JPH08111815A - Image compositing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To reduce a sense of incongruity at the boundary between a background image and an extracted image by replacing luminance of picture elements of the boundary with luminance obtained through arithmetic mean operation where weighting of the luminance from the background image toward the extracted image is being increased in the case of compositing the background image and the extracted image. CONSTITUTION: An image extract means 12 reads an original image received from an image reader or the like from an original image memory 10 and extract an extract image such as a portrait image. An image degeneration means 30 and an image expansion means 34 form images in which a contour of the extracted image is degenerated/ expanded by a prescribed number of picture elements and give the formed images to a border line generating means 38. The border line generating means 38 generates a border line having a width of, e.g. 8 picture elements based on a difference between degenerated and expanded images. An image compositing means 40 composites the background image read from a background image memory 16, the extracted image and the border line and outputs the cocnposited image to an image display means 22 such as a CRT. The luminance of the picture elements forming the boundary line and closer to the extracted image and the background image receives higher weighting.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image synthesizing device used in a system or an image synthesizing / manufacturing system, and more specifically, an extracted image extracted from an original image (for example, extracting only a person image from an original image in which a person is in nature). Image)
The present invention relates to an image synthesizing device for producing a new image by superimposing the image on a background image (for example, an image of a landscape in a city).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, when an extracted image is superimposed on a background image as it is and combined, the discontinuity at the boundary portion between the extracted image and the background image is noticeable. Conventionally, some image synthesizing apparatuses have been devised which are provided with means for alleviating such discomfort. For example, a device as shown in FIG. 5 is known.

In the conventional apparatus shown in FIG. 5, the image extracting means 12 extracts an extracted image from the original images read from the original image memory 10, and the image synthesizing means 14
This extracted image is superimposed on the background image read out from the background image memory 16 and synthesized, and at the time of this synthesis, as shown in FIGS. ) 18 pixels and an area 20 outside the 1 pixel
With respect to the adjacent pixels (pixels in contact with the extracted image of the background image), the brightness is replaced by the value obtained by the simple average value calculation, and the discontinuity of the boundary portion of the composite image displayed by the image display unit 22 is noticeable. It was designed so that it would not exist.

[0004]

However, in the above-described conventional image synthesizing apparatus shown in FIG. 5, the averaging area of the boundary portion between the extracted image and the background image is not so wide (for example, the boundary line 18 and the outside). The width of the region 20 is about 2 pixels), and the replacement brightness of the boundary line 18 and the pixels of the outer region 20 at the time of composition is obtained by a simple average. Therefore, the boundary of the composite image in which the extracted image is superimposed on the background image is calculated. There was a problem in that there was often a sense of discomfort in the part.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image synthesizing apparatus capable of displaying a synthetic image with less discomfort at the boundary portion without making the configuration scale so complicated. It is what

[0006]

The invention according to claim 1 is an image in which an extracted image extracted from an original image is combined with a background image by image combining means, and the combined image is displayed by image display means. The synthesizing apparatus comprises image expanding means for expanding the extracted image, and boundary line creating means for creating a boundary line from the extracted image and the expanded image and outputting the boundary line to the image combining means. The means, when synthesizing the extracted image and the background image, with respect to the pixels of the boundary portion, a value obtained by an average value calculation in which weighting on the side closer to the extracted image and the background image is increased, It is characterized in that the brightness is replaced.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the image synthesizing apparatus, the extracted image extracted from the original image is synthesized with the background image by the image synthesizing means, and the synthesized image is displayed by the image displaying means. Image reducing means for reducing the image, image expanding means for expanding the reduced image into an image having a larger area than the image before the reduction, and creating a boundary line from the reduced image and the expanded image and outputting to the image synthesizing means. The image synthesizing means is configured such that, when synthesizing the extracted image and the background image, the pixels of the boundary portion are closer to the extracted image and the background image, respectively. It is characterized in that the luminance is replaced with a value obtained by an average value calculation with an increased weighting.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image synthesizing apparatus, the extracted image extracted from the original image is synthesized with the background image by the image synthesizing means, and the synthesized image is displayed by the image displaying means. An image expanding means for expanding an image, an image shrinking means for shrinking the expanded image into an image having a smaller area than the image before expansion, a boundary line created from the expanded image and the degraded image, and output to the image combining means. The image synthesizing means is configured such that, when synthesizing the extracted image and the background image, the pixels of the boundary portion are closer to the extracted image and the background image, respectively. It is characterized in that the luminance is replaced with a value obtained by an average value calculation with an increased weighting.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the image synthesizing apparatus, the extracted image extracted from the original image is synthesized with the background image by the image synthesizing means, and the synthesized image is displayed by the image displaying means. An image shrinking unit for shrinking an image, an image expanding unit for expanding the extracted image, and a boundary line creating unit for creating a boundary line from the reduced image and the expanded image and outputting the boundary line to the image combining unit. The image synthesizing means obtains an average value calculation in which, when synthesizing the extracted image and the background image, the pixels of the boundary line portion are weighted closer to the extracted image and the background image, respectively. It is characterized in that the brightness is replaced with a different value.

