Patent Application
20100053448
The present invention relates generally to televisions and, more particularly, to systems and methods that facilitate optimization of the picture in the human face region of the picture.
Images displayed on a television screen are subject to variations in color and quality due to improper television picture settings and/or less than ideal or inconsistent production, signal processing and transmission conditions. Many attempts have been made to improve or enhance image or picture quality. Conventional enhancement technology typically applies the enhance to the entire image. Such global application of the enhancement tends to have its drawbacks. For example, with regard to correcting the skin color of a human's face, other objects color which are similar to the human face also get corrected. Also, when watching a human face in a video image on the television, most of viewers tend to look at the eyes. In general, shaper eyes provide a better image. However, as with skin color, conventional solutions tend to sharpen the entire image and not just the eyes. As a result, the image is over enhanced, or becomes noisy.
In conventional systems, if noise sharpness or reduction is applied to an entire image or picture, a human face will also get enhanced. As the result, skin becomes noisy, or will cause “tailing effect” on human face. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide systems and methods that facilitate image enhancement without the drawbacks noted above.
Embodiments described herein are directed to improved methods and systems for effectively enhancing the image through global noise reduction of the surrounding image in television pictures without effecting detected human faces within the image. The enhanced picture includes color correction and eye sharpness. In one embodiment, a television system adapted to enhance the image preferably comprises a central processing unit (CPU) coupled to an audio-video output unit. The CPU preferably comprises non-volatile memory coupled to a logic unit which is adapted to receive and process a program signal SP and output an enhanced program signal SEP to the audio-video output unit. The logic unit preferably includes a human face detection circuit, a human eye detection circuit and a picture enhancement circuit adapted to correct color or reduce noise in the image surrounding human faces without effecting the human faces and sharpen the edges of the eyes.
In operation, the program signal SP is passed through the human face and human eye detection circuits to detect the presence of a human face in the image and the eyes in a detected face. The program signal Sp is then passed through the picture enhancement circuit to correct the color or reduce noise in the image surrounding the detected face or faces without effecting the detected face or faces and enhance the sharpness of the eyes in the detected face or faces.
Other objects, systems, methods, features, and advantages of the invention will be or will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of this invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims. It will be understood that the particular methods and apparatus are shown by way of illustration only and not as limitations. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the principles and features explained herein may be employed in various and numerous embodiments.
The details of the invention, both as to its structure and operation, may be gleaned in part by study of the accompanying figures, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. Moreover, all illustrations are intended to convey concepts, where relative sizes, shapes and other detailed attributes may be illustrated schematically rather than literally or precisely.
It should be noted that elements of similar structures or functions are generally represented by like reference numerals for illustrative purpose throughout the figures. It should also be noted that the figures are only intended to facilitate the description of the preferred embodiments.
Embodiments described herein are directed to improved methods and systems for effectively and naturally enhancing the human face and eyes in television pictures. Turning to
As depicted in
The picture enhancement circuit 124 preferably comprises a color phase correction or noise reduction circuit 126 and an eye edge enhancement circuit 128 coupled to the color phase correction circuit 126, both of which are readily known and commonly used within the art. The color phase correction or noise reduction circuit 126 corrects or adjusts the color of the image surrounding the detected human face or faces without effecting the detected human face or faces. The eye edge enhancement circuit 128 enhances the edge of the eyes in the detected face to sharpen their appearance. The optimized noise reduction, however, is preferably only applied to the image surrounding the detected human face or faces in the image.
In operation, a process 140 depicted in
The particular examples set forth herein are instructional and should not be interpreted as limitations on the applications to which those of ordinary skill are able to apply the systems and methods described herein. Modifications and other uses are available to those skilled in the art which are encompassed within the spirit of the invention as defined by the scope of the appended claims.
This application claims the benefit of provisional application Ser. No. 61/093,377 filed Sep. 1, 2008, which is fully incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61093377 | Sep 2008 | US |
