Patent Grant
7792378
The present invention relates to a method and a system for modifying the quality of at least one image derived from or addressed to an appliance chain.
The invention relates to a method for modifying the quality of at least one image derived from or addressed to a specified appliance chain. The specified appliance chain includes at least one image-capture appliance and/or at least one image-restitution appliance. The image-capture appliances and/or the image-restitution appliances that have been commercialized gradually by distinct economic players belong to an indeterminate set of appliances. The appliances of the set of appliances exhibit defects that can be characterized by formatted information. For the image in question, the method includes the following stages:
Preferably, according to the invention, the method is such that the automatic search is performed by means of indices obtained directly or indirectly from an analysis of:
Preferably, according to the invention, the appliances of the appliance chain are identified by identifiers, especially a bar code. The analysis for the purpose of searching for the specific formatted information includes the stage of determining the identifiers.
Preferably, according to the invention, the method is such that the image, the index and/or the identifier are contained in the same file. It results from the combination of technical features that it is possible to employ the method according to the invention a posteriori in the case in which certain appliances of the chain were commercialized before the formatted information relating to them was established.
Preferably, according to the invention, the method is such that the image and at least one part of the specific formatted information are contained in the same image file. It results from the combination of technical features that it is possible to search automatically for the formatted information in the image file.
Preferably, according to the invention, the method additionally includes the stage of storing at least part of the formatted information in advance in a database. The method additionally includes the stage of updating the database.
Preferably, according to the invention, the method is such that one of the appliances of the appliance chain is provided with at least one variable characteristic depending on the image, especially the focal length. A fraction of the specific formatted information is related to the defects of the appliance provided with the variable characteristic. The method additionally includes the following stages:
Employment of the method for an appliance provided with a variable characteristic therefore amounts to employment of the method for an appliance that does not have any variable characteristic.
Preferably, according to the invention, the image is contained in a file. The method is such that, to determine the value of the variable characteristic, there are used data present in the file, especially data such as focal length, in a format such as the Exif standard. It results from the combination of technical features that it is possible to employ the method according to the invention a posteriori in the case in which the appliance provided with the variable characteristic was commercialized before the formatted information relating to it was established.
Preferably, according to the invention, the method is such that, to modify the quality of at least one image derived from or addressed to an appliance chain:
It results from the combination of technical features that, in this way, there is obtained formatted information which is simpler to employ and with which the modifications to be made to the image can be calculated more rapidly and/or by using less memory and/or with greater precision.
Preferably, according to the invention, the method is designed to modify the quality of at least one color plane of a color image. The color plane is characterized by a specified color. The specific formatted information additionally includes data related to the specified color. To modify the image, a color plane is calculated using the data related to the specified color and to the image.
Preferably, according to the invention, the method additionally includes, in the case in which the process of searching for specific formatted information is unsuccessful for one of the appliances of the appliance chain, the stage of calculating the unknown formatted information.
Preferably, according to the invention, the method additionally includes the stage of calculating the unknown formatted information related to an appliance of the appliance chain:
Preferably, according to the invention, the method additionally includes, for an image-capture appliance of the appliance chain, the stage of calculating the unknown formatted information:
The transformed image exhibits a deviation compared with the synthetic-image class. The unknown formatted information is composed at least partly of parameters of the chosen parameterizable transformation models.
Preferably, according to the invention, the method additionally includes:
It results from the combination of technical features that it is possible to deduce standardized information about the scenes in three dimensions. It results from the combination of technical features that it is possible to combine a plurality of images obtained from a plurality of image-capture appliances having undergone the same formatting process.
Preferably, according to the invention, the method is such that one of the appliances of the appliance chain is provided with at least one variable characteristic depending on the image, especially the focal length and/or the aperture. A fraction of the specific formatted information is related to the defects off the appliance provided with the variable characteristic or characteristics. Each variable characteristic is capable of being associated with a value to form a combination composed of the set of variable characteristics and values. The method additionally includes the stage of determining the fraction of unknown formatted information:
Preferably, according to the invention, the method additionally includes, for an image-restitution means of the appliance chain, the stage of producing data characterizing the defects of the image-restitution means, especially the distortion characteristics. The unknown formatted information is composed at least partly of data characterizing the defects of the restitution means.
Preferably, according to the invention, the method is such that the specific formatted information related to one appliance or to a plurality of appliances of the appliance chain is determined in such a way that it can be applied to similar appliances. It results from the combination of technical features that only a limited quantity of formatted information is needed for the method to be employed.
Preferably, according to the invention, the method is such that the image includes associated information, especially a digital signal. The stages of the method are employed in such a way that they conserve or modify the associated information.
Preferably, according to the invention, the method additionally includes the stage of associating information with the modified image, especially information indicating that it has been modified.
Preferably, according to the invention, the method is more particularly designed to modify the visual quality of the image for an observer. The formatted information related to the defects of the appliances of the appliance chain additionally includes the formatted information related to the vision characteristics of the observer, especially functional anomalies of the eyes and/or of the brain of the observer.
The invention also relates to an application of the method described hereinabove. The object of the application is to improve the quality of images processed by the image-processing software or the image-processing components, by correcting for the effects of at least one of the defects of the appliances of the appliance chain. It results from the combination of technical features that the quality of the processed images is improved if not perfect, without having to rely on expensive appliances.
Preferably, the object of the application is that the quality of images processed by the image-processing software or the image-processing components be comparable with that of images produced with a reference appliance chain.
Preferably, the application is such that, for the quality of the processed images to be comparable with that of images produced with a reference appliance chain, formatted information related to the appliance chain is produced by taking into account the defects of the reference appliance chain.
The invention relates to a system for modifying the quality of at least one image derived from or addressed to a specified appliance chain. The specified appliance chain includes at least one image-capture appliance and/or at least one image-restitution appliance. The image-capture appliances and/or the image-restitution appliances that have been commercialized gradually by distinct economic players belong to an indeterminate set of appliances. The appliances of the set of appliances exhibit defects that can be characterized by formatted information. For the image in question, the system includes data-processing means capable of:
Preferably, according to the invention, the system is such that the data-processing means perform the search automatically by means of an index. The index is obtained directly or indirectly by analysis means from an analysis of:
Preferably, according to the invention, the appliances of the appliance chain are identified by identifiers, especially a bar code. The analysis means include means for determining the identifiers.
Preferably, according to the invention, the system is such that the image, the index and/or the identifier are contained in the same file.
Preferably, according to the invention, the system is such that the image and at least one part of the specific formatted information are contained in the same image file.
Preferably, according to the invention, the system additionally includes storage means for storing at least part of the formatted information in advance in a database. The system additionally includes updating means for updating the database.
