KR20060099652A - Apparatus and method for controlling contour of image - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides an apparatus and method for differentially adjusting the sharpness of contours appearing on a video and a still image output on a clean screen, and focusing adjustment for adjusting the sharpness of contours appearing on a video and a still image output on a screen. A first step of setting a mode; In the focusing adjustment mode, when the image data is input, one or more moving images which are objects of focusing adjustment are detected from the input image data, and the ratio of the detected one or more moving images to the entire screen of the screen is a predetermined main image size and sub-image A second step of determining whether the detected video is larger than or smaller than the main video and the at least one sub-video, and determining the video other than the main video and the sub-video as other video; A third step of recognizing contours appearing in the determined main image, one or more sub-images, and other images; And a fourth step of differentially adjusting the sharpness of the outlines of the recognized main image, sub image, and other images according to the predetermined main image blur adjustment value, the sub image blur adjustment value, and other image blur adjustment values.

TV, movie, still image, outline, sharpness, adjustment

Description

Apparatus and method for controlling contour of image}

1 is a block diagram of an apparatus for adjusting an outline of an image according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

2A and 2B are flowcharts illustrating a method of adjusting an outline of an image according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

3A to 3C are exemplary views illustrating a process of adjusting an outline of an image according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

100: contour adjusting device 110: receiving signal processing unit

120: input signal processing unit 130: digital decoder

140: image processor 150: screen

160: control unit

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to television receivers, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method capable of differentially adjusting the sharpness of contours appearing on moving images and still images output on a screen.

In the rapid development of information and communication, to the multimedia field that combines various forms of information such as video and audio, as well as the rapid development of technology such as electricity, electronics, computer and communication, these days, also called digital revolution And presence forms are becoming digital from analog. Due to the development of MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) technology, which is a compression standard for moving image data to compress digital image data that requires a relatively large amount of data, the size of digital image data is gradually getting smaller. Increasingly, digital video and audio services have been applied to almost all fields such as communication and telecommunications, and digital devices for providing such services have emerged.

Among them, broadcasting and TV occupy an important place as an easy and effective information transmission medium in daily life, and thanks to the digital technology described above, video data and audio data are compressed and transmitted by MPEG technology, thereby adding a large amount of information. With the advent of digital TV, which can provide fast and reliable, more broadcasts can be easily enjoyed at home with clearer picture quality and more vivid sound. In addition, video services in various fields such as sports, movies, and home shopping are provided, and types and amounts of video services provided by cable broadcasting, video-on-demand video, etc. are being increased, and such video services are provided through TV. It is usually provided to the viewer.

Accordingly, various techniques for adjusting an image signal output through a TV have been developed. For example, Patent Application No. 2002-0050886 describes an image including a sharpness correction circuit for clearly expressing the contour of the image information signal in a display device. A signal control circuit is proposed.

Such a conventional image signal control circuit (the patent application) has a dark and unclear outline when a bright image or a dark image is displayed when an image signal such as a movie or a video is implemented in the image information display device. It provides a correction function for clear compensation. However, in the case of the conventional video signal control path, the display device compensates for the unclear screen clearly, but the TV which mainly provides the video screen does not improve the problem of falling the clarity of the video due to the still image which is the background screen. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a method for differentially adjusting the sharpness of outlines appearing on a moving image and a still image output on a screen of a television receiver.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for significantly increasing the sharpness of a moving image by blurring the contour appearing in the still image more than the contour appearing in the moving image among the image output on the screen of the television receiver.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for making a main video look clearer among moving images by blurring the outline appearing in the sub-image more than the contour appearing in the main image among the moving images output on the screen of the television set. To provide.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for adjusting an outline of an image to be output on a screen of a television receiver by adjusting the sharpness of an outline appearing in an image received from a broadcasting station or an image input from an external device such as a video. A main image size and a sub-image size used to divide the video into a main image and one or more sub-images are set according to a ratio of the video and still images output on the screen to the full screen of the screen. The main image blur adjustment value and the sub image blur adjustment value used to adjust the sharpness of the contour appearing in the main image and the sub image are set, and are used to adjust the sharpness of the outline appearing in other images other than the main image and the sub image. Other image blur adjustment value is set and image data is If a video is detected from the input image data according to the main image size and the sub image size, the detected video is divided into the main image and the sub image, and the images other than the main image and the sub image are divided into the other images. And an image processor for recognizing outlines of the divided main image, sub image, and other images, and differentially adjusting sharpness of outlines of the divided main image, sub image, and other images according to blurring adjustment values of the outlines. ; And a controller for controlling setting of the main image size and the sub-image size, controlling setting of the blur adjustment value of the outlines, and controlling the sharpness of the outlines appearing in the image output on the screen. It includes.

