Patent ID: 7356185
Filing Date: 2008-04-08
Classification: G06K,G06T

Abstract:
1. A method for preparing a digital input image for a subsequent pattern recognition process, and for emphasizing prominent objects in the digital input image, the digital input image comprising pixels and the pixels having values, the method comprising the following steps: filtering the digital input image with a low-pass filter to obtain a low-pass filtered digital image; evaluating a local standard deviation of the low-pass filtered digital image by replacing the value of each pixel of the low-pass filtered digital image by a standard deviation value of gray levels of the pixels in a defined neighborhood of the pixel to generate a mask image; and combining the digital input image with the mask image in accordance with a weight mask indicating a weight to be given to pixels of the mask image relative to corresponding pixels of the digital input image, the weight mask designed such that only a portion of the digital input image is combined with the mask image.