selection definition; and converting the new per-component image into a shared-alpha format to generate the final image in shared-alpha format. In particular embodiments, the selection selects a color value and alpha pair from exactly one source image for each color component of the combined image. The mixed image in per-component format can be converted to a shared-alpha format through use of a matting color.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.