The present invention provides a method for adjusting a contour of an image for outputting on a screen by adjusting the sharpness of an outline appearing on an image input from an external device such as an image received from a broadcasting station or a video, and a video outputted on the screen; A first step of setting a focusing adjustment mode for adjusting the sharpness of the contour appearing in the still image; In the focusing adjustment mode, when image data is input, one or more moving images which are objects of focusing adjustment are detected from the input image data, and a ratio of the detected one or more moving images to the entire screen of the screen is determined by a predetermined main image size and A second step of determining whether the detected video is larger than or smaller than a sub-picture and determining the detected video as a main video and at least one sub-video, and determining images other than the main video and sub-video as other video; A third step of recognizing outlines appearing in the determined main image, at least one sub image, and other images; And a fourth step of differentially adjusting the sharpness of outlines of the recognized main image, sub image, and other images according to a predetermined main image blur adjustment value, a sub image blur adjustment value, and other image blur adjustment values.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

1 is a block diagram of an apparatus for adjusting an outline of an image according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the apparatus 100 for adjusting outline of the present invention includes a reception signal processor 110 for processing a video signal received from a broadcasting station, and an input signal processor for processing a video signal input from an external device ( 120, the digital decoder 130 for decoding the digital video signal input from the received signal processor 110 or the input signal processor 120, and the received signal processor 110, the input signal processor 120 or the digital decoder. The image processor 140 for adjusting the sharpness of the contour of the digital image signal input from the 130, the screen 150 for displaying the image signal output from the image processor 140, and the image processor 140 The controller 160 is configured to control an image processing process.

The reception signal processing unit 110 performs a function of processing a video signal received from a broadcasting station. When an analog video signal is input, the received signal processing unit 110 converts the input analog video signal into a digital video signal and immediately outputs it to the image processing unit 140. In addition, when the digital video signal is input, the digital video signal is output to the digital decoder 130.

The input signal processor 120 is configured to process an image signal input from an external device such as a video, a DVD, or a computer. When an analog image signal is input, the input signal processor 120 converts the input analog image signal into a digital image signal and immediately executes the image processor ( 140, and when the digital video signal is input, the digital video signal is output to the digital decoder 130.

The digital decoder 130 decodes the digital image signal input from the reception signal processor 110 or the input signal processor 120 to form a signal suitable for the image processor 140, and then decodes the image data to the image processor 140. Will output

The image processor 140 detects a moving image from a digital image signal input from the reception signal processor 110, the input signal processor 120, or the digital decoder 130 under the control of the controller 160, and then detects the moving image. By recognizing the outline of the still image and adjusting the sharpness of the outline differentially, if a plurality of videos are detected, the video is divided into main and sub-pictures according to the ratio of the videos on the screen on the screen 150, that is, the size of the video. To adjust the sharpness of the contours that appear in the main and sub images. The image processor 140 adjusts the sharpness of the contours appearing in the main image and the sub image according to the main image blur adjustment value and the sub image blur adjustment value previously set by the controller 160, and also controls The other image blur adjustment value for adjusting the sharpness of the contour appearing in the other image which is the image is also preset by the controller 160. The image processor 140 distinguishes the main image and the sub-image from the video output on the screen 150 according to the preset main image size and sub-image size.

