Image Processing Apparatus Face Detection and Depth of Field Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Digital cameras produce images with a high depth of focus, resulting in sharpness regardless of the subject's position, which differs from the natural human visual perception, necessitating manual image processing to align with the human visual experience.
Innovation Solution
An image processing system that automatically detects faces and adjusts image data by shrinking face widths and enhancing sharpness and shading in focus and out-of-focus areas, respectively, to mimic human visual perception.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a high depth of focus is set in digital cameras, then sharpness of the photographed object is improved regardless of position, but the image becomes different from natural human visual perception
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by performing different image processing operations on different regions of the image. Specifically, it identifies a first region (typically the center or in-focus area) and applies sharpness enhancement to that region, while applying shading or blur to a second region (peripheral or out-of-focus areas). This creates a locally differentiated image processing approach that mimics natural human vision where the fovea provides sharp central vision while peripheral vision is less sharp.
2Adaptability or versatility
If manual image processing is performed to align with human visual experience, then natural perception is improved, but operation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service by enabling the image processing system to automatically perform the operations that would otherwise require manual user intervention. The device automatically identifies regions of interest, determines appropriate processing parameters, and applies the necessary image processing operations (sharpness enhancement, shading, etc.) without requiring the user to manually adjust settings or perform post-processing operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes parameter changes by dynamically adjusting image processing parameters based on the captured image content and desired effect. The system modifies parameters such as sharpness enhancement strength, shading intensity, and region boundaries automatically, allowing the same device to adapt to different shooting scenarios without manual parameter adjustment by the user.
Data Source
AI summary
An image processing apparatus includes a face detecting unit that detects a face included in image data generated by a photographing operation, a face transforming and correcting unit that performs a face correcting process for shrinking a width of a detected face in a case where the face is detected by the face detecting unit, and a shading processing unit that performs a process for increasing sharpness of an in-focus area of the image data and performs a shading process for an out-of-focus area of the image data, in a case where a face has not been detected by the face detecting unit.