JPH06195460A - Image extraction system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a system which is capable of performing an image extraction processing without using an exclusive processor for image processing and with using a simple program. CONSTITUTION:In a device where image data is converted into a digital signal and an arbitrary image edition processing is performed, this system is an image extraction system provided with an image memory 1 storing the image of a digital signal form every frame, an edge extraction means 4 analyzing each picture element of image data and discriminating whether it is the picture element of an edge part, and an image area extraction means 5 analyzing image data to be divided into plural areas by an edge and discriminating the area to which each picture element belongs.

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 subjecting arbitrarily picked-up image data to edit processing such as composition.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, due to remarkable progress in video processing technology, devices utilizing various video processing have been developed, and further, a processing device for performing these video processing has been required to be faster and smaller.

As the above-mentioned video processing, for example, an arbitrary subject is extracted from a picked-up image, and color change, rotation, enlargement / enlargement /
Known processes include a process of performing reduction, a process of combining the extracted subject with other image data, a process of combining a captured image with graphics / animation, an image quality correction process, and the like. In these video processing, it is necessary to perform image extraction as preprocessing. That is, the image pickup data at the time of input is an analog signal that represents a subject by shading, color, and the like, and when this analog signal is output to a CRT or the like, the contour portion of each subject becomes unclear. Therefore, image extraction processing for enhancing the contour of the subject is required.

Further, as the image extraction processing, there is known a method of binarizing the value of each pixel based on an arbitrarily set threshold value when converting the image pickup data in the analog signal format into the data in the digital signal format. Has been. Specifically, the threshold value set arbitrarily is compared with the density value of each pixel, and the value of the pixel whose density value is larger than the threshold value is converted to “1”, and the value of the pixel whose density value is smaller than the threshold value is converted to “0”. .

[0005]

By the way, as an image processing system, a system is known in which a general-purpose processor is operated by a program dedicated to image processing to perform image processing. Recently, in the above system, an image processing dedicated memory was added to enhance the function as a buffer memory for display, processing, input, etc., and an image processing dedicated processor compatible with a large amount of image processing was added. A system that improves the processing capacity is known.
Further, in response to a demand for speeding up of a system in which various image processes are combined, a system including both an image dedicated memory and an image dedicated processor has come to be used.

Here, in order to speed up image processing,
It is necessary to perform image extraction processing, which is a preprocessing of image processing, at high speed. However, there is a drawback in that the use of the image processing dedicated processor capable of performing the above-described image processing and image extraction processing at high speed is costly and the apparatus system is complicated.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and does not use an image processing dedicated processor,
An object is to speed up image extraction by using a simple program and a general-purpose processor.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is as follows. This will be described based on the principle diagram of FIG.

In the image extracting method according to the present invention, an apparatus for converting image data into a digital signal and performing an arbitrary image editing process includes an image memory 1, an edge extracting means 4 and an image area extracting means 5.

The image memory 1 described above stores image data in frame units. Edge extraction means 4
The image data of each frame is analyzed on a pixel-by-pixel basis to identify whether or not the pixel is an edge portion pixel. Then, different edge identifiers are added to the pixels of the edge portion and the pixels other than the edge.

The image area extracting means 5 analyzes a plurality of image data in pixel units by edge extraction. Then, it is determined which region an arbitrary pixel belongs to, and a region identifier for identifying each region is added.

Further, the area extracting means 5 scans the image data and, based on the edge identifier of each pixel, determines whether or not the pixel is an edge portion pixel, and scans pixels other than the edge. It is also possible to have an area discrimination unit 5b that discriminates the area to which the pixel belongs by referring to the edge identifier and the area identifier of the pixel adjacent to the pixel to be scanned.

[0013]

According to the present invention, the edge extracting means 4 reads the image data from the image memory 1 for each frame. Then, this image data is analyzed pixel by pixel to determine whether or not the pixel is an edge portion pixel, and for example, "0" is added to the edge portion pixel as an edge identifier, and the pixels other than the edge are edged. For example, "-1" is added as an identifier.