Preferably, according to the invention, the system is such that one of the appliances of the appliance chain is provided with at least one variable characteristic depending on the image, especially the focal length. A fraction of the specific formatted information is related to the defects of the appliance provided with the variable characteristic. The system additionally includes calculating means for determining:
Preferably, according to the invention, the image is contained in a file. The system is such that, to determine the value of the variable characteristic, the system includes data-processing means for processing the data present in the file, especially data such as focal length, in a format such as the Exif standard.
Preferably, according to the invention, the system is such that, to modify the quality of at least one image derived from or addressed to an appliance chain, the system includes data-processing means for determining:
The system is such that, to determine the specific formatted information related to the set of appliances of the appliance chain, the data-processing means include substitution means for substituting the virtual formatted information for the specific formatted information related to the original defects.
Preferably, according to the invention, the system is designed to modify the quality of at least one color plane of a color image. The color plane is characterized by a specific color. The specific formatted information additionally includes data related to the specified color. The system includes calculating means for calculating a color plane using the data related to the specified color and to the image.
Preferably, according to the invention, the system additionally includes, in the case in which the process of searching for specific formatted information is unsuccessful for one of the appliances of the appliance chain, calculating means for calculating the unknown formatted information.
Preferably, according to the invention, the system is such that the calculating means for calculating the unknown formatted information related to an appliance of the appliance chain include processing means for measuring the defects of the appliance and/or for simulating the appliance.
Preferably, according to the invention, the method additionally includes, for an image-capture appliance of the appliance chain, calculating means for calculating the unknown formatted information by constructing a synthetic-image class by specified mathematical projections of at least one reference scene onto a surface. The image-capture appliance captures at least one reference image of each reference scene. The calculating means calculate the unknown formatted information by choosing, within a set of parameterizable transformation models, that with which the reference image can be transformed to a transformed image close to the synthetic-image class of the reference scene. The transformed image exhibits a deviation compared with the synthetic-image class. The unknown formatted information is composed at least partly of parameters of the chosen parameterizable transformation models.
Preferably, according to the invention, the system additionally includes data-processing means for:
Preferably, according to the invention, the system is such that one of the appliances of the appliance chain is provided with at least one variable characteristic depending on the image, especially the focal length and/or the aperture. A fraction of the specific formatted information is related to the defects of the appliance provided with the variable characteristic or characteristics. Each variable characteristic is capable of being associated with a value to form a combination composed of the set of variable characteristics and values. The system additionally includes data-processing means for determining the fraction of unknown formatted information:
Preferably, according to the invention, the system additionally includes, for an image-restitution means of the appliance chain, data-processing means for producing data characterizing the defects of the image-restitution means, especially the distortion characteristics. The unknown formatted information is composed at least partly of data characterizing the defects of the restitution means.
Preferably, according to the invention, the system is such that the specific formatted information related to one appliance or to a plurality of appliances of the appliance chain is determined in such a way that it can be applied to similar appliances.
Preferably, according to the invention, the system is such that the image includes associated information, especially a digital signal. The system is employed in such a way that it conserves or modifies the associated information.
Preferably, according to the invention, the system additionally includes data-processing means for associating information with the modified image, especially information indicating that it has been modified.
Preferably, according to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the system is more particularly designed to modify the visual quality of the image for an observer. The formatted information related to the defects of the appliances of the said appliance chain additionally includes the formatted information related to the vision characteristics of the said observer, especially functional anomalies of the eyes and/or of the brain of the said observer.
Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading of the description of practical examples of the invention, provided on a non-limitative basis, and of the figures, wherein:
a and 4b illustrate two schematic views of a reference scene,
a illustrates a schematic front view of a mathematical point,
b illustrates a schematic front view of a real point of an image,
c illustrates a schematic side view of a mathematical point,
d illustrates a schematic profile view of a real point of an image,
a to 13c illustrate connection diagrams of practical examples of systems with which an image can be corrected,
a to 14c illustrate organizational diagrams of practical examples of methods with which automatic image correction can be employed,
Referring in particular to
Within the meaning of the invention, an appliance can be in particular:
A more complex appliance, such as a scanner/fax/printer, a photo-printing Minilab, or a videoconferencing appliance can be regarded as an appliance or as a plurality of appliances.
An appliance chain P3 is defined as a set of appliances. The concept of appliance chain P3 may also include a concept of order.
The following examples constitute appliance chains P3:
Referring in particular to
Referring in particular to
Referring in particular to
To produce the formatted information 15, it is possible, for example, to use the method and the system described in the International Patent Application filed on the same day as the present application in the name of Vision IQ and entitled “Method and system for producing formatted information related to the defects of appliances of an appliance chain and formatted information addressed to image-processing means.” That application describes a method for producing formatted information 15 related to the defects P5 of appliances of an appliance chain P3. The formatted information 15 is addressed to image-processing means, in particular software, with a view to modifying the quality of the images processed by the image-processing means. Appliance chain P3 is composed in particular of at least one image-capture appliance and/or at least one restitution means and/or at least one observer. The method comprises the stage of producing data characterizing the defects P5 of the appliances of appliance chain P3. The data are the formatted information 15.
To produce the formatted information 15, it is possible, for example, to use the method and the system described in the International Patent Application filed on the same day as the present application in the name of Vision IQ and entitled “Method and system for producing formatted information related to geometric distortions”. That application describes a method for producing formatted information 15 related to the appliances of an appliance chain P3. Appliance chain P3 is composed in particular of at least one image-capture appliance and/or at least one image-restitution appliance. The method includes the stage of producing formatted information 15 related to the geometric distortions of at least one appliance of the chain.
Appliance preferably makes it possible to capture or restitute an image on a medium. Appliance contains at least one fixed characteristic and/or one variable characteristic depending on the image. The fixed characteristic and/or variable characteristic can be associated with one or more values of characteristics, especially the focal length and/or the focusing and their values of associated characteristics. The method includes the stage of producing, from a measured field, measured formatted information related to the geometric distortions of the appliance. The formatted information 15 may include the measured formatted information.
To produce the formatted information 15, it is possible, for example, to use the method and the system described in the International Patent Application filed on the same day as the present application in the name of Vision IQ and entitled “Method and system for producing formatted information related to the defects of at least one appliance of a chain, especially to blurring”. That application describes a method for producing formatted information 15 related to the appliances of an appliance chain P3. Appliance chain P3 is composed in particular of at least one image-capture appliance and/or at least one image-restitution appliance. The method includes the stage of producing formatted information 15 related to the defects P5 of at least one appliance of the chain. Preferably, appliance with which an image can be captured or restituted contains at least one fixed characteristic and/or one variable characteristic depending on the image (I). The fixed and/or variable characteristics can be associated with one or more values of characteristics, especially the focal length and/or the focusing and their values of associated characteristics. The method includes the stage of producing measured formatted information related to the defects P5 of appliance from a measured field. The formatted information 15 may include the measured formatted information.
