Image processing apparatus that determines code corresponding to a digital watermark embedded in an image

Claim 2

An image processing apparatus comprising: an input unit configured to input an image obtained by capturing, by an image capturing device, a print product in which a digital watermark is embedded; an obtaining unit configured to obtain information about a moving direction of the image capturing device with respect to the print product in the image capturing of the print product; and a determination unit configured to, based on the information obtained by said obtaining unit or frequency characteristics in a partial area of the image input by said input unit, determine a code corresponding to the digital watermark embedded in the partial area, wherein, in a case where the partial area contains a frequency component higher than a predetermined frequency, said determination unit determines a code based on the frequency component, and in a case where the partial area does not contain a frequency component higher than the predetermined frequency, said determination unit determines a code based on the information obtained by said obtaining unit.

Claim 3

The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said input unit inputs a plurality of images obtained by performing a continuous shooting of different areas on the print product, and said determination unit determines a code corresponding to a partial area in each of the plurality of images.

Claim 4

The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said obtaining unit obtains information about the moving direction of the image capturing device based on a detection result of a sensor of the image capturing device.

Claim 5

The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein information is embedded in the digital watermark on the print product by modulating the frequency characteristics of the image.

Claim 6

The apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the information is embedded in the digital watermark by associating a difference in a band of the modulation with a code.

Claim 7

The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a detection unit configured to detect a geometric shift between the print product included in the image input by said input unit and the image captured by the image capturing device.

Claim 8

The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said determination unit obtains the frequency characteristics by applying a filter regarding the frequency characteristics to an image input by said input unit.

Claim 9

The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said obtaining unit obtains information about a blur of the image.

Claim 10

The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said determination unit determines the code based on the information obtained by said obtaining unit, the frequency characteristics, and an image capturing condition of the image capturing device.

Claim 11

The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said determination unit uses information about power in each specific band as the frequency characteristic, and determines the code based on the information.

Claim 12

The apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the information is information associated with deviation of power in said each specific band.

Claim 13

The apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the information is information associated with attenuation of power in said each specific band.

Claim 14

The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the image capturing device is integrated in the image processing apparatus.

Claim 15

An image processing apparatus comprising: an input unit configured to input an image obtained by capturing, by an image capturing device, a print product in which a digital watermark is embedded; an obtaining unit configured to obtain information about a moving direction of the image capturing device with respect to the print product in the image capturing of the print product; a detection unit configured to detect a geometric shift between the print product included in the image input by said input unit and the image captured by the image capturing device; and a determination unit configured to, based on the information obtained by said obtaining unit or frequency characteristics in a partial area of the image input by said input unit, determine a code corresponding to the digital watermark embedded in the partial area, wherein said obtaining unit obtains information about the moving direction of the image capturing device based on a detection result of a sensor that is integrated in the image capturing device, said determination unit predicts, as a change of an image capturing quality characteristic, a change of the frequency characteristics of the image input by said input unit based on the geometric shift detected by said detection unit and the information from the sensor, and detects a motion of the image capturing device, and said determination unit determines the code based on the prediction.

Claim 16

An image processing apparatus comprising: an input unit configured to input an image obtained by capturing, by an image capturing device, a print product in which a digital watermark is embedded; an obtaining unit configured to obtain information about a moving direction of the image capturing device with respect to the print product in the image capturing of the print product; a detection unit configured to detect a geometric shift between the print product included in the image input by said input unit and the image captured by the image capturing device; and a determination unit configured to, based on the information obtained by said obtaining unit or frequency characteristics in a partial area of the image input by said input unit, determine a code corresponding to the digital watermark embedded in the partial area, wherein said obtaining unit obtains information about the moving direction of the image capturing device based on a detection result of a sensor that is integrated in the image capturing device, said determination unit predicts, as a change of an image capturing quality characteristic, a change of the frequency characteristics of the image input by said input unit based on the geometric shift detected by said detection unit and the information from the sensor, and detects a motion of the image capturing device, and said determination unit determines the code based on the prediction.

