EP0853293A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Subject image extraction method and apparatus
Assignee: Canon Inc
•
Filing: 1997-12-18
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2017-12-18
Abstract
Abstract There is disclosed a method of extracting the region of a subject image from an input image including the subject image. A subject region mask for masking the region of the subject image is generated, and the contour of the subject region mask is shaped. After local regions for correcting the contour shaped by contour shaping are set on the basis of information of the contour of the subject region mask before and after contour shaping, the contour of the shaped subject region mask is corrected within the set local regions.
Inventors
- 👤 Tatsushi Katayama
- 👤 Masakazu Matsugu
- 👤 Koji Hatanaka
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 19:37
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06T; G06T7/00; G06T7/10; G06T7/174; G06T7/11; G06T7/187; G06T7/194; G06T2207/00; G06T2207/10; G06T2207/10016; G06T2207/20; G06T2207/20112; G06T2207/20156; G06T2207/20172; G06T2207/20192
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 19
Claim 1
Independent Claim
119 words
A method of extracting a region of a subject
image from an input image including the subject image,
comprising: the mask generation step of generating a subject
region mask for masking the region of the subject image; the contour shaping step of shaping a contour of
the subject region mask; the region setting step of setting local regions
for correcting the contour shaped in the contour shaping
step on the basis of information of the contour of the
subject region mask before and after shaping in the
contour shaping step; and the correction step of correcting the contour of
the subject region mask shaped in the contour shaping
step within the local regions set in the region setting
step.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
57 words
The method according to claim 1, wherein the
mask generation step comprises: the calculation step of calculating a difference
between the input image and a background image input
independently of the input image; and the step of generating the subject region mask from
the input image in accordance with the difference image
calculated in the calculation step.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method according to claim 1, wherein the
contour shaping step includes the step of setting sample
points used for contour shaping on the basis of a
direction of the contour of the subject region mask.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
113 words
An image extraction apparatus for extracting a
region of a subject image from an input image including
the subject image, comprising: generation means for generating a subject region
mask for masking the region of the subject image from
the input image; shaping means for shaping a contour of the subject
region mask; setting means for setting local regions for
correcting the contour shaped by said shaping means on
the basis of information of the contour of the subject
region mask before and after shaping by said shaping
means; and correction means for correcting the contour of the
subject region mask shaped by said-shaping means within
the local regions set by said setting means.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
54 words
The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein
said generation means comprises: calculation means for calculating a difference
between the input image and a background image input
independently of the input image; and means for generating the subject region mask from
the input image in accordance with the difference image
calculated by said calculation means.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
31 words
The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein
said shaping means sets sample points used for contour
shaping on the basis of a direction of the contour of
the subject region mask.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
169 words
An image extraction method comprising: the region segmentation step of segmenting an input
image into a plurality of small regions; the labeling step of assigning a label for
identification to each of the plurality of small regions
obtained in the region segmentation step; the subject region mask generation step of
generating a desired subject region mask from the input
image; the contour shaping step of shaping a contour of
the subject region mask generated in the subject region
mask generation step; the display step of displaying the contour of the
subject region mask shaped in the contour shaping step,
the contour being displayed to be superposed on the
input image; the correction point designation step of
designating, on a displayed image, correction points of
the contour of the subject region mask shaped in the
contour shaping step; and the contour correction step of correcting the
contour of the subject region mask by performing local
processing in units of labels including the points
designated in the correction point designation step.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
65 words
The method according to claims 7, wherein the
subject region mask generation step comprises: the image difference calculation step of
calculating a difference between the input image and a
background image input independently of the input image;
and the mask generation step of generating the subject
region mask from the input image in accordance with the
difference image calculated in the image difference
calculation step.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
160 words
An image extraction apparatus comprising: region segmentation means for segmenting an input
image into a plurality of small regions; labeling means for assigning a label for
identification to the plurality of small regions
obtained by said region segmentation means; subject region mask generation means for generating
a desired subject region mask from the input image; contour shaping means for shaping a contour of the
subject region mask generated by said subject region
mask generation means; display means for displaying the contour of the
subject region mask shaped by said contour shaping means,
the contour being displayed to be superposed on the
input image; correction point designation means for designating,
on a displayed image, correction points of the contour
of the subject region mask shaped by said contour
shaping means; and contour correction means for correcting the contour
of the subject region mask by performing local
processing in units of labels including the points
