JP2010039657A - Image information verifying apparatus and image information verifying program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To verify visibility of characters and images when a display is illuminated with intense light or when getting affected by external factors such as to be forced to look at a display from no angle position. <P>SOLUTION: The color changing unit 3 generates an image information which has colors actually meeting the eyes, when affected by external factors, by modifying colors of pixels included in input image information according to the external factors. The advance image verifying display unit 4 displays image information which is generated by the color changing unit 3 to a display as an advance verification image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for determining, for example, characters and background colors used when generating an image.

Patent Document 1 describes a technique for determining the readability of a character relative to the background based on the brightness, hue, and saturation of the background and the character. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 describes a technique for enumerating a recommended character color candidate by determining a color that is highly readable with respect to a specified background color.
JP 2002-197403 A

However, Patent Document 1 does not describe the influence of external factors on the visibility (readability) of characters. The external factors are, for example, how the light strikes the display device, and the angle at which the user views the display device.
When light is strongly applied to the display device, the image displayed on the display device appears brighter to the user's eyes than actually displayed. Further, when the display device is viewed from the side (that is, when the display device is viewed from an angleless position), the image displayed on the display device appears darker to the user's eyes than actually displayed. .
That is, even if the combination of colors with high readability is not affected by how the light strikes the display device or the angle at which the user views the display device, the way the light strikes the display device When there is an influence due to an angle of viewing, the readability may be lowered. That is, if external factors are not taken into account, even a color combination with high readability may result in low readability when external factors are taken into account.
An object of the present invention is to make it possible to determine character visibility and image visibility in consideration of external factors, for example.

An image information confirmation apparatus according to the present invention includes, for example, a color changing unit that generates a post-change image information by adding a predetermined change to the color of a pixel included in input image information by a processing device;
And a pre-confirmation image display unit that displays the post-change image information generated by the color change unit as a pre-confirmation image on a display device.

  According to the image information confirmation device according to the present invention, by changing the color of the pixel included in the image information, it is possible to confirm in advance the image information seen by the user when affected by an external factor. it can. Therefore, it is possible to determine in advance the readability of characters and the visibility of images in consideration of external factors.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
In this embodiment, a description will be given of a method for displaying, on a display device, image information that is visible to the user's eyes when influenced by external factors.

For example, when displaying image information such as guidance information on multiple display devices installed in the facility, the creator of the image information creates how the image information looks (how it looks) in advance. Displayed on a display device of a personal computer (PC) of the user. If there is no problem with the appearance confirmed by a PC or the like, it is displayed on a plurality of display devices installed in the facility.
Among a plurality of display devices installed in a facility, there may be a display device that is placed in a place where light is strongly struck and a display device that is often viewed from the side by a user. In other words, depending on the influence of external factors, some display devices may appear to the user's eyes in a manner different from that seen by the creator. For example, depending on the display device, there is a risk that light may be strongly applied and characters included in the image information cannot be read.
Therefore, in the image information confirmation device 1 according to this embodiment, the image information is displayed on the display device for prior confirmation in the way it looks when affected by external factors. That is, it is possible to confirm the appearance when the creator is affected by external factors in advance.

When affected by the external factors as described above, the color of the displayed image information changes and appears to the user's eyes as compared to the case where the external factors are not affected. For example, when the display device is strongly lit, it appears brighter (higher brightness) to the user's eyes than it is actually displayed, and when the display device is viewed from the side, it is actually displayed. However, it appears dark (low brightness) to the user's eyes.
Therefore, the image information confirmation apparatus 1 generates image information in which the color of the input image information (input image information) is changed to a color when an external factor is received, and the generated image information is used as a pre-confirmation image. Is displayed on the display device.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing functions of the image information confirmation apparatus 1 according to this embodiment.
The image information confirmation device 1 includes an input image information input unit 2, a color change unit 3, and a prior confirmation image display unit 4.

  The input image information input unit 2 inputs image information (input image information) to be displayed on the display device and stores it in the storage device.

