U.S. patent application number 09/352553 was filed with the patent office on 2001-11-22 for lenticular image product with zoom image effect.
Invention is credited to LOMB, KATHRYN B., MEYER, JAMES W., MORTON, ROGER R.A., RIVERA, JOSE E., WERTHEIMER, ALAN L..
Application Number | 20010043400 09/352553 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 23385601 |
Filed Date | 2001-11-22 |
United States Patent
Application |
20010043400 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
RIVERA, JOSE E. ; et
al. |
November 22, 2001 |
LENTICULAR IMAGE PRODUCT WITH ZOOM IMAGE EFFECT
Abstract
A lenticular image product comprising: a lenticular material
having an array of lenticules with cylindrical lenses; and a
lenticular image associated with the lenticular material, the
lenticular image having an original image having a wide angle view
and at least one final image having a narrow angle view created
from the original image, such that tilting of the lenticular image
product produces a zoom effect between the original and final
images.
Inventors: |
RIVERA, JOSE E.; (ROCHESTER,
NY) ; MEYER, JAMES W.; (FAIRPORT, NY) ;
WERTHEIMER, ALAN L.; (PITTSFORD, NY) ; LOMB, KATHRYN
B.; (ROCHESTER, NY) ; MORTON, ROGER R.A.;
(PENFIELD, NY) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PATENT LEGAL STAFF
EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY
343 STATE STREET
ROCHESTER
NY
14650-2201
US
|
Family ID: |
23385601 |
Appl. No.: |
09/352553 |
Filed: |
July 12, 1999 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
359/623 ;
359/619; 359/621 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 1/00201 20130101;
G02B 3/005 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
359/623 ;
359/619; 359/621 |
International
Class: |
G02B 027/10 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A lenticular image product comprising: a lenticular material
having an array of lenticules with cylindrical lenses; and a
lenticular image associated with said lenticular material, said
lenticular image having an original image having a wide angle view
and at least one final image having a narrow angle view created
from said original image, such that relative movement between said
lenticular image product and a viewer produces a zoom effect
between said original and final images.
2. The lenticular image product of claim 1 wherein said lenticular
image includes one or more intermediate images created from said
original image or said final image to enhance said zoom effect.
3. The lenticular image product of claim 2 wherein said one or more
intermediate images present sequentially narrower angle views
intermediate said original and final images.
4. The lenticular image product of claim 2 wherein said one or more
intermediate images present sequentially larger images of said
final view with said original image in the background.
5. The lenticular image product of claim 1 wherein two or more
final views having narrow angles of view are created from said
original image.
6. The lenticular image product of claim 2 wherein said one or more
intermediate images are processed with a visual effect, including
blurring, reduced tonal range, modified color range, to enhance the
overall lenticular image.
7. The lenticular image product of claim 1 wherein said final image
can appear to move laterally, diagonally or vertically as it
expands to fill the full final image.
8. The lenticular image product of claim 1 wherein said lenticular
image is formed in an image layer which is integral with said
lenticular material.
9. The lenticular image product of claim 1 wherein said lenticular
image is formed in a separate image layer which is joined to said
lenticular material.
10. A method of producing a lenticular image product having a zoom
effect comprising: providing an original image having a wide angle
view; creating at least one final image having a narrow angle view
from said original image; and forming a lenticular image product
from said original and final views.
11. The method of claim 10 including selecting a portion of said
original image to be created into said at least one final
image.
12. The method of claim 10 including displaying said original image
on an electronic display; selecting the portion of said original
image corresponding to a final image; creating intermediate
electronic images; and creating a simulated electronic lenticular
image for display on said display to insure that a pleasing effect
has been produced before forming said lenticular image product.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein said original image is provided
by scanning a physical manifestation of said original image to
produce a digital original image.
14. The method of claim 12 wherein in creating a simulated
electronic digital image involves modeling one or more of the
following aspects of the lenticular imaging process: modeling the
color of the final image; simulating the optical performance of the
lenticular material either across the entire viewing range (where
changes in optical viewing performance vary as a function of
viewing angle) or by performing a fixed estimation of the optical
performance of the lenticular material; simulating the appearance
of the lenticules as seen by the viewer at his viewing distance;
simulating the resolution characteristics of the image bearing
member; simulating the spot size or writing characteristics or both
of the printer; providing a perspective view of the overall image
as the angle changes with respect to the viewer; and compensating
for the illumination conditions where the final image is
viewed.
