TWI578305B - Methods and systems for generating a layout of image thumbnails, and computer program products thereof - Google Patents

Description

Method and system for generating image thumbnails, and computer program products thereof

The present invention relates to an image viewing method and system, and more particularly to a method and system for analyzing a region of interest in an image and automatically generating a corresponding image thumbnail for the plurality of images.

In recent years, the acquisition and use of digital imagery has become more and more popular. For example, an electronic device, such as a computer or a portable device such as a handheld device, can capture an image directly through the image capturing unit and view it through a display unit of the electronic device.

In general, an electronic device can provide a Grid View to view a plurality of image data. In some cases, the image data is cut into an image thumbnail for easy display in the corresponding grid. Generally, the lattice used to display different images in the prior art is fixed. However, the number and location of the Region Of Interest (ROI) included in different images are not exactly the same. For example, in terms of the visibility of a face in an image, a multi-person photographed image should produce a larger size thumbnail than a personal photograph.

In addition, the image data after the cutting in the prior art often produces distortion results. Users can't directly know the original image data through thumbnails. Conventionally, the way in which image thumbnails are generated is cropped based on the image center. However, not all areas of interest are located in the center of the image. For example, if the image is a full-body photo of a person, the region of interest in the image should be the face region of the individual, and the location of the face should be in the upper portion of the image. The image thumbnails produced by the prior art often only include some human faces or even no human faces at all, which makes it difficult to recognize the shortcomings of the image characters.

In view of the above, the present invention provides a method and system for generating a thumbnail of an image thumbnail to overcome the aforementioned problems.

A method for generating a layout of an image thumbnail according to an embodiment of the present invention. First, the plurality of regions of interest are analyzed using at least one region of interest analysis technique to obtain at least one region of interest intensity value for each of the pixels in each of the images. Then, according to the intensity value of the region of interest corresponding to the individual pixels in each image, a total intensity value of each of the corresponding images is calculated. Then, a specific layout is determined according to the total intensity value of each image, and each image is displayed in a plurality of blocks of a specific layout.

An image thumbnail layout system of an embodiment of the present invention includes a display unit, a storage unit, and a processing unit. The storage unit includes a plurality of images. The processing unit analyzes each image by using at least one region of interest analysis technique to obtain at least one region of interest intensity value of each pixel in each image, and according to the intensity value of the region of interest corresponding to the individual pixels in each image , calculate the total intensity value of one of the corresponding images. The processing unit determines a specific layout according to the total intensity value of each image, and displays each image in each block of the specific layout through the display unit.

In some embodiments, the integrated region intensity value of the region of interest may be calculated according to the region of interest value of the region of interest of the respective pixel in each image, and the corresponding pixel is corresponding to each pixel in the image. The regional integration intensity value calculates the summed intensity value for each image.

In some embodiments, the particular layout may be selected from the plurality of candidate layouts based on the relative intensity ratio of the summed intensity values of the respective images. Wherein, the specific layout has the same number of blocks as the image, and the relative size ratio of each block is approximately equal to or equal to the relative intensity ratio of the total intensity values of the respective images. Among them, the image with the highest total intensity value is displayed in the block with the largest size in the specific layout.

In some embodiments, the size of each block in a particular layout may be determined according to the total intensity value of each image to display a corresponding image.

In some embodiments, the intensity value, the resolution of the corresponding image, and the size of the block corresponding to the image in the specific layout may be determined for each image according to the region of interest of each pixel. A portion of the image is displayed in the block corresponding to the image.

The above method of the present invention can exist in a coded manner. When the code is loaded and executed by the machine, the machine becomes the means for practicing the invention.

The above described objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and appended claims appended claims

Figure 1 shows a layout system for image thumbnails in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The image generation system 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention can be applied to an electronic device such as a computer system or a portable device, such as a personal digital assistant, a smart phone, a mobile phone, and a mobile Internet device (Mobile Internet Device). , MID), or a handheld device such as a mini notebook (Netbook).

The image thumbnail layout system 100 includes at least one display unit 110, a storage unit 120, and a processing unit 130. The display unit 110 can display image data, and/or related icons and interfaces, and the like. The storage unit 120 may include a plurality of images 121 that are provided to the display unit 110 for display. The processing unit 130 is used to execute the layout method of the image thumbnail of the present invention, and the details thereof will be described later.

Fig. 2 is a view showing a method of generating a layout of an image thumbnail according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method for generating the image thumbnail according to the embodiment of the present invention can be applied to an electronic device such as a computer system or a portable device, such as a personal digital assistant, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a mobile internet device, or a mini-note type. Handheld devices such as computers.