The color changing unit 3 makes a predetermined change to the color of the pixel included in the input image information input by the input image information input unit 2 and generates post-change image information by the processing device.
For example, the color changing unit 3 generates the changed image information by making the same change to all the pixels included in the input image information. For example, it may be changed (offset correction) to add (subtract) a predetermined value to the luminance value of each pixel, or may be changed (gain correction) to multiply the luminance value of each pixel by a predetermined value.
In particular, the color changing unit 3 changes according to external factors. For example, in the case of confirming the appearance on a display device that is strongly irradiated with light to the display device, a predetermined value is added to the luminance value of each pixel so that the luminance value of each pixel becomes high. Also, the value to be added is increased or decreased according to the light intensity. On the other hand, when the possibility of viewing the display device from the side is high, a predetermined value is subtracted from the luminance value of each pixel so that the luminance value of each pixel is lowered. Further, the value to be subtracted is increased or decreased according to the viewing angle. Information indicating these external factors may be collected from each display device. For example, a photometer may be installed in each display device, and information measured by the photometer may be collected as information indicating an external factor.
The color changing unit 3 may generate post-change image information for each display device.

The prior confirmation image display unit 4 displays the post-change image information generated by the color changing unit 3 on the prior confirmation display device as the prior confirmation image.
FIG. 2 is an image diagram of the prior confirmation image displayed by the prior confirmation image display unit 4.
As shown in FIG. 2, the prior confirmation image display unit 4 includes, for example, two images: (a) a normal case where external factors are not taken into account; and (b) a case where it becomes difficult to see due to external factors. Display information side by side. Here, (b) the case where it is difficult to see is displayed in italics.

  As described above, according to the image information confirmation apparatus 1 according to this embodiment, image information that is visible to the user when it is affected by external factors is generated and displayed as a prior confirmation image. Therefore, it is possible to confirm image information that is visible to the user's eyes in advance when affected by external factors, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a state in which characters cannot be read due to the influence of external factors.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In this embodiment, a description will be given of a method for determining a character color that is easy to visually recognize even when it is affected by an external factor when a background color is determined.
Here, for each color of a plurality of colors, the lightness difference, hue difference, and saturation difference between the color and the background color are calculated as index values, and a color that is easy to visually recognize the background color specified based on the index value is obtained. Determine the character color.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing functions of the image information confirmation apparatus 1 (character color determination apparatus) according to this embodiment. The image information confirmation device 1 determines a character color that is easy to visually recognize with respect to the background color, and displays image information in which a predetermined character is displayed on the background color according to the determined character color as an image for preliminary confirmation.
The image information confirmation device 1 includes a background color determination unit 5, a character color index value calculation unit 6, and a character color determination unit 7 in addition to the configuration provided in the image information confirmation device 1 according to the first embodiment.

  The background color determination unit 5 determines a background color determined in advance or a color designated by the user via the input device.

The character color index value calculation unit 6 uses, for each of a plurality of predetermined colors, an index value relating to visibility when a character is displayed with respect to a predetermined background color (lightness difference, hue difference, saturation). The difference is calculated by the processor.
Note that the plurality of predetermined colors may be, for example, a WEB safe color, or more colors may be specified than the WEB safe color, or fewer colors may be specified.

The character color determination unit 7 determines a character color to be used when displaying characters from the plurality of colors by the processing device based on the index value calculated by the character color index value calculation unit 6.
Details of the calculation of the index value by the character color index value calculation unit 6 and the determination of the character color by the character color determination unit 7 will be described below with an example.

The input image information input unit 2 is generated by generating image information in which a predetermined character is displayed with the character color determined by the character color determination unit 7 in the background color determined by the background color determination unit 5 by the processing device. Let image information be input image information.
As in the first embodiment, the color change unit 3 generates post-change image information from the input image information input by the input image information input unit 2, and the prior confirmation image display unit 4 displays the color change unit 3. Is displayed on the display device as a pre-confirmation image.

The operation of the image information confirmation apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation in which the image information confirmation apparatus 1 determines a character color.
FIG. 5 to FIG. 9 are diagrams for explaining an example of determining a character color. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating index values of the background color and the candidate color designated in advance. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the brightness difference between the background color and each candidate color. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a hue difference between the background color and each candidate color. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the saturation difference between the background color and each candidate color. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the result of narrowing down.
FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the display of the prior confirmation image.

