JP2001218205A - Image encoding apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To reduce the time required for encoding processing of cut-out image data when the extracted image data is encoded again. SOLUTION: An object image extraction processing block 103 for extracting an image area of an arbitrary size from an original image.
And processing blocks 105 and 106 for calculating supplementary information such as the relative position, size, shape, and the like of the extracted image area.
And an additional information memory 120 for storing the additional information in association with the image data of the image area, and an encoder 108 for encoding the image data together with the additional information. When encoding is performed, the additional information corresponding to the image data is added to the additional information memory 1.
If the image data is stored in the storage unit 20, the image data is encoded using the stored additional information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image encoding device and an image encoding method for encoding an object image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a digital image editing / encoding system having a function of selecting and cutting out a part of an original image and editing / encoding the cut-out image has a structure as shown in FIG. Had. In FIG.
Reference numeral 1 denotes a frame memory group having a plurality of frame memories. A data select switch 402 switches and selects a frame memory from which image data is read in accordance with an instruction from the controller 407. An object image cutout processing block 403 cuts out the specified image area from the frame memory selected by the selector switch 402. 404, a frame memory (buffer); 405, a processing block for calculating the size of the cut-out image area and its relative position to the original image and its shape; 406, an encoder; and 407, a controller (operation terminal) 404, 405, and 406 indicate encoding processing blocks).

[0003] In FIG. 4, a controller (EWS or PC) 407 is an operation terminal of an editing / encoding processing apparatus and 401 to 40 as a control center of the entire processing system.
It is configured to control the operation of each unit indicated by reference numeral 6. Further, the controller 407 has not only the editing terminal and the controller of each functional block, but also functions as an encoding processing device by software.

[0004] Here, input original image (digital image) data is temporarily stored in a frame memory group 401, and each of the stored image data can be read out appropriately under the control of a controller 407. It is in a state. Image data read from the frame memory group 401 according to a command from the controller 407 is input to the object image cutout processing block 403 via the selector switch 402. At this time, the read address of the frame memory group 401 and the selector switch 40
2 is controlled synchronously by the controller 407. The image input to the object image cutout processing block 403 (generally processed in units of frame images) cuts out (separates) a specific image area in accordance with an instruction from the controller 407, and cuts out the cutout image. The data is input to an encoding processing block and encoded.

In this encoding processing block, first, the extracted image data is stored in the frame memory 404.
Thereafter, the image data is read from the frame memory 404 and input to the relative position / size detection block 405. This relative position / size detection block 405
Is the position information (relative position) of the image data cut out by the object image cutout processing block 403 on the original image to be cut out,
The size of the extracted image (the number of horizontal pixels and the number of vertical pixels) is calculated. This relative position / size detection block 4
The processing in 05 is performed sequentially on the input cutout image.

Thus, the relative position / size detection block 4
After calculating each information such as the relative position of the image data and the cut-out image size at 05, the read-out cut-out image is subjected to predetermined compression / encoding processing by the encoder 406. The encoded image data is output as a bit stream.

[0007]

As described above,
In a conventional image editing / encoding device, a block that performs a selective extraction process of an image and an encoder that encodes the extracted image data are functionally independent. For this reason, even when encoding using the same cut-out image a plurality of times, detection processing of the relative position and the cut-out size of the cut-out image data is required each time, and editing / editing is performed.
This has been detrimental in terms of improving the encoding processing speed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional example, and stores additional information relating to cut-out image data to be encoded in association with the image data. It is possible to provide an image encoding apparatus and a method thereof that can reduce the time required for encoding processing of cut-out image data by reading and reusing the stored supplementary information when the encoding is performed. Aim.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, an image coding apparatus according to the present invention has the following arrangement. That is, an image cutout unit that cuts out an image area of an arbitrary size from an original image, an incidental information calculation unit that calculates incidental information of the image region cut out by the image cutout unit, and an image data of the image region of the image region. Storage means for storing the image data of the image area together with the supplementary information, and encoding means for encoding the image data of the image area by the encoding means. When the supplementary information corresponding to the image data of the area is stored in the storage means, the image data is encoded using the supplementary information stored in the storage means.

In order to achieve the above object, an image encoding method according to the present invention comprises the following steps. That is, an image cutting step of cutting out an image area of an arbitrary size from the original image, an additional information calculating step of calculating additional information of the image area cut out in the image extracting step, and the additional information A storage step of storing the additional information corresponding to the image data of the image area in the memory; and a determination step of determining whether the additional information corresponding to the image data of the image area is stored in the memory. When determined, encoding the image data using the additional information stored in the memory, otherwise, an encoding step to encode using the additional information calculated in the additional information calculation step, It is characterized by having.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an image coding apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a frame memory group, and a plurality of frame memories (101a, 101b,...)
And an additional information memory 120. A selector 102 switches a frame memory to be output to the object image cutout processing block 103 in accordance with a selection signal 121 from the controller 109. The object image cutout processing block 103 includes a selector 10
The image data is read out from the frame memory selected in Step 2, and an object image to be processed is cut out and output.