The invention according to claim 5 is the invention as defined in claims 1, 2 and
In 3 or 4, the boundary line creating means performs the operation of expanding the inflated image by one pixel a plurality of times, and creates a boundary line by attaching an identification label corresponding to the number of times of expansion to each expanded pixel. The weighted average value calculation of the image synthesizing means is performed by weighting corresponding to the label of the boundary line and calculating the average value.

[0011]

In the image synthesizing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the image expanding means expands the extracted image, and the boundary line creating means creates a boundary line from the extracted image and the expanded image (for example, subtracts the extracted image from the expanded image). Create a border by doing that). The image synthesizing means, when synthesizing the extracted image and the background image, with respect to the pixels of the boundary line, the brightness (density) obtained by an average value calculation in which the closer the extracted image and the background image are to each other, the closer the weight is, Replace brightness.
The combined image combined by this image combining means is displayed by the image display means.

In the image synthesizing device according to the second aspect of the present invention, the image shrinking unit shrinks the extracted image, the image expanding unit expands the extracted image, and the boundary line creating unit creates a boundary line from the shrunken image and the expanded image. (For example, the boundary line is created by subtracting the degenerated image from the dilated image). When combining the extracted image and the background image, the image synthesizing unit replaces the luminance with the luminance calculated by an average value calculation in which the closer to the extracted image and the background image the pixels on the boundary are To do. The combined image combined by this image combining means is displayed by the image display means.

In the image synthesizing apparatus according to the third aspect of the invention,
An image expanding means for expanding the extracted image, an image shrinking means for shrinking the expanded image into an image having an area smaller than that of the image before expansion, and a boundary line created from the expanded image and the degraded image to synthesize the image. Boundary line creating means for outputting to, the image synthesizing means, when synthesizing the extracted image and the background image, the pixels of the boundary line portion are close to the extracted image and the background image, respectively. The brightness is replaced with a value obtained by an average value calculation in which the weight on the closer side is increased. The combined image combined by this image combining means is displayed by the image display means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an image shrinking unit that shrinks the extracted image, an image expanding unit that expands the extracted image, and a boundary line created from the reduced image and the expanded image to create the image. Boundary line creating means for outputting to the synthesizing means, wherein the image synthesizing means, when synthesizing the extracted image and the background image, with respect to the pixels of the boundary line portion, the extracted image and the background image respectively. The image synthesizing apparatus is characterized in that the luminance is replaced by a value obtained by an average value calculation in which the closer to the point is, the greater the weighting is.

The invention described in claim 5 is the same as claim 1, 2 or
In the invention described in 3 or 4, the boundary line creating unit performs an operation of expanding the image to be expanded (the extracted image or the contracted image) by one pixel a plurality of times, and an identification label corresponding to the number of times of expansion for each expanded pixel. Boundary lines are created by adding the weights, and the weighted average value calculation of the image synthesizing means is performed by weighting corresponding to the label of the boundary line and calculating the average value.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an image synthesizing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In FIG.
The same parts as are designated by the same reference numerals. In FIG. 1, 10 is an original image memory that stores an original image (for example, an original image in which a person is in nature) captured from an image input unit (for example, an image reader), and 12 is the original image memory 10
Image extraction means for extracting an extracted image (for example, a person image in the original image) from the original image read from
Is a background image memory that stores a background image (for example, an image of a landscape in the city), and 22 is an image display means (for example, CR).
T display).

