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US006829389B1
(12) United States Patent ao) Patent No.: us 6,829,389 Bi
Arakawa et al. (45) Date of Patent: Dec. 7,2004
(54) METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EVALUATING IMAGE
(75) Inventors: Satoshi Arakawa, Kanagawa (JP);
Kazuya Watanabe, Kanagawa (JP);
Noboru Seto, Kanagawa (JP)
(73) Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd., Kanagawa (JP)
( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term ol this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
(21) Appl. No.: 09/534,194
(22) Filed: Mar. 24, 2000
(30) Foreign Application Priority Data
Mar. 24, 1999 (JP) 11-080095
(51) Int. CI.7 G06K 9/68; G06K 9/36;
G06K 9/00
(52) U.S. CI 382/218; 382/280; 382/131;
382/132
(58) Field of Search 382/141, 142,
382/143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 149, 150, 131, 132, 209, 217, 218, 274, 280; 600/410
(56) References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
5,003,979 A * 4/1991 Merickel et al 600/410
The image evaluation method and apparatus check for image abnormalities. In the method and apparatus, a Mahalanobis space is set preliminarily using a specified characteristic quantity extracted from specified image data. Then, Mahalanobis distance in the Mahalanobis space using image data read from an image to be evaluated. The calculated Mahalanobis distance is compared with a specified threshold value to check for the image abnormalities in the image to be evaluated. The method and apparatus provide a quantitative criterion in checking for abnormal image and enable image evaluation to be performed in a simple and rapid manner to realize efficient inspection.
25 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets
