Image processing apparatus and method, and image pickup apparatus

An image processing apparatus for performing processing on image data which is formed of a predetermined number of pixel data obtained by an image-capturing device including a predetermined number of pixels and having a time integrating function, said image processing apparatus comprising;

• an area specifying unit configured to specify one of:
• (1) a non-mixed area formed of a foreground area consisting of foreground object components which form a foreground object of the image data and a background area consisting of background object components which form a background object of the image data, and (2) a mixed area in which the foreground object components and the background object components are mixed;
• and
• a processing unit configured to simultaneously perform processing for separating the foreground object components and the background object components from the pixel data of the mixed area, and processing for eliminating motion blur from the separated foreground object components;
• a model acquiring unit configured for acquiring a model corresponding to the processing unit and a motion vector;
• an equation generating unit configured for generating, based on the acquired model, an equation corresponding to a relationship between the pixel data of the processing unit and the foreground object components and the background object components contained in the processing unit ;
• and
• a calculator for calculating the foreground object components and the background object components contained in the processing unit based on the generated equation.

An image processing method for performing processing on image data which is formed of a predetermined number of pixel data obtained by an image-capturing device including predetermined number of pixels and having a time integrating function, said image processing method comprising:

• an area specifying step of specifying one of:
• (1) a non-mixed area formed of a foreground area consisting of foreground object components which form a foreground object of the image data and a background area consisting of background object components which form a background object of the image data, and (2) a mixed area in which the foreground object components and the background object components are mixed;
• and
• a processing execution step of simultaneously performing, based on a result obtained by said area specifying step, processing for separating the foreground object components and the background object components from the pixel data of the mixed area, and processing for eliminating motion blur from the separated foreground object components:
• an equal-portion detection step of detecting an equal portion consisting of adjacent pixel data of the foreground area whose values are substantially equal to each other,
• wherein, in the processing of said processing execution step, at least the processing for separating the foreground object components and the background object components from the pixel data of the mixed area and the processing for eliminating motion blur from the separated foreground object components are simultaneously performed based on the detected equal portion and the result obtained by said area specifying step.

An image processing method for performing processing on image data which is formed of a predetermined number of pixel data obtained by an image-capturing device including a predetermined number of pixels and having a time integrating function, said image processing method comprising:

• an area specifying step of specifying one of:
• (1) a non-mixed area formed of a foreground area consisting of foreground object components which form a foreground object of the image data and a background area consisting of background object components which form a background object of the image data, and (2) a mixed area in which the foreground object components and the background object components are mixed;
• and
• a processing execution step of simultaneously performing, based on a result obtained by said area specifying step, processing for separating the foreground object components and the background object components from the pixel data of the mixed area, and processing for eliminating motion blur from the separated foreground object components;
• a model acquiring step of acquiring a model corresponding to the unit of processing and a motion vector;
• an equation generating step of generating, based on the acquired model, an equation corresponding to a relationship between the pixel data of the unit of processing and the foreground object components and the background object components contained in the unit of processing;
• and
• a calculation step of calculating the foreground object components and the background object components contained in the unit of processing based on the generated equation.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium in which a computer-readable program for performing processing on image data which is formed of a predetermined number of pixel data obtained by an image-capturing device including a predetermined number of pixels and having a time integrating function is stored, said computer-readable program performing the method comprising:

• an area specifying step of specifying one of:
• (1) a non-mixed area formed of a foreground area consisting of foreground object components which form a foreground object of the image data and a background area consisting of background object components which form a background object of the image data, and (2) a mixed area in which the foreground object components and the background object components are mixed;
• and
• a processing execution step of simultaneously performing, based on a result obtained by said area specifying step, processing for separating the foreground object components and the background object components from the pixel data of the mixed area, and processing for eliminating motion blur from the separated foreground object components;
• an equal-portion detection step of detecting an equal portion consisting of adjacent pixel data of the foreground area whose values are substantially equal to each other,
• wherein in the processing of said processing execution step at least the processing for separating the foreground object components and the background object components from the pixel data of the mixed area and the processing for eliminating motion blur from the separated foreground object components are simultaneously performed based on the detected equal portion and the result obtained by said area specifying step.

A program embodied in a non-transitory computer-readable medium for controlling a computer to perform processing on image data which is formed of a predetermined number of pixel data obtained by an image-capturing device including a predetermined number of pixels and having a time integrating function, said program controlling the computer to execute:

• an area specifying step of specifying one of (1) a non-mixed area formed of a foreground area consisting of foreground object components which form a foreground object of the image data and a background area consisting of background object components which form a background object of the image data, and (2) a mixed area in which the foreground object components and the background object components are mixed;
• and
• a processing execution step of simultaneously performing, based on a result obtained by said area specifying step, processing for separating the foreground object components and the background object components from the pixel data of the mixed area, and processing for eliminating motion blur from the separated foreground object components;
• a model acquiring step of acquiring a model corresponding to the unit of processing and a motion vector;
• an equation generating step of generating, based on the acquired model, an equation corresponding to a relationship between the pixel data of the unit of processing and the foreground object components and the background object components contained in the unit of processing;
• and
• a calculation step of calculating the foreground object components and the background object components contained in the unit of processing based on the generated equation.