Reference numeral 30 denotes an image degeneracy means, and the image degeneracy means 30 performs a plurality of operations (for example, three times) to shrink the pixels of the outer portion of the extracted image extracted by the image extraction means 12 by one pixel. , Is configured to output a degenerated image. For example, as illustrated in (a) and (b) of FIG. 2, a plurality of pixels are drawn from the boundary line 18 having a narrow line width (for example, a line width of 1 pixel) in contact with the background image of the extracted image toward the extracted image side. The degenerate portion 32 having a width (for example, 3 pixels) is contracted. Here, the contraction means an operation of converting the vicinity of a pixel of 0 into 0 in the case of a binary image, for example.

Reference numeral 34 denotes an image expanding means, which performs an operation of expanding the pixel of the outer portion of the reduced image degenerated by the image degenerating means 30 by one pixel, by the number of times of degeneration of the image degenerating means 30. The dilated image is output by performing a plurality of times (e.g., eight times). For example, as shown in (b) to (c) of FIG.
The expanded portion 36 having a width of a plurality of pixels (for example, 8 pixels) is enlarged from the outer portion of the degenerated image toward the background image side. Here, enlargement refers to an operation of converting the neighborhood of one pixel into one in the case of a binary image, for example.

Reference numeral 38 denotes a boundary line creating means, which subtracts the degenerated image degenerated by the image degenerating means 30 from the dilated image expanded by the image expanding means 34 to perform the expansion. It is configured to create a new boundary line 36 formed by the portion 36. At this time, the boundary line creating means 38 attaches an identification label corresponding to the number of times of expansion to each expanded pixel forming the new boundary line 36 every time an operation of expanding by one pixel is performed. For example, the expanded pixel expanded by the first expansion is labeled with “7”, the expanded pixel expanded by the second expansion is labeled with “6”, ..., The eighth expansion. A label of "0" is attached to the expanded pixel enlarged in step.

Reference numeral 40 denotes an image synthesizing means, which synthesizes the extracted image extracted by the image extracting means 12 and the background image read from the background image memory 16 and, at the time of this synthesizing, Regarding the pixels forming the new boundary line 36, the larger the label, the larger the weighting factor on the extracted image side (the smaller the weighting factor on the background image side).
The weighted average value is calculated, and the brightness (density) is replaced with the calculated value. The image display means 22 is coupled to the output side of the image synthesizing means 40.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. (A) First, the extracted image is extracted by the image extracting means 12 from the original image read from the original image memory 10 in the same manner as the conventional example.

(B) Next, the extracted image is reduced by the image reducing means 30. Specifically, the operation of contracting the pixels of the outer portion of the extracted image by one pixel is performed a plurality of times (for example, 3 times).
2), the degenerated portion 32 having a width of a plurality of pixels (for example, 3 pixels) is contracted from the boundary line 18 of the extracted image toward the extracted image, as shown in (a) and (b) of FIG. In the case of a binary image, the neighborhood of 0 pixels is converted to 0.

(C) Next, the degenerated image degenerated in (b) is expanded by the image expanding means 34. Specifically, as shown in (b) to (c) of FIG. 2, by performing the operation of enlarging the pixels of the outer portion of the degenerated image by one pixel a plurality of times (for example, 8 times), which is larger than the number of degenerations. The expanded portion 36 having a width of a plurality of pixels (for example, 8 pixels) is enlarged from the outer portion of the reduced image toward the background image side. In the case of a binary image, the neighborhood of 1 pixel is converted to 1.

(D) Next, a new boundary line 36 is created based on the degenerated image degenerated in (b) and the dilated image dilated in (c). Specifically, a new boundary line 36 formed by the expanded portion 36 is created by subtracting the degenerated image from the expanded image. At this time, each time the operation of expanding by one pixel is performed, an identification label corresponding to the number of times of expansion is attached to each expanded pixel forming the new boundary line 36. For example, the first time is "7", the second time is "6",
..., labeled "0" for the 8th time.

(D) Next, the image synthesizing means 40 and the extracted image extracted by the image extracting means 12 and the background image memory 1
6 is combined with the background image read from 6, and at the time of this combination, the larger the label of the pixel forming the new boundary line 36, the larger the weighting factor on the extracted image side is weighted, and the average value calculation is performed. The brightness is replaced with the obtained value and the composite image is output to the image display means 22. Therefore, the image display unit 22 displays a composite image with no discomfort at the boundary.

