Patent ID: 6950130

Claim:
A method for background replacement in image capture systems, the method comprising: recording a background of an image with no foreground object with an image capture device, wherein the background is used as an input to a probability function; using said image capture device to capture an input image having a foreground object; classifying each pixel in said input image as a foreground pixel or a background pixel wherein classification results from calculating the probability function directly from a formula using chromatic component values and intensity values in the probability function for each pixel in the input image producing a classification and a probability map simultaneously; refining said classification and probability map to ensure proper classification; replacing said background pixels with pixels from a different background, wherein said replacing is performed with feathering using weighted values for pixel values of the input image and the different background determined by the probability map; and producing an output image comprised of said foreground pixels and said pixels from a different background.