Panoramic Image Generation with Variable Resolution Allocation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional panoramic image formats do not distinguish between important and unimportant directions, leading to inconsistent image quality and resolution.
Innovation Solution
An image generation apparatus and method that converts a panoramic image by projecting a scene onto a virtual sphere, where unit areas closer to the attention direction are expanded, ensuring higher resolution in important directions by maximizing the length of the projection surface's main line corresponding to a unit angle of rotation around the observation point.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a conventional panoramic image format is used, then the panoramic image can be displayed, but the image resolution is uniform across all directions and does not provide higher resolution in important directions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making different parts of the panoramic image have different resolutions. Specifically, the attention direction and its surrounding areas are assigned higher resolution, while other directions use lower resolution. This is achieved through variable sampling intervals where the sampling interval in the attention direction is smaller than in other directions, allowing important regions to display finer image details while reducing overall data size.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces asymmetry in the panoramic image projection by treating the attention direction differently from other directions. The main line passing through the attention direction is stretched to have a longer length than other lines, creating an asymmetric resolution distribution. This asymmetric design allows the system to prioritize image quality in important directions while maintaining acceptable quality elsewhere.
2Manufacturing precision
If higher resolution is allocated to important directions, then image quality in those directions improves, but the overall data size and processing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent reduces overall data volume by applying local quality enhancement only where necessary. Instead of uniformly increasing resolution across the entire panoramic image, the system concentrates higher resolution resources on the attention direction and its vicinity. This selective approach ensures that important regions display high-quality images while less important regions use lower resolution, thereby controlling the total data size.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements partial action by applying high resolution only to the attention direction and surrounding areas, rather than excessively increasing resolution across the entire image. The variable sampling interval method allows the system to use finer sampling (higher resolution) only where needed for the attention direction, while using coarser sampling in other directions, thus avoiding unnecessary data expansion.
3Manufacturing precision
If the main line length is maximized for unit angle rotation, then the resolution along the attention direction is optimized, but the distortion in other areas increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent manages projection distortion by dynamically changing sampling parameters based on position. The sampling interval is adjusted according to the distance from the attention direction, with smaller intervals near the attention direction and larger intervals farther away. This parameter change strategy allows the main line to be stretched for optimal resolution while compensating for distortion in other areas through adaptive sampling density adjustments.
Data Source
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AI summary
Disclosed is an image generation apparatus generating and outputting a panoramic image that is obtained by converting, to a planar shape, a projection plane onto which a scene within at least a partial range of a virtual sphere as viewed from an observation point is projected. The panoramic image is such that a unit area on the virtual sphere containing a given attention direction as viewed from the observation point is converted to a broader area than other unit areas. The image generation apparatus generates the panoramic image corresponding to the projection plane such that a portion of a main line that links a position in the attention direction to a position in a direction opposite the attention direction and is within the panoramic image corresponding to a unit amount of an angle of rotation around the observation point is maximized in length at a position closest to the attention direction.