An image processing apparatus for performing processing on image data which is formed of a predetermined number of pixel data obtained by an image-capturing device including a predetermined number of pixels and having a time integrating function, said image processing apparatus comprising:

• an input for inputting the image data having an object area consisting of object components which form an object;
• and
• a motion-blur eliminating unit configured for eliminating motion blur occurring in the object area by assuming that each of the values of a part of pixel data in the object area of the input image data are substantially equal,
• wherein said input inputs the image data having a foreground area consisting of foreground object components which form a foreground object, a background area consisting of background object components which form a background object, and a mixed area in which the foreground object components and the background object components are mixed;
• and
• wherein said the motion-blur eliminating unit eliminates motion blur occurring in the foreground area by assuming that values of part of the pixel data in the foreground area of the input image data are substantially equal;
• and
• an equal-portion detection unit configured for detecting an equal portion in which the values of the pixel data in the foreground area of the image data are substantially equal,
• wherein said the motion-blur eliminating unit eliminates motion blur occurring in the foreground area based on the equal portion detected by said equal-portion detection unit.

An image processing method for performing processing on image data which is formed of a predetermined number of pixel data obtained by an image-capturing device including a predetermined number of pixels and having a time integrating function, said image processing method comprising:

• an input step of inputting the image data having an object area consisting of object components which form an object;
• and
• a motion-blur eliminating step of eliminating motion blur occurring in the object area by assuming that the values of a part of pixel data in the object area of the image data input by the processing of said input step are substantially equal,
• wherein in the processing of said input step, the image data having a foreground area consisting of foreground object components which form a foreground object, a background area consisting of background object components which form a background object, and a mixed area in which the foreground object components and the background object components are mixed are input, and
• wherein, in the processing of said motion-blur eliminating step, motion blur occurring in the foreground area is eliminated by assuming that values of part of the pixel data in the foreground area of the image data input by the processing of said input step are substantially equal;
• and
• an equal-portion detection step of detecting an equal portion in which the values of the pixel data in the foreground area of the image data are substantially equal,
• wherein in the processing of said motion-blur eliminating step, the motion blur occurring in the foreground area is eliminated based on the equal portion detected by the processing of said equal-portion detection step.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium for storing a computer program for performing processing on image data which is formed of a predetermined number of pixel data obtained by an image-capturing device including a predetermined number of pixels and having a time integrating function is stored, said computer program performing the processing comprising:

• an input step of inputting the image data having an object area consisting of object components which form an object;
• and
• a motion-blur eliminating step of eliminating motion blur occurring in the object area by assuming that the values of a part of the pixel data in the object area of the image data input by the processing of said input step are substantially equal,
• wherein in the processing of said input step, the image data having a foreground area consisting of foreground object components which form a foreground object, a background area consisting of background object components which form a background object, and a mixed area in which the foreground object components and the background object components are mixed are input, and
• wherein, in the processing of said motion-blur eliminating step, motion blur occurring in the foreground area is eliminated by assuming that values of part of the pixel data in the foreground area of the image data input by the processing of said input step are substantially equal;
• and
• an equal-portion detection step of detecting an equal portion in which the values of the pixel data in the foreground area of the image data are substantially equal,
• wherein in the processing, of said the motion-blur eliminating step motion blur occurring in the foreground area is eliminated based on the equal portion detected by the processing of said equal-portion detection step.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium for storing a computer program for processing on image data which is formed of a predetermined number of pixel data obtained by an image-capturing device including a predetermined number of pixels and having a time integrating function, said computer program controlling the computer to execute:

• an input step of inputting the image data having an object area consisting of object components which form an object;
• and
• a motion-blur eliminating step of eliminating motion blur occurring in the object area by assuming that the values of a part of the-pixel data in the object area of the image data input by the processing of said input step are substantially equal,
• wherein in the processing of said input step, the image data having a foreground area consisting of foreground object components which form the object, a background area consisting of background object components which form a background object, and a mixed area in which the foreground object components and the background object components are mixed are input, and
• wherein, in the processing of said motion-blur eliminating step, motion blur occurring in the foreground area is eliminated by assuming that values of part of the pixel data in the foreground area of the image data input by the processing of said input step are substantially equal;
• and
• an equal-portion detection step of detecting an equal portion in which the values of the pixel data in the foreground area of the image data are substantially equal,
• wherein in the processing of said motion-blur eliminating step, motion blur occurring in the foreground area is eliminated based on the equal portion detected by the processing of said equal-portion detection step.

An image-capturing apparatus comprising:

• an image-capturing unit configured for outputting a subject image captured by an image-capturingdevice including a predetermined number of pixels and having a time integrating function as image data formed of a predetermined number of pixel data and having an object area consisting of object components which form an object;
• and
• a motion-blur eliminating unit configured to eliminate motion blur occurring in the object area by assuming that the values of a part of pixel data in the object area of the image data are substantially equal,
• wherein the subject image data having a foreground area consisting of foreground object components which form a foreground object, a background area consisting of background object components which form a background object, and a mixed area in which the foreground object components and the background object components are mixed;
• and
• wherein said motion-blur eliminating unit eliminates motion blur occurring in the foreground area by assuming that values of part of the pixel data in the foreground area of the input image data are substantially equal;
• and
• an equal-portion detection unit configured for detecting an equal portion in which the values of the pixel data in the foreground area of the image data are substantially equal,
• wherein said the motion-blur eliminating unit eliminates motion blur occurring in the foreground area based on the equal portion detected by said equal-portion detection unit.