Patent ID: 7359566
Filing Date: 2008-04-15
Classification: G06T

Abstract:
1. A bright point detecting method for plotting a bright line on a digital photographic image, comprising: a first step of selecting a cluster of pixels in the image to be processed which are higher in luminance than a predetermined threshold; a second step of counting the number of the pixels of each group, which continuously extend from one target pixel in the cluster selected by the first step, along two or more directions and selecting the group of pixels of which the number is not higher than a bright point permissive size of the pixels; a third step of calculating the evaluation of each pixel in the cluster, which is selected by the second step, with the use of an evaluation function based on the count and identifying the center pixel of the group from the evaluation; and a fourth step of selectively determining as a bright point pixel the center pixel at the highest evaluation among the center pixels which are identified by the third step as located in a given area based on the bright point permissive size of the pixels.