US 2006/0077495 A1Published application

Image synthesis apparatus and image synthesis method

AssigneePanasonic Corporation

InventorMika Nakamura

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Abstract

An image synthesis apparatus stores a synthesis order in which input images are to be synthesized with each other, and first and second synthesis numbers respectively designating how many of the input images are to be synthesized to generate first and second output images. The image synthesis apparatus synthesizes the plurality of input images with each other sequentially in accordance with the synthesis order, and stores a resultant synthesized image. When the stored synthesized image is the first output image, generated by synthesizing the first synthesis number of input images in accordance with the synthesis order, the first output image is output to an external destination. When the stored synthesized image is the second output image, generated by synthesizing the first output image with the remaining input images in the synthesis order, the stored second output image is output to the external destination.

Claims6

Dependent claims

An image synthesis apparatus for synthesizing a plurality of input images with each other to generate a first output image and a second output image, the image synthesis apparatus comprising:

a synthesis order storage unit operable to store a synthesis order designating an order in which the input images are to be synthesized;
a synthesis number storage unit operable to store a first synthesis number and a second synthesis number, the first synthesis number designating how many of the input images are to be synthesized to generate the first output image and the second synthesis number designating how many of the input images are to be synthesized to generate the second output image;
an image obtaining unit operable to obtain the plurality of input images;
a synthesizer operable to synthesize the obtained plurality of input images with each other sequentially in accordance with the synthesis order;
a buffer operable to store a synthesized image that results from the synthesis by the synthesizer;
and
an output control unit operable to control output of the synthesized image stored in the buffer, such that (a) when the stored synthesized image is the first output image, which has been generated by the synthesizer synthesizing a number of the input images equivalent to the first synthesis number in accordance with the synthesis order, the first output image is output to an external destination, and (b) when the synthesized image stored in the buffer is the second output image, which has been generated by the synthesizer synthesizing the first output image with one or more of the plurality of input images subsequent in the synthesis order to the input images used to generate the first output image, a total number of input images synthesized to generate the second output image being equivalent to the second synthesis number, the stored second output image is output to the external destination.

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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.