Sony United Kingdom Limited

Ian McLean

James Hendrie McIntyre

Stephen Mark Keating

Mark Julian Russell

Clive Henry Gillard

Daniel Warren Tapson

Jason Charles Pelly

Daniel Luke Hooper

An encoding data processing apparatus generates a video material item marked copy by embedding a payload data word into the video material item. The video material item includes plural video frames. A code word generator generates a water mark code word from the payload data word and reads data representing the water mark code word into a shuffle data store. A shuffle processor generates pseudo randomly at least one address within an address space of the shuffle data store for each video frame and reads data representing part or parts of the water mark code word out from the data store at locations identified by the pseudo randomly generated address. A data embedding processor receives the video material item and embeds the data representing the part or parts of the water mark code word read out from the shuffle data store for each frame into a corresponding frame of the video material item.

Encoding and detecting apparatus

A hardware decryption processor operates, when power is applied to a programmable logic device, to read an encrypted configuration program, to decrypt the encrypted configuration program using a first secret configuration key stored in a register, and to configure a programmable array of logic elements with the configuration program. The programmable array when configured with the configuration program operates to read the encrypted configuration program from a non-volatile store, to decrypt the configuration program using the first secret configuration key, which was provided with the configuration program, to generate a second secret key, to adapt the configuration program by inserting the second secret key into the configuration program, to re-encrypt the adapted configuration program using the first secret configuration key, and to replace the configuration program with the adapted and encrypted configuration program in the non-volatile store.

Programmable logic device

A digital image processing apparatus for applying pixel-based color correction to an input image to generate an output image is described herein. The apparatus includes color correction logic arranged to provide two or more color correction processes. Each color correction process has a respective associated locus in a color space and a respective associated color mapping operation. The color correction processes are arranged as a succession of processes so that the results of a color correction process form the input to a next such process in the succession. Each color correction process is operable to detect whether each pixel lies within the respective locus in color space and, if so, to apply the color mapping operation to that pixel. Each color correction process after the first process in the succession is configured to inhibit color mapping in respect of the loci associated with previous processes in the succession.

Color correction

Digital image processing apparatus for applying pixel-based colour correction to a hue-saturation-based polar representation of pixels of an input image to generate an output image comprises colour correction logic arranged to provide a colour mapping operation defined by a hue alteration amount and a key value associated with each pixel; the colour correction logic comprising: hue modifying logic for adding a proportion of the hue alteration amount to the hue of each pixel of the input image, the proportion depending on the key value associated with that pixel; and saturation modifying logic for modifying the saturation of each pixel in dependence on the hue alteration amount and the key value for that pixel, such that for a key value indicating that only a fraction of the hue alteration amount should be applied to a current pixel, the saturation of that pixel is also modified so that, when expressed with respect to a rectangular chrominance-based colour space, the pixel is moved to a position in that colour space substantially lying on a straight line between the original pixel position and the position that the pixel would occupy if the full hue alteration amount were applied.

Colour correction

An image processing apparatus is operable to embed data into an image. Images such as those generated from an inter-laced scan may comprise a frame of image data, the frame comprising first and second image fields. The image processing apparatus comprises a combining processor operable to introduce the data to be embedded into at least one of the first and second fields of the image frame. As such a likelihood of a perceivable effect of the embedded data on the image may be reduced, because the images are viewed as a frame. The embedded data may also have an increased likelihood of being detected because some processing may effect the image frame more then the fields of the image. The combining processor may be operable to represent the data to be embedded in a transform domain form, and, in combination with a transform processor, combine the data to be embedded with the first and/or second fields with the image in a transform domain form or a spatial domain form. The transform domain may provide a plurality of sub-bands and the data to be embedded may be introduced into at least one of the sub-bands of the transform domain form of the first and/or second fields of the image. Furthermore, the combining processor may be operable to introduce data to be embedded into at least one other sub-band, and the combining processor may be operable in combination with the transform processor to combine the data in the other sub-band with the frame of image data in the transform or the spatial domain.

