EP0836326A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Skin area detection for video image systems
Assignee: Sharp Corp
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Filing: 1997-09-30
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2017-09-30
Abstract
Abstract Apparatus for detecting skin areas in video sequences includes a shape locator and a tone detector (both in 12). The shape locator analyzes the input video sequences (26) to identify the edges of all the objects in a video frame and determine whether such edges approximate the outline of a predetermined shape that is likely to contain a skin area. Once objects likely to contain skin areas are located by the shape locator, the tone detector examines the picture elements (pixels) of each located object to determine if such pixels have signal energies that are characteristic of skin areas. The tone detector then samples pixels that have signal energies which are characteristic of skin areas to determine a range of skin tones and compares the range of sampled skin tones with the tones in the entire frame to find all matching skin tones. An eyes-nose-mouth (ENM) region detector is optionally incorporated between the shape locator and the tone detector to identify the location of an ENM region on an object that is likely to be a face, so as to improve the accuracy of the range of skin tones that are sampled by the tone detector.
Inventors
- 👤 Hiroyuki Okada
- 👤 Jonathan David Rosenberg
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 18:20
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06V; G06V40/00; G06V40/10; G06V40/16; G06V40/168; H; H04; H04N; H04N19/00; H04N19/10; H04N19/102; H04N19/124; H04N19/132; H04N19/134; H04N19/136; H04N19/169; H04N19/17; H04N19/186; H04N19/50; H04N19/503; H04N19/60; H04N19/61; H04N19/146; H04N19/152; H04N19/20
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 22
Claim 1
Independent Claim
68 words
An apparatus for determining skin tone in a video signal, the apparatus
comprising: a locator which analyzes at least a portion of the video signal to identify
objects of a desired shape; and a detector for analyzing at least one pixel from at least one of the identified
objects of the desired shape to determine whether the analyzed pixel has a
luminance parameter indicative of a skin area.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
20 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the desired shape is a shape that is
likely to contain a skin area.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
17 words
The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the desired shape has an arc associated
with a human shape.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
11 words
The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the desired shape is elliptical.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
26 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the luminance parameter indicative of
the skin area is an alternating current (AC) signal energy component of the
analyzed pixel.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
23 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the detector further samples the
analyzed pixel to determine at least one color parameter of the pixel.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
16 words
The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the at least one color parameter is a
chrominance parameter.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
63 words
The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the detector further includes a
comparator which compares the determined at least one color parameter of the
analyzed pixel with a plurality of color parameters in nonanalyzed pixels of the video signal, to identify
the plurality of color parameters in nonanalyzed pixels which are identical to the
determined at least one color parameter of the analyzed pixel.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
27 words
The apparatus of claim 6, wherein a coder generates a code segment
based on the location of the at least one color parameter of the analyzed pixel.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
28 words
The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the arc associated with the human
shape is analyzed to determine whether the shape contains pixels associated with an eyes-nose-mouth
(ENM) region.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
22 words
The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the pixels not associated with the
eyes-nose-mouth (ENM) region are excluded from analysis by the detector.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
65 words
A method for determining skin tone in a video signal, the method
comprising the steps of: analyzing at least a portion of the video signal to identify objects of a
desired shape; and analyzing at least one pixel from at least one of the identified objects of the
desired shape to determine whether the analyzed pixel has a luminance parameter
indicative of a skin area.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the desired shape is a shape that is
likely to contain a skin area.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 13, wherein the desired shape has an arc associated
with a human shape.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
11 words
The method of claim 14, wherein the desired shape is elliptical.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 12, wherein the luminance parameter indicative of
the skin area is an alternating current (AC) signal energy component of the
analyzed pixel.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of sampling the
analyzed pixel to determine at least one color parameter of pixel.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 17, wherein the at least one color parameter is a
chrominance parameter.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
60 words
The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of comparing the
determined at least one color parameter of the analyzed pixel with a plurality of
color parameters in nonanalyzed pixels of the video signal, to identify the plurality
of color parameters in nonanalyzed pixels which are identical to the determined at
least one color parameter of the analyzed pixel.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of generating a
code segment based on the location of the at least one color parameter of the
analyzed pixel.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of analyzing the arc
associated with the human shape to determine whether the shape contains pixels
associated with an eyes-nose-mouth (ENM) region.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 21, wherein the pixels not associated with the
eyes-nose-mouth (ENM) region are excluded from analysis by the detector.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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