1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image processing, and more specifically, to one-dimensional feature enhancement.
2. Description of the Related Art
A pointing device such as mouse is a standard peripheral for a computer system. A mechanical mouse typically has rollers, or wheels, that contact a rubber-surfaced steel ball at the equator thereof and convert the rotation of the ball into electrical signals. The mechanical mouse has a number of shortcomings such as deterioration or damage to the surface of the mouse ball and mouse pad, resulting form the mechanical construction and operation thereof that rely to a significant degree on a fairly delicate compromise about how mechanical forces are developed and transferred. An optical mouse utilizes optical and electronic method to compute the movement of the mouse, is a popular replacement for the mechanical mouse. Compared with the conventional mechanical mouse, an optical mouse offers better reliability and performance. Thus optical pointing devices have captured significant market share.
An optical mouse typically has a logical operation circuit and a Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) photosensing array comprising photo detectors. The CMOS photosensing array sequentially captures images of the area in which optical mouse moves and generates digital signals representing the captured image.
Images captured by the photo detectors are typically different from the real images as the captured images are distorted by both the external environment and internal signal processing and noise. The distortion of the captured image makes identifying the image in later stages of processing difficult. Therefore, appropriate actions for correcting the captured digital images are required. Examples of correction methods are image restoration, image enhancement, information extraction, link to database, and Geometric Information System (GIS). By performing correction to the captured image, the image becomes clearer and can be more easily recognized, furthermore, the similarity between the captured and real images can also be increased. Image enhancement corrects the digital image by enhancing particular features in the image. Commonly used image enhancement techniques are edge enhancement, contrast stretch, and feature extraction.
Digital images are composed of resolution cells with finite dimensions, and the edges of the image are usually blurry after the extraction process. The edge enhancement technique is an image enhancement method that clarifies the image outlines by generating spatial derivatives or digital image gradients.
The contrast stretch technique enlarges the contrast range in the image to make the image look clearer. The technique stretches each original digital value to a corresponding full range digital value according to a specific stretching ratio. A common contrast stretch technique is called linear contrast stretching, which transforms the largest recorded value to a largest allowable digital value, the smallest recorded value to a smallest allowable digital value, and transforms the remaining values according to a linear relationship. Gaussian stretching is another similar transformation technique, which assumes the distribution of the digital values is a bell shape.
Conventional image enhancement techniques correct digital images using a two-dimensional computation. However, the cost and power required for implementing two-dimensional computation in the integrated circuit are comparatively large due to the large data load and complicated computations. The present invention thus provides a simplified image enhancement method for enhancing features in digital images through one-dimensional computation.
Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide an image enhancement method and device thereof for correcting captured images by enhancing image features.
Another object of the present invention is to reduce the cost and power consumed by image feature enhancement in the integrated circuit.
The present invention provides a method of one-dimensional feature enhancement for a digital image comprising plurality of imaging units. Each imaging unit of the digital image has a corresponding digital value representing a specific feature of the image. The image feature can be illumination or chrominance of each pixel in the digital image. The present invention enhances the digital image by searching peak digital values in one dimension of the image, then increasing or decreasing the digital value of each peak. The peaks are areas with zero gradient, and each peak is either a local maximum or local minimum. The image sensor measures the digital value of the feature in one dimension of the image, for example, increasing or decreasing the digital value of each peak in the horizontal (X axis) dimension. The present invention determines each of the peaks as local maximum or local minimum by comparing the digital value of the peak with the digital values of the nearby pixels. The peak is a local maximum if the digital value of the peak is greater than the digital values of the nearby pixels, and vise versa. The digital value of each peak is adjusted by an offset, wherein the offset is computed by a preset ratio of the difference between the corresponding peak and a preceding peak. The digital value of a local maximum is adjusted by adding the offset to the original value, whereas the digital value of a local minimum is adjusted by subtracting the offset from the original value.
The present invention also provides a hand held device which comprises a photo capture device and a feature enhancer. The photo capture device can be a CMOS photosensing array comprising photo detectors. The photo detectors capture digital images under the pointing device and pass the images to the feature enhancer. The feature enhancer can be implemented in the logical operation circuit of the pointing device, and is used to enhance the captured images according to the one dimensional feature enhancement method of the present invention. The feature enhancer computes feature values of each pixel in one dimension of the captured image, searches peaks among the calculated feature values, and modifies the feature values of the searched for peaks to enhance the captured image.
The image feature enhancement method of the present invention can enhance either the horizontal (X) or vertical (Y) dimension of the image. If the feature enhancement is performed in one dimension, for example, the X dimension, the other dimension, for example, the Y dimension, does not require feature enhancement.
The present invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description in conjunction with the examples and references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
According to the present invention, the digital value of each peak is modified to enhance the feature thereof. The illumination difference 32a˜32e of each peak and a preceding peak is first calculated, and multiplied by a preset ratio, then added to or subtracted from the original illumination value 30a˜30e. In practice, the illumination value is a signed value, so the calculated illumination difference is also a signed value. When implementing the present invention, after multiplying the signed illumination difference with the preset ratio, it can be added to the original illumination value without determining an addition or subtraction operation. In the example shown in
The image feature enhancement method of the present invention only requires one-dimensional computation, which is relatively easier and faster than conventional two-dimensional computation. Furthermore, it reduces cost and power consumption, as well as reduces the size of the integrated circuit.
The embodiment of the present invention utilizes illumination as an example of the feature, whereas other image features such as chrominance are also applicable for the feature enhancement method proposed in the present invention.
Finally, while the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the above, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements as would be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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92137309 | Dec 2003 | TW | national |
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/832,203, filed Apr. 26, 2004 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,388,997.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10832203 | Apr 2004 | US |
Child | 12150956 | US |