Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corporation

Yoshimitsu Murahashi

Masaaki Moriya

Takashi Mine

Takayuki Murai

Naoki Shiobara

Katsuya Otoi

A video processing device detects, as a characteristic region, a region having a prescribed characteristic in each frame of a video and performs specific image processing on either the characteristic region in the frame or a region other than the characteristic region in the frame with a specified processing strength. The processing strength is specified so as to be altered stepwise in at least two steps that involve an intermediate value between a minimum value and a maximum value when there is a change in whether or not a characteristic region has been detected.

Video processing device

An image processing unit receives at least a clock signal, a data enable signal, and an image signal, and outputs at least the clock signal, the data enable signal, and a processed image signal. The image processing unit includes an interface, an estimated vertical synchronizing signal generator, and an image signal processor. The interface receives the clock signal and the data enable signal, and outputs the clock signal and the data enable signal. The estimated vertical synchronizing signal generator generates an estimated vertical synchronizing signal based on the clock signal and the data enable signal. The image signal processor receives the image signal, generates the processed image signal by performing, on the image signal, predetermined processing that uses the estimated vertical synchronizing signal, and outputs the generated processed image signal.

Image processing device

A purpose of the present invention is to implement, by specifying a process target area, an image generation device which generates an image (video) from which an image quality improving effect can be recognized and a display device which displays the image. An image generation device () includes a screen duplication unit (), a mask area determination unit (), a composition unit (), and an image quality adjustment unit (). The screen duplication unit () extracts and outputs at least a part of an image area of an input image as a process target image. The mask area determination unit () determines a mask area of the process target image and generates a mask image specifying the mask area. The image quality adjustment unit () performs predetermined image process to the mask area, which is determined by the mask area determination unit () in the process target image and outputs the image, to which the image process is performed, as an image after image quality adjustment. The composition unit () acquires a composited image in which the process target image, the mask image, and the image after the image quality adjustment are composited so that the process target image, the mask image, and the image after the image quality adjustment are displayed on a display screen.

Image generation device and display device

A resolution estimating device is achieved which is capable of adequately estimating the resolution of the original image of any received image signal. A resolution estimating device () includes a proximity-degree acquiring unit (), an accumulation unit (), a frequency transform unit (), and a spectrum analyzing unit (). The proximity-degree acquiring unit () acquires the proximity degree value of each target pixel. The accumulation unit () accumulates the proximity degrees of the target pixels, for example, in the vertical direction on the image, and obtains a one-dimensional data sequence of the accumulated proximity degree values. The frequency transform unit () performs a frequency transform on the one-dimensional data sequence of the accumulated proximity degree values obtained by the accumulation unit (), and obtains a one-dimensional frequency-component data sequence which is a one-dimensional data sequence for frequency regions. The spectrum analyzing unit () detects periodicity, for example, in the horizontal direction on a proximity degree image on the basis of the one-dimensional frequency-component data sequence obtained by the frequency transform unit (), and estimates the resolution of the original image, which is an image before a scaling-up process, of an input image on the basis of the detected periodicity.

Resolution estimating device

Provided is an image processing device capable of reproducing an original thin linear image region from a linear image region, which has become thick due to upscaling processing for a low-resolution image. In an image processing device (), an amplitude estimation unit () calculates a magnification a in a local region so that an input image signal becomes similar to a low-resolution pattern PtnL. A similarity calculation unit () outputs a similarity s, which has a great value, at a pixel position which is similar to the low-resolution pattern PtnL. An FIR filter unit () sets an FIR filter coefficient by a difference pattern PtnDiff, receives a product of the magnification a and the similarity s, and performs FIR filter processing, and thereby acquires a high frequency component &#x394;D. Then, when the high frequency component &#x394;D is added to an input image Din by an adder (), an output image Dout having excellent definition is acquired.

An image processing device () includes a luminance variation detection unit (), an angular variation detection unit (), an image region detection unit (), and an image processing unit (). The luminance variation detection unit () detects a degree of variation of pixel value in a pixel reference region including a pixel of interest and pixels around the pixel of interest. The angular variation detection unit () acquires a contour direction where the pixel value is constant in the pixel reference region for each pixel and detects a degree of variation of the acquired contour direction. The image region detection unit () acquires an image region detection signal representing characteristics of the image region including the pixel of interest based on the degree of variation of the pixel value and the degree of variation of the contour direction. The image processing unit () performs a predetermined image process on the pixel of interest based on the image region detection signal.

An image processing device according to one embodiment of the invention includes a contour direction estimating unit, a direction evaluating unit, a reference region weighting processing unit, and a composition operation unit. The contour direction estimating unit estimates a contour direction in which signal values of pixels are constant values for each pixel, the direction evaluating unit decides an evaluation value of each reference pixel of the pixel based on the contour direction of the pixel estimated by the contour direction estimating unit and the contour direction of each reference pixel serving as a pixel in a reference region corresponding to the pixel for each pixel, the reference region weighting processing unit decides a weighting coefficient of the reference pixel based on the contour direction of the pixel estimated by the contour direction estimating unit and the direction of each reference pixel of the pixel from the pixel, and the composition operation unit smoothes a signal value of the pixel based on the evaluation value decided by the direction evaluating unit and the weighting coefficient decided by the reference region weighting processing unit using a signal value of the reference pixel of the pixel.

Image processing device, image processing method, image processing program, and image display device

Provided is an image processing device capable of performing appropriate noise removal or reduction on input images of various resolution. The image processing device includes a contour direction estimating unit () that estimates a contour direction in which a signal value is a constant value for each pixel, a low pass filter unit () that smoothes the signal value of the pixel based on the signal value of each reference pixel serving as a pixel of a reference region according to the pixel and arranged in the contour direction of the pixel estimated by the contour direction estimating unit for each pixel, and a parameter deciding unit () that decides intensity of smoothing by the low pass filter unit according to an enlargement factor obtained based on a ratio of resolution of an input image signal and resolution of an output image signal.

A contour direction estimating unit estimates a contour direction in which signal values of pixels are constant values for each pixel, a low pass filter unit smooths a signal value of the pixel based on a signal value of each reference pixel that is a pixel of a reference region corresponding to the pixel and arranged in the contour direction of the pixel estimated by the contour direction estimating unit for each pixel, and a high frequency expanding unit generates a high frequency component of the signal value of the pixel and expands a frequency band for the signal value of the pixel.

A &#x394;&#x3a3; modulation digital-analogue converter of the present invention includes: a look-up table in which a correspondence relationship between each of a plurality of possible input values of an input signal externally supplied, and each of compensation values individually associated with the possible input values, are stored; and a nonlinear compensation circuit () for compensating the input signal externally supplied, based on a compensation value associated with the input signal among the compensation values, and supplying a &#x394;&#x3a3; modulation section () the input signal thus compensated. A sine wave is used as the input signal. The compensation value is set based on magnitudes of a spectrum of odd-order harmonics whose frequencies are A times more than a frequency of the sine wave (A is an odd number), the spectrum obtained in such a manner that an output of a D-Class amplifier () or an output of the &#x394;&#x3a3; modulation digital-analogue converter is subjected to a frequency analysis without a compensation with respect to the sine wave by the nonlinear compensation circuit (). Therefore, it is possible to provide a &#x394;&#x3a3; modulation digital-analogue converter which (i) suppresses generation of odd-order harmonics with a simple circuit arrangement, and therefore (ii) is excellent in SNR and THD+N.

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Osaka, Japan

Yoshimitsu Murahashi