Abstract: Various embodiments of methods and apparatus for removing motion blur are disclosed. A homography is estimated for each of a plurality of images. Two or more images of the plurality are unaligned. An estimated latent image for the plurality of images selected for recovery of the latent image is deconvolved. A point spread function for the each of the plurality of images is calculated. The homography for the each of the plurality of images, the estimated latent image, and the point spread function for the each of the plurality of images are iteratively updated until the homography for each of the plurality of images stabilizes. The iteratively updating includes updating one of the homography for the each of the plurality of images, the estimated latent image, and the point spread function for the each of the plurality of images while holding the remainder constant.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media for automatically detecting skin tones in an input image are disclosed. An initial skin tone mask for the image may be created dependent on a general skin tone model. An upper threshold and/or a lower threshold may be applied to the initial skin tone mask to identify pixels most likely to be skin pixels and least likely to be skin pixels, respectively. These pixels may be used to produce an image-specific skin tone model, including one or more truncated Gaussian models for skin pixels and/or non-skin pixels defined in a three-dimensional color space. The image-specific skin tone model may be applied to the image to generate a final skin tone mask. Skin tone detection may be automatically or selectively performed in conjunction with image editing or image feature identification operations to target or exclude skin pixels or non-skin pixels during execution of the operations.

Abstract: The invention is directed to single crystal alkaline earth metal fluoride optical elements having an adhesive, hermetic coating thereon, the coating being chemically bonded to the surface of the metal fluoride optical element with a bonding energy ?4 eV and not merely bonded by van der Walls forces. The materials that can be used for coating the optical elements are selected from the group consisting of SiO2, F—SiO2, Al2O3, F—Al2O3, SiON, HfO2, Si3N4, TiO2 and ZrO2, and mixtures (of any composition) of the foregoing, for example, SiO2; HfO2 and F—SiO2/ZrO2. The preferred alkali earth metal fluoride used for the optical elements is CaF2. Preferred coatings are SiO2, F—SiO2, SiO2/ZrO2 and F—SiO2/ZrO2.

Abstract: Various embodiments of methods and apparatus for motion deblurring in text images are disclosed. In one embodiment, a threshold-based text prediction for a blurred image is generated. A point spread function for the blurred image is estimated. A result of the threshold-based text prediction function is deconvolved based on the point spread function. The generating, estimating, and deconvolving are iterated at a plurality of scales, and a final deconvolution of a result of the iteratively deconvolving is executed.

Abstract: Various embodiments of methods and apparatus for motion deblurring are disclosed. In one embodiment, an estimate of a latent image of a blurred image at a current scale from an estimate of a latent image at a previous coarse scale is generated using an upsampling super-resolution function, and a blur kernel is estimated based on the estimate of the latent image and the blurred image; and are repeated from a course to fine scale. A final image estimate is generated. The generating the final image estimate includes performing a deconvolution of the latent image using the blur kernel and the blurred image.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for generating variable-width border masks for objects in input images. Given an input image and an initial binary selection of an object in the image, a variable-width border mask method may be applied to automatically generate an accurate, variable-width border mask for the object. An initial border mask may be generated. An initial foreground probability map may be generated within the initial border mask using a Gaussian Mixture color modeling technique. A geodesic smoothing technique may be applied to the initial foreground probability map to reduce or remove noise. An optimization technique may be applied to optimize the foreground boundary, and a final variable-width border mask may be generated. The variable-width border mask may be used as input to image matting algorithms to generate an accurate alpha mask of the foreground object selected from the input image.

Abstract: A method, system, and computer-readable storage medium are disclosed for generating a mask based on a color model. In one embodiment, a selection of at least one color in an input image is received. A color model may be determined based on the selection of the at least one color, wherein the color model comprises one or more truncated Gaussian functions. A mask may be generated based on the color model. The mask may comprise a respective value indicating a degree of membership in the mask for each of the plurality of pixels in the input image, wherein the degree of membership in the mask is a function of a similarity in color to the selection.

Abstract: Various embodiments of methods and apparatus for removing unwanted background color from a border region surrounding a foreground object in an image in order to composite the foreground object of the image with a new background image are described. Embodiments of color decontamination for image compositing may accept an image and an alpha matte corresponding to the image as input. In some embodiments, estimated foreground colors are determined for pixels in a border region between the foreground and the background of the input image. In some embodiments, the input image may be created by down-sampling a higher resolution image and pixels with estimated foreground colors may be up-sampled. In some embodiments, a composite image may be created based on the input image, the alpha matte, the estimated foreground colors of pixels in the border region and a new background image.

Abstract: An interactive system for separating image information from noise information in noisy input images may include a structure-preserving filter capable of separating high- and low-frequency image structures from random noise. The system may access data representing an initially denoised image and a corresponding initial noise layer, apply the structure-preserving filter to the noise layer to extract image structure, and combine the extracted structure with the initially denoised image to produce a refined image, restoring structure incorrectly removed from an image by a previous denoising operation. The system may provide brush tools to identify regions on which to apply the filter and mechanisms to specify filter parameter values. The filter may be applied iteratively to improve results, and may be employed in noise-consistent image editing tasks to preserve original image noise. The filter may be implemented by program instructions stored on a computer readable medium and executable by CPUs and/or GPUs.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media for chatter reduction in video object segmentation using a variable bandwidth search region. A variable bandwidth search region generation method may be applied to a uniform search region to generate a variable bandwidth search region that reduces the search range for segmentation methods such as a graph cut method. The method may identify parts of the contour that are moving slowly, and reduce the search region bandwidth in those places to stabilize the segmentation. This method may determine a bandwidth for each of a plurality of local windows of an image according to an estimate of how much an object in the image has moved from a previous image. The method may blend the bandwidths for the plurality of local windows to generate a blended map. The method may then generate a variable bandwidth search region for an object according to the blended map.