Next, the image area extracting section 5 analyzes the image data after edge extraction, and determines which area an arbitrary pixel belongs to. Then, to the pixels other than the edge, a region identifier for individually specifying the region to which the pixel belongs is added. As a result, when the image is edited, the desired area can be taken out based on the area identifier.

Here, if both the edge identifier and the area identifier are added to each pixel, the data amount of the entire image data increases. Therefore, when adding the area identifier, the edge identifier is rewritten to the area identifier. preferable.

The detailed operation process of the image extraction unit 5 will be described below. In the image extraction unit 5, the discrimination unit 5a discriminates the edge identifier of each pixel from the image data after the edge extraction. That is, it is determined whether or not the pixel is an edge portion pixel.

Here, in the case of a pixel other than the edge, the area discriminating unit 5b discriminates the area to which the pixel belongs by referring to the area identifier of the pixel adjacent to the pixel and the area identifier for specifying the area. Is added.

Here, when the area identifier is a count value that is arbitrarily updated, the area discriminating unit 5b identifies the area of an arbitrary pixel by identifying the edge identifier of the pixel adjacent to the pixel to be scanned or Refer to the area identifier. At this time,
If the pixel to be referenced is an edge pixel and / or if the region identifier is not added to the pixel to be referenced (that is, if the pixel is a pixel in the unscanned region), the region identifier is updated. Add to the pixel. As a result, it is possible to easily add an area identifier that specifies each area.

Further, an image area registration table may be provided for registering the position information of the first pixel of the unscanned area, for example, the coordinate value on the two-dimensional coordinate axis and the area identifier of the area. When extracting the specific area, the processing device can easily extract the specific area by referring to the image area registration table.

[0020]

EXAMPLES Specific examples of the present invention will be described below. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 2 is a configuration block diagram of the image extraction device 7 in the present embodiment 1.

In FIG. 1, the image extracting apparatus 7 according to the first embodiment includes an A / D converter 8, an image memory 9, and a memory 1.
0, the image extraction processing unit 11. A / D converter 8
Is for converting the image data picked up by the image pickup unit 6 from a signal in an analog signal format to data in a digital signal format.

The image memory 9 stores image data in digital signal format in frame units. The image extraction processing unit 11 is, for example, a general-purpose processor, reads image data from the image memory 9 in frame units, and performs image extraction processing. This detailed description will be given later.

The memory 10 stores the control information for the image extraction processing, that is, the control program of the image extraction processing unit 11, and a detailed description thereof will be described later. FIG. 3 shows an example of the internal configuration of the memory 10 according to the first embodiment.

The first embodiment includes an edge extraction program storage memory 10a for storing a processing program for edge extraction, and an area extraction program storage memory 10b for storing a processing program for image area extraction.

Next, FIG. 4 shows the internal configuration of the image extraction processing unit 11 in the first embodiment. In the figure, the image extraction processing unit 11 includes an edge extraction unit 11a and a region extraction unit 11
b, an image area registration table 11c, a reallocation management information storage unit 11d, and a counter 11e.

The edge extraction unit 11a extracts edges from arbitrary image data based on the edge extraction program, and adds an edge identifier indicating whether each pixel is an edge portion pixel or not. To do.

The area extracting unit 11b is for identifying the area of each pixel in the image data after the edge extraction based on the area extracting program, and is an area for specifying an individual area for each pixel. Add an identifier.

The image area registration table 11c is a table for registering start position information of each area and an area identifier for specifying the area, and a detailed description thereof will be described later. The reallocation management information registration unit 11d, when performing the reallocation process,
The restart point at the end of the reallocation processing, that is, the area extraction processing restart position information is stored, and a specific description thereof will be described later.

The counter 11e is an addition counting device that is incremented under the control of the area extracting unit 11b and has an initial setting value of "1". The area identifier in the first embodiment is the count value of this counter, and is incremented by 1 when a new area is extracted.

