Image processing apparatus and method
A method and apparatus for localizing an area in relative movement and for determining the speed and direction thereof in real time is disclosed. Each pixel of an image is smoothed using its own time constant. A binary value corresponding to the existence of a significant variation in the amplitude of the smoothed pixel from the prior frame, and the amplitude of the variation, are determined, and the time constant for the pixel is updated. For each particular pixel, two matrices are formed that include a subset of the pixels spatially related to the particular pixel. The first matrix contains the binary values of the subset of pixels. The second matrix contains the amplitude of the variation of the subset of pixels. In the first matrix, it is determined whether the pixels along an oriented direction relative to the particular pixel have binary values representative of significant variation, and, for such pixels, it is determined in the second matrix whether the amplitude of these pixels varies in a known manner indicating movement in the oriented direction. In each of several domains, histogram of the values in the first and second matrices falling in such domain is formed. Using the histograms, it is determined whether there is an area having the characteristics of the particular domain. The domains include luminance, hue, saturation, speed (V), oriented direction (D1), time constant (CO), first axis (x(m)), and second axis (y(m)).
1. A process of tracking a target in an image processing system comprising:
receiving an input signal including a plurality of frames, each frame including a plurality of pixels;
generating a histogram based on classification values of a plurality of pixels in a first frame of the input signal;
identifying a target from the histogram generated based on the first frame;
determining a target location based on the histogram generated based on the first frame;
generating a histogram based on classification values of a plurality of pixels in a second frame of the input signal subsequent to the first frame; and
adjusting the target location based on the histogram generated based on the second frame.
2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the input signal is smoothed based on information for the plurality of pixels in the first frame and the plurality of pixels in the second frame.
3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the first frame is adjacent the second frame in the input signal.
4. The process of claim 1 , further comprising displaying an outline associated with the target at a display location based on the target location.
5. The process of claim 4 , wherein displaying the outline includes adjusting a size of the outline.
6. The process of claim 4 , wherein displaying the outline includes moving a center point of the outline.
7. The process of claim 4 , wherein the outline is a box.
8. The process of claim 7 , wherein the box is a rectangle.
9. The process of claim 4 , wherein:
generating the histogram based on classification values of the plurality of pixels in the first frame includes generating multiple histograms based on classification values of multiple pluralities of pixels,
identifying the target from the histogram includes identifying multiple targets associated with the multiple histograms, and
displaying the outline associated with the target includes displaying a plurality of outlines associated with the plurality of targets.
10. The process of claim 1 , further comprising determining a target speed.
11. The process of claim 10 , wherein determining the target speed includes determining a direction using a first matrix and a magnitude using a second matrix.
12. The process of claim 1 , further comprising generating multiple histograms in multiple domains for determining a movement of the target.
13. The process of claim 1 , further comprising identifying a non-moving area in the first and second frames of the input signal and forming a signal corresponding to a spatial position of the non-moving area within the first and second frames.
14. The process of claim 1 , wherein generating the histogram based on classification values of the plurality of pixels in the first frame includes identifying a rectangular area within the first frame that defines the plurality of pixels.
15. The process of claim 14 , further comprising increasing a size of the rectangular area.
16. The process of claim 1 , wherein identifying the target from the histogram generated based on the first frame includes receiving an input designating a position for the target.
17. The process of claim 16 , wherein receiving the input designating the position for the target includes receiving a user input, and further comprising determining, based on the updated histogram, an updated position for the target.
18. The process of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the target location includes not adjusting the target location during input of a third frame located in the input signal between the first and second frames.
19. The process of claim 1 , further comprising actuating a servomotor in a camera based on adjusting the target location.
20. A process of tracking a target in an image processing system comprising:
receiving an input signal from a camera, the input signal including a plurality of frames, each frame including a plurality of pixels;
generating a histogram based on classification values of a plurality of pixels in a first frame of the input signal;
identifying a target from the histogram generated based on the first frame, the target having a center point;
displaying information from the input signal on a display including pixels associated with the target;
generating a histogram based on classification values of a plurality of pixels in a second frame of the input signal;
determining movement of the target from the histogram generated based on the second frame; and
adjusting the camera based on the determined movement of the target to move the center point of the target towards a center point of the display.
21. The process of claim 20 , wherein adjusting the camera includes actuating a servomotor.
22. The process of claim 20 , wherein determining movement of the target includes identifying an edge of the target in the first and second frames.
23. The process of claim 20 , wherein the target is a face.
24. An image processing system comprising:
a camera configured to output a signal including a plurality of frames, each frame including a plurality of pixels; and
a processing system configured to:
receive the signal;
generate a histogram based on classification values of a plurality of pixels in a first frame of the signal;
identify a target from the histogram;
determine a target location based on the histogram generated based on the first frame;
generate a histogram based on classification values of a plurality of pixels in a second frame of the signal subsequent to the first frame; and
adjust the target location based on the histogram generated based on the second frame.
25. The image processing system of claim 24 , further comprising a display, and wherein the processing system is further configured to display an outline associated with the target at a display location based on the target location.
26. The image processing system of claim 24 , wherein the processing system is further configured to adjust a size of the outline based on the histogram based on the first frame and the histogram based on the second frame.
27. The image processing system of claim 24 , wherein the processing system is further configured to move a center point of the outline based on the histogram based on the first frame and the histogram based on the second frame.
28. The image processing system of claim 24 , wherein the processing system is further configured to receive a user input to designate a center position for the target.
29. The image processing system of claim 28 , wherein the processing system is further configured to determine updated center position for the target based on the histogram generated based on the first frame and the histogram generated based on the second frame.
30. The image processing system of claim 24 , further comprising a servomotor configured to adjust the camera, and wherein the processing system is further configured to adjust the camera based on the adjusted target location.