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Method and apparatus for red-eye detection in an acquired digital image

Assignee: Adeia Imaging LLC
•
Filing: 2005-09-21
•
Granted: 2009-09-08
•
Expires: 2025-09-21
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Abstract

Abstract A method for red-eye detection in an acquired digital image comprises acquiring a first image and analyzing the first acquired image to provide a plurality of characteristics indicative of image quality. The process then determines if one or more corrective processes can be beneficially applied to the first acquired image according to the characteristics. Any such corrective processes are then applied to the first acquired image. Red-eye defects are then detected in a second acquired image using the corrected first acquired image. Defect detection can comprise applying a chain of one or more red-eye filters to the first acquired image. In this case, prior to the detecting step, it is determined if the red-eye filter chain can be adapted in accordance with the plurality of characteristics; and the red-eye filter is adapted accordingly.

Inventors

  • 👤 Eran Steinberg
  • 👤 Yury Prilutsky
  • 👤 Petronel Bigioi
  • 👤 Florin Nanu

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-09 12:48
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06T; G06T5/00; G06T5/90; G06T5/94; G06V; G06V40/00; G06V40/10; G06V40/18; G06V40/193; G06T2207/00; G06T2207/20; G06T2207/20004; G06T2207/20008; G06T2207/30; G06T2207/30216

