JPH05260371A - Picture processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To effectively attain the observation and measurement of the whole of an object having parts whose optical reflectance differs at the same time independently of the illuminance condition of the object. CONSTITUTION:The processor is provided with input picture storage means 2, 11 storing original picture data of a pattern of an object to be image picked-up, binarization means 4, 13 binarizing the original picture data in the unit of picture elements based on a threshold level, picture segmentation means 8, 17 segmenting the original picture data from the input picture storage means in the unit of picture elements in response to the outputted logic value, and an output picture storage means 10 storing the original picture data to be segmented in the unit of picture elements. Then as to the original picture data in the unit of plural frames obtained by varying the lighting condition or the attenuation condition of the light quantity made incident in the image pickup element without varying an angle of the object, the picture segmentation means is used to segment a part in response to an output logic value of the binarizing means from the original picture data and the result is synthesized in the output picture storage means.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus for obtaining a composite image suitable for observing a subject on a television screen or measuring it by image processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a subject is photographed by a camera and is observed on a television screen or when measurement is performed using this image data, in order to obtain an optimum image, the light quantity of the illumination and the irradiation angle, The usual method is to change the illumination range or switch the gamma characteristics of the camera to shoot.

There are various methods for converting the original image obtained by the photographing means into an optimum image, but in the field of use to which the present invention is directed, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-145479.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. JP-A-2003-242242, means for detecting the maximum value and the minimum value of the density level of the pixel in one frame of image data is provided, and the density level of the pixel to be drawn is selected from the detected range To obtain a screen that is easy to see, and as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-52680, the dynamic range of the other color axes is widened in accordance with the color axis having the largest dynamic range of the density data to obtain a natural There are some that are designed to obtain a display effect.

In any case, various measures are taken so that an image on one screen obtained by one shot can be easily viewed.

[0005]

However, in the prior art, if a certain part is made easier to see, the other part becomes harder to see due to the shape, color, material, etc. of the subject. In some cases, it becomes difficult to see, and it is sometimes difficult to obtain a uniform and easy-to-see screen for the part you want to see on one screen.

For example, when confirming a trace of a copper pattern etc. on a printed circuit board which is shaved and corrected, the reflectance of the shaved portion becomes very large, causing halation on the screen, or If the amount of irradiation is reduced so that this halation does not occur, other parts may become invisible and a good image of the entire desired part may not be obtained.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus capable of satisfactorily obtaining an image of a portion to be viewed or an image to be measured on one screen regardless of the shape, material, illumination conditions or the like of a subject. It is in.

[0008]

An image processing apparatus according to the present invention is based on an input image storage unit for storing original image data of a screen of a subject photographed by an image pickup device, and a threshold value which predetermines the original image data. And binarizing means for binarizing in pixel units, image cutting means for cutting out the original image data from the input image storing means in pixel units according to the logical value output by the binarizing means, and the image. An output image storage unit for storing the original image data in pixel units cut out by the cutting unit, without changing the angle of the subject,
The original image data of a plurality of frames obtained by changing at least one of the illumination condition and the attenuation condition of the amount of light incident on the image sensor are converted into output logical values of the binarizing unit by the image cutting unit. The corresponding portion is cut out from the original image data to obtain the image data combined in the output image storage means.

[0009]

[Operation] Input image storage means (for example, frame memory)
The image of the desired portion to be viewed is stored separately or sequentially for each frame, and binary data of the original image which is the information for cutting out the desired portion from the original image is obtained. Using this binarized data, the image data of the portion to be viewed is mosaic-cut out from the image data of the input image storage means by the image cut-out means, and is written in the output image storage means a plurality of times. Combine the entire image data of the image you want to see.

[0010]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an image processing apparatus which is an embodiment of the present invention. In this configuration, the input frame
In the memories 2 and 11, different input original image data 1 and 29 are obtained by changing only the combination of the two conditions of the illumination condition of the subject and the attenuation condition of the amount of light entering the image sensor without changing the angle of the subject. Is stored. The original image data 3 and 12 output from the input frame memories 2 and 11 are converted by the binarizing circuits 4 and 13 into binarized frame data 5 and 14 with reference to threshold levels 23 and 27. .. The binarized frame data 5 and 14 are stored in the binarized frame memories 6 and 15, respectively. Binarized frame
Based on the binarized frame data 7 and 16 output from the memories 6 and 15, the parts of the original image data 3 and 12 are
Image cut-out data 9 and 18 are cut out by the image cut-out circuits 8 and 17, respectively. The image cutout data 9 and 18 are written in the output frame memory 10,
It becomes the composite image data 19 which is the output of the output frame memory 10. The threshold levels 23 and 27 input to the binarization circuits 4 and 13 are obtained by converting the threshold data 21 and 25 output from the threshold memories 20 and 24 into analog signals by the DA converters 22 and 26, respectively. In the threshold memories 20 and 24, threshold data 28 given from the outside of the device 30 of FIG. 1 is stored.