<S101: Background Color Determination Step>
The background color determination unit 5 determines the background color. For example, the background color may be selected from a palette displaying selectable colors.
Here, it is assumed that the background color determination unit 5 selects green as the background color.
<S102: Index Value Calculation Step>
The character color index value calculation unit 6 calculates a lightness difference, a hue difference, and a saturation difference from each predetermined color with respect to the background color designated in (S101).
Here, it is assumed that the seven colors shown in FIG. 5 are predetermined as candidate colors. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the character color index value calculation unit 6 calculates the brightness, hue, and saturation for each of the green background colors and the seven candidate colors. Then, the brightness difference, hue difference, and saturation difference between the background color and the candidate color are calculated.
<S103: Candidate Color Refinement Step>
The character color determination unit 7 narrows down the candidate colors based on the brightness difference, hue difference, and saturation difference calculated in (S102).
Here, the candidate colors are narrowed down as follows based on the lightness difference, hue difference, and saturation difference of each candidate color with respect to the background color.
(1) As shown in FIG. 6, the character color determination unit 7 excludes candidate colors whose brightness difference between the background color and each candidate color is equal to or less than a threshold value. In FIG. 6, since the threshold is set to 0.15, red and purple whose brightness difference is less than 0.15 are excluded.
(2) As shown in FIG. 7, the character color determination unit 7 determines that the hue difference from the background color exceeds the threshold value for each of the remaining five candidate colors excluding red and purple that are excluded in (1). Target candidate colors. In FIG. 7, since the threshold value is set to 90, black, light blue, and yellow whose hue difference is less than 90 are removed, and blue and pink are targeted.
(3) As shown in FIG. 8, the character color determination unit 7 targets candidate colors whose saturation difference from the background color exceeds the threshold for black, light blue, and yellow removed in (2). . In FIG. 8, since the threshold value is set to 0.5, yellow whose saturation difference is less than 0.5 is removed, and black and light blue are targeted. In the process (3), colors that are out of the candidates by narrowing down the hue difference in (2) are targeted. Since achromatic colors (colors belonging to white, black, and gray) have no hue, the hue difference from the achromatic color is calculated as zero. For this reason, in the process of (3), it is confirmed again whether a color that has been excluded from the hue difference can be a candidate due to the saturation difference.
Then, as shown in FIG. 9, blue, black, light blue, and pink targeted in (2) and (3) remain as character color candidates. The character color determining unit 7 calculates and ranks the scores remaining as candidates from the lightness difference, hue difference, and saturation difference of the colors. Here, the calculation was performed as “score = (lightness difference × 10) + (hue difference / 60) + (saturation difference)”. As a result, the order is light blue, pink, black, blue. In this score calculation, the lightness difference is weighted compared to the hue difference and the saturation difference.
That is, when the background color is green, the character color determining unit 7 recognizes that blue, black, light blue, and pink among the candidate colors have discriminating power (readability). Are determined in the order of light blue, pink, black, and blue.
<S104: Confirmation Screen Display Step>
The input image information input unit 2 uses, as input image information, an image in which a predetermined character is displayed in a color selected by the user from the character color extracted in (S103) as the background color determined in (S101). Then, the color changing unit 3 generates post-change image information, and the prior confirmation image display unit 4 displays the modification image information as a prior confirmation image on the display device. Based on the displayed prior confirmation image, the user is allowed to determine the character color to be used from the colors extracted by the input device.
Here, a plurality of colors of blue, black, light blue, and pink remain as candidates. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, the colors remaining as candidates are displayed in a palette so that the user can select them. The input image information input unit 2 uses an image in which characters are displayed in a color selected by the user as input image information, the color change unit 3 generates post-change image information, and the pre-confirmation image display unit 4 serves as the pre-confirmation image. indicate. In other words, when the user changes the selection of the color, the change is reflected in the character colors of both (a) normal case and (b) difficult to see. In particular, by arranging selectable colors in descending order, the user can easily select a color with high visibility, and the convenience for the user is enhanced. The user determines the color to be actually used with reference to the prior confirmation image. In particular, as described in the first embodiment, the user can determine the color to be actually used with reference to the prior confirmation image in consideration of the influence of external factors.

In the above description, the color (candidate color) that is actually used is narrowed down by calculating the brightness difference, hue difference, and saturation difference from the background color that is actually used. However, when it is important to determine the character color to be used in consideration of the influence of external factors, the narrowing may be performed in consideration of the influence of external factors.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image information confirmation apparatus 1 when the character color is narrowed down in consideration of the influence of external factors.
<S201: Background Color Determination Step>
The background color determination unit 5 determines the background color, similarly to (S101).
<S202: Color Change Step>
The color changing unit 3 adds the background color after the change to the luminance as described in the first embodiment for the background color and the change to the luminance as described in the first embodiment for each candidate color. The color after change (character color after change) is generated.
<S203: Index Value Calculation Step>
The character color index value calculation unit 6 calculates the lightness difference, hue difference, and saturation difference between the changed background color and each changed color.
<S204: Candidate Color Refinement Step>
The character color determination unit 7 narrows down in the same manner as described above based on the lightness difference, hue difference, and saturation difference calculated in (S203).
That is, the character color determination unit 7 extracts candidate colors that are recognized as having discriminating power (readability) with respect to the background color based on the index value considering external factors. In particular, the character color determination unit 7 determines the rank of the discriminating power when considering external factors.
<S205: Confirmation Screen Display Step>
The input image information input unit 2 uses, as input image information, an image in which a predetermined character is displayed in a color selected by the user from the character color extracted in (S204) as the background color determined in (S201). Then, the color changing unit 3 generates post-change image information, and the prior confirmation image display unit 4 displays the modification image information as a prior confirmation image on the display device. Based on the displayed prior confirmation image, the user is allowed to determine the character color to be used from the colors extracted by the input device.