15. A lenticular image product comprising: a lenticular material
having an array of lenticules with cylindrical lenses; and a
lenticular image associated with said lenticular material, said
lenticular image having an original image and one or more
additional images which have been created from said original image,
said original image and said additional images producing a zoom
effect.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates in general to lenticular image
products and more particularly to a lenticular image product having
a zoom effect and method and apparatus for making such a lenticular
image product.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Lenticular image products include an array of
cylindrical-shaped lenses (lenticules) in a lenticular material and
a sequence of spatially interleaved images that are viewed through
the lenticular material so that different ones of the interleaved
images are viewed at different angles by the viewer. One image
effect produced by the lenticular image is a depth or stereoscopic
effect where the lenticules are oriented vertically so that one eye
views one image of a stereo pair and the other eye views another
image from the stereo pair. As the lenticular image product is
rotated about the vertical axis, the viewer sees other stereo
images of the same object or scene from different viewing angles
giving the effect of "looking around" the object or scanning the
scene.
[0003] Another image effect produced by the lenticular image is
that of motion where different images in a motion image sequence
are viewed by both eyes, while changing the angle at which the
lenticular image is viewed. Thus, in motion imaging, the lenticules
of the lenticular image product are oriented in a horizontal
direction and the lenticular product is tilted about the horizontal
axis.
[0004] Typically, lenticular images are formed from several
different original views, either of the same object from different
viewpoints or of the same object(s) as it progresses through a
motion sequence. In the former case, the different views can be
captured with a series of cameras positioned at different locations
pointed at the same object, or the different views can be taken
with the same camera which is positioned at the different
locations, sometimes with the aid of a positioning structure. In
the latter case, the same camera is usually used to capture the
sequence of motion views. In all of these situations, the cost and
complexity of equipment makes the formation of the lenticular image
product beyond the means of many customers.
[0005] Many situations arise where it is desirable to produce a
lenticular image having a zoom effect. Typically, this effect is
produced by means of a series of images taken with a still or video
camera having a zoom lens. At least the wide angle view and the
closeup view are used along with one or more intermediate angle
views to produce the zoom effect. Using this technique involves
capturing and reproducing multiple original views and the inability
to later modify the zoom subject or sequence.
[0006] There is thus a need to provide a lenticular image product
having a zoom effect combining simple, cost effective image
acquisition with great flexibility in composition and display.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] According to the present invention there is provided a
solution to the problems and fulfillment of the needs enumerated
above.
[0008] According to a feature of the present invention there is
provided a lenticular image product comprising: a lenticular
material having an array of lenticules with cylindrical lenses; and
a lenticular image associated with the lenticular material, the
lenticular image having an original image having a wide angle view
and at least one final image having a narrow angle view created
from the original image, such that tilting of the lenticular image
product produces a zoom effect between the original and final
images.
[0009] According to another feature of the present invention there
is provided a method of producing a lenticular image product having
a zoom effect comprising: providing an original image having a wide
angle view; creating at least one final image having a narrow angle
view from said original image; and forming a lenticular image
product from said original and final views.
[0010] According to a further feature of the present invention,
there is provided a lenticular image product comprising: a
lenticular material having an array of lenticules with cylindrical
lenses; and a lenticular image associated with said lenticular
material, said lenticular images having one or more additional
images which have been created from a single original image.
ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECT OF THE INVENTION
[0011] The invention provides a lenticular image product having a
zoom effect using digital processing methods. It combines simple,
cost effective image acquisition with great flexibility in
composition and display associated with the ability to manipulate
images electronically.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] FIG. 1 is a sectional, diagrammatic view of a lenticular
image product.
[0013] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of apparatus for implementing the
present invention.