Claim 17

An image processing method comprising: inputting an image obtained by capturing, by an image capturing device, a print product in which a digital watermark is embedded; and based on information about a moving direction of the image capturing device with respect to the print product in the image capturing of the print product or frequency characteristics in a partial area of the input image, determining a code corresponding to the digital watermark embedded in the partial area, wherein, in a case where the partial area contains a frequency component higher than a predetermined frequency, a code is determined in the determining, based on the frequency component, and in a case where the partial area does not contain a frequency component higher than the predetermined frequency, a code is determined in the determining, based on the information.

Claim 18

An image processing method comprising: inputting an image obtained by capturing, by an image capturing device, a print product in which a digital watermark is embedded; and based on information about a moving direction of the image capturing device with respect to the print product in the image capturing of the print product or frequency characteristics in a partial area of the input image, determining a code corresponding to the digital watermark embedded in the partial area, wherein, in a case where the partial area contains a frequency component higher than a predetermined frequency, a code is determined in the determining, based on the frequency component, and in a case where the partial area does not contain a frequency component higher than the predetermined frequency, a code is determined in the determining, based on the information.

Claim 19

The method according to claim 15 , wherein a plurality of images obtained by performing a continuous shooting of different areas on the print product are input in the inputting, and a code corresponding to a partial area in each of the plurality of images is determined in the determining.

Claim 20

The method according to claim 15 , wherein the information about the moving direction of the image capturing device is obtained based on a detection result of a sensor of the image capturing device.

Claim 21

The method according to claim 15 , wherein the information is embedded in the digital watermark on the print product by modulating the frequency characteristics of the image.

Claim 22

The method according to claim 18 , wherein the information is embedded in the digital watermark by associating a difference in a band of the modulation with a code.

Claim 23

The method according to claim 15 , further comprising detecting a geometric shift between the print product included in the input image and the image captured by the image capturing device.

Claim 24

The method according to claim 20 , wherein in the determining, a change of the frequency characteristics of the input image is predicted as a change of an image capturing quality characteristic, based on the detected geometric shift, and information from a sensor that is integrated in the image capturing device and a motion of the image capturing device is detected, and the code is determined based on the prediction.

Claim 25

The method according to claim 15 , wherein in the determining, the frequency characteristics are obtained by applying a filter regarding the frequency characteristics to an input image.

Claim 26

The method according to claim 15 , wherein information about a blur of the image is obtained.

Claim 27

The method according to claim 15 , wherein the code is determined in the determining based on the information, the frequency characteristics, and an image capturing condition of the image capturing device.

Claim 28

The method according to claim 15 , wherein in the determining, information about power in each specific band is used as the frequency characteristic, and the code is determined based on the information.

Claim 29

The method according to claim 25 , wherein the information is information associated with deviation of power in said each specific band.

Claim 30

The method according to claim 25 , wherein the information is information associated with attenuation of power in said each specific band.

Claim 31

The method according to claim 15 , wherein the image capturing device is integrated in an image processing apparatus which executes the image processing method.

Claim 32

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium which stores a computer program to be executed in a processor of an image processing apparatus, the program comprising: inputting an image obtained by capturing, by an image capturing device, a print product in which a digital watermark is embedded; and based on information about a moving direction of the image capturing device with respect to the print product in the image capturing of the print product or frequency characteristics in a partial area of the input image, determining a code corresponding to the digital watermark embedded in the partial area, wherein, in a case where the partial area contains a frequency component higher than a predetermined frequency, a code is determined in the determining, based on the frequency component, and in a case where the partial area does not contain a frequency component higher than the predetermined frequency, a code is determined in the determining, based on the information.

Claim 33

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium which stores a computer program to be executed in a processor of an image processing apparatus, the program comprising: inputting an image obtained by capturing, by an image capturing device, a print product in which a digital watermark is embedded; and based on information about a moving direction of the image capturing device with respect to the print product in the image capturing of the print product or frequency characteristics in a partial area of the input image, determining a code corresponding to the digital watermark embedded in the partial area, wherein, in a case where the partial area contains a frequency component higher than a predetermined frequency, a code is determined in the determining, based on the frequency component, and in a case where the partial area does not contain a frequency component higher than the predetermined frequency, a code is determined in the determining, based on the information.