In the above description, candidate colors are narrowed down in the order of (1), (2), and (3). That is, (1) narrowing down by lightness difference, (2) extracting candidates by hue difference for colors narrowed down by lightness difference, and (3) colors that are narrowed down by lightness difference and being out of candidates by hue difference Candidates were extracted based on the saturation difference. Then, scores were calculated and ranked for the colors extracted as candidates in (2) and (3).
However, the selection of candidate colors is not limited to this method. For example, in the above description, the score calculated only for the narrowed candidate colors is calculated for all candidate colors, and only a predetermined number of colors having a high score, or the score is equal to or higher than a predetermined value. Only the color may be left as a candidate color.

Moreover, the threshold value in the above description is an example, and the present invention is not limited to this. The threshold value may be changed depending on the content to be displayed. In other words, when displaying information that needs to be conspicuous, the threshold value may be increased to extract only highly readable colors, and when displaying information that does not need to be conspicuous, the threshold value may be decreased and readability may be achieved. Low colors may also be extracted.
In this embodiment, the lightness difference is weighted. However, the character color determination unit 7 can appropriately set the weighting for the lightness difference, the hue difference, and the saturation difference.

  As described above, according to the image information confirmation apparatus 1 according to this embodiment, it is possible to determine a character color that is easily visible when affected by an external factor.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
In the second embodiment, the method of selecting one character color having high visibility with respect to the designated background color when affected by an external factor has been described. In this embodiment, a method for selecting two or more character colors will be described.

For example, when displaying guidance information, there may be characters (information) that are desired to stand out. In this case, only the characters that are desired to stand out may be displayed in a different color from other characters. Here, a method for selecting two colors, that is, the color of a character to be conspicuous and the color of another character will be described.
In the following description, a character to be made conspicuous is called an emphasized character, and other characters are called normal characters.

A method of displaying a combination of candidate colors extracted by the method described in the second embodiment as options, allowing the user to specify, and reflecting the specified color on the prior confirmation image will be described.
FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of the display of the prior confirmation image when a combination of a plurality of colors is used as an option. As shown in FIG. 12, that is, when the user selects 1, the highlighted character is light blue and the normal character is pink. As in the second embodiment, the characters are reflected in both (a) normal case and (b) difficult to see.
At this time, as shown in FIG. 12, the combinations of candidate colors to be displayed as options are first arranged in order from the color of the emphasized character side in the order of the top color, and then for each color of the emphasized character on the normal character side. The colors are arranged in order from the color with the highest score. That is, first, the light blue in the score ranking is arranged on the emphasized character side, and the colors other than the light blue are arranged on the normal character side in the descending order of pink, black, and blue with respect to the emphasized character light blue. Next, pink having the second highest score ranking is arranged on the emphasized character side, and colors other than pink are arranged in light blue, black, and blue in order of priority on the normal character side with respect to the emphasized character pink. Next, black with a score ranking of 3rd is arranged on the emphasized character side, and colors other than black are arranged in light blue, pink, and blue in order of rank from the normal character side with respect to the emphasized character black. Then, blue with a score ranking of 4th is arranged on the emphasized character side, and colors other than blue are arranged in light blue, pink, and black on the normal character side in descending order with respect to the emphasized character blue. Since the user wants the highlighted character to be a conspicuous color with respect to the background color, the user's convenience can be improved by arranging in this way.