Next, the configuration of the encoding processing block 130 will be described.

Reference numeral 104 denotes a frame memory which stores the image data cut out by the object image cut-out processing block 103. Reference numeral 105 denotes a block for detecting the relative position of the rectangular region indicating the cut-out image region with respect to the entire original image and the size of the region. 1
Reference numeral 06 denotes a shape information calculation block for obtaining the shape of the extracted image. 107 and 110 are selectors for selecting what processing is to be performed on the clipped object image according to an instruction from the controller 109. 108 is an encoder.

In the above configuration, input digital image data is stored and held in the frame memories of the frame memory group 101 as original image data. The original image data stored and held in the frame memory group 101 is read out in arbitrary units under the control of the controller 109, and is input to the object image cutout processing block 103 via the data selector 102.

Here, the controller 109 executes a frame memory group 101, a selector 102, and an object image cutout processing block 10 by an arbitrary control program.
EWS having a function of controlling various kinds of encoding processing typified by control of the amount of code in the encoder 108, and controlling the reading and writing of the data selector 107 and the frame memory 104. Or a PC terminal.

Object image cutout processing block 1
03 selects an area (rectangular area) designated by the controller 109 from the input image data in accordance with an instruction of the controller 109, cuts out the image data area, and outputs it.

In parallel with the object image clipping process, as shown in FIG. 5, the coordinate values ((X0, Y0), (X1, Y1),
(X2, Y2), (X3, Y3)) are detected and output together with the cut-out rectangular image.

The coordinate values of these four points become link information for identifying the relationship between the object image cut out by the object image cutout processing block 103 and the original image to which the object image originally belongs.

In the first embodiment, the coordinate values of the four vertices in the cut-out rectangular area have been described as the link information. However, the selection of the coordinate position adopted as the link information is arbitrary, and the present embodiment is not limited to this. However, the present invention is not limited to the coordinate position in the first mode.

Here, the rectangular image area extracted by the object image extraction processing block 103 is defined as an object image. The object image output from the object image cutout processing block 103 is input to the encoding processing block 130 in combination with the coordinate values of these four points.

The object image and the coordinate values of the four points input to the encoding processing block 130 are temporarily stored in the frame memory 104 in order to adjust the data amount. The object image stored in the frame memory 104 is appropriately read out at an arbitrary data size via the data selector 110 under the control of the controller 109, and is input to the processing blocks 105 and 106 or directly. , Are input to the selector 107.

The processing block 105 determines the relative position of the input object image (rectangular image area) on the original image where the object image originally exists, and the size (horizontal and vertical dimensions) of the rectangular area. Calculate and output information.

On the other hand, the processing block 106 separates an arbitrary (or desired) image area existing inside the object image (rectangular image area) extracted by the object image extraction processing block 103 into other image parts. Then, shape information representing a boundary between a desired target image area and other image parts is created and output.
Information on an arbitrary image area inside the object image is instructed by the controller 109.

The data output from the processing blocks 105 and 106 is input to the encoder 108 and the controller 109 via the data selector 107.

Similarly, by the selectors 110 and 107,
The object image from the frame memory 104 is also directly
Input to the encoder 108, the processing blocks 105, 10
6 is subjected to a predetermined encoding process together with the position information, shape information, and the like output from 6, and is output as encoded image data.

In the first embodiment, the encoding process in the encoder 108 is based on an inter-frame or inter-field predictive encoding system represented by, for example, MPEG-2, 4, or the like.

The additional (additional) information (positional information, size information, shape information) of the object image input to the controller 109 via the data selector 107 is transmitted by the controller 109 together with the link information to the information unique to the object image. It is stored in the additional information memory 120 of the frame memory group 101 as additional (extra) information.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing processing of the controller 109 according to the present embodiment.

First, in step S1, an original image from which an image is to be extracted is selected, and an object image extraction processing block 103 selects and designates an area to be extracted in the selected original image. Next, the process proceeds to step S2, where the designated area is cut out by the object image cutout processing block 103, and the process proceeds to step S6, where the cut out image is encoded. This shows a state where the output of the selector 110 is directly input to the selector 107 and output to the encoder 108.

In step S3, link information between the image cut out in step S1 and the original image is generated. Next, the process proceeds to step S4, in which the extracted object image and link information are stored in the frame memory 104.
The link information of the object image stored in the frame memory 104 is compared with the link information stored in the additional information memory 120. If there is no match, the process proceeds from step S4 to step S7, where the processing of the additional information such as the size / position / shape information of the object image is performed by each of the processing blocks 105 and 106 as in the related art. After that, the additional information and the object image data stored in the frame memory 104 are
The data is input to the encoder 108 via the selectors 110 and 107 and encoded (step S6).

