Patent ID: 7646400
Filing Date: 2010-01-12
Classification: G03B,G06T,H04N

Abstract:
1. A method for forming a panoramic image using a camera, the method comprising: taking a first photograph using the camera and displaying a first image of the first photograph on a display of the camera; forming a blending area on the display, the blending area comprising a portion of the first image of the first photograph as displayed on the display; moving the camera before taking a second photograph and displaying on the display a preview image of a yet-to-be-taken second photograph; using a pixel matching process for determining an alignment of the portion of the first image in the blending area and a part of the preview image corresponding to the blending area, the alignment being represented as a matching value indicative of matching quality; providing all pixels in the blending area with a weight value representing visual importance, pixels that form the boundary edges of the first and preview images being given higher weight values; and calculating the matching value using the weight values of all pixels in the blending area during the pixel matching process.