Patent Document ID: 20110158529
Application ID: 12647838
Patent Status: 0

Claim One:
1. A processor-implemented method for processing an image data signal, the method comprising the following acts implemented by one or more processors: segmenting the image data signal by: determining a control signal for a pixel of interest in the image signal; determining an edge signal based on the image data signal representing locations of edges in the image data signal; determining a selector signal for identifying one or more foreground attributes of the image data signal based on the control signal and the edge signal; determining an initial background layer signal representing background attributes of the image data signal and an initial foreground layer signal representing the foreground attributes of the image data signal based on the selector signal; establishing a window comprising a pixel of interest and neighboring pixels in the selector signal; determining a selector count based on a number of on and off pixels in the window; determining an edge strength signal based on the selector layer signal; producing a decision signal, the decision signal comprising a value that is chosen based on the following: if the pixel of interest is off and all neighboring pixels are on, switch the pixel of interest off and assign a first value to the decision signal; else, if the pixel of interest is on and all neighboring pixels are off, switch the pixel of interest off and assign a second value to the decision signal; else, if the pixel of interest is off and some but not all neighboring pixels are on, apply a transformation to select a first alternate value from a range based on the selector signal, edge strength signal, and the selector count, and assign the first alternate value to the decision signal; else, if the pixel of interest is on and some but not all neighboring pixels are off, apply a transformation to select a second alternate value from the range based on the selector signal, edge strength signal, and the selector count, and assign the second alternate value to the decision signal; determining undefined pixels in the initial foreground and background layers based on at least the image data signal and the decision signal; and outputting a final foreground signal and a final background signal, wherein a representation of the pixel of interest of the image data signal is included in at least one of the final foreground signal and the final background signal in accordance with the decision signal.