Here, in the edge identifier according to the first embodiment, "0" is added to the pixel of the edge portion and "-1" is added to the pixels other than the edge. FIG. 5 shows an example of image data after edge extraction in the first embodiment, that is, a dot matrix table.

This figure is a dot matrix table of image data of 8 rows × 8 columns = 8 × 8 dots.
Reads the edge extraction program from the edge extraction program storage memory 10a, and reads arbitrary image data from the image memory 9 based on the edge extraction program. Then, each pixel is scanned to determine whether each pixel is an edge pixel.

Here, "0" is set to the pixels in the edge portion, and "-1" is set to the pixels in the other portions. Next, the area extraction unit 11b reads the area extraction program from the area extraction program storage memory 10b. And
Based on this program, the image data after edge extraction is scanned in pixel units. In the first embodiment, it is assumed that scanning is performed in the upper left direction of the image data, that is, from the pixel in the 0th row and the 0th column (hereinafter referred to as (0, 0)) to the right along the row. For example, for the nth row, (n, 0) → (n,
1) → (n, 2) → ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ → (n, 6) → (n,
Scanning is performed in the order of 7). After (n, 7), a line feed is performed and scanning is restarted from (n + 1, 0). It should be noted that the scan target is a pixel other than the edge, and in the above-mentioned FIG.
Pixels of (0, 2) and (0, 5) are removed (0, 0) →
(0,1) → (0,3) → (0,4) → (0,6) →
Scanning is performed in the order of (0, 7).

As a procedure for determining the area identifier of each pixel, of the eight pixels adjacent to the pixel to be scanned,
It is determined based on the three-pixel area identifiers on the left and right. The scanning procedure will be described below with reference to FIG.

In the figure, the area extraction unit 11b
When scanning (n, m), first, the area identifier of the upper pixel adjacent to the pixel, that is, the pixel of (n, m + 1) is referred to.

Second, the left pixel adjacent to the pixel,
That is, the area identifier of the pixel of (n-1, m) is referred to. At this point, if the upper pixel is other than the edge, the area extracting unit 11b refers to the left pixel to determine whether or not the pixel is the edge pixel. Then, in the case of the pixel in the edge portion, the upper area identifier is set as the (n, m) area identifier. Further, when the upper pixel is a pixel other than the edge and the left pixel is a pixel other than the edge, the area identifier of the (n, m) is set only when both area identifiers are collated and matched. . On the other hand, the case where both area identifiers do not match will be described later.

When both the pixel on the upper side and the pixel on the left side are pixels at the edge portion, the region extracting unit 11b performs the third processing, that is, the pixel on the upper right side adjacent to the pixel, that is, (n + 1, The area identifier of the pixel of (m + 1) is referred to.

If the upper right pixel is an edge pixel, the counter 11e is incremented and the incremented counter value is set as the (n, m) area identifier.

Further, when the upper right pixel is a pixel other than the edge pixel, the area extracting unit 11b refers to the right pixel adjacent to (n, m). Then, it is determined whether or not the pixel on the right side is the pixel of the edge sentence. Here, when the pixel on the right side is a pixel at the edge portion, the area extracting unit 11b
The counter 11e is incremented and the incremented counter value is set as the (n, m) area identifier. On the other hand, when the pixel on the right side is a pixel other than the edge, the area extracting unit 11b sets the above-mentioned area identifier on the upper right as the area identifier of (n, m).

In addition, the area extracting unit 11b includes a counter 11
Image area registration table 1 when e is incremented
1c is accessed and (n, m) is registered as the position information of the pixel to be scanned, and the area identifier is registered.

FIG. 7 shows a first concrete example of the dot matrix table at the time of image extraction, and FIG. 8 shows an image area registration table 11c corresponding to the dot matrix table.
A specific example of

In the first embodiment, the area identifier is overwritten on the edge identifier. That is, when the area identifier is determined, the edge identifier is erased and the area identifier is set. In the figure, it is shown that the scanning is completed up to the position of "" of (0, 4). The region extraction process up to (0, 4) will be described below.

