Back to results
US 8,477,232 B2Granted
System and method to capture depth data of an image
AssigneeQUALCOMM Incorporated
InventorBabak Forutanpour
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Loading patent…
Loading patent…
AssigneeQUALCOMM Incorporated
InventorBabak Forutanpour
Estimating the term…
Systems and methods of generating depth data using edge detection are disclosed. In a particular embodiment, first image data is received corresponding to a scene recorded by an image capture device at a first focus position at a first distance. Second image data is received corresponding to a second focus position at a second distance that is greater than the first distance. Edge detection generates first edge data corresponding to at least a first portion of the first image data and generates second edge data corresponding to at least a second portion of the second image data. The edge detection detects presence or absence of an edge at each location of the first portion and the second portion to identify each detected edge as a hard or soft edge. Depth data is generated based on the edge data generated for the first and second focus positions.
A system comprising:
A method for outputting video data having a higher foreground resolution, comprising:
A system, comprising:
An imaging device, comprising:
A non-transitory, computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that when executed by a processor perform a method comprising:
A method, comprising:
A system, comprising:
An imaging device, comprising:
A non-transitory, computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that when executed by a processor perform a method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
Drawings are temporarily unavailable. Open the PDF at USPTO
From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
From multiple images: from focus
From multiple images: from contours
Special mode during image acquisition: varying focus
Image data processing or generation, in general
About 1 year 9 months of term left · ends 5 Aug 2028 (estimated)
The present disclosure is generally related to edge detection and depth data generation based on a captured image.
Digital imaging technology allows for compact devices to capture image data, as well as enhance and transmit image data. For example, many personal digital assistants (PDAs) and wireless telephone devices include built-in imaging systems that allow for the capture of still images or motion video that can be transmitted to other devices via wired or wireless connections.
Taking advantage of digital imaging technology, it may be desirable to differentiate between objects at varying distances to the image capture device and thus control what aspects of a scene are captured, stored, or transmitted. For example, in the case of video telephony, for clarity, privacy, or other reasons, it may be desirable to show the caller in the foreground, while not capturing other persons or settings in the background. Further taking advantage of such technology, a digital imaging device mounted on a vehicle or carried by a vision-impaired person could provide proximity warnings when objects are within a certain threshold distance.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a particular illustrative embodiment of a system including an image processing system having an edge detection and depth map generation module;
FIG. 2 is a pair of graphs depicting a particular illustrative embodiment of signals enhanced to amplify edge characteristics potentially included in the signals;
FIG. 3 is a pair of graphs depicting a particular illustrative embodiment of signals representing soft and hard edges sampled at three points;
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a particular illustrative embodiment of a system generally designated 100 that includes an image capture device 110, an image processing system 140, and an image storage device 170. A single image capture device 110 receives a control input signal 120 that directs the image capture device 110 to collect image data 130. The image capture device 110 is coupled to an image processing system 140 that receives and processes the image data 130. The image processing system 140 generates processed image data 160. The image processing system 140 is coupled to the image storage device 170 that receives and stores the processed image data 160. The processed image data 160 includes at least one image and depth data extracted from the image data 130. The processed image data 160, the depth data generated from the processed image data 160, or any combination thereof is presented at an output 180. Generally, the system 100 may be implemented in a portable electronic device that is configured to perform real-time image processing using relatively limited processing resources.
In a particular embodiment, the image capture device 110 is a camera, such as a video camera or a still camera. The image capture device 110 includes a lens 112 that is responsive to a focusing module 114 and to an exposure module 116. The focusing module 114 manipulates the lens 112 to focus at specified distances from the lens that are known to the focusing module 114 based on the lens 112/focusing module 114 configuration. The focusing module 114 also is suitably configured to automatically focus the lens 112 on an assumed subject of a scene, such as an object occupying a central portion of a field of view. The focusing module 114 is configured to focus the lens 112 from its nearest focus, which is termed a macro focus position of the scene, to its furthest focus, which is termed an infinity focus position. As described further below, when generating a depth map the focusing module 114 may be configured to manipulate the lens 112 to capture image data of the scene at a plurality of different focus distances.
The image capture device also includes a sensor 118, such as a charge coupled device (CCD) array or another image sensing device, coupled to receive light via the lens 112 and to generate the image data 130 in response to an image received via the lens 112. An exposure module 116 coupled to the sensor 118 may be responsive to the sensor 118 and/or the lens 112 to control an exposure of the image.