In step S210, the complex image is analyzed by using a region of interest analysis technique to obtain an intensity value of the region of interest of one of the individual pixels in each image. It should be noted that in some embodiments, the region of interest analysis technique can be used to detect the face of each image, the text in each image, the brightness of each image, or the contrast of each image. Learn about the areas of interest in the image. For the region of interest (pixels) in the image, a region of interest intensity value can be given to indicate its credibility. It is reminded that the intensity value of the region of interest can be any Boolean number or real value. It should be noted that the above-mentioned region of interest analysis technique is only an example of the present case, and any region of interest analysis technique can be applied to the present invention. In step S220, a total intensity value of each of the corresponding images is calculated according to the intensity value of the region of interest corresponding to the individual pixels in each image.

Then, in step S230, a specific layout is determined according to the total intensity values of the respective images. Remind that each particular layout can have multiple blocks. In some embodiments, the number of blocks in a particular layout may be equal to the number of images. Figure 3 shows a particular layout decision method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In step S231, a specific layout is selected from the plurality of candidate layouts according to the relative intensity ratio of the total intensity values of the respective images. It is reminded that the relative size ratio of individual blocks in a particular layout is approximately equal to or equal to the relative intensity ratio of the total intensity values of the respective images. For example, suppose a first candidate layout has three blocks, and the relative size ratio of the individual blocks in the first layout is 3:1:1, and another second candidate layout has three blocks, and the first The relative size ratio of individual blocks in the second layout is 2:2:1. When the relative intensity ratio of the summed intensity values of each image is 3:1:1, the first candidate layout will be selected as a specific layout. It is worth noting that in some embodiments, the image with the highest total intensity value will be displayed in the block with the largest size in the particular layout. Figure 4 shows a particular layout decision method in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. In step S232, the size of each block in the specific layout is dynamically determined according to the total intensity value of each image to display the corresponding image. For example, when a particular version of the mask has a fixed size, a particular layout can be assigned to each image in accordance with the relative intensity ratio of the total intensity values of the respective images.

After the specific layout is determined, as in step S240, each image is displayed separately in an individual block of a particular layout. It should be noted that in some embodiments, thumbnails of corresponding images may be displayed in the block. Fig. 5 shows a method of generating a thumbnail image according to an embodiment of the present invention. For each image, in step S241, a part of the image in the image is determined according to the intensity value of the region of interest of each pixel in the corresponding image, the resolution of the image, and the size of the block corresponding to the image in the specific layout. Figure), used to display in the corresponding block of this image in a specific layout. For example, suppose an image has a resolution of 1280x960 and a partial image (image thumbnail) has a resolution of 400x300. After the image is analyzed by the region of interest analysis technique to obtain the intensity value of the region of interest, the intensity value of the region of interest of the corresponding individual pixel can be filtered through a predetermined threshold value to know the location of interest to the user. Then, the above position is included in the size of the partial image (image thumbnail) to obtain the partial image (image thumbnail) in the image. It should be noted that in some embodiments, if all the locations of interest to the user cannot be included in the thumbnail range, the thumbnail size may be limited to a limited extent, then reduced to a thumbnail size, or discarded. A less important position to get a partial image (image thumbnail). It should be noted that the above method for determining a part of the image (image thumbnail) in the image is only an example of the present case, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

Figure 6 is a diagram showing a method of generating a layout of an image thumbnail according to another embodiment of the present invention. The method for generating the image thumbnail according to the embodiment of the present invention can be applied to an electronic device such as a computer system or a portable device, such as a personal digital assistant, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a mobile internet device, or a mini-note type. Handheld devices such as computers. In this embodiment, multiple regions of interest analysis techniques can be used to analyze images simultaneously.

In step S610, the plurality of regions of interest analysis techniques are used to analyze the plurality of images, thereby obtaining a plurality of regions of interest intensity values for respective pixels in each of the images. Similarly, in some embodiments, the region of interest analysis technique can be used to detect the face of each image, the text in each image, the brightness of each image, and/or the contrast of each image, thereby Learn about the areas of interest in the image. For the region of interest (pixels) in the image, a region of interest intensity value can be given to indicate its credibility. It is reminded that the intensity value of the region of interest can be any Boolean number or real value. It should be noted that the above-mentioned region of interest analysis technique is only an example of the present case, and any region of interest analysis technique can be applied to the present invention. In step S620, a region-integrated intensity value of the region of interest is calculated according to a plurality of regions of interest intensity values of the plurality of regions of interest analysis techniques of the individual pixels in each image. It should be noted that, in some embodiments, the region of interest integration intensity value may utilize a linear or nonlinear fusion algorithm based on multiple interest regions of the plurality of regions of interest analysis techniques for individual pixels in each image. The area intensity value is calculated. After the intensity values of the regions of interest corresponding to the individual pixels in each image are obtained, in step S630, the total intensity values of the respective images are calculated according to the integrated intensity values of the regions of interest corresponding to the individual pixels in each image.