The controller 109 determines in step S8
, Input through the selector 107, step S7
In step S9, the additional information is linked to the original image. The additional information linked in this way is stored in the additional information memory 120 (step S10).

If the matching additional information exists in the additional information memory 120, the process proceeds to step S5, where the controller 109 reads out the matching additional information from the frame memory group 101, outputs the same to the encoder 108, and outputs the code. (S6). In this case, processing blocks 105 and 10
The calculation processing of the additional information such as the position information and the shape information on the object image in 6 is canceled by the control of the controller 109 (specifically, the output of the image data from the selector 110 to these processing blocks 105 and 106 is prohibited). ), Only the object image data stored in the frame memory 104 is
0 and 107 to the encoder 108 to be encoded.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, by storing the additional information calculated for an object image cut out from an original image in association with the object image, When the image is used again, the stored corresponding additional information can be read and used. This has the effect of reducing the time required for processing the same object image.

[Embodiment 2] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image coding apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 301 denotes a frame memory group, which includes a plurality of frame memories and an additional information memory associated with each frame memory. A selector 302 selects an output from the frame memory in accordance with a selection signal from the controller 309. Reference numeral 303 denotes an object image cutout processing block.

Next, in the encoding processing block 330,
304 is a frame memory, 305 is a relative position of a rectangular area,
A size detection block, 306 is a shape information calculation block,
307 is a data selector, and 308 is an encoder.
The configuration of the second embodiment is different from the configuration of the first embodiment only in that the configuration of the frame memory group 301 is different from the configuration of the frame memory group 101 described above. This is the same as the configuration of the first embodiment.

In the above configuration, the input digital image signal is converted to the frame memory group 3 as original image data.
01 is stored and held. This frame memory group 301
Is composed of a plurality of independent frame memories so that the original image data can be classified by an arbitrary parameter and stored in an independent memory for each parameter. Furthermore,
Similarly, the additional information memory in the frame memory group 301
Although it is composed of a plurality of independent memories, each frame memory and each additional information memory can be linked.

The original image data stored and held in the frame memories of the frame memory group 301 is read out in arbitrary units under the control of the controller 309, selected by the data selector 302, and input to the object image cutout processing block 303. Is done.

Here, the controller 309 includes a frame memory group 301, a selector 302, and an object image cutout processing block 30 according to an arbitrary control program.
In addition to supervising and controlling the operation of the edit block having the number 3, the encoder 308 has control functions of various encoding processes represented by the control of the code amount, and has a data selector 307 and a read / write control function of the frame memory 304. E
WS and PC terminals are assumed.

The object image cutout processing block 303 selects an area designated by the controller 309 (rectangular area) on the input image data according to an instruction from the controller 309, performs cutout processing, and outputs the selected area.

In parallel with this cutout processing, as shown in FIG. 5, the coordinate values ((X
0, Y0), (X1, Y1), (X2, Y2), (X3, Y
3)) is detected and output together with these cut-out rectangular images.

The coordinate values of these four points become link information for identifying the relationship between the object image cut out by the object image cutout block 303 and the original image to which the object image originally belongs.

In the second embodiment, the coordinate values of the four vertices in the cut-out rectangular area have been described as the link information. However, the selection of the coordinate position to be adopted as the link information is arbitrary. However, the present invention is not limited to this coordinate position.

The rectangular image area separated by the object image cutout processing block 303 is defined as an object image. The object image output from the object image extraction processing block 303
The data is input to the encoding processing block 330 as a set together with the coordinate values of the points.

The object image and the coordinate values of the four points input to the encoding processing block 330 are temporarily stored in the frame memory 304 in order to adjust the data amount.

The object image stored in the frame memory 304 is controlled by the controller 309.
Via the data selector 310, the data is appropriately read out at an arbitrary data size and input to the processing blocks 305 and 306.

The processing block 305 includes information on the relative position of the input object image (rectangular image area) on the original image where the object image originally exists and the size (horizontal and vertical dimensions) of the rectangular area. Is calculated and output. Further, the processing block 306 performs an operation of separating an arbitrary (or desired) image existing inside the object image (rectangular image area) cut out by the object image cutout block 303 from other parts, and Create and output shape information representing the target image and other parts. Information on an arbitrary image inside the object image is designated by the controller 309.

The outputs from the processing blocks 305 and 306 are passed through a data selector 307 to an encoder 308.
Is input to the controller 309. Similarly, the object image from the frame memory 304 is
8 and is subjected to a predetermined encoding process together with position information, shape information, and the like, and is output as encoded image data.

