Panoramic Image Luminance Balancing via Texture-Aware Pixel Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional panoramic image generation techniques face challenges in matching shutter release timing and exposure, leading to luminance imbalances and unnaturalness in the final composite image.
Innovation Solution
An imaging device with an overlapping area identifying section, texture judging section, luminance adjusting section, and combining section that adjusts pixel values and positions of images to ensure balanced luminance and seamless overlap, using methods like sum of squared differences and feature point detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If images are captured by moving the camera to rotate in horizontal direction, then panoramic image coverage is improved, but luminance balance deteriorates due to timing mismatch between shutter release and exposure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by identifying overlapping areas before combining images, judging texture characteristics in advance, and pre-adjusting pixel values based on texture judgments. This preliminary processing ensures luminance balance is established before the final image combination, resolving the timing mismatch issue between shutter release and exposure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different processing to different regions of the image by judging texture characteristics locally in overlapping areas and adjusting pixel values specifically in these regions. Areas with high texture content receive different adjustment treatment compared to areas with low texture content, ensuring luminance balance is achieved locally in each overlapping region while maintaining overall panoramic coverage.
2Device complexity
If conventional image combining is used, then processing simplicity is maintained, but unnaturalness increases due to luminance imbalance in overlapping areas
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces intermediary processing steps between simple image capturing and final combination. The overlapping area identifying section, texture judging section, and pixel value adjusting section act as intermediaries that analyze and preprocess images before combining. These intermediary steps ensure naturalness in the final composite image while maintaining relatively simple overall processing architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms by using texture judgment results from overlapping areas to guide pixel value adjustments. The system continuously evaluates texture characteristics in overlapping regions and uses this feedback information to dynamically adjust pixel values, ensuring that the combined image maintains natural appearance across all overlapping areas.
Data Source
AI summary
A digital camera includes an imaging section, an overlapping area identifying section, a feature point judging section, a luminance adjusting section, and an image combining section. The overlapping area identifying section identifies overlapping areas of images consecutively captured by the imaging section. The feature point judging section judges whether amount of texture within areas of a predetermined range in the identified overlapping areas is larger or smaller than a predetermined reference value. The luminance adjusting section adjusts the pixel values of the images so that the pixel values of the overlapping areas come within a predetermined range, based on a judgment result of the texture. The image combining section combines the adjusted images such that their overlapping areas coincide with each other.