Patent Document ID: 7986831
Application ID: 11895735
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. An image processing apparatus for extracting pictures-in-picture information contained in an image, comprising: image segmenting means for segmenting an input image into regions; and region extracting means for extracting a pictures-in-picture region containing the pictures-in-picture information on basis of a contour of a segmented region, wherein the image segmenting means includes: an incidence graph creating means for creating an incidence graph in which adjacent nodes are connected by an edge, from an input image formed with nodes, a node being a pixel or a polygon formed from a cluster of pixels; a merge processing means for extracting a pair of the nodes sandwiching the edge in sorted order of the edges, and evaluating whether or not the pair of the nodes should be merged on a basis of a statistical processing algorithm, to merge the nodes; and a differential processing means for performing differential-processing on the input image, wherein the incidence graph creating means assign, to a pixel which frequency band is less than predetermined value in a differentiated image outputted from the differential processing means, an edge for connection with another pixel, to create a partial incidence graph, and the merge processing, means merge the nodes on a border or touching thereto to merge the background into a single region, to export the foreground image region including the pictures in picture, and to export the background image region on which the pictures in picture are placed.