[0014] FIGS. 3-7 are diagrammatic views useful in explaining the
present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0015] Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown lenticular image
product 10 includes lenticular material 12 having an array of
aligned lenticules 101, 102, 103, 104, with respective cylindrical
lenses 101a, 102a, 103a, 104a. A lenticular image 105 is associated
with lenticular material 12. Lenticular image 105 includes a
sequence of frames having interleaved strips 106 from each frame
associated with each lenticule 101-104. Cylindrical lenses
101a-104a focus to lenticular image 105 and a specific set of
strips 106 constituting a frame are seen at a particular viewing
position by observer 107. As the viewing position changes either by
tilting product 10 or by movement of the viewer relative to product
10, different frames are seen by observer 107. Generally the number
of frames in a lenticular image corresponds to the number of strips
behind each lenticule.
[0016] Lenticular image 105 can be an image formed in an image
bearing layer (e.g., photosensitive layer) 105a coated on the back
of lenticular material 12 by a laser printer or a contact printer.
Lenticular image 105 can also be printed on lenticular material 12
by well known techniques such as thermal printing, ink jet
printing, electrophotographic printing, conventional ink printing,
etc. Lenticular image 105 may also be formed in a separate element
which is then aligned with and laminated to lenticular material
12.
[0017] Lenticules 101-104 may be oriented in any direction, but
typically are oriented in a horizontal or vertical direction for
tilting about their respective axes.
[0018] FIG. 2 shows apparatus 200 for generating lenticular image
effects. Source image material 201 (e.g., one or more image frames)
is scanned by scanner 202 and passed to computer 203.
Alternatively, an image captured with a digital camera 208 is read
directly into computer 203. Computer 203 generates a digital
lenticular image file corresponding to the lenticular image 105.
The digital lenticular image file includes a sequence of image
frames that have been formed into image strips which are
interleaved. A set of image strips are provided for each lenticule.
Each set includes a strip representing each image frame.
[0019] The digital lenticular image file is passed to printer 206
which prints the lenticular image, either on the smooth side of
lenticular material 12 such that the image strips 106 are in
alignment with lenticules 101-104, or on a separate image bearing
member which is brought into alignment with lenticular material 12
and bonded to it.
[0020] The creation of the content of the lenticular image 105
involves the process of selecting the content of each of the image
frames constituting lenticular image 105. This is done by the
operator of computer 203 selecting the proper sequence of frames.
The operator works interactively with the computer display choosing
frames until an appropriate sequence of frames is chosen. A
simulation of the lenticular image can also be displayed prior to
giving the command to print the image.
[0021] According to the present invention, a lenticular image
having a zoom effect is produced from a single original image. The
original image has a wide angle view of a scene such as a landscape
or a building or of a group of individuals such as a family group
or a sports team. FIG. 3 shows a typical group portrait including
individuals 301, 302, and 303 in a still photograph 300. To produce
a "zooming in" lenticular image of a particular image, a sequence
of frames are created initially from the entire photograph and then
frames are selected in such a way that there is the appearance of
zooming in to a person of interest within the photograph.
[0022] To achieve this effect, the photographer or person ordering
the image must indicate who the person of interest is in the photo
they supply. This can be done by putting the print in a clear or
semi-clear envelope and marking on the envelope corresponding to
the position of the person of interest a circle or rectangle
corresponding to the final view of the sequence. The original view
is a wide angle view and the final view is a narrow angle view.
Intermediate views have viewing angles intermediate these views.
Both the initial view and the final view will generally include
multiple frames so as to provide a clear image of both the whole
group and the person(s) of interest.
[0023] In order to create this zoom in lenticular image, the
operator at computer 203 will scan the entire image frame, which
can be on a negative or print, or be supplied digitally. The person
of interest is then identified by drawing a reference box around
that person on the computer display. This frame will correspond to
the final view in the sequence. An algorithm or imaging tool will
then create the intermediate frames. The operator can then observe
a simulated image to ensure that a pleasing effect has been
produced before printing the image.
[0024] The creation of the simulated image involves accurately
modeling aspects of the lenticular imaging process. These aspects
can include:
[0025] 1. Modeling the color of the final image.
[0026] 2. Simulating the optical performance of the lenticular
material either across the entire viewing range (where changes in
optical viewing performance vary as a function of viewing angle) or
by performing a fixed estimation of the optical performance of the
lenticular material.
[0027] 3. Simulating the appearance of the lenticules as seen by
the viewer at his viewing distance.
[0028] 4. Simulating the resolution characteristics of the image
bearing member 105a.