However, the color extracted by the method described in the second embodiment is a highly visible color with respect to the background color, and it is not considered whether the visibility is high among the extracted colors. That is, the extracted colors include similar colors (light blue and blue in the above example). If the color of the emphasized character and the color of the normal character are similar colors, it is difficult to make the emphasized character stand out from the normal character.
In order to make emphasized characters stand out, not only is the color of the emphasized character highly visible with respect to the background color, but the color of the emphasized character is also highly visible with respect to the color of normal characters. There is a need. That is, the two colors to be selected need not only have high visibility with respect to the background color, but also have high visibility between the two colors.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a process of selecting two character colors that are not only highly visible with respect to the background color but also highly visible between the colors. FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of the display of the prior confirmation image when the colors of the emphasized character and the normal character are determined.
<S301: Background Color Determination Step>
The background color determination unit 5 determines the background color, similarly to (S101).
<S302: Background Color Index Value Calculation Step>
Similarly to (S102), the character color index value calculation unit 6 calculates a lightness difference, a hue difference, and a saturation difference with respect to each predetermined color for the background color specified in (S301).
<S303: First Character Color Candidate Color Narrowing Step>
As in (S103), the character color determination unit 7 narrows down candidate colors based on the brightness difference, hue difference, and saturation difference calculated in (S302).
<S304: First Character Color Selection Step>
As shown in FIG. 14 (1), the input image information input unit 2 displays an emphasized character in a color selected by the user from the character color extracted in (S303) on the background color determined in (S301). Is input image information. Then, the color changing unit 3 generates post-change image information, and the prior confirmation image display unit 4 displays the modification image information as a prior confirmation image on the display device. Based on the displayed prior confirmation image, the user is allowed to determine the first character color from the color extracted by the input device. The first character color is the color used for the emphasized character. Here, it is assumed that light blue is selected as the first character color.
<S305: First Character Color Index Value Calculation Step>
The character color index value calculation unit 6 compares the first character color determined in (S304) with the lightness difference, hue difference, and saturation difference from the color extracted in (S303) excluding the first character color. Calculate
Here, the lightness difference, hue difference, and saturation difference between pink, black, and blue are calculated for the first character color, light blue.
<S306: Second Character Color Candidate Color Narrowing Step>
As in (S303), the character color determination unit 7 narrows down candidate colors based on the brightness difference, hue difference, and saturation difference calculated in (S305). The threshold value may be changed from the case of (S303). The candidate colors are narrowed down by the following first confirmation process and second confirmation process.
Here, it is assumed that pink and black remain as candidates for the second character color. In other words, it is assumed that blue of the same color as light blue is excluded. Assume that the order is black and pink. The process up to here is the confirmation process using the index value relating to the visibility between the first character color (second confirmation process).
Next, an index value confirmation process (first confirmation process) regarding visibility when characters are displayed with respect to the background color will be described. In the above-described processing, it was found that black and pink are visible with respect to the light blue, but the visibility with respect to the background color is the highlighted character candidate color (light blue in this example) calculated in the processing of S302. The normal character candidate colors (black and pink in this example) are compared with the index values for the background color, and the normal character candidates have higher index values than the highlighted character candidate index values (visibility If it is high (there is a lightness difference, a hue difference, and a saturation difference), it is excluded from the candidate colors for normal characters. The black and pink index values given as examples are lower than the light blue index values, as shown in FIG. 9, and thus continue to be normal character candidate colors.
<S307: Second Character Color Selection Step>
As shown in FIG. 14 (2), the input image information input unit 2 displays highlighted characters in the first character color determined in (S304) on the background color determined in (S301), and extracted in (S306). An image displaying normal characters in a color selected by the user from the selected colors is set as input image information. Then, the color changing unit 3 generates post-change image information, and the prior confirmation image display unit 4 displays the modification image information as a prior confirmation image on the display device. Based on the displayed image for prior confirmation, the user is allowed to determine the second character color from the color extracted by the input device.
That is, here, the second character is based on two index values: an index value related to visibility when a character is displayed with respect to the background color, and an index value related to visibility between the first character color. Determine the color. Note that the second character color may be determined only by the index value confirmation process (first confirmation process) regarding visibility when a character is displayed with respect to the background color.
Further, when the user selects the second character color, the order in which the colors are arranged may be based on the overall ranking calculated from the two index values, or may be calculated based on one of the indices. It may be in order. Note that the rank of each index value may be indicated together with the color.

  In the above description, in (S306), only the index value calculated in (S305) is used as the index value used for narrowing down. However, in (S306), the two index values calculated in (S302) and (S305) may be used as index values used for narrowing down. For example, you may narrow down by the score calculated from two index values.

  As described above, according to the image information confirmation apparatus 1 according to this embodiment, two or more character colors can be selected. In particular, the two colors to be selected can select a character color that is not only highly visible with respect to the background color but also highly visible between the two colors.

  In the above description, two character colors are selected. However, the same can be done even when three or more characters are selected.

Embodiment 4 FIG.
In the second and third embodiments, the method of determining a character color with high visibility for the designated background color has been described. In this embodiment, a method for determining not only the character color but also the background color will be described.