To provide the formatted information 15, it is possible, for example, to use the method and the system described in the International Patent Application filed on the same day as the present application in the name of Vision IQ and entitled “Method and system for providing formatted information in a standard format to image-processing means.” That application describes a method for providing formatted information 15 in a standard format to image-processing means, in particular software and/or components. The formatted information 15 is related to the defects P5 of an appliance chain P3. The appliance chain P3 is composed in particular of at least one image-capture appliance and/or one image-restitution appliance. The image-processing means use the formatted information 15 to modify the quality of at least one image P2 derived from or addressed to the appliance chain P3. The formatted information 15 comprises data characterizing the defects P5 of the image-capture appliance, in particular the distortion characteristics, and/or data characterizing the defects of the image-restitution appliance, in particular the distortion characteristics.
The method includes the stage of filling in at least one field of the standard format with the formatted information 15. The field is designated by its field name, the field containing at least one field value.
To produce the formatted information 15, it is possible, for example, to use the method and the system described in the International Patent Application filed on the same day as the present application in the name of Vision IQ and entitled “Method and system for reducing update frequency of image processing means”. That application describes a method for reducing the update frequency of image-processing means, in particular software and/or a component. The image-processing means make it possible to modify the quality of the digital images derived from or addressed to an appliance chain P3. Appliance chain P3 is composed in particular of at least one image-capture appliance and/or at least one image-restitution appliance. Image-processing means employ formatted information 15 related to the defects P5 of at least one appliance of appliance chain P3. The formatted information P3 depends on at least one variable. The formatted information makes it possible to establish a correspondence between one part of the variables and of the identifiers. By means of the identifiers it is possible to determine the value of the variable corresponding to the identifier by taking the identifier and the image into account. It results from the combination of technical features that it is possible to determine the value of a variable, especially in the case in which the physical significance and/or the content of the variable are known only after distribution of image-processing means. It also results from the combination of technical features that the time between two updates of the correction software can be spaced apart. It also results from the combination of technical features that the various economic players that produce appliances and/or image-processing means can update their products independently of other economic players, even if the latter radically change the characteristics of their product or are unable to force their client to update their products. It also results from the combination of technical features that a new functionality can be deployed progressively by starting with a limited number of economic players and pioneer users.
To exploit the formatted information 15, it is possible, for example, to use the method and the system described in the International Patent Application filed on the same day as the present application in the name of Vision IQ and entitled “Method and system for calculating a transformed image from a digital image and formatted information related to a geometric transformation”. That application describes a method for calculating a transformed image from a digital image and formatted information 15 related to a geometric transformation, especially formatted information 15 related to the distortions and/or chromatic aberrations of an appliance chain P3. The method includes the stage of calculating the transformed image from an approximation of the geometric transformation. It results therefrom that the calculation is economical in terms of memory resources, in memory bandpass, in calculating power and therefore in electricity consumption. It also results therefrom that the transformed image does not exhibit any visible or annoying defect as regards its subsequent use.
To exploit the formatted information 15, it is possible, for example, to use the method and the system described in the International Patent Application filed on the same day as the present application in the name of Vision IQ and entitled “Method and system for modifying a digital image, taking into account its noise”. That application describes a method for calculating a transformed image from a digital image and formatted information 15 related to the defects P5 of an appliance chain P3. Appliance chain P3 includes image-capture appliances and/or image-restitution appliances. Appliance chain P3 contains at least one appliance. The method includes the stage of automatically determining the characteristic data from the formatted information 15 and/or the digital image. It results from the combination of technical features that the transformed image does not exhibit any visible or annoying defect, especially defects related to noise, as regards its subsequent use.
The following example illustrates one manner of producing the formatted information.
a and 4b illustrate two alternative versions of a reference scene 9.
a to 9d illustrate a mathematical image 70, an image 103, the mathematical position 40 of a point, and the mathematical shape 41 of a point, compared with the real position 50 and the real shape 51 of the corresponding point of the image.
Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will become apparent on reading:
Scene 3 is defined as a place in three-dimensional space, containing objects 107 illuminated by light sources.
Referring to
Image capture is defined as the method by which image 103 is calculated by image-capture appliance 1.
In the case in which an appliance is equipped with a plurality of interchangeable subassemblies, especially an optical system 100, image-capture appliance 1 is defined as a special configuration of the appliance.
Referring to
Such an image-restitution means 19 is composed of:
By means of the said image-restitution means 19, it is possible to obtain, from an image 103, a restituted image 191 on restitution medium 190.
Animated images are composed of a succession of fixed images in time.
Image restitution is defined as the method by which the image is displayed or printed by means of image restitution means 19.
In the case in which a restitution means 19 is equipped with a plurality of interchangeable subassemblies or of subassemblies that can be shifted relative to one another, especially restitution medium 190, image-restitution means 19 is defined as a special configuration.
Referring to
Sensor surface 110 is defined as the shape in space drawn by the sensitive surface of sensor 101 of image-capture appliance 1 at the moment of image capture. This surface is generally plane.
An optical center 111 is defined as a point in space associated with image 103 at the moment of image capture. A focal distance is defined as the distance between this point 111 and plane 110, in the case in which sensor surface 110 is plane.
Referring to
A pixel 104 is defined as an elemental zone of sensor surface 110 obtained by creating a grid, generally regular, of the said sensor surface 110. Pixel value is defined as a number associated with this pixel 104.
Image capture is defined as determining the value of each pixel 104. The set of these values constitutes image 103.
During image capture, the pixel value is obtained by integration, over the surface of pixel 104, during a time period defined as exposure time, of part of the light flux derived from scene 3 via optical system 100, and by converting the result of this integration to a digital value. The integration of the light flux and/or the conversion of the result of this integration to a digital value are performed by means of electronic unit 102.
This definition of the concept of pixel value is applicable to the case of black-and-white or color images 103, whether they be fixed or animated.
Depending on the cases, however, the part in question of the light flux is obtained in various ways:
a) In the case of a color image 103, sensor surface 110 is generally composed of a plurality of types of pixels 104, associated respectively with light fluxes of different wavelengths, examples being red, green and blue pixels.
b) In the case of a color image 103, there may also be a plurality of sensors 101 disposed side-by-side, each receiving part of the light flux.
c) In the case of a color image 103, the colors used may be different from red, green and blue, such as for North American NTSC television, and they may exceed three in number.
d) Finally, in the case of an interlaced television scanning camera, the animated images produced are composed of an alternation of images 103 containing even-numbered lines and of images 103 containing odd-numbered lines.
