Apparatus and method for processing intensity of image in digital camera
View Patent ↗An apparatus for processing an image in a digital camera includes an image signal collection unit configured to process an image collected from a lens into image information using a CMOS image sensor (CIS), and an image correction unit configured to compensate for an intensity in response to a compensation curve corresponding to the image information collected by the image signal collection unit and output an image signal compensated depending on the intensity.
1. An apparatus for processing an image in a digital camera, comprising:
an image signal collection unit configured to process an image collected from a lens into image information using a CMOS image sensor (CIS)
an image correction unit configured to compensate for an intensity in response to a compensation curve corresponding to the image info cation collected by the image signal collection unit and output an image signal compensated depending on the intensity; and
a control unit configured to determine a curve for luminance compensation when a mean value of the intensity is lower than a first intensity,
wherein the control unit applies a weight having a curve for color correction when the image correction unit performs color correction together with the luminance compensation on an area where the mean value of the intensity is smaller than the first intensity value.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the image correction unit comprises:
a mean extraction unit configured to extract the mean value of an intensity of the image information collected by the image signal collection unit;
a curve application unit configured to apply the curve for luminance compensation to the image information.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the image signal collection unit comprises:
the CIS configured to convert the image collected from the lens into analog image information;
an analog/digital conversion unit configured to convert the analog image information into digital image information; and
an image processing unit configured to convert and process the digital image information into the image information.
4. A method for processing an image in a digital camera using a CMOS image sensor (CIS), comprising:
extracting a mean value of an intensity of an image and applying a curve for compensating the intensity of the image when the mean value of the intensity of the image is smaller than a first value;
performing luminance compensation by applying a weight for luminance compensation to image information; and
comprising applying a weight having a curve for the color compensation when the image correction unit performs color correction together with the luminance compensation on an area where the mean value of the intensity is smaller than the first intensity value.
5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising adding the weight to an RGB value for color correction when color information is determined to be corrected in addition to the luminance compensation.
6. An apparatus for processing an image in a digital camera, comprising:
an image signal collection unit configured to process an image collected from a lens and output the processed image as image information;
an image correction unit configured to compensate for an intensity of the image information in response to a compensation curve corresponding to the image information and output the compensated image information as an image signal; and
a control unit configured to determine the compensation curve in response to the comparison result between a mean value and a first intensity value,
wherein the control unit is configured to determine the compensation curve indicating that an intensity of the image information is inversely proportional to a weight applied to the image information.
7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the image signal collection unit comprises:
a CMOS image sensor (CIS) configured to convert the image collected from the lens into analog image information;
an analog/digital conversion unit configured to convert the analog image information into digital image information; and
an image processing unit configured to convert and process the digital image information into the image information.
8. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein,
the control unit is configured to determine the compensation curve indicating a maximum weight applied to the image information when the image correction unit determines that the extracted mean value is smaller than a first minimum intensity value.
9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein,
the control unit is configured to determine the compensation curve indicating a fixed weight applied to the image information, the fixed weight being smaller than the maximum weight, when the image correction unit determines that the extracted mean value is greater than a first maximum intensity value.
10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein,
the control unit is configured to determine the compensation curve indicating a weight proportional between the fixed weight and the maximum weight when the image correction unit determines that the extracted mean value has a value between the minimum intensity value and the maximum intensity value.
11. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the image correction unit comprises:
a mean value extraction unit configured to extract the mean value of the intensity of the image information;
a curve application unit configured to apply the compensation curve to the image information.
12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the mean value extraction unit is configured to extract the mean value of the intensity of the whole area of an image represented by the image information.
13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the mean value extraction unit is configured to extract the mean value of the intensity of a first area of the image information.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the first area includes a center area of the image information.