NEC develops super-resolution technologies for fine magnification of surveillance camera images
NEC Corporation announced today the development of super-resolution technologies for fine magnification of surveillance camera images, including persons' faces and license plates.
Until now, existing technologies required numerous still images from a video in order to improve a subject's resolution and enable its magnification. However, these images blur when magnified by more than 2 or 3 times (4 to 9 times the number of pixels). Therefore, significant demand remains for technologies that improve resolution and enable images to be magnified with greater clarity.
NEC's new technologies create a super-resolution image from just one shot of a subject, such as a person's face or a car's license plate, by utilizing a database (library) of categorized images. This enables images to maintain fine details even when magnified by more than 4 times (more than 16 times the number of pixels), making it possible to distinguish small and distant subjects, which was difficult with conventional technologies. These new technologies are expected to be applied with surveillance cameras that cover such large areas as airports or traffic intersections.
Key features of these technologies are as follows:
1. Creates images with fine details when highly magnified
These technologies create a library of images for subjects that are used to carry out super-resolution processing of images. In order to deal with subjects with different sizes, the library stores images with a variety of resolutions, and the best resolution images are automatically selected.
2. Small size image library data
A small size image library of data that can be deployed with a variety of equipment is created from a large set of image data. Redundant images are quickly eliminated from the library, which makes the library as small as possible without affecting image quality.
Looking forward, NEC aims to expand the use of these technologies into a broad range of fields, including the enhancement of satellite and medical images, as the company actively promotes development of technologies that contribute to the safety and security of daily lives.
Provided by NEC Corporation
-
From lemons to lemonade: Reaction uses carbon dioxide to make carbon-based semiconductor,
32 comments
-
Thioridazine kills cancer stem cells in human while avoiding toxic side-effects of conventional cancer treatments,
3 comments
-
SpaceX private rocket blasts off for space station (Update),
42 comments
-
Climate scientists say they have solved riddle of rising sea,
31 comments
-
SpaceX capsule has 'new car' smell, astronauts say (Update),
4 comments
-
Ideas to mitigate risk of 911 calls being misdirected
May 24, 2012
-
Live scribe pen?
May 10, 2012
-
Shallow water flow simulation
May 07, 2012
-
Tablet for taking notes?
May 05, 2012
-
Best fit tablet for me?
May 05, 2012
-
Measure of Informaton
May 04, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - Computing & Technology
More news stories
Browser wars flare in mobile space
The browser wars are heating up again, but this time the fight is for dominance of the mobile Internet.
13 hours ago |
5 / 5 (2) |
3
Probability of contamination from severe nuclear reactor accidents is higher than expected: study
Catastrophic nuclear accidents such as the core meltdowns in Chernobyl and Fukushima are more likely to happen than previously assumed. Based on the operating hours of all civil nuclear reactors and the number ...
Technology / Energy & Green Tech
May 22, 2012 |
3.7 / 5 (23) |
56
|
HyperSolar shows dirty water no barrier to power world
(Phys.org) -- The Santa Barbara, California, company, HyperSolar, is set to transparently share the ups and downs of its research experiences toward the company’s ultimate vision, successfully producing ...
Technology / Energy & Green Tech
May 24, 2012 |
4.8 / 5 (16) |
17
|
SpotterRF debuts Radar Backpack Kit (w/ Video)
(Phys.org) -- SpotterRF has announced a special radar backpack kit designed to enhance situational awareness for soldiers on the ground. The company says its special radar is designed for warfighters as part ...
Technology / Hi Tech & Innovation
May 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (5) |
13
|
Tesla to launch electric sedan in US on June 22
Tesla Motors said Tuesday it would begin deliveries of "the world's first premium electric sedan" on June 22, slightly ahead of schedule.
Technology / Energy & Green Tech
May 22, 2012 |
4.5 / 5 (12) |
18
'Unzipped' carbon nanotubes could help energize fuel cells, batteries
Multi-walled carbon nanotubes riddled with defects and impurities on the outside could replace some of the expensive platinum catalysts used in fuel cells and metal-air batteries, according to scientists at ...
Change in developmental timing was crucial in the evolutionary shift from dinosaurs to birds: study
At first glance, it's hard to see how a common house sparrow and a Tyrannosaurus Rex might have anything in common. After all, one is a bird that weighs less than an ounce, and the other is a dinosaur that ...
Computer model used to pinpoint prime materials for efficient carbon capture
When power plants begin capturing their carbon emissions to reduce greenhouse gases – and to most in the electric power industry, it's a question of when, not if – it will be an expensive undertaking.
T cells 'hunt' parasites like animal predators seek prey, study shows
By pairing an intimate knowledge of immune-system function with a deep understanding of statistical physics, a cross-disciplinary team at the University of Pennsylvania has arrived at a surprising finding: T cells use a movement ...
Land and sea species differ in climate change response: study
(Phys.org) -- Marine and terrestrial species will likely differ in their responses to climate warming, new research by Simon Fraser University and Australia’s University of Tasmania has found.
Yale study concludes public apathy over climate change unrelated to science literacy
Are members of the public divided about climate change because they don't understand the science behind it? If Americans knew more basic science and were more proficient in technical reasoning, would public consensus match ...
Dec 16, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
Dec 16, 2011
Rank: 4.3 / 5 (3)
If you are being rhetorical:
What are the odds that a human eye witness would INCORRECTLY report a number plate? error happens. Should an image greatly magnified beyond resolution be used as the sole evidence in a case? No. Could it still provide useful leads that are good enough for probable cause? probably. Everything can be misused, that doesn't mean the tech is worthless, it just means we need to understand it's limitations.
Dec 16, 2011
Rank: 2 / 5 (1)
The eye does this already as can be seen when a dotted line from a distance is percieved as a thinner solid line.
Dec 16, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
If your face happens to be one of the training samples, then many criminals will look just like you, because your face's large-scale features happen to be similar to those in some surveillance images.
If you're curious to what the state-of-the-art on super-resolution *really* is, check out the work by Cremers, you can download a good paper here. The nice pictures are near the end. This is recovered *from a video*, not a single image.
http://cvpr.in.tu...pr08.pdf
I hate it when companies try to pitch their products as more than what they're really are. In the area of security it's even more irresponsible.
Dec 17, 2011
Rank: 2.5 / 5 (2)
Dec 17, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (2)
You can embellish an image and make it look more realistic, but it is no different than an artist using photoshop to make an image look "better".
A system such as this has no place in a security setting, and no legitimate court would allow such information in court.
Dec 20, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
1. The detail is effectively **created**, and not derived from the original picture. The resulting "super-resolution" image could be misleading, or just plain WRONG. We need to know how likely this is!
2. The results from this technology are likely to be presented as being more accurate than they are, by NEC, by lawyers, and by anyone with a vested interest.