Patent Document ID: 7627172
Application ID: 11130390
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. An image processing system for processing an image, comprising: edge extracting means for extracting edges in at least one of a substantially horizontal direction and a substantially vertical direction from an input image; mode-value calculating means for calculating a mode value of intervals between two edges on the image in the substantially horizontal direction or in the substantially vertical direction for all possible combinations of edge pairs of the edges extracted by the edge extracting means; repeating-cycle calculating means for detecting linkage portions of a set of edge pairs having the mode value of the intervals calculated by the mode-value calculating means, areas sandwiched between the two edges of the edge pairs having the mode value being continuously adjacent to each other, and for calculating a statistically representative value of the intervals of the two edges of the edge pairs having the linkage portions as a repeating cycle of the extracted edges; image dividing means for dividing the input image by the repeating cycle of the extracted edges in a direction in which the edges repeatedly appear so as to generate a plurality of first blocks, which are small areas divided from the input image, and for setting a statistically representative color of each of the plurality of first blocks for the corresponding first block; block integrating means for coupling, among the plurality of first blocks generated by dividing the input image by the image dividing means, a plurality of adjacent first blocks whose color difference is within a predetermined range from a second block and for setting the color of the second block to the statistically representative color of the coupled first blocks so as to integrate the second block into the plurality of first blocks; area generating means for dividing the input image by boundaries of the second block in the substantially horizontal direction or in the substantially vertical direction generated by integrating the plurality of first blocks by the block integrating means so as to generate a plurality of areas for substituting the color; area substituting means for substituting, among the plurality of areas generated by the area generating means, an area having the largest proportion of a predetermined statistically representative color for colors of the other areas; area extracting means for extracting areas having a predetermined or greater size among the areas substituted by the area substituting means; repeating-component extracting means for extracting repeating components, which are repeatedly appearing, similar components, in the areas extracted by the area extracting means; repeating-component location adjusting means for adjusting the location of the repeating components extracted by the repeating-component extracting means by equally locating the repeating components extracted by the repeating-component extracting means at regular intervals on a screen; area interpolation means for interpolating a representative value of an image without the repeating components into some of the areas forming the image in which the location of the repeating components is not adjusted; feature information generating means for generating feature information indicating the repeating components located in the image interpolated by the area interpolation means and a feature of the location of the repeating components; acquiring means for acquiring the feature information generated by the feature information generating means; and reproduction means for reproducing the image based on the feature information acquired by the acquiring means.