Patent Document ID: 5442717
Application ID: 08039659
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A sharpness processing apparatus including a processor for obtaining input image signals of an original image from an input device, effecting sharpness processing and outputting the image signals of the original image after the sharpness processing to an output device, said apparatus comprising: a first frame memory for receiving and storing digitized RGB signals representing R (red), G (green) and B (blue) components of pixels of said original image; an image monitor for receiving the RGB signals of said original image stored in said first frame memory to display said original image; a pointing device connected to said processor for moving a point designating marker displayed on said image monitor along with said original image, and applying coordinates of a point designated by said marker on a screen of said image monitor to said first frame memory as an address of a pixel corresponding to said point from which to read the RGB signals, said pointing device being used at least to designate a reference color acting as a central object for sharpness processing and to designate an effective range of the sharpness processing based on said reference color when identifying, by means of a color, a region to be subjected to the sharpness processing in said original image displayed on said image monitor; a parameter designating device for designating a parameter to indicate a degree of the sharpness processing; a parameter memory for storing said parameter designated; an image data conversion memory for storing combinations of three HSL values comprising hue (H), saturation (S) and lightness (L), representing perceived colors corresponding to said RGB signals, in storage regions at addresses representing various combinations of said RGB signals; a first pixel value memory for storing HSL values of a designated pixel relating to said reference color read from said image data conversion memory by applying thereto, as reading addresses, the RGB signals of the designated pixel relating to said reference color read from said first frame memory; an effective range pixel value memory for storing HSL values of a designated pixel relating to an effective range of the sharpness processing read from said image data conversion memory by applying thereto, as reading addresses, the RGB signals of the designated pixel relating to said effective range of the sharpness processing read from said first frame memory; effective range determining means for determining an effective range, expressed as HSL values dH, dS and dL, of the sharpness processing based on said reference color, from the HSL values of the designated pixel relating to said reference color and stored in said first pixel value memory and the HSL values of the designated pixel relating to said effective range of the sharpness processing and stored in said effective range pixel value memory; an effective range memory for storing said effective range (dH, dS and dL) of the sharpness processing determined by said effective range determining means; a second pixel value memory for successively reading from said first frame memory and storing the RGB signals of the pixels in said original image, and for storing the HSL values read from said image data conversion memory by applying the RGB signals thereto as reading addresses; comparator means for deriving absolute differences between the HSL values of said reference color stored in said first pixel value memory and the HSL values of the pixels in said original image stored in said second pixel value memory, to determine whether the absolute differences therebetween are smaller than said effective range (dH, dS and dL) of the sharpness processing stored in said effective range memory, and outputting an instruction to execute the sharpness processing when said absolute differences are smaller than said effective range, and an instruction to withhold the sharpness processing when said absolute differences are larger than said effective range; sharpness processing means for effecting the sharpness processing, only when said comparator means outputs the instruction to execute the sharpness processing, by applying the parameter stored in said parameter memory to the RGB signals of said original image stored in said second pixel value memory; and a second frame memory for storing, in positions corresponding to the pixels in said original image, the RGB signals of the pixels in said original image stored in said second pixel value memory in response to the instruction of said comparator means to withhold the sharpness processing, and for storing, in the positions corresponding to the pixels in said original image, RGB signals of the pixels in said original image resulting from the sharpness processing by said sharpness processing means in response to the instruction of said comparator means outputs to execute the sharpness processing, said second frame memory being operable to output the RGB signals resulting from the sharpness processing to said image monitor.