The region extracting unit 11b refers to the upper, left, upper right, and region identifiers when determining the region identifier of (0, 0). In this case, the upper, left, and upper right regions are referenced. Since all three sides are edge portions and the right side is an unscanned pixel, the initial value "1" of the counter 11e is set as the area identifier of (0, 0). Further, the image area registration table 11c is accessed (0, 0) and the area identifier "
Register 1 ”.

Next, at (0, 1), adjacent upper, left, upper right and pixels are referred to. At this time, since the upper part and the upper right part are edge portions, the region identifier “1” of the pixel on the left (0, 0) is set as the region identifier of (0, 1).

Since the pixels of (0, 2) are pixels of the edge portion, the area identifier is not changed and the scanning is shifted to the next pixel. For the pixel (0, 3), the upper, left, and upper right three sides are edge portions, so the area extraction unit 11b increments the value of the counter 11e, and the incremented counter value “2” is applied. It is set as a pixel area identifier. At this time, the image area registration table 11c is accessed to register (0, 3) and the area identifier “2”.

FIG. 9 shows a second concrete example of the dot matrix table at the time of image extraction, and FIGS.
1 shows a specific example of the image area registration table 11c and the reallocation management information storage unit 11d corresponding to the dot matrix table.

In FIG. 9, the area extracting unit 11b
When determining the area identifier of the pixel of (4, 3), the first
, The area identifier “3” of the adjacent information pixel (3, 3)
Refer to. Secondly, the area identifier “1” of the adjacent left pixel (4, 3) is referred to. Here, the area extraction unit 11
b matches the region identifiers of the upper and left pixels,
In this case, 3 ≠ 1, which is a mismatch. Therefore, the area extracting unit 11b performs the area identifier reallocation processing.

The reallocation process will be described below.
The area extracting unit 11b registers the position information of the pixel and the target area identifier for reallocation (see FIG. 11). Then, the image area registration table 11c is accessed, the start position information (0, 6) of the area identifier "3" is read, and the area identifier is reallocated from this (0, 6). The reallocation process is performed for pixels having an area identifier of "3" or more. For a pixel having an area identifier of "3", the area identifier is rewritten to "1", and the pixels having an area identifier of "4" or more are changed. On the other hand, the area identifier is rewritten to a value decremented by 1. That is, in FIG. 9, {(0,6), (0,
7), (1,5), (1,6), (2,4), (2
5), (3, 3), (3, 4)} are all area identifiers
While rewriting to 1 ", {(2,7), (3,6),
The area identifier of (3, 7)} is rewritten to "3".

Further, the value "4" of the counter 11e at the present time is decremented by 1 and reset to "3". Hereinafter, the image region extraction process in the first embodiment will be described.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing the process of image extraction processing. In FIG. 12, the region extraction unit 11b is shown.
Scans the image data after edge extraction, and determines whether or not the pixel to be scanned is a pixel in the edge portion (step 1201). Here, when the pixel to be scanned is a pixel other than an edge, the area extracting unit 11b refers to the first upper adjacent pixel and determines whether this pixel is an edge pixel. It is determined (step 1203). In the case of the pixel of the edge portion, the region extraction unit 11b determines whether the second adjacent pixel on the left side is the pixel of the edge portion (step 1204).

If the left pixel is also an edge pixel, it is determined whether the upper right pixel is an edge (step 1204). If the upper right pixel is a pixel other than the edge pixel, the area extracting unit 11b refers to the right pixel and determines whether the pixel is the edge portion pixel (step 1205).

When the pixel on the right side is a pixel other than the edge, the same region identifier as the region identifier on the upper right side is set to the pixel (step 1206). Then, the pixel to be scanned is updated (step 1207). That is, the adjacent right pixel is scanned. Here, when the pixel to be scanned is the pixel on the right end of the image data, the line to be scanned is broken.

In step 1201 described above, if the pixel to be scanned is a pixel in the edge portion, the pixel to be scanned is changed to the pixel on the right side (step 1208), and the processing from step 1201 onwards is repeated.