The configuration used is defined as the list of removable subassemblies of image-capture appliance 1, such as optical system 100 which, if it is interchangeable, is mounted on image-capture appliance 1. The configuration used is characterized in particular by:
Adjustments used are defined as:
Characteristics 74 used or set of characteristics 74 used are defined as:
a) Parameters related to the intrinsic technical characteristics of image-capture appliance 1, determined during the phase of design of image-capture appliance 1. For example, these parameters may include the formula of optical system 100 of the configuration used, which impacts the geometric defects and the sharpness of the captured images; the formula of optical system 100 of the configuration used includes in particular the shape, the arrangement and the material of the lenses of optical system 100.
These parameters may additionally include:
b) Parameters associated with the intrinsic technical characteristics of image-capture appliance 1, determined during the phase of manufacture of image-capture appliance 1 and, in particular:
c) Parameters associated with the technical characteristics of image-capture appliance 1, determined at the moment of capture of image 103 and, in particular:
d) The user's preferences, especially the color temperature to be used for image restitution. For example, these preferences are selected by the user by means of pushbuttons.
Referring to
Mathematical surface 10 is defined as a surface that is geometrically associated with sensor surface 110. For example, if the sensor surface is plane, it will be possible for mathematical surface 10 to coincide with the sensor surface.
Observation direction 106 is defined as a line passing through at least one point of scene 3 and through optical center 111. Observation point 105 is defined as the intersection of observation direction 106 and surface 10.
Referring to
The color can be characterized in particular by a light intensity that is a function of wavelength, or else by two values as measured by a calorimeter. The intensity can be characterized by a value such as measured with a photometer.
The said observed color and the said observed intensity depend in particular on the relative position of objects 107 in scene 3 and on the illumination sources present as well as on the transparency and reflection characteristics of objects 107 at the moment of observation.
Referring in particular to
Referring to
Firstly, a description will be given of what is understood by specified mathematical projection 8.
A specified mathematical projection 8 associates a mathematical image 70 with:
A specified mathematical projection 8 is a transformation with which the characteristics of each point of mathematical image 70 can be determined from scene 3 at the moment of image capture and from the characteristics 74 used.
Mathematical projection 8 is preferentially defined in the manner to be described hereinafter.
Mathematical position 40 of the point is defined as the position of observation point 105 on mathematical surface 10.
Mathematical shape 41 of the point is defined as the geometric, punctiform shape of observation point 105.
Mathematical color of the point is defined as the observed color.
Mathematical intensity of the point is defined as the observed intensity.
Mathematical point is defined as the association of mathematical position 40, mathematical shape 41, mathematical color and mathematical intensity for the observation point 105 under consideration. Mathematical image 70 is composed of the set of said mathematical points.
The mathematical projection 8 of scene 3 is mathematical image 70.
Referring in particular to
During image capture, image-capture appliance 1 associates an image 103 of scene 3 with the characteristics 74 used. The light originating from scene 3 in an observation direction 106 passes through optical system 100 and arrives at sensor surface 110.
For the said observation direction, there is then obtained what is defined as a real point, which exhibits differences compared with the mathematical point.
Referring to
The real shape 51 associated with the said observation direction 106 is not a point on the sensor surface, but it has the form of a cloud in three-dimensional space, where it has an intersection with one or more pixels 104. These differences are due in particular to coma, spherical aberration, astigmatism, grouping into pixels 104, chromatic aberration, depth of field, diffraction, parasitic reflections and field curvature of image-capture appliance 1. They give an impression of blurring, or of lack of sharpness of image 103.
In addition, real position 50 associated with the said observation direction 106 exhibits a difference compared with mathematical position 40 of a point. This difference is due in particular to the geometric distortion, which gives an impression of deformation: for example, vertical walls appear to be curved. It is also due to the fact that the number of pixels 104 is limited, and that consequently the real position 50 can have only a finite number of values.
In addition, the real intensity associated with the said observation direction 106 exhibits differences compared with the mathematical intensity of a point. These differences are due in particular to gamma and vignetting: for example, the edges of image 103 appear to be darker. Furthermore, noise may be added to the signal.
Finally, the real color associated with the said observation direction 106 exhibits differences compared with the mathematical color of a point. These differences are due in particular to gamma and the color cast. Furthermore, noise may be added to the signal.
A real point is defined as the association of the real position 50, the real shape 51, the real color and the real intensity for the observation direction 106 under consideration.
The real projection 72 of scene 3 is composed of the set of real points.
A parameterizable transformation model 12 (or parameterizable transformation 12 for short) is defined as a mathematical transformation in which a corrected image 71 can be obtained from an image 103 and from the value of parameters. As indicated hereinbelow, the said parameters can in particular be calculated from the characteristics 74 used.
By means of the said transformation, it is possible in particular to determine, for each real point of image 103, the corrected position of the said real point, the corrected color of the said real point, the corrected intensity of the said real point, and the corrected shape of the said real point, from the value of the parameters, from the real position of the said real point and from the values of the pixels of image 103. As an example, the corrected position can be calculated by means of polynomials of fixed degree as a function of the real position, the coefficients of the polynomials depending on the value of the parameters. The corrected color and the corrected intensity can be, for example, weighted sums of the values of the pixels, the coefficients depending on the value of the parameters and on the real position, or else can be nonlinear functions of the values of the pixels of image 103.
The parameters can include in particular: the focal length of optical system 100 of the configuration used, or a related value such as the position of a group of lenses, the focusing of optical system 100 of the configuration used, or a related value such as the position of a group of lenses, the aperture of optical system 100 of the configuration used, or a related value such as the position of the diaphragm.
Referring to
For example, the difference 73 between mathematical image 70 and corrected image 71 for a given scene 3 and given characteristics 74 used can be determined as follows:
A reference scene 9 is defined as a scene 3 for which certain characteristics are known. As an example,
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
The difference between a transformed image 13 and a synthetic-image class 7 is defined as the smallest difference between the said transformed image 13 and any one of the synthetic images of the said synthetic-image class.
A description will next be given of how to choose, among the parameterizable transformation models 12, that with which each reference image 11 can be transformed to a transformed image 13 close to the synthetic-image class 7 of the reference scene 9 corresponding to the said reference image 11, in different cases of reference scenes 9 and characteristics 74 used.
The best transformation is defined as the transformation with which, among the parameterizable transformation models 12, each reference image 11 can be transformed to a transformed image 13 close to synthetic-image class 7 of the reference scene 9 corresponding to the said reference image 11,
Calibration is defined as a method with which data related to the intrinsic characteristics of image-capture appliance 1 can be obtained, for one or more configurations used, each composed of an optical system 100 associated with an image-capture appliance 1.
