US6654507B2
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Automatically producing an image of a portion of a photographic image
Assignee: Monument Peak Ventures LLC
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Filing: 2000-12-14
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Granted: 2003-11-25
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Expires: 2020-12-14
Abstract
Abstract A method of producing an image of at least a portion of a digital image that includes pixels includescomputing a belief map of the digital image, by using the pixels of the digital image to determine a series of features and using such features to assign the probability of the location of a main subject of the digital image in the belief map determining a crop window having a shape and a zoom factor, which determine a size of the crop window and cropping the digital image to include a portion of the image of high subject content in response to the belief map and the crop window.
Inventors
- 👤 Jiebo Luo
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 11:35
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N1/00; H04N1/387; H04N1/3872; H04N1/3873; H04N1/3875; G; G06; G06T; G06T7/00; G06T7/60; G06T7/66; G06V; G06V10/00; G06V10/20; G06V10/25
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 30
Claim 1
Independent Claim
122 words
A method of producing an image of at least a portion of a digital image, comprising: a) providing a digital image having pixels; b) computing a belief map of the digital image by using the pixels of the digital image to determine a series of features and using such features to assign a probability of a location of a main subject of the digital image in the belief map; c) determining a crop window having a shape factor and a zoom factor, the shape and the zoom factors determining a size of the crop window; and d) cropping the digital image to include a portion of the image of high subject content in response to the belief map and the crop window.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
122 words
A method of producing an image of at least a portion of a digital image, comprising: a) providing a digital image having pixels; b) computing a belief map of the digital image by using the pixels of the digital image to determine a series of features and using such features to assign a probability of a location of a main subject of the digital image in the belief map; c) determining a crop window having a shape factor and a zoom factor, the shape and the zoom factors determining a size of the crop window; and d) cropping the digital image to include a portion of the image of high subject content in response to the belief map and the crop window.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
93 words
The method of claim 1 wherein determining the crop window includes i) computing a weighted center-of-mass of the belief map, weighted by belief values of the belief map; ii) computing weighted central moments of the belief map relative to the center-of-mass and weighted by a weighting function of each belief value of the belief map; iii) computing an effective rectangular bounding box according to the central moments; and iv) determining a crop window having a shape and a zoom factor, the shape and the zoom factors determining a size of the crop window.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
77 words
The method of claim 1 wherein cropping the digital image includes i) selecting an initial position of the crop window at a location which includes a center of mass; ii) using belief values corresponding to the crop window to select the position of the crop window to include a portion of the image of high subject content in response to the belief map; and iii) cropping the digital image according to the position of the crop window.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
54 words
The method of claim 2 wherein cropping the digital image includes i) selecting a crop window of a rectangular shape and of a similar aspect ratio to the digital image; and ii) selecting a zoom factor to determine the size of the crop window such that the crop window encompasses the effective bounding box.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 2 wherein the weighting function of computing a belief map is a linear weighting function.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 2 wherein the weighting function of computing a belief map is a constant function.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
65 words
The method of claim 3 wherein computing a belief map includes i) calculating a subject content index value for the crop window derived from the belief values; ii) following a positioning procedure of repeating selecting an initial position of the crop window for at least two positions of the crop window; and iii) using the subject content index values to select the crop window position.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the crop window is completely within the digital image.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method of claim 2 wherein computing a belief map includes clustering of the belief map to identify at least a cluster of highest belief values corresponding to the main subject, a cluster of intermediate belief values corresponding to secondary subjects, and a cluster of lowest belief values corresponding to background.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 9 wherein clustering includes setting background portions to a zero belief value.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 5 further comprising positioning the crop window such that the subject content index of the crop window is at an optimum.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 3 further comprising positioning the crop window such that the crop window includes all of the main subject cluster.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 12 further comprising positioning the crop window to include a buffer around the main subject cluster.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
28 words
A computer storage product having at least one computer storage medium having instructions stored therein causing one or more computers to perform the method of claim 1 .