Then, in step S640, a specific layout is determined according to the total intensity values of the respective images. Remind that each particular layout can have multiple blocks. In some embodiments, the number of blocks in a particular layout may be equal to the number of images. Similarly, as previously discussed, in some embodiments, a particular layout may be selected from a plurality of candidate layouts based on the relative intensity ratio of the summed intensity values for each of the respective images. Wherein, the relative size ratio of the individual blocks in the specific layout is approximately equal to or equal to the relative intensity ratio of the total intensity values of the respective images, and the image with the highest total intensity value will be displayed in the area with the largest size in the specific layout. In the block. In addition, in some embodiments, the size of each block in a particular layout may be dynamically determined according to the total intensity value of each image to display the corresponding image.

After the specific layout is determined, in step S650, a thumbnail of each image and the corresponding image is displayed in each of the specific blocks of the specific layout. It should be noted that, in some embodiments, the intensity value, the resolution of the image, and the size of the block corresponding to the image in the specific layout may be determined according to the region of interest of each pixel in the corresponding image, and one part of the image may be determined. An image (image thumbnail) that is displayed in a block of the corresponding image in a particular layout. For example, suppose an image has a resolution of 1280x960 and a partial image (image thumbnail) has a resolution of 400x300. After the image is analyzed by the region of interest analysis technique to obtain the intensity value of the region of interest, the intensity value of the region of interest of the corresponding individual pixel can be filtered through a predetermined threshold value to know the location of interest to the user. Then, the above position is included in the size of the partial image (image thumbnail) to obtain the partial image (image thumbnail) in the image. It should be noted that in some embodiments, if all the locations of interest to the user cannot be included in the thumbnail range, the thumbnail size may be limited to a limited extent, then reduced to a thumbnail size, or discarded. A less important position to get a partial image (image thumbnail). It should be noted that the above method for determining a part of the image (image thumbnail) in the image is only an example of the present case, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

Therefore, the method and system for generating the image thumbnails of the present invention can use a single region of interest analysis technique or a plurality of regions of interest analysis techniques to analyze regions of the image that may be of interest to the user, and to compare users in different images. The importance of the area of interest may be used to dynamically determine the layout appropriate for these images to display images and/or their thumbnails.

The method of the invention, or a particular type or portion thereof, may exist in the form of a code. The code may be included in a physical medium such as a floppy disk, a CD, a hard disk, or any other machine readable (such as computer readable) storage medium, or is not limited to an external computer program product, wherein When the code is loaded and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes a device for participating in the present invention. The code can also be transmitted via some transmission medium, such as a wire or cable, fiber optics, or any transmission type, where the machine becomes part of the program when it is received, loaded, and executed by a machine, such as a computer. Invented device. When implemented in a general purpose processing unit, the code combination processing unit provides a unique means of operation similar to application specific logic.

While the present invention has been described in its preferred embodiments, the present invention is not intended to limit the invention, and the present invention may be modified and modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of protection is subject to the definition of the scope of the patent application.

100‧‧‧Image thumbnail generation system

110‧‧‧Display unit

120‧‧‧ storage unit

121‧‧‧Image

130‧‧‧Processing unit

S210, S220, S230, S240‧‧‧ steps

S231, S232, S241‧‧‧ steps

S610, S620, S630, S640, S650‧‧ steps

Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing a layout system for image thumbnails according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a flow chart showing a method of generating a layout of an image thumbnail according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a flow chart showing a particular layout decision method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a flow chart showing a specific layout decision method in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a flow chart showing a method of generating a thumbnail image according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 6 is a flow chart showing a method of generating a layout of an image thumbnail according to another embodiment of the present invention.

S232‧‧‧Steps

Claims (15)