Case 1: in the case in which there is only one configuration, the said method includes the following stages:
Case 2: in the case in which all the configurations corresponding to a given image-capture appliance 1 and to all optical systems 100 of the same type are taken into consideration, the said method includes the following stages:
Case 3: in the case in which all the configurations corresponding to a given optical system 100 and to all the image-capture appliances 1 of the same type are taken into consideration, the said method includes the following stages:
Calibration can be performed preferentially by the manufacturer of image-capture appliance 1, for each appliance and configuration in case 1. This method is more precise but imposes more limitations and is highly suitable in the case in which optical system 100 is not interchangeable.
Alternatively, calibration can be performed by the manufacturer of image-capture appliance 1, for each appliance type and configuration in case 2. This method is less precise but is simpler.
Alternatively, calibration can be performed by the manufacturer of image-capture appliance 1, for each optical system 100 and type of appliance in case 3. This method is a compromise in which one optical system 100 can be used on all image-capture appliances 1 of one type, without repeating the calibration for each combination of image-capture appliance 1 and optical system 100.
Alternatively, calibration can be performed by the appliance seller or installer, for each image-capture appliance 1 and configuration in case 1.
Alternatively, calibration can be performed by the appliance seller or installer, for each optical system 100 and type of appliance in case 3.
Alternatively, calibration can be performed by the appliance user, for each appliance and configuration in case 1.
Alternatively, calibration can be performed by the appliance user, for each optical system 100 and type of appliance in case 3.
Design of the digital optical system is defined as a method for reducing the cost of optical system 100, by:
The said method includes the following stages:
The said method also includes iteration of the following stages:
Formatted information 15 associated with image 103, or formatted information 15, is defined as all or part of the following data:
A database 22 of characteristics or database 22 is defined as a database containing formatted information 15 for one or more image-capture appliances 1 and for one or more images 103.
The said database 22 of characteristics can be stored in centralized or distributed manner, and in particular can be:
Referring to
(a) the focal distance,
(b) the depth of field
(c) the geometric defects.
The said geometric defects include geometric defects of image 103 characterized by the parameters associated with the filming characteristics 74 and a parameterizable transformation representing the characteristics of image-capture appliance 1 at the moment of filming. By means of the said parameters and of the said parameterizable transformation, it is possible to calculate the corrected position of a point of image 103.
The said geometric defects also include the vignetting characterized by the parameters associated with filming characteristics 74 and a parameterizable transformation representing the characteristics of image-capture appliance 1 at the moment of filming. By means of the said parameters and the said parameterizable transformation, it is possible to calculate the corrected intensity of a point of image 103.
The said geometric defects also include the color cast characterized by the parameters associated with filming characteristics 74 and a parameterizable transformation representing the characteristics of image-capture appliance 1 at the moment of filming. By means of the said parameters and the said parameterizable transformation, it is possible to calculate the corrected color of a point of image 103.
The said fields 90 also include (d) the sharpness of image 103.
The said sharpness includes the blurring in resolution of image 103 characterized by the parameters associated with filming characteristics 74 and a parameterizable transformation representing the characteristics of image-capture appliance 1 at the moment of filming. By means of the said parameters and the said parameterizable transformation, it is possible to calculate the corrected shape of a point of image 103. Blurring covers in particular coma, spherical aberration, astigmatism, grouping into pixels 104, chromatic aberration, depth of field, diffraction, parasitic reflections and field curvature.
The said sharpness also includes the blurring in depth of field, in particular spherical aberrations, coma and astigmatism. The said blurring depends on the distance of the points of scene 3 relative to image-capture appliance 1, and it is characterized by the parameters associated with filming characteristics 74 and a parameterizable transformation representing the characteristics of image-capture appliance 1 at the moment of filming. By means of the said parameters and of the said parameterizable transformation, it is possible to calculate the corrected shape of a point of image 103.
The said fields 90 also include (e) parameters of the quantization method. The said parameters depend on the geometry and physics of sensor 101, on the architecture of electronic unit 102 and on any processing software that may be used.
The said parameters include a function that represents the variations of intensity of a pixel 104 as a function of wavelength and light flux derived from the said scene 3. The said function includes in particular gamma information.
The said parameters also include:
The said fields 90 also include (f) parameters of the digital-processing operations performed by image-capture appliance 1, especially digital zoom and compression. These parameters depend on the processing software of image-capture appliance 1 and on the user's adjustments.
The said fields 90 also include:
(g) parameters representative of the user's preferences, especially as regards the degree of blurring and the resolution of image 103.
(h) the deviations 14.
The formatted information 15 can be calculated and recorded in database 22 in several stages.
a) A stage at the end of design of image-capture appliance 1.
By means of this stage it is possible to obtain intrinsic technical characteristics of image-capture appliance 1, and in particular:
b) A stage at the end of calibration or design of the digital optical system.
By means of this stage it is possible to obtain other intrinsic technical characteristics of image-capture appliance 1, and in particular, for a certain number of values of characteristics used, the best associated transformation and the associated deviation 14.
c) A stage in which the user's preferences are chosen by means of pushbuttons, menus or removable media, or of connection to another device.
d) An image capture stage.
By means of this stage (d) it is possible to obtain technical characteristics of image-capture appliance 1 at the moment of image capture, and in particular the exposure time, which is determined by the manual or automatic adjustments made.
By means of stage (d) it is also possible to obtain the focal distance. The focal distance is calculated from:
The said focal distance can then be determined by analysis of the content of image 103.
By means of stage (d) it is also possible to obtain the depth of field. The depth of field is calculated from:
By means of stage (d) it is also possible to obtain the defects of geometry and of sharpness. The defects of geometry and of sharpness correspond to a transformation calculated by means of a combination of transformations of the database 22 of characteristics obtained at the end of stage (b). This combination is chosen to represent the values of parameters corresponding to the characteristics 74 used, especially the focal distance.
By means of stage (d) it is also possible to obtain the parameters of digital processing performed by image-capture appliance 1. These parameters are determined by the manual or automatic adjustments made.
The calculation of formatted information 15 according to stages (a) to (d) can be performed by:
The foregoing transformations in stage (b) and stage (d) can be stored in the form of:
The mathematical formulas can be described by:
By means of these different methods it is possible to reach a compromise between the size of the memory available for storage of the formulas and the calculating power available for calculation of the corrected images 71.
In addition, in order to retrieve the data, identifiers associated with the data are recorded in database 22. These identifiers include in particular:
As described by
Completed image 120 can be calculated by image-capture appliance 1. It can also be calculated by an external calculating device, such as a computer.