The controller 160 controls the setting of the main image blur adjustment value, the sub image blur adjustment value, and other image blur adjustment values in the image processing unit 140 according to a user's instruction input through a remote controller (not shown). A main image size and a sub image size used as reference values for dividing a video into a main image and a sub image are set in the image processor 140.

2A is a flowchart illustrating a method of adjusting an outline of an image according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, which illustrates a process of arbitrarily setting the size of a main image and a sub image, a main image blur adjustment value, and a sub image blur adjustment value in the image processor. .

Referring to FIG. 2A, when the user presses a menu button disposed on the remote controller (S201), as illustrated in FIG. 3A, the controller 160 displays the top menu items related to the function adjustment of the television receiver on the screen 150. It is displayed (S202). In the display process S202, the controller 160 displays a plurality of top-level menu items including the “out-focusing” item on the screen 150, where the out-focusing item is the main image to be set in the image processor 140. Menu item to adjust the size, sub image size, main image blur and sub image blur.

When the menu item is displayed, when the user presses a numeric button on the remote control to select the "out-focusing" item (S203), the controller 160 screens the menu items linked to the sub-path of the out-focusing item as shown in FIG. 3B. Displayed on 150 (S204). In the display process (S204), the controller 160 sequentially displays the auto focusing item, the manual focusing item, and the focusing off (OFF) item, where the auto focusing item is the main image size to be set in the image processor 140 and It is a menu item to set sub image size, main image blur adjustment value and sub image blur adjustment value as default value, and manual focusing item allows user to arbitrarily select main image size and sub image size, main image blur adjustment value and sub image blur A menu item for adjusting the adjustment value, and a focusing off item is a menu item for stopping the sharpness adjustment function of the contour appearing in the images.

In a state in which the menu items as shown in FIG. 3B are displayed, the user presses a button on the remote controller to select one menu item, and the controller 160 determines which menu item is selected by the user (S205).

When the autofocusing item is selected in the determination process (S205), the controller 160 defaults to the main image size and sub-image size, the main image blur adjustment value, and the sub image blur adjustment value to be set in the image processing unit 140. Set to a value (S206). When setting to the default value, the image processing unit 140 selects the sharpness of the contour that appears in the video occupying the screen of more than the default value (for example, 30%) on the full screen including the still image and the video displayed on the screen 150. Adjust At this time, the image processing unit 140 reduces the sharpness of the contour appearing in the moving picture by a default value, and stops by the default value when a default value for adjusting the sharpness of the contour appearing in the still image forming a background of the moving picture is set. Reduces the sharpness of the contours that appear in the image.

When the manual focusing item is selected in the determination process (S205), as shown in FIG. 3C, the controller 160 controls the main image size, the sub-image size, and the main image blur adjustment value linked to the lower path of the manual focusing item. And a sub-image blur adjustment value on the screen 150 (S207). In the display process (S207), the main image size and the sub-image size are given as 50% and 20%, respectively, the main image blur adjustment value and the sub-image blur adjustment value are given as 10% and 20%, respectively, and also the full screen. Video and still images, which are smaller than 20% of the sub-picture, are classified as other images, and the other image blur adjustment value is given as 50%. However, the main image size and the sub-image size, the main image blur adjustment value, the sub image blur adjustment value, and other image blur adjustment values are set by way of example to describe the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, but are not limited thereto.

In this state, when the user instructs the setting by using the button of the remote controller (S208), the controller 160 controls the size of the main image 50%, the size of the sub image 20%, and the main image blur adjustment value 10 in the image processor 140. %, Sub-image blur adjustment value 20% and other image blur adjustment value 50% are set (S209). When the blurring value of the image is set as described above, the image processor 140 designates a video that occupies 50% or more of the entire screen displayed on the screen 150 as the main image, and sets the sharpness of the outline that appears in the specified main image. Reduces the brightness of one main image by 10%, designates a video that occupies more than 20% of the entire screen as a sub-image, and reduces the sharpness of outlines that appears in the specified sub-image by the 20% of the sub-image blur, It sets the video and still image which occupy less than 20% on the screen as other image and reduces the sharpness of the outline image appearing in the designated other image by 50% of the other image blur adjustment value.

If the focusing-off item is selected in the determination process (S205), the controller 160 releases the " focusing adjustment mode " for adjusting the sharpness of the outlines appearing in the moving image and the still image (S210). When the focusing adjustment mode is released, the image processing unit 140 simply processes the input image data into an image signal suitable for the screen 150 and outputs it to the screen 150 without adjusting the sharpness of the contour that appears in the input image. . At this time, the sharpness of the contour line that appears in the still image and the video output on the screen 150 is the same as the sharpness when captured by the camera.

On the other hand, such a setting process is not necessarily performed by using a remote controller, but may also be performed by using a menu button and a function button installed in a television receiver.

The process of adjusting the sharpness of the contours appearing on the image according to the main image size and sub-image size, the main image blur adjustment value, and the sub image blur adjustment value arbitrarily set or defaulted through the above-described process will be described with reference to FIG. 2B. More detailed description is as follows.

Referring to FIG. 2B, when the user instructs the setting of the "focusing adjustment mode" using a remote controller or the like, the controller 160 adjusts the sharpness of the outlines appearing in the moving image and the still image according to the set blur adjustment value as shown in FIG. 2A. The image processing unit 140 is set to the "focusing adjustment mode" to adjust (S211).

In this state of setting the focusing adjustment mode, when the image data is input from the digital decoder 130 (S212), the image processing unit 140 detects one or more videos that are objects of focusing adjustment from the input image data (S213). . The image processor 140 checks the ratio of the detected at least one video to the entire screen on the screen 150, that is, the size of the detected video (S214).

In the checking process (S214), the image processing unit 140 compares and checks whether the detected one video occupies the entire screen, that is, the size of the detected video is greater than or equal to the set main image size, and if the detected video is If it is determined that the size is smaller than the set main image size, compare and check whether the detected video size is greater than or equal to the set sub image size. Here, the set main image size is the default value or 50%, and the set sub-image size is 20% or the default value.

As a result of checking in the checking process (S214), if it is determined that the detected video size is greater than or equal to the set main video size, the image processing unit 140 determines the detected video as the main video, and if the detected video size is If it is determined to be smaller than the set main image size and larger than or equal to the set sub image size, the detected video is determined as the sub image. In addition, if it is determined that the size of the detected video is smaller than the set sub-image size, the image processor 140 determines the detected video and the still image as other images (S215).

If more than one video is detected, the image processor 140 distinguishes the main video and the sub-video as in the determination process of the main video and the sub-video (S215), but there is no video that is larger than or equal to the size of the main video. In this case, only the sub-image and other images are distinguished and determined, and if there is no video larger than or equal to the size of the set sub-image, all images are determined as other images. The determination method of the main image and the sub image is equally applied to the case where there is only one detected video. That is, even when only one moving picture is detected, one moving picture detected through the above-described determination process is determined as the main video, the sub-picture, or other video.

In the image determination process (S215), after the main image and the other image are determined, the image processor 140 recognizes the outlines appearing in the determined main image and the other image (S216), and then sharpens the sharpness of the outlines appearing in the main image. Reduce the main image blur adjustment value by the set main image blur adjustment value by reducing the sharpness of the contour appearing on the other image by the set other image blur adjustment value (S217).

In the image determining process (S215), when the main image, the sub image, and other images are determined, the image processor 140 recognizes the contours that appear in the determined main image, the sub image, and the other image (S218), and then appears in the main image. Reduce the sharpness of the outline by the set value of the main image blur, reduce the sharpness of the outline that appears on the sub-image by the set value of the sub-image blur, and reduce the sharpness of the outline that appears on the other image by the value of the other image blur. S219).

In the image determination process (S215), when one or more sub-images and other images are determined, the image processor 140 recognizes contours that appear in the determined one or more sub-images and other images (S220), and then appears in one or more sub-images. The sharpness of the outline is reduced by the sub-image blur adjustment value that is set, and the sharpness of the outline that appears on the other image is reduced by the other image blur adjustment value that is set (S221).

In the image determination process (S215), when there is no video having a size larger than or equal to the set sub-picture size and all the images are determined as other images, the image processor 140 does not change the sharpness of the contour that appears in the input image. The data is processed and output to the screen 150 (S222).

In the sharpness adjustment process (S217, S219, S221), the image processor 140 reduces the sharpness of the contour appearing in the main image by the set default value or the set main image blur adjustment value 10%, and adjusts the sharpness of the contour appearing in the sub-image. Reduce the sharpness by the set default value or the set sub-image blur adjustment value by 20%, and reduce the sharpness of the contour appearing on the other image by the set default value or the set other image blur adjustment value by 50%.

On the other hand, if there is only one video detected in the detection process (S213), the image processor 140 determines one video detected as the main image or sub-image without going through the image determination process (S215), and adjusts sharpness of the outline. The present invention may be implemented to adjust the sharpness of the outlines appearing in the main image or the sub-image as in steps S217, S219, and S221.

Although the technical spirit of the present invention has been described in detail according to the above-described preferred embodiment, it should be noted that the above-described embodiment is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. In addition, those skilled in the art will understand that various embodiments are possible within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, by sharply adjusting the sharpness of the contours of the images output on the screen of the television receiver, the contours appearing in the still image are blurred more than the contours appearing in the moving image, so that the sharpness of the moving image is higher than that of the still image. To increase the quality of the video and also make the main video more vivid among the videos, thereby increasing viewer satisfaction with the product.

Claims (16)