In the above embodiment, the boundary line creating means creates the new boundary line by subtracting the degenerated image from the dilated image, but the present invention is not limited to this.
What is necessary is just to create a new boundary line based on the degenerated image degenerated by the image degenerating means and the dilated image dilated by the image dilating means.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, after the extracted image is degenerated by the image degenerating means, the degenerated image is expanded by the image expanding means, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the extracted image extracted by the image extracting unit 12 may be expanded by the image expanding unit 34a, and then the expanded image may be contracted by the image contracting unit 30a. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4, the extracted image extracted by the image extracting unit 12 may be degenerated by the image degenerating unit 30b and expanded by the image expanding unit 34b.

In the above embodiment, the boundary line creating means creates a new boundary line based on the degenerated image degenerated by the image degenerating means and the dilated image dilated by the image dilating means. The borderline creating means omits the image shrinking means, and the borderline creating means creates a new boundary based on the extracted image extracted by the image extracting means and the expanded image obtained by expanding the extracted image by the image expanding means. A line may be created. For example, the new boundary line may be created by subtracting the extracted image from the expanded image.

[0029]

According to the invention of claim 1, the image expanding means expands the extracted image, the boundary creating means creates a boundary line from the extracted image and the expanded image, and the image combining means creates the extracted image and the background image. At the time of composition, for the pixels of the boundary line, the brightness was replaced by the value calculated by the average value calculation that increased the weight of the closer side to the extracted image and the background image, so the line width of the boundary line Can be made wider than that of the conventional example (for example, 2 pixels), and the brightness of the pixels of the boundary line portion can be set to a more appropriate value in consideration of the brightness of the images on both sides (the extracted image and the background image). For this reason, it is possible to display a composite image with less discomfort on the boundary line with a configuration scale approximately the same as the conventional example.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the image shrinking unit shrinks the extracted image, the image expanding unit expands the extracted image, the boundary creating unit creates a boundary line from the shrunken image and the expanded image, and the image combining unit. Therefore, when the extracted image and the background image are combined, the brightness of the pixels in the boundary line is replaced with the value obtained by the average value calculation with the larger weighting on the side closer to the extracted image and the background image. Therefore, the line width of the boundary line is made wider than that of the conventional example (for example, 2 pixels), and the brightness of the pixel of the boundary line is set to a more appropriate value in consideration of the brightness of the images on both sides (extracted image and background image). can do. For this reason, it is possible to display a composite image with less discomfort on the boundary line with a configuration scale approximately the same as the conventional example.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the image expanding means expands the extracted image, the image shrinking means shrinks the expanded image into an image having a smaller area than the image before expansion, and the boundary creating means shrinks the expanded image and the expanded image. A boundary line is created from the image, and when the extracted image and the background image are combined by the image combining means, the pixels of the boundary line are calculated by an average value calculation in which the closer the extracted image and the background image are to each other, the closer is the weighting. Since the brightness is replaced with a different value, the line width of the boundary line is made wider than in the conventional example (for example, 2 pixels), and
It is possible to make the brightness of the pixels in the boundary line portion more appropriate values in consideration of the brightness of the images on both sides (the extracted image and the background image). Therefore, the configuration scale is almost the same as the conventional example,
It is possible to display a composite image with less discomfort on the boundary line.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the image shrinking unit shrinks the extracted image, the image expanding unit expands the extracted image, the boundary creating unit creates a boundary line from the shrunken image and the expanded image, and the image combining unit. Therefore, when the extracted image and the background image are combined, the brightness of the pixels in the boundary line is replaced with the value obtained by the average value calculation with the larger weighting on the side closer to the extracted image and the background image. Therefore, the line width of the boundary line is made wider than that of the conventional example (for example, 2 pixels), and the brightness of the pixel of the boundary line is set to a more appropriate value in consideration of the brightness of the images on both sides (extracted image and background image). can do. For this reason, it is possible to display a composite image with less discomfort on the boundary line with a configuration scale approximately the same as the conventional example.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, in the invention of the first, second, third or fourth aspect, the boundary line creating means expands the image to be expanded (extracted image or reduced image) by one pixel a plurality of times. At the same time, each expansion pixel is labeled with an identification label corresponding to the expansion count to create a boundary line, and the weighted average value calculation of the image synthesizing means calculates the average value by weighting corresponding to the boundary line label. Since this is done, the effect of the invention described in claim 1, 2, 3 or 4 can be obtained, and the calculation for obtaining the luminance of the pixel in the boundary portion can be simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

2A and 2B are diagrams for explaining the operation of FIG. 1, in which FIG. 2A is an explanatory diagram of a state in which a boundary line 18 having a narrow width (for example, one pixel width) exists at a boundary portion between the extracted image of the composite image and the background image (B) is an explanatory view of a state in which the outer peripheral portion (outer peripheral portion) of the extracted image of (a) is degenerated by a plurality of pixels (for example, three pixels), and (c) is a region of a target pixel for performing a weighted average value calculation. An explanatory view of an expanded portion (that is, a new boundary line) 36 obtained by expanding the outer peripheral portion (outer peripheral portion) of the reduced image of (b) by a plurality of pixels (e.g., 8 pixels). Is.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a portion as in a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a main part of a third embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a conventional image synthesizing apparatus.

6A and 6B are diagrams for explaining the operation of FIG. 5, in which FIG. 6A is an explanatory view of a state where a narrow boundary line 18 (for example, one pixel width) exists at the boundary between the extracted image of the composite image and the background image; (B) illustrates a target pixel for obtaining a simple average value, and includes the boundary line 18 of the extracted image and the region (1
It is an explanatory view of (pixel width) 20.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Original image memory, 12 ... Image extracting means, 14, 4
0 ... Image synthesizing means, 16 ... Background image memory, 18 ... Boundary line, 20 ... Outside area, 22 ... Image display means 3
0, 30a, 30b ... Image degenerating means, 32 ... Degenerate portion,
34, 34a, 34b ... Image expanding means, 36 ... New boundary line (also expanded part), 38 ... Boundary line creating means.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An image synthesizing device for synthesizing an extracted image extracted from an original image with a background image by image synthesizing means, and displaying the synthesized image on image display means. And a boundary line creating unit that creates a boundary line from the extracted image and the expanded image and outputs the boundary line to the image combining unit, and the image combining unit is configured to combine the extracted image and the background image. The image composition, in which the brightness of the pixels in the boundary portion is replaced by a value obtained by an average value calculation in which the closer the extracted image and the background image are to each other, the closer they are apparatus. 2. An image synthesizing device for synthesizing an extracted image extracted from an original image with a background image by image synthesizing means, and displaying the synthesized image on image display means. And an image expanding unit that expands the reduced image into an image having a larger area than the image before the shrinking, and a boundary line creating unit that creates a boundary line from the reduced image and the expanded image and outputs the boundary line to the image combining unit. The image synthesizing means comprises, when synthesizing the extracted image and the background image, with respect to pixels of the boundary line portion, an average value in which the closer the extracted image and the background image are to each other, the greater the weighting is on the closer side. An image synthesizing device characterized in that the brightness is replaced by a value obtained by calculation. 3. An image synthesizing device for synthesizing an extracted image extracted from an original image with a background image by image synthesizing means, and displaying the synthesized image on image display means. An image shrinking unit that shrinks the expanded image into an image having a smaller area than the image before expansion, and a boundary line creating unit that creates a boundary line from the expanded image and the shrinked image and outputs the boundary line to the image combining unit. The image synthesizing means comprises, when synthesizing the extracted image and the background image, with respect to pixels of the boundary line portion, an average value in which the closer the extracted image and the background image are to each other, the greater the weighting is on the closer side. An image synthesizing device characterized in that the brightness is replaced by a value obtained by calculation. 4. An image synthesizing device for synthesizing an extracted image extracted from an original image with a background image by image synthesizing means, and displaying the synthesized image on image display means. And an image expanding unit for expanding the extracted image, and a boundary line creating unit for creating a boundary line from the reduced image and the expanded image and outputting the boundary line to the image combining unit. At the time of synthesizing the extracted image and the background image, with respect to the pixels of the boundary line portion, the brightness is determined by a value obtained by an average value calculation in which the closer to the extracted image and the background image, the closer the weight is An image synthesizing device characterized by being replaced. 5. The boundary line creating means performs an operation of expanding the image to be expanded by one pixel a plurality of times, and creates a boundary line by attaching an identification label corresponding to the number of times of expansion to each expanded pixel. The image synthesizing apparatus according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein the weighted average value calculation of the image synthesizing means calculates the average value by weighting corresponding to the label of the boundary line.