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 64
Claim 1
Independent Claim 107 words
A method for red-eye detection in an acquired digital image comprising, using a processor and a digital storage medium having code embedded therein for programming the processor to perform the method, which includes: a) acquiring a first image; b) analyzing the first acquired image to detect one or more eye color defect characteristics; c) determining if one or more corrective processes can be beneficially applied to said first acquired image according to said eye color defect characteristics; d) applying at least one of such corrective processes to said first acquired image; and e) detecting red-eye defects in a second acquired image using said corrected first acquired image.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 107 words
A method for red-eye detection in an acquired digital image comprising, using a processor and a digital storage medium having code embedded therein for programming the processor to perform the method, which includes: a) acquiring a first image; b) analyzing the first acquired image to detect one or more eye color defect characteristics; c) determining if one or more corrective processes can be beneficially applied to said first acquired image according to said eye color defect characteristics; d) applying at least one of such corrective processes to said first acquired image; and e) detecting red-eye defects in a second acquired image using said corrected first acquired image.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 56 words
A method according to claim 1 wherein said detecting comprises applying a chain of one or more red-eye filters to said first acquired image; and further comprising, prior to said detecting: f) determining if said red-eye filter chain can be adapted in accordance with said plurality of characteristics; and g) adapting said red-eye filter chain accordingly.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 26 words
A method according to claim 2 in which said adapting comprises providing an altered set of parameters for one or more filters of said filter chain.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 25 words
A method according to claim 2 in which said adapting comprises re-ordering a sequence in which said filters are applied to said first acquired image.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 17 words
A method according to claim 2 in which more than one of said filters are applied simultaneously.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 21 words
A method according to claim 2 in which said adapting comprises determining which filters are to be applied in said chain.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 21 words
A method according to claim 1 further comprising correcting a third acquired image based on any defects detected in said detecting.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 17 words
A method according to claim 7 wherein said first second and third images are the same image.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 24 words
A method according to claim 7 wherein at least one of said first and second images is a sub-sampled copy of said third image.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 17 words
A method according to claim 1 wherein said first and second acquired images are the same image.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 16 words
A method according to claim 1 wherein said first and second acquired images are different images.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 19 words
A method according to claim 11 wherein said first acquired image is a sub-sampled copy of an acquired image.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 19 words
A method according to claim 11 wherein said first acquired image is a sub-sampled copy of the second image.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 32 words
A method according to claim 1 further comprising: prior to analyzing the first acquired image, processing said second image based on the settings of a device used to acquire the second image.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 48 words
A method according to claim 1 wherein said analyzing comprises determining one or more of: a degree of blur; a degree of dust contamination; color balance; white balance; a gamma correction which might be applied; texture characteristics; noise characteristics; and characteristics of regions; in the first acquired image.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 20 words
A method according to claim 1 wherein the analyzing comprises recognizing one or more faces in the first acquired image.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim 40 words
A method according to claim 16 , further comprising recognizing a same face in a second acquired image as in said first acquired image, and applying one or more same corrective processes to said second image as said first image.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim 58 words
A method according to claim 1 wherein said corrective processes comprise one or more of: (i) contrast normalization and image sharpening; (ii) image color adjustment and tone scaling; (iii) exposure adjustment and digital fill flash; (iv) brightness adjustment with color space matching; (v) image auto-gamma determination with image enhancement; (v) image enhancement; and (vi) face based image enhancement.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim 31 words
A method according to claim 2 wherein said red-eye filter chain comprises: (i) a pixel locator and segmentor; (ii) a shape analyser; (iii) a falsing analyser; and (iv) a pixel modifier.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim 16 words
A method according to claim 19 wherein said pixel locator and segmentor includes a pixel transformer.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim 44 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising: responsive to determining that corrective processing is necessary but cannot be beneficially applied to said first acquired image according to said characteristics, disabling said detecting red-eye defects and providing an indication of such to a user.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim 29 words
A method as claimed in claim 7 wherein said applying a corrective process includes interacting with a user to determine the corrections to be made to said third image.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim 18 words
A method according to claim 1 wherein the applying a corrective process includes performing a color space transformation.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim 22 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 in which one or more of (a) to (e) are performed in a digital camera.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim 31 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising determining a sequence in which more than one corrective process can be beneficially applied to said first acquired image according to said characteristics.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim 22 words
A method according to claim 1 wherein the analyzing comprises recognizing one or more types of faces in the first acquired image.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim 42 words
A method according to claim 16 , further comprising recognizing a same type of face in a second acquired image as in said first acquired image, and applying one or more same corrective processes to said second image as said first image.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim 112 words
A computer-readable storage medium containing a set of instructions which when executed on a digital image processing device program a processor to perform a method for red-eye detection in an acquired digital image, wherein the method comprises: a) acquiring a first image; b) analyzing the first acquired image to detect one or more eye color defect characteristics; c) determining if one or more corrective processes can be beneficially applied to said first acquired image according to said eye color detect characteristics; and d) applying at least one of such corrective processes to said first acquired image; and e) detecting red-eye defects in a second acquired image using said corrected first acquired image.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim 112 words
A computer-readable storage medium containing a set of instructions which when executed on a digital image processing device program a processor to perform a method for red-eye detection in an acquired digital image, wherein the method comprises: a) acquiring a first image; b) analyzing the first acquired image to detect one or more eye color defect characteristics; c) determining if one or more corrective processes can be beneficially applied to said first acquired image according to said eye color detect characteristics; and d) applying at least one of such corrective processes to said first acquired image; and e) detecting red-eye defects in a second acquired image using said corrected first acquired image.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim 113 words
A digital image processing device comprising a processor and a processor-readable storage medium having embedded therein processor-readable code for programming the processor to perform a method for red-eye detection in an acquired digital image, wherein the method comprises: a) acquiring a first image; b) analyzing the first acquired image to detect one or more eye color defect characteristics; c) determining if one or more corrective processes can be beneficially applied to said first acquired image according to said eye color defect characteristics; and d) applying at least one of such corrective processes to said first acquired image; and e) detecting red-eye defects in a second acquired image using said corrected first acquired image.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim 113 words
A digital image processing device comprising a processor and a processor-readable storage medium having embedded therein processor-readable code for programming the processor to perform a method for red-eye detection in an acquired digital image, wherein the method comprises: a) acquiring a first image; b) analyzing the first acquired image to detect one or more eye color defect characteristics; c) determining if one or more corrective processes can be beneficially applied to said first acquired image according to said eye color defect characteristics; and d) applying at least one of such corrective processes to said first acquired image; and e) detecting red-eye defects in a second acquired image using said corrected first acquired image.