In the second embodiment, the encoding process in the encoder 308 assumes an inter-frame or inter-field predictive encoding system represented by, for example, MPEG-2, 4, or the like.

Addition of object image input to controller 309 via data selector 307 (incidental)
The information (position information, size information, and shape information) is stored by the controller 309 in the frame memory group 301 together with the link information as the additional (extra) information unique to the object image in the frame memory group 301. It is configured to be stored in a memory for additional information paired with the frame memory.

Next, the processing by the controller 309 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2. Since this processing is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, it will be briefly described.

First, the controller 309 determines in step S1
Then, an original image from which an image is to be cut out is selected, and in an object image cutout block 303, a region to be cut out is selected and designated in the selected original image. The designated area is cut out and link information is generated and output.

Further, the cut object image and the link information are stored in the frame memory 304, and the link information of the stored object image is compared with the link information stored in the additional information memory. Here, if there is no match, the processing of calculating the additional information is performed in the processing blocks 305 and 306 as in the first embodiment, and then the additional information and the object image stored in the frame memory 304 are processed. The data is passed to the selector 310,
Input to the encoder 308 via 307.

On the other hand, when there is a match,
The controller 309 reads the coincident additional information from the frame memory group 301 and outputs it to the encoder 308. At this time, the calculation processing of the additional information such as the position information and the shape information on the object image in the processing blocks 305 and 306 is canceled by the control of the controller 309, and only the object image data stored in the frame memory 304 is selected by the data selector 310, 307
Through the encoder 308.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, similar to the first embodiment, the additional information calculated for the object image cut out from the original image is used.
By storing the object image in association with the object image, when the object image is used again, the stored corresponding additional information can be read and used. This has the effect of reducing the time required for processing the same object image.

Even if the present invention is applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), an apparatus including one device (for example, a copying machine, a facsimile machine) Etc.).

Another object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium (or a recording medium) in which program codes of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments are recorded to a system or an apparatus, and to provide a computer (or a computer) of the system or apparatus This is also achieved by a CPU or MPU) reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. By executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an operating system (OS) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. This also includes a case where some or all of the actual processing is performed and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into the memory provided in the function expansion card inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the program code is read based on the instruction of the program code. This also includes the case where the CPU provided in the function expansion card or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the additional information calculated for the object image obtained by cutting out the original image is stored and held in a form linked to the object image. When reused, the additional information stored in association with the object image is also read.

As a result, the additional information calculated for a certain object image can be reused thereafter, and the redundancy of the processing for calculating the additional information for the same object image is reduced. This makes it possible to speed up a series of processes of image editing and encoding.

[0063]

As described above, according to the present invention, additional information relating to cut-out image data to be encoded is stored in association with the image data, and the image data is encoded again. In this case, the stored additional information is read out and reused, so that there is an effect that the time required for encoding the cut-out image data can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an image encoding device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a process in the image encoding device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an image encoding device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a conventional image encoding device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of link information of an object image according to the present embodiment.

Claims (9)

[Claims] An image extracting unit that extracts an image area of an arbitrary size from an original image; an incidental information calculating unit that calculates incidental information of the image area extracted by the image extracting unit; Storage means for storing the image data of the image area together with the supplementary information, and storing the image data of the image area together with the accompanying information. When the supplementary information corresponding to the image data of the image area is stored in the storage means, the image data is encoded using the supplementary information stored in the storage means. Image encoding device. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the additional information calculating unit includes: a calculating unit configured to calculate at least coordinate information defining an image area extracted by the image extracting unit; and a shape calculating unit configured to calculate shape information of the image area. The image encoding device according to claim 1, wherein 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a separating unit configured to separate the image region into a desired image region and another region. The image coding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image coding apparatus includes: 4. The image encoding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit includes a memory for storing image data of the image area and a memory for storing the additional information in a pair. . 5. An image cutting step of cutting out an image area of an arbitrary size from an original image; an additional information calculating step of calculating incidental information of the image area cut out in the image cutting step; A storage step of storing the additional information corresponding to the image data of the image area in the memory; and a storage step of storing whether or not the incidental information corresponding to the image data of the image area is stored in the memory. Is determined, the image data is encoded using the additional information stored in the memory; otherwise, the encoding is performed using the additional information calculated in the additional information calculation step. And an image encoding method. 6. The supplementary information calculating step includes a calculating step of calculating coordinate information defining at least the image area output in the image clipping step, and a shape calculating step of calculating shape information of the image area. 6. The image encoding method according to claim 5, wherein: 7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a separating step of separating the image area into a desired image area and another area. The image encoding method according to claim 5, wherein the image area is set to the following image area. 8. The image encoding method according to claim 5, wherein the memory includes a pair of a memory for storing image data of the image area and a memory for storing the additional information. 9. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for executing the image encoding method according to claim 5. Description: