US20030174886A1 — Image processing apparatus, image processing syst…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 100 words

1 . An image processing apparatus which performs an image process to image information including condition information representing a condition at a time when an image is obtained, comprising: analysis means for analyzing the condition information; and processing determination means for obtaining a color correction amount of the image according to a value representing a level of color balance, a lightness correction amount of the image according to a value representing a level of lightness and a smoothing correction amount of the image according to a value concerning zoom, on the basis of an analysis result of said analysis means.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 100 words

1 . An image processing apparatus which performs an image process to image information including condition information representing a condition at a time when an image is obtained, comprising: analysis means for analyzing the condition information; and processing determination means for obtaining a color correction amount of the image according to a value representing a level of color balance, a lightness correction amount of the image according to a value representing a level of lightness and a smoothing correction amount of the image according to a value concerning zoom, on the basis of an analysis result of said analysis means.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 28 words

2 . An image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising output means for outputting the image information which has been processed by said processing means.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 20 words

3 . An image processing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein said output means includes a print output function.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 85 words

4 . An image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein in the process to obtain the color correction amount of the image, lightness of a highlight point of an original image and lightness of a shadow point thereof are detected, and colors of the highlight point and the shadow point are obtained from plural pixels having said lightness, and the color correction process is performed to the original image based on the highlight point, the shadow point and the colors of these points.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 48 words

5 . An image processing apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein, in the color correction process, a color solid axis of the original image is conformed to an axis indicating the lightness, and contrast adjustment is performed to color components representing the lightness of the original image.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 39 words

6 . An image processing apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein, in the color correction process, the correction process is performed to color components representing the color of the original image, thereby adjusting saturation of the original image.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 41 words

7 . An image processing apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein a histogram is created based on color components representing the lightness of the original image, and the highlight point and the shadow point are detected based on said histogram.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 83 words

8 . An image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said processing determination means for obtaining the lightness correction amount of the image judges a distribution of the lightness of the image from a histogram concerning the number of pixels of values of components concerning the lightness of the image represented by image data, automatically selects one of plural gradation correction conditions based on a judged distribution, and corrects the components concerning the lightness by using the selected gradation correction condition.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 34 words

9 . An image processing apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the distribution of the lightness of the image is judged based on an accumulated frequency in a predetermined range of the histogram.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 43 words

10 . An image processing apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the distribution of the lightness of the image is judged based on a rate of the accumulated frequency in said predetermined range to the number of total pixels of the histogram.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 39 words

11 . An image processing apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the gradation correction condition is selected based on a combination of highlight and shadow points of the image and the distribution of the lightness of the image.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 56 words

12 . An image processing apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein a density is increased if a rate of a highlight range on the histogram is high, the density is decreased if a rate of a shadow range on the histogram is low, and a dynamic range is expanded if a histogram width is narrow.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 116 words

13 . An image processing apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein in a case where the rate of the highlight range is high, a level of increase of the density is made higher as compared with a case where the rate of the highlight range is low, in a case where the rate of the shadow range is high, a level of decrease of the density is made higher as compared with a case where the rate of the shadow range is low, and in a case where the histogram width is small, a level of expansion of the dynamic range is made higher as compared with a case where the histogram width is large.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 24 words

14 . An image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the image information includes image information obtained by a digital still camera.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 52 words

15 . An image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the image information includes shot image information, and the condition information includes at least any of exposure information, stroboscopic information, white balance information, shooting mode information and digital zoom information at a time when the shot image information is obtained.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 22 words

16 . An image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising presentation means for presenting information concerning the condition information.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 38 words

17 . An image processing apparatus according to claim 16 , wherein said presentation means presents the information concerning the condition information based on processing timing of the image information to which the condition information has been added.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 23 words

18 . An image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said analysis means includes a function to analyze the image information.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 52 words

19 . An image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein, when said processing determination means obtains the plural kinds of image information and performs the plural processes corresponding to the obtained plural kinds of image information, said processing determination means sets order of priority for each of the plural processes.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 102 words

20 . An image processing method which performs an image process to image information including condition information representing a condition at a time when an image is obtained, comprising: an analysis step of analyzing the condition information; and a processing determination step of obtaining a color correction amount of the image according to a value representing a level of color balance, a lightness correction amount of the image according to a value representing a level of lightness and a smoothing correction amount of the image according to a value concerning zoom, on the basis of an analysis result in said analysis step.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 102 words

