US6690828B2
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Method for representing and comparing digital images
Assignee: Individual
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Filing: 2001-04-09
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Granted: 2004-02-10
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Expires: 2021-04-09
Abstract
Abstract A method of generating a compact representation of a digital image is described. A digital image is converted to a square bitmap and divided into a plurality of cells. Each cell is subdivided into a plurality of regions. A minimum intensity region and a maximum intensity region in each cell are identified in each set of the plurality of cells. Cell representation data is generated for each cell in each set of cells based on the positions of the minimum intensity region and the maximum intensity region in the cell. Combining all of the cell representation data in each set of cells for the image creates a compact representation of the original digital image. A method of comparing cell representation data is also described. Cell representation data for a collection of source images is organized into a database. A search of the database identifies candidate images that are at least minimally similar to a target image. The target image is then compared directly to each identified candidate image and a similarity score for each candidate image is calculated and recorded.
Inventors
- 👤 Gary Elliott Meyers
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 21:09
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06T; G06T7/00; G06T7/90; G06V; G06V10/00; G06V10/40; G06T2207/00; G06T2207/20; G06T2207/20021
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
100 words
A method of generating a compact representation of a digital image, the method comprising: dividing the digital image into a plurality of cells; identifying a minimum intensity region in each cell in each set of the plurality of cells; identifying a maximum intensity region in each cell in each set of the plurality of cells; generating cell representation data for each cell in each set of cells based on the positions of the minimum intensity region and the maximum intensity region in that cell; and generating a persistent representation of the digital image, the representation including the cell representation data.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
100 words
A method of generating a compact representation of a digital image, the method comprising: dividing the digital image into a plurality of cells; identifying a minimum intensity region in each cell in each set of the plurality of cells; identifying a maximum intensity region in each cell in each set of the plurality of cells; generating cell representation data for each cell in each set of cells based on the positions of the minimum intensity region and the maximum intensity region in that cell; and generating a persistent representation of the digital image, the representation including the cell representation data.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 1 , and further comprising converting the original digital image to a square bitmap prior to dividing the digital image into a plurality of cells.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 1 , and further comprising subdividing each cell into a plurality of regions.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 3 , and further comprising calculating a pixel intensity sum for each region, the pixel intensity sum for each region representing the sum of the intensities of the pixels contained in that region.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 4 , wherein the minimum and maximum intensity regions are identified based on the calculated pixel intensity sums.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 1 , and further comprising identifying cells that have low contrast, and associating a low contrast identifier with each identified cell.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 6 , wherein upon detection of an image having a predominance of low contrast cells, the image's contrast is dynamically increased and its cell representation data is recalculated.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 6 , wherein the low contrast identifier is a negative integer.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 6 , wherein the representation of the digital image includes the cell representation data.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the intensity angle for each cell is generated based on an angle between a horizontal reference line and a line formed between the cell's minimum intensity region and its maximum intensity region.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 10 , wherein the cell representation data for each cell is an integer representing either the value of the intensity angle for the cell or the low contrast identifier.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
215 words
A method of identifying candidate images in a library of digital images that are similar to a digital target image and determining a degree of similarity of the candidate images to the target image, the method comprising: dividing the digital target image and the digital source images in the library of digital images into a plurality of cells; identifying a minimum intensity region in each cell of the digital target and source images in the library; identifying a maximum intensity region in each cell of the digital target and source images in the library; generating cell representation data for each cell in each digital target and source image in the library based on the positions of the minimum intensity region and the maximum intensity region in the respective cells of the respective digital source and target images; generating a candidate image database that organizes the images according to the cell representation data of each source image; searching the candidate image database to identify candidate images having at least one cell that is similar to the target image; comparing the target image to each image from the candidate database identified as having at least one cell similar to the target image; and calculating similarity scores for the digital images with which the target image was compared.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
215 words
A method of identifying candidate images in a library of digital images that are similar to a digital target image and determining a degree of similarity of the candidate images to the target image, the method comprising: dividing the digital target image and the digital source images in the library of digital images into a plurality of cells; identifying a minimum intensity region in each cell of the digital target and source images in the library; identifying a maximum intensity region in each cell of the digital target and source images in the library; generating cell representation data for each cell in each digital target and source image in the library based on the positions of the minimum intensity region and the maximum intensity region in the respective cells of the respective digital source and target images; generating a candidate image database that organizes the images according to the cell representation data of each source image; searching the candidate image database to identify candidate images having at least one cell that is similar to the target image; comparing the target image to each image from the candidate database identified as having at least one cell similar to the target image; and calculating similarity scores for the digital images with which the target image was compared.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
103 words
The method of claim 12 wherein the candidate database is organized into a plurality of angle index categories, the number of categories corresponding to a transposed count of the number of possible cell representation data values, each category being further subdivided into a series of arrays, the number of arrays corresponding in number up to the number of cells into which each digital image has been divided, the arrays containing identifiers of those images having a cell representation datum corresponding to the value assigned to the current angle index category in a cell corresponding to the array associated with the angle index category.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
126 words
A method of identifying candidate images among a library of source images that are similar to a target image, the method comprising: generating a representation of the target image and each of the source images based on the relative positions of a minimum and a maximum intensity region within the target and source images and wherein the representation of each of the target and source images is comprised of a plurality of intensity angles; generating a candidate image list, each candidate image having at least a predetermined degree of similarity with the target image; comparing the representations of the target image and the candidate images and generating a similarity score based on this comparison, the similarity score representing the degree of similarity of the digital images.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
126 words
A method of identifying candidate images among a library of source images that are similar to a target image, the method comprising: generating a representation of the target image and each of the source images based on the relative positions of a minimum and a maximum intensity region within the target and source images and wherein the representation of each of the target and source images is comprised of a plurality of intensity angles; generating a candidate image list, each candidate image having at least a predetermined degree of similarity with the target image; comparing the representations of the target image and the candidate images and generating a similarity score based on this comparison, the similarity score representing the degree of similarity of the digital images.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
33 words
A method of claim 14 wherein the cell representation data from the first and the second digital images are compared on a cell by cell basis across a plurality of sets of cells.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 14 and further comprising the step of transposing the plurality of intensity angles that comprise the representation of the target and the candidate digital images.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 14 wherein the representation of each of the target and the candidate digital images is based on one or more image properties chosen from a list consisting of: intensity, color, hue, saturation, value, luminance, and chrominance.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
108 words
A method of generating a compact representation of a digital image, the method comprising: dividing the digital image into a plurality of cells; identifying a minimum image data value region in each cell in each set of the plurality of cells; identifying a maximum image data value region in each cell in each set of the plurality of cells; generating persistent cell representation data for each cell in each set of cells based on the positions of the minimum image data value region and the maximum image data value region in that cell; and generating a representation of the digital image, the representation including the cell representation data.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
108 words
A method of generating a compact representation of a digital image, the method comprising: dividing the digital image into a plurality of cells; identifying a minimum image data value region in each cell in each set of the plurality of cells; identifying a maximum image data value region in each cell in each set of the plurality of cells; generating persistent cell representation data for each cell in each set of cells based on the positions of the minimum image data value region and the maximum image data value region in that cell; and generating a representation of the digital image, the representation including the cell representation data.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of generating a compact representation of a digital image of claim 18 wherein the image data values are derived from one of a group consisting of: intensity, color, hue, saturation, value, luminance, and chrominance.
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