Automatic selection of a visual image or images from a collection of visual images, based on an evaluation of the quality of the visual images

1. A method for automatically selecting one or more visual images from a collection of visual images, comprising the steps of:

automatically evaluating the quality of each visual image in the collection of visual images; and

automatically selecting one or more visual images from the collection of visual images, wherein the selection is based only on the evaluation of the quality of each visual image in the collection.

2. A method as in claim 1 , wherein the step of automatically evaluating the quality of each visual image further comprises the step of automatically evaluating the amount of variation within each visual image.

3. A method as in claim 1 , wherein the step of automatically evaluating the quality of each visual image further comprises the step of automatically evaluating the amount of smoothness within each visual image.

4. A method as in claim 1 , wherein:

the collection of visual images is a chronological sequence of images; and

the step of automatically evaluating the quality of each visual image further comprises the step of automatically evaluating the degree of similarity between each visual image and the immediately previous image.

5. A method as in claim 1 , wherein the step of automatically evaluating the quality of each visual image further comprises the step of automatically evaluating the presence of sharp spatial edges within each visual image.

6. A method as in claim 1 , wherein:

the collection of visual images is a chronological sequence of images; and

the step of automatically evaluating the quality of each visual image further comprises the steps of:

automatically evaluating the amount of variation within each visual image;

automatically evaluating the amount of smoothness within each visual image;

automatically evaluating the degree of similarity between each visual image and the immediately previous image; and

automatically evaluating the presence of sharp spatial edges within each visual image.

7. A method as in claim 6 , wherein the step of automatically evaluating the quality of each visual image further comprises the step of automatically evaluating the amount of energy within each visual image.

8. A method as in claim 1 , further comprising the step of automatically evaluating the content of each visual image in the collection of visual images, and wherein the selection of one or more visual images from the collection of visual images is further based on the evaluation of the content of each visual image of the collection.

9. A method as in claim 8 , wherein the step of automatically evaluating the content of each visual image further comprises the step of automatically evaluating whether or not each visual image includes a recognizably human face.

10. A method as in claim 8 , wherein the step of automatically evaluating the content of each visual image further comprises the step of automatically evaluating whether or not each visual image includes human flesh.

11. A method as in claim 8 , wherein the step of automatically evaluating the content of each visual image further comprises the step of automatically evaluating whether or not each visual image includes an object that is, was, or will be moving relative to another object or objects in the visual image.

12. A method as in claim 8 , wherein:

the collection of visual images a chronological sequence of images acquired by a visual data acquisition device; and

the step of automatically evaluating the content of each visual image further comprises the step of automatically evaluating whether or not a change occurred in the field of view of the visual data acquisition device between the time of acquisition of a current visual image and the immediately previous visual image, or over a specified range of temporally contiguous visual images including the current visual image.

13. A method as in claim 1 , further comprising the step of automatically evaluating the position of each visual image in the collection of visual images, and wherein the selection of one or more visual images from the collection of visual images is further based on the ovaluation of the position of each visual image in the collection.

14. A method as in claim 13 , wherein the step of automatically evaluating the position of each visual image further comprises the step of automatically evaluating whether the visual image is near the start of a defined segment of the visual recording.

15. A method as in claim 13 , wherein the step of automatically evaluating the position of each visual image further comprises the step of automatically evaluating whether the visual image occurs during a gradual shot change.

16. A method as in claim 1 , further comprising the step of categorizing the visual images, wherein the visual image categorization is based on the quality evaluation.

17. A method as in claim 16 , wherein the visual image categorization is based on image variation.

18. A method as in claim 16 , wherein the visual image categorization is based on image structure.

19. A method as in claim 16 , wherein the visual image categorization is based on inter-image continuity.

20. A method as in claim 16 , wherein the visual image categorization is based on edge sharpness.

21. A method as in claim 16 , further comprising the step of automatically evaluating the content of each visual image in the collection of visual images, and wherein the visual image categorization is further based on the content evaluation.

22. A method as in claim 16 , wherein the step of categorizing further comprises the step of categorizing the visual images into quality levels.

