Color Table Editing Apparatus, Color Table Editing Method, Program, And Storage Medium

Abstract

A color table editing apparatus includes an image data input unit configured to input image data, a color table selection unit configured to select a given color table from a plurality of color tables in association with the input image data, an initial color data generation unit configured to generate initial color data from the selected color table and representative color data including a plurality of predetermined colors, a target color data editing unit configured to edit the initial color data to generate target color data, an optimized color data generation unit configured to generate optimized color data by performing optimization processing based on a color gamut of the edited target color data, and a user interface image display unit configured to display on a 2-dimensional color plane a user interface image including the target color data and optimized color data.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the main structure of a color table editing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows the main arrangement of a user interface image according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation procedure for generating a custom color table by a user in the color table editing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4A and 4B show examples of the user interface image immediately after selecting an original color table in the color table editing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 5A and 5B show examples of the user interface image when user's operation is made in the color table editing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows an example of the user interface image when a user performs an edit operation of a target color in the color table editing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 shows an example of the user interface image when target color data exist for low color saturation and high color saturation in the color table editing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Claims

1. A color table editing apparatus comprising: an image data input unit configured to input image data;a color table selection unit configured to select a specific color table from a plurality of color tables in association with the input image data;an initial color data generation unit configured to generate initial color data from the selected specific color table and representative color data including a plurality of predetermined colors;a target color data editing unit configured to edit the initial color data to generate target color data;an optimized color data generation unit configured to generate optimized color data by performing optimization processing based on a color gamut of the edited target color data; anda user interface image display unit configured to display on a 2-dimensional color plane a user interface image including the target color data and the optimized color data.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a custom color table generation unit configured to generate a custom color table for converting the image data from the optimized color data;a before-edit image data generation unit configured to generate before-edit image data by applying the selected color table to the image data; andan after-edit image data generation unit configured to generate after-edit image data by applying the custom color table to the image data,wherein said user interface image display unit displays the before-edit image data and the after-edit image data together with the user interface image corresponding to said image data input unit, said color table selection unit, and said target color data editing unit.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said color table selection unit is capable of selecting the specific color table from a plurality of color tables prepared in advance.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said initial color data generation unit generates the initial color data by gamut mapping, with reference to the selected specific color table, a plurality of representative color data prepared in advance.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said optimized color data generation unit generates the optimized color data by using least mean square approximation so as to minimize a difference between a calculated result and the target color data in all operational target colors.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said user interface image display unit displays hue/saturation values of the target color data and hue/saturation values of the optimized color data on the 2-dimensional color planes and displays as a color palette the initial color data and the optimized color data next to each other along a periphery of the color plane, and said target color data editing unit edits hue/saturation of initial data of the target color on the 2-dimensional color plane or the color palette on the user interface image.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said user interface image display unit 1-dimensionally displays brightness values of the target color data and brightness values of the optimized color data along the periphery of the 2-dimensional color plane, andsaid target color data editing unit edits the brightness values on the user interface image.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said user interface image display unit displays the target color data and the optimized color data on the 2-dimensional color plane in different manners.

9. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said user interface image display unit displays the target color data and the optimized color data on the 2-dimensional color plane by connecting the target color data to each other and connecting the optimized color data to each other.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said user interface image display unit displays, when the target color data or the optimized color data exist for low color saturation and high color saturation, the user interface image which displays the target color data or the optimized color data by connecting the low-saturation data to each other and connecting the high-saturation data to each other.

11. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein when said target color data editing unit selects the target color data from the target color data and the color palette displayed on the 2-dimensional color plane, said user interface image display unit focuses on and displays the target color data and the corresponding color palette.

12. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein when said target color data editing unit selects the color palette from the target color data and the color palette displayed on the 2-dimensional color plane, said user interface image display unit focuses on and displays the color palette and the corresponding target color data.

13. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein if the target color data exist for low color saturation and high color saturation, when the target color is selected, the user interface image displays a display color of the color palette with the same color saturation as the selected target color.

14. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein if the target color data are displayed to overlap each other on the 2-dimensional color plane, when a color palette along the periphery of the 2-dimensional color plane is to be edited, the user interface image displays, in a foreground, the corresponding target color data on the 2-dimensional plane.

15. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a background of the 2-dimensional plane is displayed in a color corresponding to a color space coordinate system with gradation.

16. A color table editing method comprising: an image data input step adapted to input image data;a color table selection step adapted to select a specific color table from a plurality of color tables in association with the input image data;an initial color data generation step adapted to generate initial color data from the selected specific color table and representative color data including a plurality of predetermined colors;a target color data editing step adapted to edit the initial color data to generate target color data;an optimized color data generation step adapted to generate optimized color data by performing optimization processing based on a color gamut of the edited target color data; anda user interface image display step adapted to display on a 2-dimensional color plane a user interface image including the target color data and the optimized color data.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein in the user interface image display step, hue/saturation values of the target color data and hue/saturation values of the optimized color data are displayed on the 2-dimensional color plane, and the initial color data and the optimized color data are arranged next to each other along a periphery of the color plane and displayed as a color palette, andin the target color data editing step, hue/saturation of initial data of the target color are edited on the 2-dimensional color plane or the color palette on the user interface image.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein in the user interface image display step, the target color data and the optimized color data displayed on the 2-dimensional color plane are displayed by connecting the target color data to each other and connecting the optimized color data to each other.

19. A program for causing a computer to execute a procedure of a color table editing method cited in claim 16.

20. A computer readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a procedure of a color table editing method cited in claim 16.