Natural Image Color Correction for Consistent Page Output
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Solution Overview
Problem
In the context of on-demand printing, manually correcting colors of multiple similar natural images using retouching software is time-consuming and introduces inconsistency in image quality, particularly when using digital camera images in business documents.
Innovation Solution
A data correction apparatus and method that recognizes natural images, determines similarity among them, calculates uniform correction conditions for image qualities like lightness and color, and applies these conditions to ensure consistent image appearance across similar images.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If automatic setup function is used to correct colors of each photographed image separately, then color correction can be applied automatically, but image qualities of similar natural images become inconsistent
Solution Approach 1:
The patent groups similar natural images into sets and applies a unified correction condition to all images within each set. This merging approach ensures that similar images receive consistent correction parameters, resolving the inconsistency problem while maintaining automatic correction through the image analyzing means that calculates setup conditions for each natural image.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different correction conditions to different groups of images based on their similarity characteristics. By determining similarity among natural images and creating separate correction conditions for each group, the system provides localized quality control tailored to each image group while maintaining overall consistency within groups.
2Manufacturing precision
If manual color correction is performed on multiple photographed images, then image quality can be adjusted, but time and effort required increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs automatic image analysis and correction condition calculation without requiring manual operator intervention. The image analyzing means automatically calculates setup conditions for each natural image, and the correction condition calculating means automatically determines unified correction conditions for similar image groups, enabling the system to serve itself and eliminate time-consuming manual operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the correction process by changing from individual image correction parameters to group-based unified parameters. By calculating correction conditions based on similarity relationships and applying unified parameters to groups of similar images, the system reduces the total number of correction operations required while maintaining image quality.
3Adaptability or versatility
If each natural image is corrected separately using automatic setup function, then individual image characteristics are preserved, but overall page consistency is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments images into distinct groups based on similarity determination. By dividing natural images into groups of similar images and applying correction conditions at the group level rather than individually or uniformly to all images, the system maintains both individual image characteristics within groups and overall page consistency across groups.
Data Source
AI summary
Natural images which are similar to each other contained in a page represented by page description data are corrected so that they have natural appearance to the eye. To achieve this object, an image recognizing unit recognizes images in a page represented by page description data, and a natural image determining unit determines whether or not each recognized image is a natural image. An image analyzing unit calculates a setup condition for image correction for each natural image. A second correction condition calculating unit calculates, for the similar natural images being similar to each other, a correction condition for making image qualities of the similar natural images substantially uniform. An image correcting unit applies image correction based on the setup condition and the correction condition to the similar natural images.