If the upper pixel adjacent to the pixel is an edge pixel in step 1202, the left pixel is referenced to determine whether or not this pixel is an edge pixel. Then, in the case of the pixel at the edge portion (step 1209), the area identifier of the upper pixel is set as the area identifier of the pixel (step 12).
12). If the left pixel is a pixel other than the edge pixel, the area identifiers of the above-mentioned upper pixel and the left pixel are collated, and it is determined whether or not they match (step 121).
0). If both area identifiers do not match, reallocation processing is performed (step 1211), and if they match, the upper and left area identifiers are set as the area identifiers of the pixel (step 1212).

Next, in step 1203 described above,
When the pixel on the left is a pixel other than the edge, the region identifier on the left is set to the pixel (step 1213). Further, in the above-mentioned step 1204, if the upper right pixel is the pixel of the edge portion, the counter 11e is incremented (step 1214), and the upper position of the pixel and the incremented counter value are registered in the image area registration table 11c. (Step 1215). The counter value is set as the area identifier of the pixel (step 1216).

The above operation is repeated until the final pixel in the image data, in this case, the rightmost pixel in the lowest row. FIG. 13 shows the flow of processing for reallocating area identifiers in the first embodiment.

This figure shows step 1211 of FIG.
In the case where the upper area identifier adjacent to the scan target pixel and the left area identifier do not match, the area extracting unit 11b uses the left area identifier as the area identifier of the scan target pixel. Is set (step 130)
Together with 1), the position information of the scan target pixel is stored in the reallocation management information storage unit 11d (step 1302). Furthermore, the area extracting unit 11b is configured to reallocate the management information storage unit 11d.
The area identifier above the pixel to be scanned is stored as the reallocation identifier (step 1303).

Next, the area extracting unit 11b accesses the image area registration table 11c and recognizes the start position information of the reallocation identifier (step 1304), and the start position and the position of the scanning target pixel are in the same row. It is checked whether or not it is located at (step 1305).

Here, when the positions are different in both rows, the area extracting unit 11b refers to the pixel at the reallocation start position and collates the area identifier of this pixel with the reallocation area identifier (step 1306). ). If both area identifiers match, the area identifier of the reallocation target pixel is rewritten to the area identifier of the scanning target pixel (step 1307). Then, the reallocation target pixel is moved to the adjacent right (step 1308). Area extraction unit 11b
Determines whether or not the moved pixel is a pixel in the edge portion (step 1309), and if it is a pixel other than the edge, repeats the processing from step 1306 described above.

Further, in the above step 1305,
When the position of the scan target pixel and the row of the start position are the same, the reallocation start position is changed to the position of the scan target pixel (step 1310), and the processes from step 1306 described above are repeated.

Further, in step 1306, if the area identifier of the pixel at the reallocation start position and the reallocation area identifier do not match, the reallocation target pixel is moved to the right (step 1311), and the above steps 1309 and subsequent steps are performed. The process of is repeated.

In step 1309 described above,
If the pixel to be reallocated is an edge pixel, the pixel to be reallocated is moved to the left end of the lower row, and the above step 13 is performed.
The following processing is performed. As described above, according to the first embodiment, the image extraction process can be performed by the simple operation of the general-purpose processor.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 14 shows the configuration of the image extraction processing unit 11 according to the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, in addition to the configuration of the above-described first embodiment, the area extraction units 11b are provided in the same number as the number of rows of the dot matrix to be scanned. In the figure, the image data of n × m dots corresponds to the scanning, and n area extracting units 11b are provided.

Here, it is assumed that each area extracting unit 11b starts scanning with a delay of 2 dots after the scanning of the upper area extracting unit 11b. Other configurations are similar to those of the above-described first embodiment.