Next, the operation of the image processing apparatus 30 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 2 (a) shows original image data in which halation is partially caused on the television screen, and FIG. 2 (c) shows original image data of the same subject when the light amount is reduced to eliminate halation. FIG. 2E schematically shows the combined original image data according to this embodiment. Line segments A- of the images shown in FIGS. 2 (a), (c), and (e)
The distributions of gray levels along A ', BB', and EE 'are shown in the graphs of FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C, respectively.

Since the light reflectance of the subject is high in the area of the round portion B of the image shown in FIG. 2A, its gray level is high as shown in the portion A of the graph of FIG. As a result, it causes halation on the TV screen. In such a case, the halation portion is replaced with a good image quality and the screens are combined to obtain a good image quality as a whole.
The purpose of this embodiment is to obtain the screen (e), and its operation will be described below.

The original image data corresponding to the image of FIG. 2 (a) causing halation is stored in one of the input frame memories 2, and the image quality of the portion where halation is generated is improved. The original image data corresponding to the image of FIG. 2C obtained by reducing the light amount of the illumination is stored in the other input frame memory 11. In this case,
The image quality in the area (b) of (c) is considerably dark and the image quality is poor as shown in the area (b) of the graph of FIG. Next, the threshold levels 23 and 27 are set to "P" in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, respectively.
Set to the “Q” level position of. As a result, the binarization circuits 4 and 13 generate binarized frame data 5 and 14 based on the original image data 3 and 12, and store them in the binarized frame memories 6 and 15. The binarized frame data 5 and 14 serve as window data for cutting out only a screen having good image quality. In the present embodiment, the binarization circuit 4 binarizes pixels having a gray level higher than the threshold level P to "1" and bins pixels lower than this to "0". On the other hand, the binarizing circuit 13 sets pixels having a gray level higher than the threshold level Q to "0" and binarizes pixels lower than this to "1".

The image of the binarized data stored in the binarized frame memories 6 and 15 is shown in FIG. 2 when the logical value "0" is a white pixel and the logical value "1" is a black pixel. It is expressed as in b) and (d).

Next, the information in the binarized frame memories 6 and 15 obtained as described above is read out, and this is used as window data to store the original data stored in the input frame memories 2 and 11. The image data 1 and 29 are cut out by the image cutout circuits 8 and 17. That is, the image cutout circuits 8 and 17 respectively include the binarized frame memories 6 and 15 respectively.
The original image data 1 and 29 of the corresponding pixels in the input frame memories 2 and 11, respectively, only when the information inside is 1
Cut out. The two image data thus cut out are combined and stored in the output frame memory 10.

The image of the combined image data stored in the output frame memory 10 is as shown in FIG. 2 (e), and the gray level along the line segment EE 'is shown in FIG. 3 (e). ), A composite screen with good image quality is obtained.

In the above embodiment, the threshold memory, D
Two sets of the A converter, the binarization circuit, and the binarization frame memory are provided. One of the sets (for example, 20, 22,
4, 6, 8) only, and the image cutout circuit 8 cuts out the image data with "1" of the binarized frame data,
The image cutout circuit 17 is set to "0" of the binarized frame data.
The image data may be cut out with.

Further, one of the input frame memories 2 and 11 can be omitted. In this case, first, the single input frame memory is used to cut out and store the original image data at the first light amount, and then the same input frame memory is used to store the original image data at the second light amount. It is only necessary to perform cutout storage.

Although the images picked up with two different light quantities are combined, the above embodiment can be expanded so that the images picked up with three or more different light quantities are combined.

[0022]

According to the present invention, the most effective illumination condition can be selected and applied to each individual part of the subject, so that the overall image quality is improved. Also, since it is not necessary to illuminate the entire subject effectively at the same time, the illumination method can be simplified and the observation of the subject having a part where the reflectance of light greatly differs,
The measurement can be enabled.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of the image processing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a graph for explaining the operation of the image processing apparatus in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 29 ... Original image data 2, 11 ... Input frame memory 4, 13 ... Binarizing circuit 6, 15 ... Binary frame memory 5, 7, 14, 16 ... Binary frame data 8, 17 ... Image cutting circuit 10 ... Output frame memory 20, 24 ... Threshold memory 28 ... Threshold data

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Input image storage means for storing original image data of a screen of a subject photographed by an image pickup element, and binarization for binarizing the original image data in pixel units based on a predetermined threshold value. Means, an image cutout means for cutting out the original image data from the input image storage means in pixel units according to the logical value output by the binarization means, and an original image in pixel units cut out by the image cutout means A plurality of frame units obtained by changing at least one of the illumination condition and the attenuation condition of the amount of light entering the image pickup device without changing the angle of the subject, the output image storage unit storing data. With respect to each of the original image data, a portion corresponding to the output logical value of the binarizing means is cut out from the original image data by the image cutting means, and the image is combined in the output image storage means. An image processing device characterized by obtaining image data.