Here, a guide display image at an airport will be described as an example. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a guidance display image at the airport.
As shown in FIG. 15, in the guidance display image at the airport, an area for displaying the company name (displayed as “ABC Airlines” in FIG. 15) and an area for displaying the seat class (“first class” in FIG. 15). ) And an area for displaying guidance information (in FIG. 15, “in boarding procedure” is displayed). Among these, the area for displaying the company name and the area for displaying the seat class are areas in which images to be displayed are fixed. On the other hand, the area for displaying guidance information is an area for changing display contents according to information to be guided. That is, the guidance display image at the airport includes a designated image (determined image) and an image (setting image) set according to the situation.
Here, depending on the information to be displayed, the setting image may be displayed prominently or may not need to be conspicuous. For example, when displaying information that calls attention, it is necessary to make the setting image stand out from the confirmed image. On the other hand, if the information is not particularly important, it is considered that the set image is not conspicuous in order to harmonize with the confirmed image. Whether the setting image is conspicuous or inconspicuous has a strong influence of the color of the setting image on the confirmed image.
Therefore, the background color of the setting image is determined based on the high visibility of the color with respect to the color of the confirmed image. The character color to be used is determined based on the high visibility of the determined background color.

FIG. 16 is a functional block diagram showing functions of the image information confirmation apparatus 1 (character color determination apparatus) according to this embodiment. The image information confirmation device 1 determines a background color, determines a character color that is easy to visually recognize the determined background color, and displays image information displayed on a background color in which a predetermined character is determined based on the determined character color. Display as a pre-confirmation image.
The image information confirmation device 1 includes a background color index value calculation unit 8 in addition to the configuration provided in the image information confirmation device 1 according to the first embodiment.

  The background color index value calculation unit 8 calculates, for each of a plurality of colors, an index value related to visibility when an image having that color as a background color is arranged adjacent to a predetermined image.

  The background color determination unit 5 determines a background color from the plurality of colors by the processing device based on the index value calculated by the background color index value calculation unit 8.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating an operation in which the image information confirmation apparatus 1 determines the background color and the character color.
<S401: Image Index Value Calculation Step for Neighboring Images>
The background color index value calculation unit 8 calculates, for each of a plurality of colors specified in advance, an index value related to visibility when images having the color as a background color are arranged adjacent to a predetermined image.
That is, in the case of the guidance display image at the airport shown in FIG. 15, the index value relating to the visibility for each of a plurality of colors specified in advance is calculated for the color of the final image. Here, the plurality of colors designated in advance are WEB safe colors as in the above-described embodiment. The index values are brightness difference, hue difference, and saturation difference. Further, the color of the confirmed image (the color of the adjacent image) may be an average value of the colors of the image (average value of RGB), or the color of the boundary portion between the setting image to be generated and the confirmed image ( The average value of the color of the boundary portion) may be used.
<S402: Candidate Background Color Narrowing Step>
The background color determination unit 5 narrows down the candidate background colors based on the brightness difference, hue difference, and saturation difference calculated in (S401). The narrowing-down method is the same as that for determining the character color.
<S403: Confirmation Screen Display Step>
The input image information input unit 2 uses, as input image information, an image in which an adjacent image and an image of a color selected by the user from the candidate background colors extracted in (S402) are arranged. Then, the color changing unit 3 generates post-change image information, and the prior confirmation image display unit 4 displays the modification image information as a prior confirmation image on the display device. Based on the displayed prior confirmation image, the user is allowed to determine a background color to be used from the candidate background colors extracted by the input device.
(S404) to (S406) are the same as (S102) to (S104). That is, a highly visible character color is determined with respect to the background color determined in (S403).

  In the above description, the case where a conspicuous background color is selected for adjacent images has been described. However, in (S402), it is possible to select an inconspicuous background color for adjacent images by changing the narrowing criteria. In other words, when selecting a conspicuous background color for adjacent images, a candidate color with a brightness difference equal to or less than a threshold may be excluded from a candidate color with a brightness difference equal to or greater than a threshold. The same applies to narrowing down by hue difference and saturation difference.

  As described above, according to the image information confirmation device 1 according to this embodiment, a background color with high visibility can be selected for adjacent images.

