Image Matching Device Brightness Normalization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing subject tracking technologies face accuracy issues due to changes in image brightness, which affect similarity calculations in template matching methods, leading to reduced accuracy in frame-to-frame tracking.
Innovation Solution
An image matching device that normalizes luminance component values by subtracting a reference value from each divided area, and performs template matching using normalized values, along with chrominance components, to stabilize similarity calculations and improve tracking accuracy across varying brightness levels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If template matching is performed using raw luminance and chrominance values, then the matching process is simple and fast, but the accuracy deteriorates when brightness changes occur between frames
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary normalization to the luminance component values before performing template matching. By pre-processing the luminance data to remove brightness variations, the system ensures that subsequent matching operations are not affected by illumination changes, thereby improving accuracy without adding complexity to the core matching algorithm
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter representation by separating luminance and chrominance components and applying different processing to each. The luminance component is normalized to remove brightness effects, while chrominance remains unchanged, creating a transformed parameter space that is more robust to illumination variations
2Measurement precision
If the system processes full-resolution images for template matching, then the tracking accuracy is high, but the processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the image processing into distinct segments: luminance component extraction, normalization processing, and chrominance processing. This segmentation allows each component to be processed independently and efficiently, reducing overall processing time while maintaining tracking accuracy through the use of representative values from divided areas
3Productivity
If representative values such as averages are used for divided areas, then the processing speed increases, but the sensitivity to subtle brightness changes decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary normalization to representative values before they are used in template matching. By normalizing the luminance representative values to remove brightness variations before comparison, the system maintains sensitivity to subtle changes while still using computationally efficient representative values
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces normalized luminance representative values as an intermediary between raw image data and template matching. This intermediary representation preserves essential brightness information while being insensitive to overall illumination changes, enabling both fast processing and accurate detection
Data Source
AI summary
An image matching device includes: a dividing unit that divides a target image, contained in a search window set within an input image constituted with pixels each having a luminance component and a chrominance component, and a template image constituted with pixels each having the luminance component and the chrominance component, each into a plurality of divided areas; a representative value calculation unit that calculates a luminance component representative value and a chrominance component representative value in correspondence to each of the divided areas; a normalizing unit that normalizes the luminance component representative value having been calculated in correspondence to each divided area; and a template matching processing unit that executes template matching processing based upon the normalized luminance component representative value and the chrominance component representative value corresponding to each of the divided areas in the template image, and upon the normalized luminance component representative value and the chrominance component representative value corresponding to each of the divided areas in the target image.