Claim 16
Independent Claim
157 words
A method of producing an image of a portion of at least a portion of a photographic image onto a photographic receiver, comprising: a) receiving a digital image corresponding to the photographic image, the digital image including pixels; b) computing a belief map of the digital image by using the pixels of the digital image to determine a series of features and using such features to assign a probability of a location of a main subject of the digital image in the belief map; c) determining a crop window having a shape factor and a zoom factor, the shape and the zoom factors determining a size of the crop window; and d) locating a relative optical position of a photographic image, a lens assembly, and a photographic receiver in response to the belief map and illuminating a portion of the photographic image of high subject content to produce an image of such portion on the photographic receiver.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
157 words
A method of producing an image of a portion of at least a portion of a photographic image onto a photographic receiver, comprising: a) receiving a digital image corresponding to the photographic image, the digital image including pixels; b) computing a belief map of the digital image by using the pixels of the digital image to determine a series of features and using such features to assign a probability of a location of a main subject of the digital image in the belief map; c) determining a crop window having a shape factor and a zoom factor, the shape and the zoom factors determining a size of the crop window; and d) locating a relative optical position of a photographic image, a lens assembly, and a photographic receiver in response to the belief map and illuminating a portion of the photographic image of high subject content to produce an image of such portion on the photographic receiver.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
98 words
The method of claim 15 wherein determining a crop window includes i) computing a weighted center-of-mass of the belief map, the weighted center-of-mass weighted by the belief values of the belief map; ii) computing weighted central moments of the belief map, relative to the center-of-mass and weighted by a weighting function of each belief value of the belief map; iii) computing an effective rectangular bounding box according to the central moments; and iv) determining a crop window having a shape factor and a zoom factor, the shape and the zoom factors determining a size of the crop window.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
88 words
The method of claim 15 wherein locating the relative optical position of a photographic image, a lens assembly, and a photographic receiver includes i) selecting an initial position of the crop window at a location which includes the center-of-mass; ii) using the belief values corresponding to the crop window to select the position of the crop window to include a portion of the image of high subject content in response to the belief map; and iii) cropping the digital image according to the position of the crop window.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
66 words
The method of claim 16 wherein locating the relative optical position of a photographic image, a lens assembly, and a photographic receiver includes i) selecting a crop window of a rectangular shape and of an identical aspect ratio to the digital image; and ii) selecting a zoom factor to determine the size of the crop window such that the crop window encompasses the effective bounding box.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 16 wherein the weighting function of computing weighted central moments of the belief map is a linear weighting function.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 16 wherein the weighting function of computing weighted central moments of the belief map is a constant function.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
79 words
The method of claim 17 wherein computing a belief map of the digital image includes i) calculating a subject content index value for the crop window derived from the belief values; ii) following a positioning process of repeating selecting an initial position of the crop window at a location which includes the center of the mass for at least two positions of the crop window; and iii) using the subject content index values to select the crop window position.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 15 wherein the crop window is completely within the digital image.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
55 words
The method of claim 16 wherein computing a belief map of the digital image includes clustering of the belief map to identify at least a cluster of highest belief values corresponding to the main subject, a cluster of intermediate belief values corresponding to secondary subjects, and a cluster of lowest belief values corresponding to background.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 23 wherein clustering includes setting background portions to a zero belief value.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 19 further comprising positioning the crop window such that the subject content index value of the crop window is at an optimum.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 17 further comprising positioning the crop window such that the crop window includes all of main subject cluster.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 26 further comprising positioning the crop window to include a buffer around main subject cluster.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
28 words
A computer storage product having at least one computer storage medium having instructions stored therein causing one or more computers to perform the method of claim 15 .
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2006-11-24 | 2007-05-26 | 2007-11-25 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2010-11-24 | 2011-05-26 | 2011-11-25 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2014-11-24 | 2015-05-26 | 2015-11-25 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |