Patent ID: 7071953

Claim:
An image processing method used for an image processing apparatus to overlay an image of an object to another image, said method comprising: a step of receiving n images each of which includes said object, wherein n is an integer no less than two, and either or both of color and brightness are different for each of the n images; a transparency calculation step of obtaining, from said n images, a transparency image having a transparency value for each pixel; a color calculation step of obtaining a color image of said object from said n images; and an overlaying step of overlaying said object on said another image by using said transparency image and said color image, wherein a pixel value of an overlaid image is obtained by P ⁢ ⁢ S ⁢ ( x , y ) = P ⁢ ⁢ C ⁢ ( x , y ) × P ⁢ ⁢ T ⁢ ( x , y ) + ( 1 - P ⁢ ⁢ T ⁢ ( x , y ) ) × 1 ( k + 1 ) 2 ⁢ ∑ m = - k 2 m = k 2 ⁢ ∑ n = - k 2 n = k 2 ⁢ P ⁢ ⁢ Z ⁢ ( x + m , y + n ) and k=K×PT(x, y), wherein PT(x, y) is a pixel value of said transparency image, PC(x, y) is a pixel value of said color image, and PZ(x, y) is a pixel value of said another image.