Abstract: A method, system, and computer-readable storage medium are disclosed for generating a location-weighted mask based on a color model comprising spatial dimensions. In one embodiment, a selection of at least one pixel in an input image is received, wherein the selection of the at least one pixel comprises a color and a location within the input image. A color model may be determined based on the color and the location of the at least one pixel, wherein the color model comprises one or more truncated Gaussian functions. A mask may be generated based on the color model. The mask may indicate a degree of membership in the mask for each pixel in the input image as a function of a similarity in color to the at least one pixel in the selection and a proximity to the location of the at least one pixel in the selection.

Abstract: This disclosure is directed to an optical element and method in which a UV-curable adhesive, used along the edge of the optic to keep it in a holder, has been stabilized against degradation by below 300 nm radiation. The technical solution to the degradation of the adhesive includes both 193 nm scatter light reduction and protective coatings of plasma modified AlF3 films on at least that part of the optical element that is in contact with the adhesive.

Abstract: This disclosure is directed to an optic having a composited MgO—MgF2 infrared anti-reflective coating that is suitable for use in LWIR, MWIR and SWIR ranges, and is particularly suitable for use in the LWIR range. The coated optic disclosed herein passes the severe abrasion test with a barring force between 2 pounds and 2.5 pounds. The MgO—MgF2 infrared anti-reflective coating has a thickness in the range of 500 nm to 1500 nm and a reflectance value Rx at 12° of less than 2% in the wavelength range of 7.25 nm to 11.75 nm.

Abstract: A system and method for expansion and reduction of images uses an absolute value associated with each pixel of an input image (e.g., a color and/or intensity value) to determine a respective energy value for each pixel. For example, a given color or range of colors (e.g., skin tones, or other high-priority colors) may be assigned higher energy values than other colors and/or color ranges, and may be protected during image reduction and/or expansion. These energy values may be used to determine a cost associated with various seams of the image, which may represent the priority of the seams in the image. One or more low-cost seams may be identified for removal or replication to produce a resized image. The methods may be used in conjunction with an automated skin tone detector or a user interface that allows selection of one or more high priority colors or color ranges.

Abstract: A method, system, and computer-readable storage medium for applying Gaussian Mixture Models (GMMs) to local image patches using an adaptive color lookup table. Per-channel color quantization may be performed to find representative colors for a local image patch. Each combination of the representative values corresponds to a representative color. The probabilities of the representative colors may be computed using a local GMM color model and stored to corresponding entries in an adaptive color lookup table. For every pixel in an image patch, the closest representative color may be found, and the corresponding probability may be retrieved from the lookup table and used for the pixel. The method may, for example, be applied to each local window in a method for automatically determining segmentation in a digital video image sequence to calculate the foreground probabilities for the pixels in a propagated classifier via a GMM.

Abstract: A method for obtaining device information of user terminals and a communication service function thereof are disclosed to enable a user to obtain terminal device information. The method for obtaining device information of user terminals in a communication system includes that a communication service function sends device information of a target user to a requesting terminal according to the target user ID carried in a device information obtaining request or a device information publish service setting. The communication service function includes: a receiving unit, adapted to receive a device information obtaining request or a device information publish service setting; a sending unit, adapted to send the stored device information of the target user to the requesting terminal according to the target user ID carried in the device information obtaining request or device information publish service setting.

Abstract: A method, system, and computer-readable storage medium for automatic segmentation of a video sequence. A segmentation shape prediction and a segmentation color model are determined for a current image of a video sequence based on existing segmentation information for at least one previous image of the video sequence. A segmentation of the current image is automatically generated based on a weighted combination of the segmentation shape prediction and the segmentation color model. The segmentation of the current image is stored in a memory medium.

Abstract: A pilot and channel estimation method for SDMA MIMO transmission downlink is provided in the present invention, and the method provides possibility for saving the orthogonal pilot resources; the pilot signals of different users in the transmitting antenna domain can occupy the same time-frequency resources, and thereby the pilot overhead of system resources can be reduced greatly; the method includes: for the MIMO transmission downlink that employs pre-coding for SDMA, taking the quantity of orthogonal pilot resources occupied by the users in the pre-coding domain as the number of data streams that can be transmitted or the number of spatial dimensions occupied first, at the transmitting end of the base station; then, performing SDMA transmission pre-coding for the orthogonal pilots in the pre-coding domain in the same way as the data signals, to obtain the pilot signals of the users in the transmitting antenna domain; wherein, the pilots of the users in the pre-coding domain can be orthogonal in the frequenc

Abstract: A space division multiple access transmission method of a statistical characteristic mode is provided by the present invention.

Abstract: The present invention provides improved methods of protein purification using CEX chromatography. Such methods generally comprise the steps of: contacting a protein of interest (e.g., an antibody) with a cation exchange resin at a first pH, that is less than the pI of the most acidic isoform of the protein of interest, such that the protein of interest binds to the resin; washing the cation exchange resin at a second pH that is greater than the first pH, but less than the pI of the most acidic isoform of the protein of interest; and eluting the protein of interest from the resin at a third pH that is about equal to or less than the first pH. The methods of the invention are particularly useful for the commercial purification of recombinant therapeutic proteins (e.g., antibodies).