Method and apparatus for providing panorama image data

1. A method for providing a panoramic image by an apparatus including at least one memory configured to store image data, at least one processor configured to perform operations for providing a panoramic image using the stored image data, and a communication circuit configured to communicate with other entities through a communication network, the method comprising:

(a) scaling sizes of images reconstructed with an image layer or images to be used for a reconstruction in consideration of a size of a predetermined reference image according to a reference image layer;

(b) selecting an image in part or full representing a predetermined region of interest clearly among scaled images; and

(c) providing a panoramic image with selected image,

wherein the step of (b) selecting includes limiting range of image layers of analyzed image by setting a selected image layer as a seed value,

wherein the image set as the seed value is an image discriminated as a clear image with respect to a predetermined specific region of the reconstructed image, and

wherein the step of (b) selecting includes discriminating clear images with respect to regions adjacent to the specific region as the specific region is a starting region.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein step of (a) includes:

(a1) changing a size of the images to be used for the reconstruction to the same size of the reference image by using information focus depths of a plurality of the image layers.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein further comprising:

overlapping the images changed to have the same size with the size of the reference image by intervals predetermined according to the image layers.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of (b) includes:

calculating scan lengths of the images to be used for the reconstruction; and

changing the size of the images so that the calculated scan length corresponds to a predetermined base pixel value.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of (b) includes:

removing noises in the scaled image with a predetermined algorithm;

detecting boundary information for determining sharpness from the noise removed image; and

selecting the image in part or full representing the region of interest clearly.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the step of selecting the image includes:

obtaining sums of information on the detected boundaries; and

selecting an imaging having the maximum sum among the sums.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting a clear image at the step of (b) includes:

dividing the scaled images into a plurality of blocks and

selecting the clear image among the divided block images.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the divided multiple blocks have specific regions in blocks overlapped with other block, and the clear image is selected with respect to the overlapped blocks.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein at the step of (c), the panoramic image is provided by interpolating the selecting images with respect to the overlapped region for the overlapped blocks.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of (b) includes limiting range of image layers of analyzed image by setting a selected image layer as a seed value.

11. The method of claim 10 , the image set as the seed value is an image discriminated as a clear image with respect to a predetermined specific region of the reconstructed image.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of (a) includes

reconstructing a plurality of projection image taken by a panoramic imaging apparatus with a preset image layer.

13. An apparatus for providing a panoramic image, the apparatus comprising:

at least one memory configured to store image data;

at least one processor configured to perform operations to provide a panoramic image; and

a communication circuit configured to communicate with other entities through a communication network,

wherein the at least one processor comprises:

an image scaling unit configured to perform operations for scaling sizes of images reconstructed with an image layer or images to be used for a reconstruction in consideration of a size of a predetermined reference image according to a reference image layer;

an image selection unit configured to perform operations for selecting an image in part or full representing a predetermined region of interest clearly among scaled images; and

an image providing unit configured to perform operations for providing a panoramic image with selected image,

wherein the image selection unit is configured to set a selected image layer as a seed value to limit a range of image layers of analyzed image,

wherein the image set as the seed value is an image discriminated as a clear image with respect to a predetermined specific region of the reconstructed image, and

wherein the image selection unit is configured to further perform operations for discriminating clear images with respect to regions adjacent to the specific region as the specific region is a starting region.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the image scaling unit includes a size change unit configured to change size of the images to be used for the reconstruction to the same size of the reference image by using information focus depths of a plurality of the image layers.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the at least one processor further comprises an image overlapping unit configured to overlap the images changed to have the same size with the size of the reference image by intervals predetermined according to the image layers.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the size change unit is configured to perform operations of:

calculating scan lengths of the images to be used for the reconstruction; and

changing the size of the images so that the calculated scan length corresponds to a predetermined base pixel value.

17. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the image selection unit includes:

a noise removal unit configured to remove noises in the scaled image with a predetermined algorithm;

a boundary detection unit configured to detect boundary (edge) information for determining sharpness from the noise removed image; and

an image selection unit configured to select the image in part or full representing the region of interest clearly.

18. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the image selection unit is configured to perform operations of:

dividing the scaled images into a plurality of blocks; and

selecting the clear image among the divided block images.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the divided multiple blocks have specific regions in blocks overlapped with other block, and the clear image is selected with respect to the overlapped blocks.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the panoramic image is provided by interpolating the selecting images with respect to the overlapped region for the overlapped blocks.

21. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the image selection unit is configured to set a selected image layer as a seed value to limit a range of image layers of analyzed image.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 , the image set as the seed value is an image discriminated as a clear image with respect to a predetermined specific region of the reconstructed image.