Apparatus for embedding data into transform and spatial domains of an image

An image processing apparatus operates to process signal samples in a form of color reference signal samples representative of at least part of a color video image to produce legal color signal samples representing a legal color version of the image. The apparatus comprises a color conversion processor arranged to receive the input signal samples and which operates to convert the color reference signal samples from a unipolar form, to bipolar form on a scale between two maxima having opposite polarity, an adjustment factor generator, which operates to generate a plurality of adjustment factors which when combined with the input signal samples have an effect of converting illegal color pixels of the color image into legal color pixels, and a color legalizer coupled to the adjustment factor generator, which operates to combine the adjustment factors with the input signal samples to produce the legalized color signal samples.

Method of processing signals and apparatus for signal processing

An image processing apparatus operates to process input signal samples representative of at least part of a colour video image to produce legal colour signal samples representative of a legal colour version of the image. The apparatus comprises an adjustment factor generator, which operates to generate a plurality of adjustment factors which when combined with the input signal samples have an effect of converting illegal colour pixels of the colour image into legal colour pixels, an adjustment factor softener, which operates to soften the adjustment factors whereby distortion in the legal colour video image produced when the adjustment factors are combined with the input signal samples is substantially reduced, and a colour legaliser coupled to the softener, which operates to combine the softened adjustment factors with the input signal samples to produce the legalised colour signal samples. The image processing apparatus may operate with input signal samples in the form having red, green or blue components, or in a form having luminance and chrominance components, or indeed in other forms.

An image processing apparatus operates to process signal samples representative of at least part of a color video image to produce legal color signal samples representative of a legal color version of the image. The apparatus comprises an over sampling processor which operates to generate an over sampled version of the input signal samples by generating at least one extra signal sample for each base input signal sample, an adjustment factor generator, which operates to generate a plurality of adjustment factors which when combined with the input signal samples have an effect of converting illegal color pixels of the color image into legal color pixels, a color legalizer coupled to the adjustment factor generator, which operates to combine the adjustment factors with the input signal samples to produce the legalized color signal samples in an over sampled form, an anti-aliasing processor coupled to the color legalizer, which operates to filter selectively the over sampled version of the legalized color signal samples with an anti-aliasing filter in dependence upon whether the legalized color signal samples have changed with respect to the input signal samples and if the legalized color signal samples have not changed, bypassing the filter, and a decimating processor coupled to the color legalizer which operates to decimate the filtered legalised color signal samples to produce legalized signal samples having a sampling rate corresponding to that of the base input signal samples. The anti-aliasing processor filters the legalised color signal samples by selecting the base legalized color signal samples corresponding to the base input signal sample, where neither the base or the associated extra color signal samples have changed with respect to the input signal samples.

Processing signal samples of color video image to produce legalized color version of the image

An image processing apparatus operates to process input signal samples representative of at least part of a color video image to produce legal color signal samples representative of a legal color version of the image. The apparatus comprises an over sampling processor which operates to generate an over sampled version of the input signal samples by generating at least one extra signal sample for each base input signal sample, an adjustment factor generator, which operates to generate a plurality of adjustment factors which when combined with the input signal samples have an effect of converting illegal color pixels of the color image into legal color pixels, a color legalizer coupled to the adjustment factor generator, which operates to combine the adjustment factors with the input signal samples to produce the legalized color signal samples, a decimating processor coupled to the color legalizer which operates to decimate the legalized color signal samples to produce legalized signal samples having a sampling rate corresponding to that of the base input signal samples, a further adjustment factor generator, and a further color legalizer each of which is coupled to the output of the decimating processor, the further adjustment factor generator operating to generate further adjustment factors, and the further color legalizer operating to combine the further adjustment factors with the decimated legalized color signal samples. The image processing apparatus may operate with input signal samples in the form having red, green or blue components, or in a form having luminance and chrominance components, or indeed in other forms.

An image processing apparatus processes input signal samples representative of at least part of a color video image to produce legal color signal samples. An over sampled version of the input signal samples is produced. A plurality of adjustment factors are generated which, when combined with the input signal samples, have the effect of converting illegal color pixels of the color image into legal color pixels. The over sampled legalized color signal samples are decimated, resulting in a sampling rate corresponding to that of the base input signal samples, by selecting signal samples from the over sampled version of the legalized color signal samples which have not changed with respect to the corresponding input signal samples. If the signal samples have changed, a plurality of the over sampled legalized color signal samples are combined to produce the decimated legalized signal samples; and if neither the base nor the associated extra color signal samples have changed, base legalized color signal samples are selected.

Growing community of inventors

Woking, United Kingdom

Ian McLean