In the device for adjusting the contour of the image to be output to the screen of the television receiver by adjusting the sharpness of the contour appearing in the image received from a broadcast station or an image input from an external device such as a video, A main image size and a sub-image size used to classify the video into a main image and one or more sub-images are set according to a ratio of the video and still images output on the screen to the entire screen of the screen. The main image blur adjustment value and the sub image blur adjustment value used to adjust the sharpness of the contour appearing in the main image and the sub-image are set, and are used to adjust the sharpness of the outline appearing in other images which are images other than the main image and the sub image. The other image blur adjustment value is set, and when the image data is input, the moving image is detected from the input image data according to the main image size and the sub image size, and the detected video is divided into the main image and the sub image. Images other than the video and sub-images are classified into the other images, and the divided main and sub-images And an image processor for recognizing outlines of other images and differentially adjusting the sharpness of the outlines of the divided main, sub, and other images according to blur adjustment values of the outlines. And A controller for controlling the setting of the main image size and the sub-image size, controlling the setting of the blur adjustment value of the outlines, and controlling the sharpness of the outlines appearing in the image output on the screen Contour adjustment device of the image comprising a. The method of claim 1, And the image processor determines a main image according to the size of the main image from the detected video, and determines a video occupying 50% or more of the screen as the main image as the main image. The method of claim 2, And the image processor determines a sub-image based on the size of the sub-image from the detected video, and determines a sub-image that occupies 20% or more of the screens of the entire screen as the sub-image. The method of claim 3, wherein And the image processing unit determines a moving image and a still image smaller than the sub-image size as the other image among the images output on the screen. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, The image processing unit reduces the sharpness of the contour appearing in the main image by the main image blur adjustment value, reduces the sharpness of the outline appearing in the sub image by the sub-image blur adjustment value, and reduces the sharpness of the outline appearing in the sub image by the sub-image blur adjustment value. Contour adjusting device of the image, characterized in that to reduce the sharpness of the contour appearing on the. In the method of adjusting the contour of the image for outputting on the screen by adjusting the sharpness of the contour appearing on the image received from the broadcasting station or the image input from an external device such as a video, A first step of setting a focusing adjustment mode for adjusting the sharpness of the contours appearing in the moving image and the still image output on the screen; In the focusing adjustment mode, when image data is input, one or more moving images which are objects of focusing adjustment are detected from the input image data, and a ratio of the detected one or more moving images to the entire screen of the screen is determined by a predetermined main image size and A second step of determining whether the detected video is larger than or smaller than a sub-picture and determining the detected video as a main video and at least one sub-video, and determining images other than the main video and sub-video as other video; A third step of recognizing outlines appearing in the determined main image, at least one sub image, and other images; And A fourth step of differentially adjusting the sharpness of outlines of the recognized main image, sub image, and other images according to a predetermined main image blur adjustment value, a sub image blur adjustment value, and other image blur adjustment values; Contour adjustment method of the image comprising a. The method of claim 6, In the second step, if the detected video is greater than or equal to the size of the main image, the detected video is determined as the main image. The method of claim 6, In the second step, if the detected video is smaller than the main image size and greater than or equal to the sub-image size, the detected video is determined as the sub-image, characterized in that for determining the sub-image. The method of claim 6, In the second step, if the detected video is smaller than the size of the sub-picture, the method of adjusting the contour of the video, characterized in that for determining the detected video and the still image as the other image. The method of claim 6, When the main image and the other image are determined in the second step, the contour that appears in the main image and the other image determined in the third step is recognized, and in the fourth step, the sharpness of the outline of the main image is set. A method for adjusting the outline of an image, wherein the image blur adjustment value is reduced and the sharpness of the outline of the other image is reduced by the other image blur adjustment value. The method of claim 6, When the main image, the sub image, and the other image are determined in the second step, the contour that appears in the main image, the sub image, and the other image determined in the third step is recognized, and in the fourth step, the contour of the main image is recognized. Reduce the sharpness of the image by the main image blur adjustment value, reduce the sharpness of the outline of the sub-image by the sub-image blur adjustment value, and reduce the sharpness of the outline of the other image by the other image blur adjustment value. How to adjust the contour of the image to be played. The method of claim 6, When the sub-image and the other image are determined in the second step, the sub-image that recognizes the contour appearing in the sub-image and the other image determined in the third step, and sets the sharpness of the contour of the sub-image in the fourth step And reducing the blurring value by the blurring value of the other image by setting the sharpness of the outline of the other image. The method of claim 6, If all the images are determined as the other image because there is no video having a size greater than or equal to the sub-image size among the images output on the screen in the second step, the sharpness of the contour that appears in the input image is not changed. How to adjust the contour of the image. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 13, According to a user's instruction, the main image size and the sub-image size used to classify the detected video into the main image and the sub-image are set, and the main image used to adjust the sharpness of the contour of the main image and the sub-image A fifth step of setting a blur adjustment value and a sub-picture blur adjustment value, and setting the other image blur adjustment value used to adjust the sharpness of the outline of the other image which is an image other than the main image and the sub-image Contour adjustment method of the image further comprising. The method of claim 14, The fifth step, A fifth step of displaying, on the screen, predetermined top-level menu items relating to the function adjustment of the television receiver according to a user's instruction; Among the top menu items, an out-focusing item for adjusting the main image size and sub-image size, the main image blur adjustment value, and the sub-image blur adjustment value is selected. A fifth step of displaying a focusing item, a manual focusing item, and a focusing off item on the screen; When the auto focusing item is selected, the main image size and the sub image size are set as default values, and the main image blur adjustment value, the sub image blur adjustment value, and other image blur adjustment values are set as default values. Three steps; When the manual focusing item is selected, a main image size and a sub image size selected by the user are set, and a main image blur adjustment value, a sub image blur adjustment value, and other image blur adjustment values selected by the user are set. 5-4 steps; And A fifth step of releasing the focusing adjustment mode when the focusing off item is selected; Contour adjustment method of the image comprising a. The method of claim 15, In step 5-4, predetermined main image sizes and sub-image sizes are displayed on the screen so that the user can select and set a desired main image size and a sub-image size, and a main image blur adjustment value desired by the user. And displaying predetermined main image blur adjustment values, sub image blur adjustment values, and other image blur adjustment values on the screen to select and set a sub image blur adjustment value and other image blur adjustment values. How to adjust the outline of the image.

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