Boundary line detection apparatus and method, and image processing apparatus and method as well as recording medium

A boundary line detection method, comprising:

• a storage control step of controlling storage of a plurality of pixels inputted;
• a calculation step of calculating differences between pixel values of the pixels whose storage has been controlled by the processing of the storage control step;
• a detection step of detecting presence or absence of a boundary from the differences between the pixel values calculated by the processing of the calculation step;
• and
• a production step of producing information of a boundary line based on the differences between the pixel values calculated by the processing of the calculation step and the information of presence or absence of a boundary detected by the processing of the detection step.

A recording medium on which a computer-readable program is recorded, the computer-readable program comprising:

• a storage control step of controlling storage of a plurality of pixels inputted;
• a calculation step of calculating differences between pixel values of the pixels whose storage has been controlled by the processing of the storage control step;
• a detection step of detecting presence or absence of a boundary from the differences between the pixel values calculated by the processing of the calculation step;
• and
• a production step of producing information of a boundary line based on the differences between the pixel values calculated by the processing of the calculation step and the information of presence or absence of a boundary detected by the processing of the detection step.

An image processing apparatus, comprising:

• storage control means for controlling storage of a plurality of pixels inputted thereto;
• detection means for detecting presence or absence of a boundary line in the proximity of the pixels whose storage has been controlled by said storage control means;
• position calculation means for calculating positions of the boundary line with respect to the pixels whose storage has been controlled by said storage control means;
• weighting means for weighting the pixel values of the pixels in accordance with the positions calculated by said position calculation means;
• and
• outputting means for outputting the pixels weighted by said weighting means.

An image processing method, comprising:

• a storage control step of controlling storage of a plurality of pixels inputted;
• a detection step of detecting presence or absence of a boundary line in the proximity of the pixels whose storage has been controlled by the processing of the storage control step;
• a position calculation step of calculating positions of the boundary line with respect to the pixels whose storage has been controlled by the processing of the storage control step;
• a weighting step of weighting the pixel values of the pixels in accordance with the positions calculated by the position calculation step;
• and
• an outputting step of outputting the pixels weighted by the processing of the weighting step.

A recording medium on which a computer-readable program is recorded, the computer-readable program comprising:

• a storage control step of controlling storage of a plurality of pixels inputted;
• a detection step of detecting presence or absence of a boundary line in the proximity of the pixels whose storage has been controlled by the processing of the storage control step;
• a position calculation step of calculating positions of the boundary line with respect to the pixels whose storage has been controlled by the processing of the storage control step;
• a weighting step of weighting the pixel values of the pixels in accordance with the positions calculated by the position calculation step;
• and
• an outputting step of outputting the pixels weighted by the processing of the weighting step.