Image-processing software 4 is defined as software that accepts one or more completed images 120 as input and that performs processing operations on these images. These processing operations can include in particular:
The said image-processing software can be:
A digital optical system is defined as the combination of an image-capture appliance 1, a database 22 of characteristics and a calculating means 17 that permits:
Preferentially, the user obtains corrected image 71 directly. If he wishes, the user may demand suppression of automatic correction.
The database 22 of characteristics may be:
Calculating means 17 may be:
The foregoing paragraphs have essentially presented precise details of the concepts and description of the method and system according to the invention for providing, to image-processing software 4, formatted information 15 related to the characteristics of image-capture appliance 1.
In the paragraphs to follow, an expanded definition will be given of the concepts and a supplemented description will be given of the method and system according to the invention for providing, to image-processing software 4, formatted information 15 related to the characteristics of image-restitution means 19. In this way the processing of a complete chain will be explained.
By means of the processing of the complete chain, it is possible:
On the basis of
The supplements or modifications to be made to the definitions in the case of an image-restitution means 19 may be inferred by analogy by a person skilled in the art by analogy with the definitions provided in the case of an image-capture appliance 1. Nevertheless, in order to illustrate this method, a description with reference in particular to
By restitution characteristics 95 used there are designated the intrinsic characteristics of image-restitution means 19, the characteristics of image-restitution means 19 at the moment of image restitution, and the user's preferences at the moment of image restitution. In the case of a projector in particular, the restitution characteristics 95 used include the shape and position of the screen used.
By parameterizable restitution transformation model 97 (or parameterizable restitution transformation 97 for short), there is designated a mathematical transformation similar to parameterizable transformation model 12.
By corrected restitution image 94 there is designated the image obtained by application of parameterizable restitution transformation 97 to image 103.
By mathematical restitution projection 96 there is designated a mathematical projection that associates, with a corrected restitution image 94, a mathematical restitution image 92 on the mathematical restitution surface geometrically associated with the surface of restitution medium 190. The mathematical restitution points of the mathematical restitution surface have a shape, position, color and intensity calculated from corrected restitution image 94.
By real restitution projection 90 there is designated a projection that associates a restituted image 191 with an image 103. The pixel values of image 103 are converted by the electronic unit of restitution means 19 to a signal that drives the modulator of restitution means 19. Real restitution points are obtained on restitution medium 190. The said real restitution points are characterized by shape, color, intensity and position. The phenomenon of grouping into pixels 104 described hereinabove in the case of an image-capture appliance 1 does not occur in the case of an image-restitution means. On the other hand, an inverse phenomenon occurs, with the result in particular that lines take on a staircase appearance.
Restitution difference 93 is designated as the difference between restituted image 191 and mathematical restitution image 92. This restitution difference 93 is obtained by analogy with difference 73.
By restitution reference there is designated an image 103 in which the values of pixels 104 are known.
By best restitution transformation there is designated for a restitution reference and the restitution characteristics 95 used, that with which image 103 can be transformed to a corrected restitution image 94 such that its mathematical restitution projection 92 exhibits the minimum restitution difference 93 compared with restituted image 191.
The methods of restitution calibration and of design of the digital optical restitution system are comparable with the methods of calibration and of design of the digital optical system in the case of an image-capture appliance 1. Nevertheless, differences are present in certain stages, and in particular the following stages:
The formatted information 15 related to an image-capture appliance 1 and that related to an image-restitution means 19 can be used end-to-end for the same image.
In the foregoing, a description was given of the concept of field in the case of an image-capture appliance 1. This concept is also applicable by analogy in the case of image-restitution means 19. Nonetheless the parameters of the quantization method are replaced by the parameters of the signal-reconstitution method, meaning: the geometry of restitution medium 190 and its position, a function representing the spatial and temporal distribution of the noise of image-restitution means 19.
The technical features of which the invention is composed and which are specified in the claims have been defined, described and illustrated by referring essentially to image-capture appliances of digital type, or in other words appliances that produce digital images. It can be easily understood that the same technical features are applicable in the case of image-capture appliances that would be the combination of an appliance based on silver technology (a photographic or cinematographic appliance using sensitive silver halide films, negatives or reversal films) with a scanner for producing a digital image from the developed sensitive films. Certainly it is appropriate in this case to adapt at least some of the definitions used. Such adaptations are within the capability of the person skilled in the art. In order to demonstrate the obvious character of such adaptations, it is merely necessary to mention that the concepts of pixel and pixel value illustrated by referring to
Referring to
In the practical example, the system according to the invention includes data-processing means P76 to perform, for image P2, the following stages of the method according to the invention:
By way of example, the method and system according to the invention will be described for the application of restitution of an image of an image-capture appliance, whether it be a photographic appliance, a video filming appliance, an echographic appliance, etc. Under these conditions, it will be possible to use the characteristics of the filming appliance (especially of optical type), of the sensor or photosensitive surface (CCD, photosensitive film, etc.), of the scanner, of the processing software, of the information-transmission chain between the different appliances and of the printer for restitution of an image of such an appliance. As will be seen hereinafter, it will be possible to use other elements having their own particular characteristics in the image chain.
Each appliance is characterized by an identifier 60, by means of which it is possible to identify the type of appliance and therefore to access the known characteristics related to this type of appliance and indirectly to obtain indices P52, the use of which will be described hereinafter.
Certain appliances may be subject to special operating adjustments. For example, a capture appliance may be adjusted as a function of the filming conditions, or a printer may be set to enlargement mode, etc. These particular modes of operation lead to variable characteristics P55, which can be employed within the scope of the invention. Furthermore, these variable characteristics P55 may influence the fixed characteristics (or original characteristics) of the appliance or of the appliance chain P3.
a illustrates a diagram of a practical example of the system of the invention.
In the upper part of this diagram there are illustrated appliances or devices, which will be defined as peripheral appliances, which provide information, images and data to the system:
What is involved is:
These different devices APP1 to APPn as well as image 1 comprise an appliance chain P3. The processing of an image will take into consideration not only its inherent defects but also the defects of the different appliances all of which will have an action on the image. The set of these devices will be defined as appliance chain P3. The purpose of the system is to correct or modify the defects introduced by each device of the chain into processing of the image.
Examples of the variable characteristics 66 that can be appropriately taken into account include:
The system possesses receiving interfaces C.VAR1, C.VAR2, . . . C.VARn designed to receive the variable characteristics 66 explained hereinabove. The characteristics derived from the image can be transmitted by the image itself or, as mentioned hereinabove, by the data associated with the image. It is recalled that the variable characteristics 66 of the image can also be transmitted by the image-capture appliance.
Interfaces ID1, ID2, . . . IDn are designed to receive the identifiers 60 of the different peripherals APP1 to APPn.