Claim 33
Independent Claim 95 words
A method for red-eye detection in an acquired digital image comprising, using a processor and a digital storage medium having code embedded therein for programming the processor to perform the method, which includes: a) acquiring a first image; b) analyzing the first acquired image to detect a suboptimal exposure characteristic of the image; c) determining if a chain of one or more red-eye filters can be adapted in accordance with said suboptimal exposure characteristic; d) adapting said red-eye filter chain; and e) applying said filter chain to detect red-eye defects in a second acquired image.
Claim 34
Independent Claim 95 words
A method for red-eye detection in an acquired digital image comprising, using a processor and a digital storage medium having code embedded therein for programming the processor to perform the method, which includes: a) acquiring a first image; b) analyzing the first acquired image to detect a suboptimal exposure characteristic of the image; c) determining if a chain of one or more red-eye filters can be adapted in accordance with said suboptimal exposure characteristic; d) adapting said red-eye filter chain; and e) applying said filter chain to detect red-eye defects in a second acquired image.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim 41 words
A method according to claim 30 further comprising: f) determining if one or more corrective processes can be beneficially applied to said first acquired image according to said characteristics; and g) applying any such corrective processes to said first acquired image.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim 26 words
A method according to claim 30 in which said adapting comprises providing an altered set of parameters for one or more filters of said filter chain.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim 25 words
A method according to claim 30 in which said adapting comprises re-ordering a sequence in which said filters are applied to said first acquired image.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim 17 words
A method according to claim 30 in which more than one of said filters are applied simultaneously.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim 21 words
A method according to claim 30 in which said adapting comprises determining which filters are to be applied in said chain.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim 23 words
A method according to claim 30 further comprising correcting a third acquired image based on one or more defects detected in said detecting.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim 17 words
A method according to claim 36 wherein said first second and third images comprise a same image.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim 24 words
A method according to claim 36 wherein at least one of said first and second images is a sub-sampled copy of said third image.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim 17 words
A method according to claim 30 wherein said first and second acquired images comprise a same image.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim 16 words
A method according to claim 30 wherein said first and second acquired images comprise different images.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim 19 words
A method according to claim 40 wherein said first acquired image comprises a sub-sampled copy of an acquired image.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim 19 words
A method according to claim 40 wherein said first acquired image comprises a sub-sampled copy of the second image.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim 32 words
A method according to claim 30 further comprising: prior to analyzing the first acquired image, processing said second image based on the settings of a device used to acquire the second image.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim 49 words
A method according to claim 30 wherein said analysing step comprises determining one or more of: a degree of blur a degree of dust contamination; color balance; white balance; a gamma correction which might be applied; texture characteristics; noise characteristics; and characteristics of regions; in the first acquired image.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim 20 words
A method according to claim 30 wherein said analyzing comprises recognizing one or more faces in the first acquired image.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim 52 words
A method according to claim 45 , further comprising recognizing a same face in said second acquired image as in said first acquired image, and wherein said applying said filter chain comprises applying a same filter chain to said same face of said second acquired image as in said first acquired image.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim 58 words
A method according to claim 31 wherein said corrective processes comprise one or more of: (i) contrast normalization and image sharpening; (ii) image color adjustment and tone scaling; (iii) exposure adjustment and digital fill flash; (iv) brightness adjustment with color space matching; (v) image auto-gamma determination with image enhancement; (v) image enhancement; and (vi) face based image enhancement.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim 31 words
A method according to claim 30 wherein said red-eye filter chain comprises: (i) a pixel locator and segmentor; (ii) a shape analyser; (iii) a falsing analyser; and (iv) a pixel modifier.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim 16 words
A method according to claim 48 wherein said pixel locator and segmentor includes a pixel transformer.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim 44 words
A method as claimed in claim 31 comprising responsive to determining that corrective processing is necessary but cannot be beneficially applied to said first acquired image according to said characteristics, disabling said detecting red-eye defects and providing an indication of such to a user.
Claim 55
Dependent Claim 29 words
A method as claimed in claim 36 wherein said applying a corrective process includes interacting with a user to determine the corrections to be made to said third image.
Claim 56
Dependent Claim 18 words
A method according to claim 31 wherein the applying a corrective process includes performing a color space transformation.
Claim 57
Dependent Claim 22 words
A method as claimed in claim 30 in which one or more of (a) to (e) are performed in a digital camera.
Claim 58
Dependent Claim 31 words
A method as claimed in claim 31 comprising determining a sequence in which more than one corrective process can be beneficially applied to said first acquired image according to said characteristics.
Claim 59
Dependent Claim 22 words
A method according to claim 30 wherein said analyzing comprises recognizing one or more types of faces in the first acquired image.
Claim 60
Dependent Claim 56 words
A method according to claim 45 , further comprising recognizing a same type of face in said second acquired image as in said first acquired image, and wherein said applying said filter chain comprises applying a same filter chain to said same type of face of said second acquired image as in said first acquired image.
Claim 61
Dependent Claim 105 words
A computer-readable storage medium containing a set of instructions embedded therein which, when executed on a digital image processing device, that comprises a processor, programs the processor to perform a method for red-eye detection in an acquired digital image, wherein the method comprises: a) acquiring a first image; b) analyzing the first acquired image to detect a suboptimal exposure characteristic of the image; c) determining if a chain of one or more red-eye filters can be adapted in accordance with said suboptimal exposure characteristic; d) adapting said red-eye filter chain; and e) applying said filter chain to detect red-eye defects in a second acquired image.
Claim 62
Dependent Claim 105 words
A computer-readable storage medium containing a set of instructions embedded therein which, when executed on a digital image processing device, that comprises a processor, programs the processor to perform a method for red-eye detection in an acquired digital image, wherein the method comprises: a) acquiring a first image; b) analyzing the first acquired image to detect a suboptimal exposure characteristic of the image; c) determining if a chain of one or more red-eye filters can be adapted in accordance with said suboptimal exposure characteristic; d) adapting said red-eye filter chain; and e) applying said filter chain to detect red-eye defects in a second acquired image.
Claim 63
Dependent Claim 107 words
A digital image acquisition and processing device comprising a lens, an image sensor, a processor and a processor-readable storage medium having embedded therein processor-readable code for programming the processor to perform a method for red-eye detection in an acquired digital image, wherein the method comprises: a) acquiring a first image; b) analyzing the first acquired image to detect a suboptimal exposure characteristic of the image; c) determining if a chain of one or more red-eye filters can be adapted in accordance with said suboptimal exposure characteristic; d) adapting said red-eye filter chain; and e) applying said filter chain to detect red-eye defects in a second acquired image.
Claim 64
Dependent Claim 107 words
A digital image acquisition and processing device comprising a lens, an image sensor, a processor and a processor-readable storage medium having embedded therein processor-readable code for programming the processor to perform a method for red-eye detection in an acquired digital image, wherein the method comprises: a) acquiring a first image; b) analyzing the first acquired image to detect a suboptimal exposure characteristic of the image; c) determining if a chain of one or more red-eye filters can be adapted in accordance with said suboptimal exposure characteristic; d) adapting said red-eye filter chain; and e) applying said filter chain to detect red-eye defects in a second acquired image.

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