FIG. 15 shows an image diagram of a dot matrix table at the time of image extraction processing. In the figure, the first
The row area extraction unit (1) 11b has finished scanning the pixels of (0, 3), and at this time, the area extraction unit (2) 11b of the second row is set to the area extraction unit (1) 11b. The dot delay has occurred, and the scanning of the (1, 1) pixel has ended. Further, the area extracting unit (1) and the area extracting unit (2) described above.
Scans the next pixel, and at the same time, the region identifier (3) in the third row starts processing, that is, scans the pixel at (3,0). Thereafter, by performing the same processing, when n is 2 or more, the image extraction processing can be completed by [m + 2 (n-1)] times of scanning processing. When n = 1, the process can be completed by scanning m times.

[0065]

According to the present invention, the image extracting process, which is the pre-process of the image data editing process, can be performed at high speed by a low-cost system. Further, according to the parallel processing system, higher speed processing can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall schematic configuration diagram of an image extraction processing apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an example of the internal configuration of a memory according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an internal configuration block diagram of an image extraction processing unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a specific example of image data of edge extraction 5.

FIG. 6 is a scanning procedure when extracting an image area in the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a first specific example of image data at the time of image extraction.

FIG. 8 is a specific example of an image area registration table corresponding to FIG.

FIG. 9 is a second specific example of image data at the time of image extraction.

10 is a specific example of an image area registration table corresponding to FIG.

FIG. 11 is a specific example of a reallocation management information storage unit corresponding to FIG.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an image area extraction process in the first embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a process of reallocation processing according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a configuration block diagram of an image extraction processing unit 11 according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is an image diagram of image extraction processing according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Image memory 4 ... Edge extraction means 5 ... Image area extraction means 5a ... Discrimination section 5b ... Area discrimination section 6 ... Imaging section 7 ... Image extraction device 8 ... A / D conversion section 9 ... Image memory 10 Memory 10a Edge storage program storage memory 10b Region extraction program storage memory 11 Image extraction processing unit 11a Edge extraction unit 11b Region extraction unit 11c Image region registration table 11d ..Relocation management information storage unit 11e..Counter

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for converting image data into digital signals and performing arbitrary image editing processing, comprising: an image memory (1) for storing the image data in the digital signal format for each frame; and each of the image data. Edge extraction means (4) for analyzing pixels to identify whether or not the pixels are edge pixels, and image area extraction means for analyzing image data divided into a plurality of areas by edges to identify the area to which each pixel belongs (5), the edge extracting means (4) reads out image data from the image memory (1) for each frame, analyzes the image data for each pixel, and determines that each pixel is an edge portion pixel. In addition to determining whether or not there is an edge portion, an edge identifier for identifying whether or not the pixel is an edge portion is added, and the image area extraction unit (5) analyzes the image data after edge extraction for each pixel, Together to determine element belongs to which area, an image extraction method, characterized in that to extract an image area by adding a region identifier for identifying the individual regions. 2. The area extracting means (5) scans the image data, refers to the edge identifier of each pixel, and determines whether or not the pixel is an edge portion pixel; And a region discriminating unit (5b) for discriminating a region to which each pixel belongs by scanning a pixel of the pixel to be scanned and referring to a region identifier of a pixel adjacent to the pixel to be scanned, and the discriminating unit (5a) is arbitrary. Scan the image data of
By referring to the edge identifier of each pixel, it is determined whether or not the pixel is a pixel in the edge portion, and when the pixel is a pixel other than the edge, the area determination unit (5b) is adjacent to the pixel. The image extraction method according to claim 1, wherein the area identifier of the pixel is determined by referring to the area identifier of the pixel, and the area identifier is added to the pixel. 3. The area identifier is a count value that is arbitrarily updated, and when identifying the area of an arbitrary pixel, the area discriminating unit (5b) is an edge identifier of a pixel adjacent to a pixel to be scanned. And the area identifier, and if the pixel to be referenced is an edge pixel and / or if the area identifier is not added to the pixel to be referenced, the pixel is determined to be a pixel in the unscanned area, and the area The image extracting method according to claim 2, wherein the identifier is updated and the updated value is added to the pixel.