23. A method as in claim 22 , further comprising the step of automatically evaluating the position of each visual image in the collection of visual images, and wherein the visual image categorization is further based on the position evaluation.

24. A method as in claim 23 , wherein the step of categorizing further comprises the step of categorizing the visual images as a potential keyframe or not.

25. A method as in claim 23 , wherein the step of categorizing further comprises the step of categorizing the visual images as a transitional image or not.

26. A method as in claim 16 , wherein the step of automatically selecting one or more visual images further comprises the step of automatically selecting the one or more visual images based on the categorization.

27. A method as in claim 1 , further comprising the step of determining a score for each visual image, wherein the score is based on the quality evaluation.

28. A method as in claim 27 , wherein the step of automatically selecting one or more visual images further comprises the step of automatically selecting the one or more visual images based on the scores.

29. A method as claim 27 , further comprising the step of automatically evaluating the content of each visual image in the collection of visual images, and wherein the visual image scores are further based on the content evaluation.

30. A method as in claim 27 , further comprising the step of automatically evaluating the position of each visual image in the collection of visual images, and wherein the visual image scores are further based on the position evaluation.

31. A method as in claim 27 , further comprising the steps of:

automatically evaluating the position of each visual image in the collection of visual images; and

categorizing the visual images, wherein the visual image categorization is based on the position evaluation.

32. A method as in claim 31 , wherein the step of automatically selecting one or more visual images further comprises the step of selecting the one or more visual images based on the scores and the categorizations.

33. A method as in claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:

extracting the selected visual images from a first version of the collection of visual images; and

presenting the extracted visual images to a user together with a second version of the collection of visual images, wherein the first version of the collection of visual images is of better image quality than the second version of the collection of visual images.

34. A method as in claim 33 , wherein the step of presenting further comprises the step of storing the extracted visual images on a data storage medium or media together with the second version of the collection of visual images.

35. A method as in claim 33 , further comprising the step of processing the first version of the collection of visual images to produce the second version of the collection of visual images.

36. A method as in claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:

extracting a first version of the selected visual images from the collection of visual images;

processing the first version of the selected visual images to produce a second version of the selected visual images, wherein the second version of the selected visual images is of better image quality than the first version of the selected visual images; and

presenting the second version of the selected visual images to a user together with the collection of visual images.

37. A method as in claim 36 , wherein the step of presenting further comprises the step of storing the second version of the selected visual images of a data storage medium or media together with the collection of visual images.

38. A method as in claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:

extracting the selected visual images from the collection of visual images; and

presenting the extracted visual images to a user.

39. A method as in claim 38 , wherein the step of presenting further comprises the step of storing the extracted visual images on a data storage medium or media.

40. A method as in claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:

creating indices that identify the locations of the selected visual images in the collection of visual images; and

presenting the indices to a user together with the collection of visual images.

41. A method as in claim 40 , wherein the step of presenting further comprises the step of storing the indices on a data storage medium or media together with the collection of visual images.

42. A method as in claim 40 , further comprising the step of enabling the user to browse the collection of visual images using the indices.

43. A method as in claim 42 , further comprising the step at enabling the user to modify the indices by substituting an identification of a new visual image for an identification of a selected visual image.

44. A method as in claim 1 , wherein the step of automatically evaluating the quality of each visual image further comprises the step of automatically evaluating the amount of energy within each visual image.

45. A system for automatically selecting one or more visual images from a collection of visual images, comprising:

means for automatically evaluating the quality of each visual image in the collection at visual images; and

means for automatically selecting one or more visual images from the collection of visual images, wherein the selection is based only on the evaluation of the quality of each visual image in the collection.

46. A computer readable medium or media encoded with one or more computer programs for automatically selecting one or more visual images from a collection of visual images, comprising:

instructions for automatically evaluating the quality of each visual image in the collection of visual images; and

instructions for automatically selecting one or more visual images from the collection of visual images, wherein the selection is based only on the evaluation of the quality of each visual image in the collection.