Method and system for image reproduction based on significant visual boundaries of original subject

Claim 9

An image reproduction system comprising: means for deriving from a subject information representing the edge ratios between levels of brightness at closely adjacent points of said subject on opposite sides of significant visual boundaries; and means responsive to said edge-ratio-representing information for reproducing an image of said subject.

Claim 10

An image reproduction system comprising: means for deriving from a subject information representing the edge ratios between levels of brightness at closely adjacent points of said subject on opposite sides of significant visual boundaries; and means responsive to said edge-ratio-representing information for reproducing an image of said subject.

Claim 11

An image reproduction system comprising: means for deriving from a subject an edge-ratio signal representing the ratios between levels of brightness at closely spaced points on opposite sides of visually significant boundaries between different areas of said subject; and means responsive to said edge-ratio signal for reproducing an image of said subject.

Claim 12

An image reproduction system comprising: means for deriving from a subject an edge-ratio signal representing the ratios between levels of brightness at closely spaced points on opposite sides of visually significant boundaries between different areas of said subject; and means responsive to said edge-ratio signal for reproducing an image of said subject.

Claim 13

An image reproduction system comprising: means for scanning a subject according to a predetermined line scan program and for producing an edge-ratio signal representative of the ratios between levels of brightness at closely spaced points on opposite sides of significant visual boundaries between different areas of said subject; and means responsive to said edge-ratio signal for reproducing an image of said subject.

Claim 14

An image reproduction system comprising: means for scanning a subject according to a predetermined line scan program and for producing an edge-ratio signal representative of the ratios between levels of brightness at closely spaced points on opposite sides of significant visual boundaries between different areas of said subject; and means responsive to said edge-ratio signal for reproducing an image of said subject.

Claim 15

An image reproduction system comprising: means for deriving from a field of view edge-ratio signals representing the ratios of brightness between closely spaced incremental areas on opposite sides of visually significant boundaries separating different areas within said field of view; means responsive to said edge-ratio signals for developing lightness-determining signals derived from the sequential multiplication of said ratios, said lightness-determining signals characterizing the rank order of the lightness of respective areas within said field of view as perceived by a visual observer; and means responsive to said lightness-determining signals for reproducing an image of said field of view. 9, An image reproduction system comprising: means for scanning a subject according to a predetermined line scan program to produce brightness signals representative of brightness variations from point-to-point of said subject; means responsive to said brightness signals for producing edge-ratio signals representative of the ratios between levels of brightness at closely spaced points on opposite sides of significant visual boundaries of said subject; aNd means responsive to said edge-ratio signals for reproducing an image of said subject in accordance with said line scan program.

Claim 16

An image reproduction system comprising: means for deriving from a field of view edge-ratio signals representing the ratios of brightness between closely spaced incremental areas on opposite sides of visually significant boundaries separating different areas within said field of view; means responsive to said edge-ratio signals for developing lightness-determining signals derived from the sequential multiplication of said ratios, said lightness-determining signals characterizing the rank order of the lightness of respective areas within said field of view as perceived by a visual observer; and means responsive to said lightness-determining signals for reproducing an image of said field of view. 9, An image reproduction system comprising: means for scanning a subject according to a predetermined line scan program to produce brightness signals representative of brightness variations from point-to-point of said subject; means responsive to said brightness signals for producing edge-ratio signals representative of the ratios between levels of brightness at closely spaced points on opposite sides of significant visual boundaries of said subject; aNd means responsive to said edge-ratio signals for reproducing an image of said subject in accordance with said line scan program.

Claim 17

An image reproduction system comprising: means for scanning a subject according to a predetermined line scan program to produce brightness signals representative of brightness variations from point-to-point of said subject; means responsive to said brightness signal for producing an edge-ratio signal representative of the ratios between levels of brightness at closely spaced points on opposite sides of significant visual boundaries of said subject; means for processing said edge-ratio signals to develop lightness-representing signals derived from the multiplication of sequentially detected edge brightness ratios, said lightness-representing signals representing for each bounded area of said subject a rank in a scale of lightnesses; and means responsive to said lightness-representing signals for reproducing an image of said subject in which the various bounded areas of said image are rendered in terms of brightnesses corresponding to the rank of the corresponding subject areas in said scale of lightnesses.

Claim 18

An image reproduction system comprising: means for scanning a subject according to a predetermined line scan program to produce brightness signals representative of brightness variations from point-to-point of said subject; means responsive to said brightness signal for producing an edge-ratio signal representative of the ratios between levels of brightness at closely spaced points on opposite sides of significant visual boundaries of said subject; means for processing said edge-ratio signals to develop lightness-representing signals derived from the multiplication of sequentially detected edge brightness ratios, said lightness-representing signals representing for each bounded area of said subject a rank in a scale of lightnesses; and means responsive to said lightness-representing signals for reproducing an image of said subject in which the various bounded areas of said image are rendered in terms of brightnesses corresponding to the rank of the corresponding subject areas in said scale of lightnesses.

Claim 19

A television system comprising: camera means for deriving from the scan of an original subject according to a predetermined line scan program brightness signals representing continuous records of the brightness of each incremental areas scanned on said original subject; signal processing means responsive to said brightness signals for producing edge-ratio signals characterizing changes in brightness of the original subject across significant visual boundaries but not characterizing gradual changes in brightness unassociated with significant visual boundaries; and means responsive to said edge-ratio signals for reproducing an image of said original subject and for controlling the brightness of image areas between image boundaries in accordance with the changes in brightness characterized by said edge-ratio signals.