A method for generating a thumbnail of an image thumbnail, which is applicable to an electronic device, comprising the steps of: analyzing a plurality of images by using at least one Region Of Interest analysis technique to obtain at least an individual pixel in each of the images; a region of interest intensity value, the at least one region of interest intensity value being a confidence level of an individual pixel corresponding to the image; the intensity of the at least one region of interest corresponding to an individual pixel in each of the images a value, a total intensity value of each of the corresponding images is calculated; a specific layout is determined according to the total intensity value of each of the images, wherein the specific layout has a plurality of blocks; and the specific layout is Each of the images is displayed in each of the blocks. The method for generating a layout of an image thumbnail according to claim 1, further comprising the step of: intensity of the at least one region of interest according to the at least one region of interest analysis technique corresponding to each pixel in each of the images a value, an integrated region intensity value is calculated; and the summed intensity value of each of the images is calculated according to the integrated region integrated intensity value of each pixel in each of the images. The method for generating a thumbnail image of the image region according to claim 2, wherein the integrated region intensity value is determined by using a linear or nonlinear fusion algorithm according to individual pixels in each of the images. The at least one region of interest intensity value corresponding to the at least one region of interest analysis technique is calculated. The method for generating a layout of an image thumbnail according to claim 1, further comprising the step of: selecting the specific layout from the plurality of candidate layouts according to a relative intensity ratio of the total intensity values of each of the images; Wherein the specific layout has the same number of the same blocks as the images, and the relative size ratio of the blocks is approximately equal to or equal to the relative intensity ratio of the total intensity values of each of the images, and has the highest The image of the summed intensity value is displayed in the block having the largest size in the particular layout. The method for generating a layout of an image thumbnail according to claim 1, further comprising determining a size of each of the specific layouts according to the total intensity value of each of the images for displaying Corresponding to the image. The method for generating a layout of an image thumbnail according to claim 2, further comprising: for each of the images, according to the intensity value of the region of interest of each of the pixels or the integrated intensity value of the region of interest, Corresponding to the resolution of the image and the size of the block corresponding to the image in the specific layout, a part of the image in the image is determined to be displayed in the corresponding block of the image. The method for generating a thumbnail of an image thumbnail according to claim 1, wherein the at least one region of interest analysis technique is used to detect a face in each of the images, and each of the images. The text, the brightness of each of the images, or a comparison of each of the images. An image reduction system layout system for an electronic device, comprising: a display unit; a storage unit including a plurality of images; and a processing unit for analyzing the images by using at least one Region Of Interest analysis technique to obtain individual pixels in each of the images Calculating, according to the intensity value of the at least one region of interest corresponding to the individual pixels in each of the images, calculating a total intensity value of each of the images, according to each of the images The total intensity value determines a specific layout, wherein the specific layout has a plurality of blocks, and each of the images is displayed in each of the blocks of the specific layout through the display unit, the at least one sense The region of interest intensity value is the confidence of the individual pixels corresponding to the images. The image generating system of the image thumbnail of claim 8, wherein the processing unit further determines the at least one region of interest corresponding to the at least one region of interest analysis technique corresponding to each pixel in each of the images. The intensity value is used to calculate an integrated intensity value of the region of interest, and the total intensity value of each of the images is calculated according to the integrated intensity value of the region of interest corresponding to each pixel in each of the images. The image generation system for image thumbnails according to claim 9, wherein the region of interest integration intensity is determined by a linear or nonlinear fusion algorithm based on individual pixels in each of the images. The at least one region of interest intensity value corresponding to the at least one region of interest analysis technique is calculated. The image generating system of the image thumbnail of claim 8, wherein the processing unit selects the specific version from the plurality of candidate layouts according to the relative intensity ratio of the total intensity values of each of the images. a face, wherein the particular layout has the same number of the blocks as the images, and the relative size ratio of the blocks is approximately equal to or equal to the relative intensity ratio of the added intensity values of each of the images, and The image having the highest total intensity value is displayed in the block having the largest size in the particular layout. The image generating system of the image thumbnail of claim 8, wherein the processing unit further determines the size of each of the specific layouts according to the total intensity value of each of the images. To display the corresponding image. The image generating system of the image thumbnail according to claim 9, wherein the processing unit further determines, according to each of the images, the region of interest intensity value or the region of interest of each of the pixels. The integrated intensity value, the resolution of the corresponding image, and the size of the block corresponding to the image in the specific layout determine a portion of the image in the image for display in the block corresponding to the image. The image generating system of the image thumbnail of claim 8, wherein the at least one region of interest analysis technique is used to detect a face in each of the images, and each of the images. The text, the brightness of each of the images, or a comparison of each of the images. A computer program product for loading and executing an image thumbnail layout method by a machine, the computer program product comprising: a first code for utilizing at least one Region Of Interest analysis technique A plurality of regions of interest are obtained by analyzing the plurality of regions, and the at least one region of interest is determined to be a trusted pixel of the corresponding pixel in the image. a second code for calculating a total intensity value of each of the corresponding images according to the intensity value of the at least one region of interest corresponding to each pixel in each of the images; a third code Determining, according to the total intensity value of each of the corresponding images, a specific layout, wherein the specific layout has a plurality of blocks; and a fourth code for each of the specific layouts Each of the images is displayed in the block.