Strobe Light White Balance Correction via Distance-Based Region Segmentation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional automatic white balance control in imaging devices struggles to accurately adjust for images taken with strobe light-emitting, leading to coloring discrepancies and inappropriate color reproduction, especially when objects or the camera are moving.
Innovation Solution
An image processing apparatus that includes a first correcting unit for strobe light-emission images using a first white balance correction value corresponding to environmental light, a second correcting unit using a second white balance correction value for strobe light, and a calculating unit that determines the strobe light component ratio for each image region based on distribution characteristics and distance information, allowing for appropriate white balance correction by combining these values.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a single white balance correction value is applied to the entire image, then the processing is simple and fast, but the coloring is inappropriate in environments with multiple light sources
Solution Approach 1:
The image is divided into multiple regions based on distance information from the strobe light, and different white balance correction values are applied to each region. This segmentation allows the system to handle multiple light sources appropriately while maintaining processing efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
Different white balance correction values are applied to different regions of the image based on their distance from the strobe light. This local quality approach ensures that each region receives the appropriate correction for its specific lighting conditions, improving overall coloring accuracy.
2Measurement precision
If image data photographed with strobe light-emitting and without strobe light-emitting are compared for each arbitrary object region, then the degree of contribution of strobe light can be determined, but there is a time difference in acquisition timing that causes coloring discrepancy in boundary portions
Solution Approach 1:
Distance information indicating the distance from the strobe light to each object is acquired in advance before white balance correction is performed. This preliminary acquisition of distance information allows for accurate determination of strobe light contribution without the timing issues that arise from comparing images taken at different times.
3Adaptability or versatility
If white balance correction is performed after development processing, then the white balance correction value can be varied for each region, but other controls such as color reproduction control may not be appropriate
Solution Approach 1:
The white balance correction is performed before development processing by applying the corrected image data as input to the development processing stage. This preliminary correction ensures that subsequent processing stages receive properly corrected data, maintaining appropriateness of other controls while enabling region-specific white balance adjustment.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention has an object to enable white balance correction appropriate to an image photographed with strobe light-emitting. An image processing apparatus includes: a first correcting unit that corrects image data photographed with strobe light-emitting using a first WEB correction value corresponding to environmental light, and generates a first WEB correction image; a second correcting unit that corrects the image data photographed with strobe light-emitting using a second WEB correction value corresponding to strobe light, and generates a second WEB correction image; a combining ratio calculating unit that obtains a combining ratio of the first and second WEB correction images based on information on a distance to an object photographed with strobe light-emitting and distribution characteristics of the strobe light; and a combining unit that combines the first and second WEB correction images based on the combining ratio.