The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 11, 2001
Filed:
May. 24, 1999
Arie Berman, Chatsworth, CA (US);
Paul Vlahos, Tarzana, CA (US);
Arpag Dadourian, Northridge, CA (US);
Ultimatte Corporation, Chatsworth, CA (US);
Abstract
In an image being displayed on a monitor, each observed background color is identified using a cursor to select the dominant colors. Each foreground color is also identified by using the cursor as a selector. For each pixel, several Candidate mattes are computed one for each background color. Each Candidate matte is computed from a single background color and the set of selected foreground colors using any known method. Of the several Candidate mattes, the greater of these Candidates becomes the matte signal for a given pixel. If this matte is 1.0, then the pixel is part of the background. If the matte is zero, then the pixel is part of the subject. If the matte is between 1.0 and 0.0, then the pixel is in a transition area and the contribution of the background to the pixel is that pixel's matte level. A 'Processed Foreground' is generated by removing the contribution of the background from each pixel in the image, resulting in the subject appearing against a black field. The above generated Candidate mattes permit the generation of Processed Foreground Candidates. Of these Processed Foreground Candidates, the smallest is the final Processed Foreground for a given pixel.