Image analysis – Image segmentation
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-16
2003-09-16
Chang, Jon (Department: 2623)
Image analysis
Image segmentation
C382S199000, C348S564000, C348S589000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06621927
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates broadly to video signal processing. More particularly, it relates to technology for automatically detecting the position of the featuring part of a picture, such as an imageless part, in a television signal processing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional television receivers have screens which are endowed with an aspect ratio of 4:3. “High-vision” TV receivers, “wide” TV receivers, etc. whose screens are laterally longer owing to an aspect ratio of 16:9, are recently available as products. Such television receivers having the screen aspect ratio of 16:9 display laterally longer pictures as compared with the conventional television receivers having the screen aspect ratio of 4:3, and therefore bring forth the merit that the feeling of ambience is enhanced.
In a case where pictures based on video signals conforming to the ordinary aspect ratio of 4:3 are to be displayed by the television receivers having the screen aspect ratio of 16:9, various display examples are considered as stated below.
FIGS. 37A-37C
and
FIGS. 38A-38H
are explanatory diagrams showing the examples in which the pictures based on the video signals conforming to the aspect ratio of 4:3 are displayed by the television receivers which have the screen aspect ratio of 16:9.
FIG. 37A
illustrates the picture which is based on the video signal of the aspect ratio of 4:3. In case of displaying the full vertical direction of the picture as shown in
FIG. 37B
, imageless parts containing no image information appear on the right and left sides of the screen of the 16:9 TV receiver. On the other hand, in case of displaying the full lateral direction of the picture as shown in
FIG. 37C
(in case of enlarging the video signal and then displaying the enlarged video signal), several upper and lower lines of the 4:3 picture in the vertical direction thereof are missing.
Besides,
FIGS. 38A
,
38
C and
38
F illustrate the different pictures which are based on the video signals of the aspect ratio of 4:3, while
FIGS. 38B
,
38
D,
38
E,
38
G and
38
H illustrate the display examples, respectively. There are a large number of articles of movie (or motion picture) software in which the picture based on the video signal of the aspect ratio of 4:3 has imageless parts above and below an image part (containing image information) as shown in
FIGS. 38A
,
38
C or
38
F. Especially the picture which contains characters at the lower part thereof as shown in
FIG. 38F
, is often found in the movie software.
By way of example, in a case where the picture based on the video signal of the aspect ratio of 4:3 is as shown in
FIG. 38A
, the image part can be displayed on the whole screen of the 16:9 TV receiver by setting an enlargement ratio of 1.5 as shown in FIG.
38
B. However, in a case where the picture shown in
FIG. 38A
has changed-over to the picture having the imageless part of large area as shown in
FIG. 38C
or
FIG. 38F
, the enlargement ratio left intact incurs the situation of
FIG. 38D
where imageless parts are displayed at the upper and lower parts of the screen or the situation of
FIG. 38G
where the characters are partly lacked. Accordingly, the picture shown in
FIG. 38C
needs to be displayed by increasing the enlargement ratio as shown in
FIG. 38E
, and the picture shown in
FIG. 38F
by shifting its vertical position as shown in FIG.
38
H.
It is very complicated, however, to set the enlargement ratio or the central position of the picture on each occasion for the purpose of attaining the optimum display for each of the various video signals as stated above. Therefore, if the enlargement ratio and the central position of the picture can be automatically set, the handling of the software based on the video signal of the aspect ratio of 4:3 becomes very convenient. The enlargement ratio and the central position of the picture may be determined from the detected values of the boundary positions between the image part and imageless parts of the picture in the vertical direction thereof, in other words, the No. of the start line of the image part of the picture (the start position of the image part in the vertical direction) and the No. of the end line of the image part (the end position of the image part in the vertical direction). Since, however, the video signal changes every moment, the correct boundary positions need to be detected every moment.
An example of prior-art apparatuses relevant to the above is a subtitles-region detection apparatus disclosed in the official gazette of Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 321387/1992 wherein only the part of the characters is extracted from the picture of the aspect ratio of 4:3 having the imageless parts at its upper and lower parts and containing the characters (i.e., subtitles) at its lower part as shown in
FIG. 38F
, and wherein the extracted part is inserted in another position of the picture so as to be displayed.
In the prior-art example, the end position of the image part as shown in
FIG. 38F
is detected, and the subtitles are moved by utilizing the detected position as the reference of the movement.
The arrangement of the essential portions of the prior-art example is illustrated in FIG.
39
. The operation of detecting the image-part end position will be explained in conjunction with FIG.
38
F. The prior-art apparatus comprises an input terminal
201
, an integration circuit
202
, a comparator
203
, a counter
204
and an output terminal
205
.
Referring to
FIG. 39
, a video signal is supplied to the input terminal
201
. The integration circuit
202
computes and delivers the average level of each line of the video signal. The comparator
203
compares the output of the integration circuit
202
with a fixed value, and it delivers a low (‘L’) level on condition that the former is smaller than the latter in the comparison. The counter
204
counts the number of successive lines affording the ‘L’ level as the outputs of the comparator
203
. On condition that the counted number has reached a predetermined value, the first one of the successive lines having afforded the ‘L’ level is judged to indicate the image-part end position (as seen from FIG.
38
F), which is delivered from the output terminal
205
.
Meanwhile, in the field of television receivers, attempts have heretofore been made to better a video signal in points of luminance and tint in accordance with the content of a picture. A recent example is a method wherein the picture displayed on the screen of the TV receiver is divided into predetermined regions, and the picture qualities of the respective regions are adjusted independently of one another in accordance with the input video signal, thereby intending to attain a good picture quality at all times. Such a method of adjusting the picture quality of the television receiver is a technique disclosed in the official gazette of Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 154478/1991.
FIG. 40
is a block diagram showing a picture quality adjustment apparatus for the television receiver in the prior art. Referring to the figure, numeral
3001
designates an automatic picture-quality adjustment device, which subjects the video signal to the adjustment of the picture quality. An antenna
3002
receives video signals. A tuner
3003
selects a desired channel for reception, from among the received signals. A video intermediate-frequency (VIF) circuit
3004
detects the intermediate frequency of the selected video signal. In the adjustment device
3001
, a level conversion circuit
3005
converts the level of the video signal. An analog-to-digital (A/D) converter
3006
converts the analog signal into a digital value. A microcomputer
3007
includes a level detector
3008
which detects the signal level on the basis of the digital signal, a controller
3009
regulates the gain of the level conversion circuit
3005
on the basis of the level detected by the level detector
3008
, and a sampling signal generator
3010
which supplies a sampling
Bando Yumi
Mori Takayuki
Murata Toshinori
Nakagaki Nobufumi
Suzuki Sunao
Chang Jon
Hitachi , Ltd.
Mattingly Stanger & Malur, P.C.
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