Depending on the case, the concept of peripheral may correspond to one or more appliances, which may or may not be of the same type. The following examples, each accompanied by a possible implementation of identifier 60 in the form of a coding and of a content, correspond to several of these cases:
The system can then analyze the peripherals or appliances of appliance chain P3 and determine the identifiers 60 in various ways depending on the case, in order to be able to interrogate the database.
A database contains, for each type of appliance, at least one item of formatted information representing the defects and the characteristics of that appliance. The formatted information 15 may be related to the defects P5 of the appliance in various ways. It may represent the defects of the appliance. It may represent the inverse of the defects of the appliance. It may represent merely an approximation of the defects. It may represent the deviation between the defects of two appliances. From each identifier 60 provided by an interface such as interface ID1 it is possible to obtain an item of formatted information such as 15.1, which is received temporarily in a circuit 20.1. Formatted information related to appliances APP1, APP2, . . . APPn can be received in circuits 20.1, 20.2, . . . 20.n.
The database may be integrated into the system or may be at least partly remote.
In this case it can be managed by a third party, at least partly.
In the case, for example, of a digital photo appliance that corrects or modifies its inherent defects, the database can be reduced to a registration.
Operators 21.1, 21.2, . . . 21.n for processing formatted information are designed to receive part of the values of the variable characteristics 66 provided by interfaces C.VAR1 to C.VARn as well as the formatted information provided by circuits 20.1 to 20.N in such a way that each operator processes a fraction of the formatted information by means of one or more variable characteristics 66 and provides an item of modified formatted information to an intermediate circuit 22.1 to 22.n. For example, operator 21.1 receives the item of formatted information 15.1 depending on focal length, processes it by means of the value of variable characteristic 66 (the value of the focal length) provided by interface C.VAR1, and provides an item of modified formatted information 15.1′ that does not depend on focal length. As an example,
Image-processing operators 23.1, 23.2, . . . 23.n are each designed to receive an item of modified formatted information. The first operator 23.1 receives an image to be processed, processes it by means of the item of modified formatted information 15.1′, and provides a modified image. This is received by the following operator 23.2, which processes it by means of the item of modified formatted information 15.2′ and provides a new modified image, and so on until the last operator 23.n, which provides a final modified image.
Possibly, if an image-processing operator does not receive any modified formatted information, the image received by such an operator is not modified and is transmitted as is to the following operator or to the output or, for example, default formatted information may be used.
Finally, the entire operation of the system, and in particular the exchange of information and data between the different elements of the system, can be managed by a central control unit 25.
Under these conditions, central control unit 25 will be in charge of searching automatically, within database 22, for formatted information having addresses that are given by interfaces ID1, ID2, . . . IDn. Central unit 25 manages the search for this information and activates operators 21.1 to 21.n for processing the formatted information and then image-processing operators 23.1 to 23.n. If necessary, the operators may be located on different remote but interconnected systems.
b represents an alternative embodiment of the system according to the invention. In this alternative embodiment, the items of modified formatted information are combined into a single item of formatted information, and they modify the quality of the image to be processed. For this purpose, one operator 23.t replaces the operators 23.1 to 23.n. That operator receives and combines the different items of modified formatted information, and makes it possible to modify the quality of the image to be processed, in order to provide a modified image.
Furthermore, according to an alternative embodiment that is also applicable to the system of
The practical examples of
For example, it is possible to correct the distortion and blurring of appliance APP1, then the distortion and blurring of APP2, etc.
According to another example, it is also possible to correct distortion of APP1, then distortion of APP2, etc., then blurring of APP1, then blurring of APP2, etc.
By generalizing in the case of a plurality of defects and a plurality of appliances, it is possible to combine the approaches of both embodiments.
Referring to
As an example, the image is made available for processing in digitized form by a digitizing device 400.1, by a digital capture appliance 400.2 (digital photo appliance, or scanner, or other appliance), or by a compact disk 400.3.
In stage 401 of the method, a digitized image is available. In addition, the characteristics of the image-capture appliance and even the type of this appliance are known through any identification means, such as a bar code.
In stage 402 of the method, identifier 60 of the appliance is acquired or calculated.
In stage 403, database 22 of the characteristics of the image-capture appliance can be accessed via identifier 60, for example by means of index P52. In fact, as mentioned hereinabove, a database is available in which appliance characteristics have in principle been registered for every known appliance. Within the scope of the invention, these characteristics represent the defects to be modified. Thus database 22 is called in stage 403. In an alternative embodiment, the call to the database may additionally take into account certain variable characteristics 66 obtained during stage 405, in order to obtain directly the formatted information that is pertinent for the values obtained in this way for variable characteristics 66.
In stage 404, an item of formatted information 15 that represents the characteristics (defects) of the corresponding appliance is read in database 22 at an address obtained from identifier 60.
Furthermore, along with the image to be processed, the system may be provided if necessary with variable characteristics 66 (filming conditions in particular) from a memory of the appliance, from software related to the appliance, or from information associated with the image.
These characteristics are therefore available in stage 405.
Thereafter (stage 406), the formatted information 15.1 to 15.n is combined with the variable characteristics 66 to provide modified formatted information 15.1′ to 15.n′. This modified formatted information now contains all of the information with which the quality of the image can be modified.
According to an alternative version of this stage 406, if the variable characteristics 66 and in particular their values for the image to be processed have been determined, they are used to determine, within the formatted information, a fraction of this formatted information that takes into account these variable characteristics 66.
In stage 407, this modified formatted information is applied to the image in order to process it and to correct or modify it. This processing is performed by means of operators assisted by image-processing software.
In this way a modified image is obtained in stage 408.
It is quite evident that the foregoing method can function by using only the characteristics inherent to the appliance without using the variable characteristics 66. In this case the formatted data read in the database are used directly to process the image.
Referring to
As in the example of
During stage 501, the identifier 60 of an appliance is taken into account, and makes it possible to address database 22 (stage 502) in order to obtain one or more items of formatted information corresponding to this identifier 60.
A search is also made for the variable characteristics 66 related to this appliance (stage 504).
During stage 505, the formatted information or certain items of formatted information are modified as a function of the characteristic variables 66. As in the method described in connection with
Thereafter (stage 506), a test is performed to decide whether another appliance must be taken into account for modification of the quality of the image. In the diagram of
The image is then processed in the course of stage 507 by formatted information related to the first appliance, and leads to a first processed image. The system then takes into account the formatted information related to the next appliance and processes the previously processed image, and so on until all of the formatted information has been processed, which in principle means until all the information related to the different appliances of the chain has been taken into account. The test “APP=APPn?” then responds positively. A modified image is obtained and delivered.
It will be noted that the method of the invention can be implemented by performing only a single test “APP=APPn?”. It would be possible to perform only the test of stage 508, which would achieve almost the same result.
