Patent ID: 6366316
Filing Date: 2002-04-02
Classification: G06T,H04N

Abstract:
An electronic imaging system including a portable electronic camera operable in a compositing mode and a separate processor for compositing images; the portable electronic camera comprising:an image sensor for capturing a first image of a foreground subject and a background, and a second image of the background only, and for producing first and second image signals representative of the first and second captured images, respectively, when the portable electronic camera is operating in the compositing mode; means for converting the first and second image signals to first and second digital image signals, respectively; means for subtracting the first and second digital image signals to produce a difference image; means for processing the difference image to produce a foreground mask image signal; a removable memory; means for providing a first tag to identify the first digital image signal and a second tag to identify the foreground mask image signal, and for automatically applying the first and second tags to the first digital image signal and the foreground mask image signal, respectively, to produce first and second image files, respectively; and means for storing the first and second image files in the removable memory, whereby the stored first and second image files are adapted to be subsequently used in the compositing of a new composite image; and the separate processor comprising: means for receiving the removable memory and being responsive to the first and second tags for automatically accessing the first and second image files stored in the removable memory; means for extracting a foreground subject image from the first image file; means for selecting a different background image; and means for producing the composite image from the foreground subject image and the different background image.