Image processing method, image processing apparatus and imaging apparatus
AssigneeSCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd.
InventorTakuya Yasuda
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Sharpness at each focus position is calculated as an individual sharpness. Thereafter, one or M (where M is a natural number equal to or greater than 2 and smaller than N) corrective sharpness are calculated and image reference values are determined from the individual sharpness. An luminance value is calculated based on the image reference values and the corrective sharpness for each pixel. An all-in-focus image is generated by combining those luminance values.
Claims7
An image processing method for generating an all-in-focus image based on a plurality of captured images, comprising:
- (a) obtaining N (where N is a natural number equal to or greater than 2) captured images each constituted by a plurality of pixels by imaging an object while a focus position is changed in N stages along an optical axis;
- (b) obtaining one or M (where M is a natural number equal to or greater than 2 and smaller than N) image reference values and corrective sharpness for each pixel, the image reference value being a number of the captured image to be referred to as a luminance value of each set of coordinates of the all-in-focus image;
- (c) calculating the luminance value based on the image reference values and the corrective sharpness for each set of coordinates;
- and
- (d) generating the all-in-focus image by combining the calculated luminance values, the operation (b) including:
- (b-1) obtaining N individual sharpnesses by calculating a sharpness at each focus position;
- and
- (b-2) obtaining the corrective sharpness and the image reference value from the N individual sharpnesses.
An image processing apparatus for generating an all-in-focus image based on a plurality of captured images, comprising:
- an image storage configured to store captured images each constituted by a plurality of pixels and obtained by imaging an object while changing a focus position in N (where N is a natural number equal to or greater than 2) stages along an optical axis;
- a sharpness calculator configured to calculate N individual sharpnesses by calculating a sharpness at each focus position and calculating one or M (where M is a natural number equal to or greater than 2 and smaller than N) corrective sharpnesses from the N individual sharpnesses;
- an image reference value determiner configured to determine an image reference value in correspondence with the corrective sharpness, the image reference value being a number of the captured image to be referred to as a luminance value of each set of coordinates of the all-in-focus image;
- a luminance value calculator configured to calculate the luminance value based on the image reference value and the corrective sharpness for each set of coordinates;
- and
- an all-in-focus image generator configured to generate the all-in-focus image by combining the calculated luminance values.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.