20 . An image processing method which performs an image process to image information including condition information representing a condition at a time when an image is obtained, comprising: an analysis step of analyzing the condition information; and a processing determination step of obtaining a color correction amount of the image according to a value representing a level of color balance, a lightness correction amount of the image according to a value representing a level of lightness and a smoothing correction amount of the image according to a value concerning zoom, on the basis of an analysis result in said analysis step.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 158 words

21 . An image processing method which performs an image correction process to image information including condition information representing a condition at a time when an image is obtained, and performs a print process to the corrected image information, comprising: a first analysis step of analyzing the condition information; a second analysis step of analyzing a feature of the image information; a first image correction condition determination step of determining the image correction condition based on an analysis result in said first analysis step; a second image correction condition determination step of determining the image correction condition based on an analysis result in said second analysis step; an image correction step of performing the image correction process to the image information based on the image correction conditions determined in said first and second image correction condition determination steps; and a print step of performing the print process to the image information after processed in said image correction step.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 158 words

21 . An image processing method which performs an image correction process to image information including condition information representing a condition at a time when an image is obtained, and performs a print process to the corrected image information, comprising: a first analysis step of analyzing the condition information; a second analysis step of analyzing a feature of the image information; a first image correction condition determination step of determining the image correction condition based on an analysis result in said first analysis step; a second image correction condition determination step of determining the image correction condition based on an analysis result in said second analysis step; an image correction step of performing the image correction process to the image information based on the image correction conditions determined in said first and second image correction condition determination steps; and a print step of performing the print process to the image information after processed in said image correction step.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 29 words

22 . An image processing method according to claim 21 , further comprising an image obtaining step of obtaining the image information through shooting of a digital still camera.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 49 words

23 . An image processing method according to claim 21 , wherein the image information includes shot image information, and the condition information includes at least any of exposure information, stroboscopic information, white balance information and shooting mode information at a time when the shot image information is obtained.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 120 words

24 . A computer-readable storage medium which records a program to cause a computer to execute steps of an image processing method which performs an image process to image information including condition information representing a condition at a time when an image is obtained, said method comprising: an analysis step of analyzing the condition information; and a processing determination step of obtaining a color correction amount of the image according to a value representing a level of color balance, a lightness correction amount of the image according to a value representing a level of lightness and a smoothing correction amount of the image according to a value concerning zoom, on the basis of an analysis result in said analysis step.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 120 words

24 . A computer-readable storage medium which records a program to cause a computer to execute steps of an image processing method which performs an image process to image information including condition information representing a condition at a time when an image is obtained, said method comprising: an analysis step of analyzing the condition information; and a processing determination step of obtaining a color correction amount of the image according to a value representing a level of color balance, a lightness correction amount of the image according to a value representing a level of lightness and a smoothing correction amount of the image according to a value concerning zoom, on the basis of an analysis result in said analysis step.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 114 words

25 . A program to cause a computer to execute steps of an image processing method which performs an image process to image information including condition information representing a condition at a time when an image is obtained, said method comprising: an analysis step of analyzing the condition information; and a processing determination step of obtaining a color correction amount of the image according to a value representing a level of color balance, a lightness correction amount of the image according to a value representing a level of lightness and a smoothing correction amount of the image according to a value concerning zoom, on the basis of an analysis result of said analysis means.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 114 words

25 . A program to cause a computer to execute steps of an image processing method which performs an image process to image information including condition information representing a condition at a time when an image is obtained, said method comprising: an analysis step of analyzing the condition information; and a processing determination step of obtaining a color correction amount of the image according to a value representing a level of color balance, a lightness correction amount of the image according to a value representing a level of lightness and a smoothing correction amount of the image according to a value concerning zoom, on the basis of an analysis result of said analysis means.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 38 words

26 . An image processing method which can perform plural image processes, wherein a process for the plural image processes is performed based on restrictions according to shooting condition data at a time when an image is shot.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 38 words

26 . An image processing method which can perform plural image processes, wherein a process for the plural image processes is performed based on restrictions according to shooting condition data at a time when an image is shot.

Image processing apparatus, image processing system, image processing method, storage medium, and program

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