designated by said correction point designation means.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
62 words
Apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said
subject region mask generation means comprises: image difference calculation means for calculating
a difference between the input image and a background
image input independently of the input image; and mask generation means for generating the subject
region mask from the input image in accordance with the
difference image calculated by said image difference
calculation means.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
112 words
An image extraction method comprising: the subject region mask generation step of
generating a desired subject region mask from an input
image; the display step of displaying a contour of the
subject region mask generated in the subject region mask
generation step to be superposed on the input image; the local region setting step of setting an
arbitrary local region for correcting the contour of the
subject region mask on a display screen; the processing selection step of selecting
processing to be executed within the local region; and the correction step of correcting the subject
region mask within the local region in accordance with
the processing selected in the processing selection step.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method according to claim 11, wherein the
correction step includes the step of executing the
selected processing within the designated local region
in accordance with a moving path and direction of
predetermined pointing means.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
107 words
An image extraction apparatus comprising: subject region mask generation means for generating
a desired subject region mask from an input image; display means for displaying a contour of the
subject region mask generated by said subject region
mask generation means to be superposed on the input
image; local region setting means for setting an arbitrary
local region for correcting the contour of the subject
region mask on a display screen; processing selection means for selecting processing
to be executed within the local region; and correction means for correcting the subject region
mask within the local region in accordance with the
processing selected by said processing selection means.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
49 words
The apparatus according to claim 13, further
comprising pointing means for setting the local region
on the display screen of said display means, and wherein
said correction means executes the selected processing
within the designated local region in accordance with a
moving path and direction of said pointing means.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
131 words
A storage medium storing a program which can
be executed by a computer to extract a region of a
subject image from an input image including the subject
image, comprising: the mask generation step of generating a subject
region mask for masking the region of the subject image; the contour shaping step of shaping a contour of
the subject region mask; the region setting step of setting local regions
for correcting the contour shaped in the contour shaping
step on the basis of information of the contour of the
subject region mask before and after shaping in the
contour shaping step; and the correction step of correcting the contour of
the subject region mask shaped in the contour shaping
step within the local regions set in the local region
setting step.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
188 words
A storage medium storing a program which can
be executed by a computer to extract a region of a
subject image from an input image including the subject
image, comprising: the region segmentation step of segmenting an input
image into a plurality of small regions; the labeling step of assigning labels for
identifying the small regions obtained in the region
segmentation step to the small regions; the subject region mask generation step of
generating a desired subject region mask from the input
image; the contour shaping step of shaping a contour of
the subject region mask generated in the subject region
mask generation step; the display step of displaying the contour of the
subject region mask shaped in the contour shaping step
to be superposed on the input image; the correction point designation step of
designating, on a displayed image, correction points of
the contour of the subject region mask shaped in the
contour shaping step; and the contour correction step of correcting the
contour of the subject region mask by performing local
processing in units of labels including the points
designated in the correction point designation step.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
137 words
A storage medium storing a program which can
be executed by a computer to extract a region of a
subject image from an input image including the subject
image, comprising: the subject region mask generation step of
generating a desired subject region mask from an input
image; the display step of displaying a contour of the
subject region mask generated in the subject region mask
generation step to be superposed on the input image; the local region setting step of setting an
arbitrary local region for correcting the contour of the
subject region mask on a display screen; the processing selection step of selecting
processing to be executed within the local region; and the correction step of correcting the subject
region mask within the local region in accordance with
the processing selected in the processing selection step.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
45 words
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, 7, 8,
11 and 12 including the step of extracting the region of
the subject image by extracting pixel data from the input
image corresponding to pixel locations defined by the
subject region mask.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
91 words
A method of extracting a subject image region from
an input image comprising the steps of; generating a subject region mask defined by a mask
contour corresponding substantially to a subject image
region contour delineating between the subject image
region and a background region; displaying the mask contour superimposed on the
input image; identifying portions of the mask contour requiring
correction; performing correction of the identified positions
by operation of a processor which calculates the degree
of correction required; and extracting the subject image region using the
corrected subject region mask.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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