Claim 20

A television system comprising: camera means for deriving from the scan of an original subject according to a predetermined line scan program brightness signals representing continuous records of the brightness of each incremental areas scanned on said original subject; signal processing means responsive to said brightness signals for producing edge-ratio signals characterizing changes in brightness of the original subject across significant visual boundaries but not characterizing gradual changes in brightness unassociated with significant visual boundaries; and means responsive to said edge-ratio signals for reproducing an image of said original subject and for controlling the brightness of image areas between image boundaries in accordance with the changes in brightness characterized by said edge-ratio signals.

Claim 21

A television system comprising: camera means for deriving from the scan of an original subject according to a predetermined line scan program brightness signals representing continuous records of the brightness of each incremental area scanned on said original subject; signal processing means responsive to said brightness signals for producing edge-ratio signals characterizing changes in brightness of the original subject across significant visual boundaries but not characterizing gradual changes in brightness unassociated with significant visual boundaries; means responsive to said edge-ratio signals for producing a signal representing lightness for each subject area between significant visual boundaries; and image display means responsive to said lightness-representing signals for producing an image of said subject.

Claim 22

A television system comprising: camera means for deriving from the scan of an original subject according to a predetermined line scan program brightness signals representing continuous records of the brightness of each incremental area scanned on said original subject; signal processing means responsive to said brightness signals for producing edge-ratio signals characterizing changes in brightness of the original subject across significant visual boundaries but not characterizing gradual changes in brightness unassociated with significant visual boundaries; means responsive to said edge-ratio signals for producing a signal representing lightness for each subject area between significant visual boundaries; and image display means responsive to said lightness-representing signals for producing an image of said subject.

Claim 23

A television system comprising: camera means for deriving from the scan of a field of view according to a predetermined line scan program brightness signals representing continuous records of the brightness of each incremental area scanned in said field of view; signal processing means responsive to said brightness signals for producing edge-ratio signals characterizing the ratios of brightness between closely spaced incremental areas on opposite sides of visually significant boundaries separating different areas within said field of view but not characterizing gradual changes in brightness unassociated with significant visual boundaries; means responsive to said edge-ratio signals for developing lightness-representing signals derived from the sequential multiplication of said ratios, said lightness-representing signals characterizing the rank order of the lightness of respective areas within said field of view as perceived by a visual observer; and image display means responsive to said lightness-representing signals for producing an image of said field of view.

Claim 24

A television system comprising: camera means for deriving from the scan of a field of view according to a predetermined line scan program brightness signals representing continuous records of the brightness of each incremental area scanned in said field of view; signal processing means responsive to said brightness signals for producing edge-ratio signals characterizing the ratios of brightness between closely spaced incremental areas on opposite sides of visually significant boundaries separating different areas within said field of view but not characterizing gradual changes in brightness unassociated with significant visual boundaries; means responsive to said edge-ratio signals for developing lightness-representing signals derived from the sequential multiplication of said ratios, said lightness-representing signals characterizing the rank order of the lightness of respective areas within said field of view as perceived by a visual observer; and image display means responsive to said lightness-representing signals for producing an image of said field of view.

Claim 25

The television system of claim 13 wherein said image display means includes means for controlling the brightness of each of the respective areas of the image displayed thereby in accordance with the rank order of lightness of the corresponding area in said field of view as characterized by said lightness-representing signals whether or not said rank order of lightness corresponds to the scale of brightness of the respective areas of said field of view.

Claim 30

An image reproduction system for reproducing colored images comprising: means for deriving from a field of view edge-ratio color signals representing within each of a plurality of spectral ranges the ratios of brightness between closely spaced incremental areas on opposite sides of visually significant boundaries separating different areas within said field of view; means responsive to said edge-ratio color signals for developing lightness-representing color signals derived from the sequential multiplication of the edge ratios corresponding to each os said spectral ranges, said lightness-representing signals characterizing the rank order of the lightnesses of respective areas within said field of view as perceivable by a visual observer for each of said spectral ranges; and means responsive to said lightness-representing signals for reproducing a colored image of said field of view in terms of a plurality of separate visual stimuli having different wavelength composition, the relative intensities of each one of said visual stimuli being governed by a respective one of said lightness-representing color signals.

Claim 31

An image reproduction system for reproducing colored images comprising: means for deriving from a field of view edge-ratio color signals representing within each of a plurality of spectral ranges the ratios of brightness between closely spaced incremental areas on opposite sides of visually significant boundaries separating different areas within said field of view; means responsive to said edge-ratio color signals for developing lightness-representing color signals derived from the sequential multiplication of the edge ratios corresponding to each os said spectral ranges, said lightness-representing signals characterizing the rank order of the lightnesses of respective areas within said field of view as perceivable by a visual observer for each of said spectral ranges; and means responsive to said lightness-representing signals for reproducing a colored image of said field of view in terms of a plurality of separate visual stimuli having different wavelength composition, the relative intensities of each one of said visual stimuli being governed by a respective one of said lightness-representing color signals.