Method for Producing a Panoramic Image and Implementation Apparatus
A method aligns two consecutive images of a video sequence to produce a panoramic image. More particularly, the method corrects a displacement vector of a target image of a video sequence. The target image is composed of distinct blocks. The method determines the displacement vector based on a plurality of displacement vectors of the blocks in the target image.
1 - 12 . (canceled)
13 . A method for aligning two consecutive images of a video sequence for the production of a panoramic image, the method comprising:
correcting a displacement vector of a target image of a video sequence, the target image comprising distinct blocks; and
determining the displacement vector from a plurality of displacement vectors of the blocks of the target image.
14 . The method of claim 13 wherein correcting the displacement vector of the target image comprises:
determining a mean vector in which an average of the displacement vectors of the blocks of a central region of the target image is calculated;
comparing the mean vector with the displacement vector of the target image;
modifying the displacement vector of the target image.
15 . The method of claim 14 further comprising determining a variance of the average of the displacement vectors of the blocks of a central region of the target image.
16 . The method of claim 15 wherein modifying the displacement vector of the target image comprises replacing the displacement vector of the target image with the mean vector.
17 . The method of claim 16 wherein replacing the displacement vector of the target image with the mean vector comprises replacing the displacement vector if a difference between the displacement vector of the target image and the mean vector is less than a first threshold, and if the variance of the average is less than a second threshold.
18 . The method of claim 13 wherein a central region of the target image corresponds to a merge region of the target image with a previous image of the video sequence.
19 . A camera-equipped apparatus comprising:
a processing circuit configured to execute the functionality of:
an aligning function configured to align two consecutive images of a video sequence to produce a panoramic image;
a displacement vector correcting function configured to correct a displacement vector of a target image of the video sequence, wherein the target image comprises distinct blocks; and
a first displacement estimating function configured to estimate displacement vectors of the blocks of the target image; and
a second displacement vector correcting configured to estimate a displacement vector of an image based on the estimated displacement vectors of the blocks of the target image.
20 . The camera-equipped apparatus of claim 19 wherein the displacement vector correcting function comprises:
a mean vector determination function configured to determine a mean vector, and to calculate an average of the displacement vectors of blocks of a central region of the target image;
a comparison function configured to compare the mean vector with the displacement vector of the target image; and
a modification function configured to correct the displacement vector of the target image.
21 . The camera-equipped apparatus of claim 20 wherein the displacement vector correcting function further comprises a variance determination function configured to determine a variance of the average of the displacement vectors of the blocks of the central region of the target image.
22 . The camera-equipped apparatus of claim 21 wherein the displacement vector correcting function further comprises a first comparison module configured to compare the variance of the average of the displacement vectors with a first threshold.
23 . The camera-equipped apparatus of claim 22 wherein the displacement vector correcting function further comprises:
a subtraction module configured to calculate a difference between the displacement vector of the target image and the mean vector; and
a second comparison module configured to compare the difference with a second threshold.
24 . The camera-equipped apparatus of claim 20 wherein the modification function comprises a replacement function configured to replace the displacement vector of the target image with the mean vector.