Image Processing Apparatus Fog Correction via Luminance Segmentation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Image processing technologies fail to effectively eliminate fog from images captured by digital cameras and scanners, leading to image deterioration due to non-uniform illumination, camera positioning, and lens configurations, which affects the quality of both digital and scanned documents.
Innovation Solution
An image processing apparatus comprising modules for receiving images, estimating fog, measuring luminance values, determining correction targets, and correcting luminance values based on the estimated fog and target values, which includes modules for fog estimation, pixel value measurement, correction target determination, and luminance correction, ensuring that the apparatus can differentiate between background and non-background portions to apply appropriate correction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional image processing is applied to eliminate fog, then processing speed is maintained, but image quality deteriorates due to ineffective fog removal
Solution Approach 1:
The image is divided into background portions and non-background portions based on luminance value distributions. Different correction strategies are applied to each segment: background portions undergo fog correction to eliminate the foggy appearance, while non-background portions are preserved to maintain subject integrity. This segmentation enables effective fog removal without degrading overall image quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The correction amount is locally adjusted for each pixel based on its position and luminance characteristics. Background pixels receive correction amounts optimized for fog elimination, while non-background pixels receive minimal or no correction to preserve their original appearance. This local quality approach ensures that fog correction is applied precisely where needed without affecting other regions.
2Ease of operation
If uniform luminance correction is applied to the entire image, then processing simplicity is maintained, but foreground subjects become distorted along with the background
Solution Approach 1:
The image processing systematically segments pixels into background and non-background categories using luminance value analysis. This automated segmentation maintains processing simplicity while enabling differential correction: background regions are corrected for fog, while foreground subjects are excluded from correction to prevent distortion.
Solution Approach 2:
The correction amount is locally adjusted for each pixel based on its classification. Background pixels receive full correction amounts to eliminate fog, while non-background pixels receive reduced or zero correction to maintain subject integrity. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction between simple uniform processing and precise subject preservation.
3Manufacturing precision
If aggressive fog correction is applied to maximize fog removal, then fog elimination effectiveness is improved, but background luminance uniformity is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The correction amount parameter is dynamically adjusted based on pixel luminance values and background characteristics. Rather than applying a fixed aggressive correction, the system calculates optimal correction amounts that remove fog while maintaining luminance uniformity. This parameter optimization achieves effective fog removal without creating unnatural luminance variations in the background.
Data Source
AI summary
An image processing apparatus includes the following elements. A receiving device receives an image. An estimating device estimates, for each of pixels within the image received by the receiving device, on the basis of the received image, an amount of fog, which is a difference between a luminance value of the pixel and an original luminance value of the pixel. A measuring device measures, for each of the pixels within the image received by the receiving device, a luminance value of the pixel. A determining device determines a correction target value for luminance values of pixels of a background portion within the image received by the receiving device. A correcting device corrects the luminance value of each of the pixels measured by the measuring device on the basis of the amount of fog estimated by the estimating device and the correction target value determined by the determining device.