Next, the hardware configuration of the image information confirmation apparatus 1 in the above embodiment will be described.
FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the image information confirmation apparatus 1 (character color determination apparatus).
As shown in FIG. 18, the image information confirmation apparatus 1 includes a CPU 911 (also referred to as a central processing unit, a central processing unit, a processing unit, an arithmetic unit, a microprocessor, a microcomputer, and a processor) that executes a program. . The CPU 911 is connected to the ROM 913, the RAM 914, the LCD 901 (Liquid Crystal Display), the keyboard 902 (K / B), the communication board 915, and the magnetic disk device 920 via the bus 912, and controls these hardware devices. Instead of the magnetic disk device 920, a storage device such as an optical disk device or a memory card read / write device may be used.

  The ROM 913 and the magnetic disk device 920 are examples of a nonvolatile memory. The RAM 914 is an example of a volatile memory. The ROM 913, the RAM 914, and the magnetic disk device 920 are examples of a storage device (memory). The keyboard 902 and the communication board 915 are examples of input devices. The communication board 915 is an example of a communication device. Furthermore, the LCD 901 is an example of a display device.

  An operating system 921 (OS), a window system 922, a program group 923, and a file group 924 are stored in the magnetic disk device 920 or the ROM 913. The programs in the program group 923 are executed by the CPU 911, the operating system 921, and the window system 922.

The program group 923 includes “input image information input unit 2”, “color change unit 3”, “preliminary confirmation image display unit 4”, “background color determination unit 5”, “character color index value calculation” in the above description. Software, programs, and other programs for executing the functions described as “section 6”, “character color determination section 7”, “background color index value calculation section 8”, and the like are stored. The program is read and executed by the CPU 911.
In the file group 924, information and data such as “character color”, “first character color”, “second character color”, “background color”, “candidate color”, “order” in the above description, Signal values, variable values, and parameters are stored as items of “file” and “database”. The “file” and “database” are stored in a recording medium such as a disk or a memory. Information, data, signal values, variable values, and parameters stored in a storage medium such as a disk or memory are read out to the main memory or cache memory by the CPU 911 via a read / write circuit, and extracted, searched, referenced, compared, and calculated. Used for the operation of the CPU 911 such as calculation / processing / output / printing / display. Information, data, signal values, variable values, and parameters are temporarily stored in the main memory, cache memory, and buffer memory during the operation of the CPU 911 for extraction, search, reference, comparison, calculation, calculation, processing, output, printing, and display. Is remembered.
In addition, the arrows in the flowcharts in the above description mainly indicate input / output of data and signals, and the data and signal values are recorded in a memory of the RAM 914 and other recording media such as an optical disk. Data and signals are transmitted online via a bus 912, signal lines, cables, or other transmission media.

  In addition, what is described as “to part” in the above description may be “to circuit”, “to device”, “to device”, “to means”, and “to function”. It may be “step”, “˜procedure”, “˜processing”. In addition, what is described as “˜device” may be “˜circuit”, “˜device”, “˜equipment”, “˜means”, “˜function”, and “˜step”, “ ~ Procedure "," ~ process ". Furthermore, what is described as “to process” may be “to step”. That is, what is described as “˜unit” may be realized by firmware stored in the ROM 913. Alternatively, only software, hardware such as elements, devices, substrates, and wirings, a combination of software and hardware, or a combination of firmware may be used. Firmware and software are stored in a recording medium such as ROM 913 as a program. The program is read by the CPU 911 and executed by the CPU 911. That is, the program causes a computer or the like to function as the “˜unit” described above. Alternatively, the computer or the like is caused to execute the procedures and methods of “to part” described above.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating functions of the image information confirmation apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment. The image figure of the image for prior confirmation which the image display part 4 for prior confirmation displays. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing functions of an image information confirmation device 1 according to a second embodiment. The flowchart which shows the operation | movement which the image information confirmation apparatus 1 determines a character color. The figure which shows the index value of a background color and the candidate color designated beforehand. The figure which shows the brightness difference of a background color and each candidate color. The figure which shows the hue difference of a background color and each candidate color. The figure which shows the saturation difference of a background color and each candidate color. The figure which shows the result of narrowing down. Explanatory drawing of the display of the image for prior confirmation. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the image information confirmation apparatus 1 when narrowing down a character color in consideration of the influence of an external factor. Explanatory drawing of the display of the image for prior confirmation at the time of using the combination of multiple colors as an option. The flowchart which shows the process which not only has high visibility with respect to a background color but selects two character colors with high visibility between each color. Explanatory drawing of the display of the image for prior confirmation in the case of determining the color of an emphasized character and a normal character. The figure which shows the guidance display image in an airport. FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram showing functions of an image information confirmation device 1 (character color determination device) according to a fourth embodiment. The flowchart which shows the operation | movement which the image information confirmation apparatus 1 determines a background color and a character color. The figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the image information confirmation apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image information confirmation apparatus, 2 Input image information input part, 3 Color change part, 4 Prior confirmation image display part, 5 Background color determination part, 6 Character color index value calculation part, 7 Character color determination part, 8 Background color index Value calculator.

