Dynamic image correction and imaging systems
OwnerAlbert D. Edgarinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method, system and software are disclosed for applying an image mask for improving image detail in a digital image. An electronic representation of an image is scanned or captured using an image capture device. A dynamic image mask is generated from the electronic representation of the image. The dynamic image mask has sharp edges which are representative of rapidly changing boundaries in the original image and blurred regions in less rapidly changing areas. The dynamic image mask is applied to the electronic representation of the original image to produce an enhanced image. The enhanced image may have certain advantages. For example, in some embodiments, the enhanced image can be view on a display with much more viewing detail that conventional systems.
Claims48
A method for enhancing a digital image comprising:
- providing a digital original image comprised of a plurality of pixels, wherein each pixel includes an original value corresponding to a characteristic of the image;
- calculating a dynamic image mask value for each pixel by averaging the original value of a pixel with the original values of the pixels proximate that pixel having original values lower than a threshold sharpness;
- and
- applying the dynamic image mask value to the original value for each corresponding pixel using a mathematical function to produce an enhanced image.
A system comprising:
- a sensor system operable to produce electronic signals corresponding to certain characteristics of a subject;
- a processor operable to receive the electronic signals and produce image values for each pixel;
- and
- a memory media having software stored thereon, wherein the software is operable to:
- calculate a dynamic image mask value for each pixel by averaging the image value of a pixel with the image values of the pixels proximate that pixel having image values lower than a threshold sharpness;
- and
- apply the dynamic image mask value to the image value for each corresponding pixel using a mathematical function to produce an enhanced image.
A software tangibly embodied in a computer readable medium, said software operable to produce an enhanced image by implementing a method comprising:
- generating a dynamic image mask from a digital original image, the dynamic image mask and the original image each comprising a plurality of pixels having varying values, wherein the values of the plurality of dynamic image mask pixels are set to form sharper edges corresponding to areas of more rapidly changing pixel values in the original image and less sharp regions corresponding to areas of less rapidly changing pixel values in the original image;
- and
- combining the dynamic image mask with the original image to produce the enhanced image.
A system comprising:
- an image sensor to convert light reflected from an image into information representative of the image;
- a processor;
- memory operably coupled to said processor;
- and
- a program of instructions capable of being stored in said memory and executed by said processor, said program of instructions to manipulate said processor to:
- obtain a dynamic image mask, the dynamic image mask and the information representative of the image each including a plurality of pixels having varying values, wherein the values of the plurality of dynamic image mask pixels are set to form sharper edges corresponding to areas of more rapidly changing pixel values in the original image and less sharp regions corresponding to areas of less rapidly changing pixel values in the original image;
- and
- combine the image mask with the information representative of the image to obtain a masked image.
41 The system of claim 40, wherein said program of instructions are executed on an output of said image sensor, and where a result of said executed program of instructions are input to said color decoder.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.