[0029] 5. Simulating the spot size or writing characteristics or
both of the printer 206.
[0030] 6. Providing a perspective view of the overall image as the
angle changes with respect to the viewer.
[0031] 7. Compensating for the illumination conditions where the
final image is viewed.
[0032] The operator of computer 203 can have available to him a
variety of different algorithms or tools to generate different
"zooming in" effects. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, one "zooming
in" effect starts at the fill image 400 and at the next frame (or
at some subsequent frame), the segment 401 of the image shown by
dots fills the full lenticular image by zooming in to the segment
401. A subsequent frame would comprise the image content 402
filling the full lenticular image. Finally the final frames include
the view of interest constituting a full view which is a zoomed up
version of the content of crop box 403.
[0033] One disadvantage of this approach is that there is a large
amount of motion associated with zooming in across the entire
image. This can lead to considerable motion blur which may not be
pleasing to the viewer.
[0034] An alternate approach is shown in FIG. 5. The crop box 501
is chosen and subsequent images expand the size of the cropped
image while the area 502 outside the cropped image corresponds to
the original image 500. The advantage of this approach is that it
introduces less motion blur.
[0035] It will be appreciated that according to the invention more
than one person may be zoomed into or that throughout the entire
lenticular image sequence, one person may be zoomed into and then
another one. As shown in FIG. 6, the original view 600 includes
several people. Using two crop boxes 601 and 602 around different
individuals, the cropped images can be expanded to zoom into the
full image area. Thus, two individuals are seen side-by-side in
area 603 and 604 in the final view. This expansion can be carried
simultaneously or sequentially.
[0036] In the examples shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the crop box(es) can
move laterally, diagonally, or vertically as it grows to fill the
entire available final view. Thus in FIG. 8, the original image 800
has a crop box 801 in the corner of the image identifying an area
to be zoomed in on the cropped image is expanded diagonally through
views 802, 803 to final image 804.
[0037] FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the present invention
with original view 700. As shown, the crop box need not expand to
fill the entire final image but may leave some of the image area to
correspond to the original image. Thus crop box 701 expands to fill
the area bounded by lines 702, 703, 704, 705. In addition it is
possible that the crop box expands to fill the area in the final
image bounded by lines 702, 706, 704, and 707 such that both the
zoomed in view of individual 708 and the original view appear
simultaneously in the final image. If the person 709 is to be
zoomed in on, then it is possible to move the original view of
person 709 to the left while maintaining his size. As a result, the
zoomed in view of person 709 appears in the area bounded by lines
702, 707, 704, and 706, while the final position is at 710.
[0038] In practicing any of the embodiments of the present
invention discussed above, the intermediate images generated
between the original image and the final zoomed in image can be
processed with different imaging effects to render the lenticular
image more pleasing or the like. Thus, the intermediate images can
be blurred, can have reduced tonal range (e.g., darkened), can have
different color range, or can have other visual effects to enhance
the overall lenticular image.
[0039] The invention has been described in detail with particular
reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be
understood that variations and modifications can be effected within
the spirit and scope of the invention.
PARTS LIST
[0040] 10 lenticular image product
[0041] 12 lenticular material
[0042] 101, 102, 103, 104 lenticules
[0043] 101a, 102a, 103a, 104a cylindrical lenses
[0044] 105 lenticular image
[0045] 105a image bearing layer
[0046] 106 image strip
[0047] 107 observer
[0048] 200 apparatus
[0049] 201 source image material
[0050] 202 scanner
[0051] 203 computer
[0052] 204 digital lenticular image file
[0053] 206 printer
[0054] 300 still photograph
[0055] 301, 302, 303 individuals
[0056] 400 original image
[0057] 401 segment
[0058] 402 image content
[0059] 403 crop box
[0060] 500 original image
[0061] 501 crop box
[0062] 502 area outside of cropped image
[0063] 600 original view
[0064] 601, 602 crop boxes
[0065] 603, 604 final view
[0066] 700 original view
[0067] 701 crop box
[0068] 702, 703, 704, 705, 706, 707 lines
[0069] 708 individual
[0070] 709, 709a person
[0071] 710 final position
[0072] 800 original image
[0073] 801 crop box
[0074] 802, 803 views
[0075] 804 final image
* * * * *