Patent ID: 7181047

Claim:
A process for identifying pixels in an input signal in one of a plurality of classes in one of a plurality of domains in histogram formation blocks including classifiers and associated with validation blocks, the input signal comprising a succession of frames, each frame comprising a succession of pixels, each histogram formation block having a memory capable of storing the number of pixels in a frame, the process comprising, on a frame-by-frame basis: for each pixel of the input signal, analyzing the pixel and providing an output signal for each domain containing information to identify each domain in which the pixel is classified; providing a histogram formation block with its classifier for each domain, the classifier enabling classification of pixels within each domain to selected classes within the domain to an output; providing a validation signal for the domains from the validation block of the respective histogram formation block, the validation signal selecting one or more of the plurality of domains for processing in the respective histogram formation block; forming a histogram in the memory for pixels of the output signal within the classes selected by the classifier within each domain selected by the validation signal, the output of each classifier being communicated to each of the validation blocks via a bus; and computing, in parallel to the forming of a histogram, key characteristics of the histogram including at least the position (POSRMAX) of the maximum of the histogram.