In an alternative version of the method according to the invention, as illustrated in
In an alternative version of the method of the invention, it is considered that the set of appliances that, in an appliance chain P3, are necessary for processing an image, is composed of a single appliance, which will be defined as virtual appliance 708 and whose defects correspond to the equivalent of all or part of the defects of the different appliances of the chain. Thus appliances such as an image-capture appliance 706 (
An example of organization of the method with which virtual formatted information can be obtained may be employed according to the organizational diagram of
In the example of an integrated development laboratory, appliance chain P3 comprises a scanner, a photo appliance and a printer. The equivalent virtual appliance exhibits the defects of the three appliances, and the time for modification of the quality of the image may be divided substantially by three.
In the case of an appliance with variable characteristics 66, it is possible to determine the formatted information related to defects that exhibit the said variable characteristic 66 in the following manner.
In the example in which the variable characteristics 66 are the focal length and the aperture, combinations are selected:
For each combination, the corresponding formatted information is determined by the method described hereinabove.
Formatted information that is a function of the focal length and aperture is deduced, for example by interpolation, in such a way that the database contains the formatted information necessary in stage 404.
It is therefore seen, as was seen hereinabove during the description of
In the foregoing description, it was considered that the image to be processed was an image derived from an image-capture appliance, and was to be displayed or printed. The invention is also applicable to any image-processing chain and thus also to a chain with which an image can be projected. Thus an image-restitution chain will now be considered. As in the foregoing practical examples of the method of the invention, the characteristics of the different appliances of the image-restitution chain must be obtained. By means of these characteristics it is possible to obtain formatted information for application of the method of the invention.
A description will now be given of elements of detail or of alternative revisions of the invention.
Firstly, during the description of
The value of the variable characteristics 66 can be determined by means of information contained in file P57 or image file P58. Preferably, this information will be registered in the file in a standard format such as that of the EXIF standard known in the art. In this way, the system and the method of the invention are applicable to the processing of images that have been filmed and/or have already been processed by means of appliances that were commercialized before the formatted information corresponding to such appliances was established.
It is quite evident that modification of the quality of the image can be simplified by taking into account only the defects of a limited number of appliances of the chain, or even of a single appliance, and by correcting only those defects.
Furthermore, as was already envisioned in the description of
The invention is applicable to the modification, and in particular to the improvement, of images processed or provided by an appliance or an appliance chain P3. An interesting application will be to modify only the defects or part of the defects of only certain appliances. One application may be to modify a defect only partly, in order, for example, to establish a compromise between image quality and calculation time.
Another object is application of the invention to machines for processing images in such a way as to induce defects, to impart a particular style to the image or to simulate the presentation of an appliance, defined as reference appliance, or an appliance chain P3, defined as reference appliance chain, other than those used in the scope of the application.
The invention is applicable to the design of integrated photo-development laboratories. It can be employed on a computer.
Finally, it can be employed in projectors, in which case it permits different corrections to be made, including the parallax correction that is common in the art of projection. For this purpose, a camera or a photo appliance can be used to capture a test pattern projected onto the screen.
Other examples of appliance chains can include:
The following examples constitute appliance chains:
The said method may be employed in different forms:
Referring in particular to
In the case of an appliance that is compatible with the PIM standard, it is possible, for example, to choose to work in positive color on 8 bits in X, Y, Z space or to work on 16 bits signed in RGB space.
The formatted information 15 or a fraction of the formatted information 15 can include measured formatted information P101 to illustrate a raw measurement, such as a mathematical field related to geometric distortion defects at a certain number of characteristic points of an array 80. The formatted information 15 or a fraction of the formatted information 15 can include extended formatted information P102, which can be calculated from measured formatted information P101, for example by interpolation for real points other than the characteristic points of array 80. In the foregoing, it has been seen that a formatted information item 15 might depend on variable characteristics 66. According to the invention, a combination P120 is defined as a combination composed of variable characteristics 66 and of values of variable characteristics, an example being a combination P120 composed of the focal length, of the focusing, of the diaphragm aperture, of the capture speed, of the aperture, etc. and of associated values. It is difficult to imagine how the formatted information 15 related to different combinations P120 can be calculated, all the more so because certain characteristics of combination P120, such as the focal length and the distance, can vary continuously.
The invention provides for calculating the formatted information 15 in the form of extended formatted information P102 by interpolation from measured formatted information P101 related to a predetermined selection of combinations P120 of known variable characteristics 66.
For example, measured formatted information P101 related to the combination P120 of “focal length=2, distance=7, capture speed= 1/100”, to the combination of “focal length=10, distance=7, capture speed= 1/100” and to the combination of “focal length=50, distance=7, capture speed= 1/100” is used to calculate extended formatted information P102 that depends on focal length as the variable characteristic 66. By means of this extended formatted information P102, it is possible in particular to determine formatted information related to the combination of “focal length=25, distance=7 and capture speed= 1/100”.
The measured formatted information P101 and the extended formatted information P102 may exhibit an interpolation deviation P121. The invention may include the stage of selecting zero or one or more variable characteristics 66, such that interpolation deviation P121 for the extended formatted information P102 obtained for the variable characteristics 66 selected in this way is smaller than a predetermined interpolation threshold. In fact, certain variable characteristics 66 may have a smaller influence than others on the defect P5, and the error introduced by making the approximation that these are constant may merely be minimum; for example, the focusing adjustment may have merely a slight influence on the vignetting defect, and for this reason may not be part of the variable characteristics 66 selected. The variable characteristics 66 may be selected at the moment of production of the formatted information 15. It results from the combination of technical features that the modification of image quality employs simple calculations. It also results from the combination of technical features that the extended formatted information P102 is compact. It also results from the combination of technical features that the eliminated variable characteristics 66 have the least influence on the defect P5. It results from the combination of technical features that image quality can be modified with specified precision by means of the formatted information 15.
Cost reduction is defined as a method and system for lowering the cost of an appliance or of an appliance chain P3, especially the cost of. the optical system of an appliance or of an appliance chain, the method consisting in:
The method and system according to the invention can be used to lower the cost of an appliance or of an appliance chain: it is possible to design a digital optical system, to produce formatted information 15 related to the defects P5 of the appliance or of the appliance chain, to use this formatted information to enable image-processing means, whether they are integrated or not, to modify the quality of images derived from or addressed to the appliance or to the appliance chain, in such a way that the combination of the appliance or the appliance chain with the image-processing means is capable of capturing, modifying or restituting images of the desired quality at reduced cost.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 09291 | Jul 2001 | FR | national |
| 01 09292 | Jul 2001 | FR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/FR02/01911 | 6/5/2002 | WO | 00 | 6/30/2004 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO03/007240 | 1/23/2003 | WO | A |
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