Claims (11)

A color changing unit that generates a post-change image information by adding a predetermined change to the color of the pixel included in the input image information by the processing device;
An image information confirmation apparatus comprising: an image display unit for prior confirmation that displays the changed image information generated by the color change unit on the display device as an image for prior confirmation. The image information confirmation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the prior confirmation image display unit displays both the input image information and the changed image information as a prior confirmation image. The image information confirmation device further includes:
For each color of a plurality of colors, a character color index value calculation unit that calculates an index value related to visibility when a character is displayed with respect to a predetermined background color with the color,
Based on the index value calculated by the character color index value calculation unit, a character color determination unit that determines a character color to be used when displaying characters from the plurality of colors by a processing device;
An input image information input unit that inputs, as input image information, an image in which characters are displayed in the predetermined background color in the character color determined by the character color determination unit;
The image information confirmation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the color changing unit generates post-change image information from the input image information input by the input image information input unit. The character color index value calculation unit, for each of the plurality of colors, is a changed color obtained by adding a predetermined change to the color, and the changed background color obtained by adding a predetermined change to the predetermined background color. Calculate a metric value for visibility when text is displayed,
The character color determination unit determines a character color to be used from the plurality of colors based on an index value relating to visibility when a character is displayed with respect to a background color after change in the color after change. Item 4. The image information confirmation device according to Item 3. The character color determination unit extracts a plurality of candidate character colors having an index value equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold from the plurality of colors, displays the extracted candidate character colors in the order of the index values, and displays the displayed plurality The image information confirmation apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein a character color to be used is determined by selecting a character color to be used from the candidate character colors through an input device. The character color index value calculation unit further includes, for each color of the plurality of colors excluding the character color determined by the character color determination unit, visibility when a character is displayed with respect to the predetermined background color. And two index values, an index value regarding the visibility and an index value regarding visibility between the color and the character color determined by the character color determination unit,
The character color determining unit determines a second character color from the plurality of colors excluding the character color determined by the character color determining unit based on the two index values calculated by the character color index value calculating unit. The image information confirmation apparatus according to claim 3, wherein: The character color determination unit extracts a plurality of second candidate character colors based on the two index values calculated by the character color index value calculation unit, and uses the extracted second candidate character colors as the two index values. The second character color to be used is determined by selecting the second character color to be used from the plurality of displayed second candidate character colors through the input device while being displayed on the display device together with the respective ranks. The image information confirmation apparatus according to claim 6. The image information confirmation device further includes:
For each color of a plurality of colors, a background color index value calculation unit that calculates an index value related to visibility when an image having that color as a background color is arranged adjacent to a predetermined image, and a processing device;
A background color determination unit that determines a background color from the plurality of colors by the processing device based on the index value calculated by the background color index value calculation unit;
The said character color index value calculation part calculates the index value regarding visibility at the time of displaying a character with respect to the background color determined by the said background color determination part, The one of Claim 3-7 characterized by the above-mentioned. The image information confirmation device described in 1. A color change process for generating a post-change image information by applying a predetermined change to the color of a pixel included in the input image information by a processing device;
An image information confirmation program for causing a computer to execute a pre-confirmation image display process for displaying the post-change image information generated in the color change process as a pre-confirmation image on a display device. For each color of multiple colors, an index value related to the visibility when characters are displayed for the changed background color with the specified change to the specified background color with the changed color that has been changed to the specified color. A character color index value calculation unit for calculating
A character color determining unit that determines, by a processing device, a character color to be used from the plurality of colors based on an index value relating to visibility when a character is displayed with respect to the background color after the change in the color after the change A character color determination device. For each color of a plurality of colors, a background color index value calculation unit that calculates an index value related to visibility when an image having that color as a background color is arranged adjacent to a predetermined image, and a processing device;
Based on the index value calculated by the background color index value calculation unit, a background color determination unit that determines a background color from the plurality of colors by the processing device;
For each color of a plurality of colors, a character color index value calculation unit that calculates an index value related to visibility when a character is displayed with respect to the background color determined by the background color determination unit by the color;
A character color comprising: a character color determining unit that determines a character color used for displaying a character from the plurality of colors by the processing device based on the index value calculated by the character color index value calculating unit Decision device.

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