# US 2019/0318495 A1 · Image processing system

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- Number: US 2019/0318495 A1
- Document ID: US20190318495A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/316,826
- Filed: 2017-08-16
- Published: 2019-10-17
- Earliest claimed: 2016-08-18
- Assignees: Maxell, Ltd.
- Applicants: Maxell, Ltd.
- Inventors: Hiroyasu OTSUBO
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20190318495A1

## CPC

- G06T 7/593: from stereo images
- H04N 13/139: Format conversion, e.g. of frame-rate or size
- H04N 13/239: using two two-dimensional [2D] image sensors having a relative position equal to or related to the interocular distance (H04N13/243 takes precedence)
- G06T 2207/10012: Stereo images
- G06T 2207/20228: Disparity calculation for image-based rendering
- H04N 2013/0081: {Depth or disparity estimation from stereoscopic image signals}
- H04N 2013/0092: {Image segmentation from stereoscopic image signals}
- G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL
- H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION

## Abstract

An image processing system for reducing a calculation amount when calculating a parallax using an image of stereo photography. Reduced image data is generated by reducing image data respectively photographed by a plurality of cameras for stereo photographing, followed by reducing the number of pixels of image data. The image data and the reduced image data are stored in a memory. A plurality of reduced image data having the same photographing period are compared with each other to find a parallax. A parallax calculation region is set which includes the same position as a region where a parallax has been detected on reduced image data among a plurality of image data having the same photographing period. A parallax is calculated in the parallax calculation region of the image data formed before image reduction, and such parallax is used as a parallax of the image data formed before image reduction.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An image processing system comprising:
image reducing unit for generating a plurality of reduced image data obtained by reducing a plurality of image data, the plurality of image data being obtained by photographing the same photographing range at the same photographing time using a plurality of cameras arranged at different positions for stereo photographing;
first parallax calculation unit for calculating a parallax using the plurality of reduced image data;
parallax calculation region determining unit for determining a parallax calculation region for calculating a parallax on image data formed prior to reducing the image data, based on the parallax calculated from the reduced image data by the first parallax calculation unit; and
parallax calculation unit that calculates a parallax in the parallax calculation region on the plurality of image data formed before image reduction, and uses the calculated parallax as the parallax of the image data formed before image reduction.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The image processing system according to claim 1, further including background data output unit which outputs, as background parallax data, a parallax of a portion involving no parallax change during a predetermined period, based on the reduced image data formed by reducing the image data photographed by the cameras during a predetermined period before the photographing time,
wherein the parallax calculation region determining unit compares the parallax calculated from the reduced image data by the first parallax calculation unit with the parallax of the background parallax data outputted from the background data output unit, and uses an unmatched portion as the parallax calculation region.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein
the image reducing unit generates a plurality of reduced image data in which the number of pixels are stepwise different for each image data;
the first parallax calculation unit calculates a parallax using a plurality of minimal reduced image data having the smallest number of pixels among the reduced image data;
the parallax calculation region determining unit determines, based on the parallax to be calculated by using the reduced image data having one stage less pixels, the parallax calculation region on the reduced image data having the number of pixels one stage more than the above reduced image data or the image data formed before the image reduction;
the parallax calculation unit calculates a parallax of the parallax calculation region of the reduced image data for which the parallax calculation region has been determined or the image data formed before the image reduction.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The image processing system according to claim 1, further including the camera that outputs photographed image data.