1. An information burying apparatus that buries a dot pattern corresponding to buried information on an image, comprising:
a storing unit configured to store, with dots of the dot pattern two-dimensionally arrayed and repeated generally at a predetermined period, plural dot patterns by shifting positions of the respective dots from positions at the predetermined period by a very small amount;
a selecting unit configured to select a dot pattern according to buried information out of the plural dot patterns in the storing unit; and
a superimposing unit configured to superimpose the dot pattern selected by the selecting unit on the image.
2. An information burying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the dots have sizes equal to one another in an area near the dots.
3. An information burying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the a shift amount of the very small shift of the dots is controlled according to a second period integer times as large as a first period.
4. An information burying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the superimposing unit superimposes the dot pattern selected by the selecting unit on a base area of the image.
5. An information burying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storing unit, the selecting unit, and the superimposing unit are configured by software processing blocks.
6. An information burying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storing unit, the selecting unit, and the superimposing unit are configured by hardware blocks.
7. An information burying method for burying a dot pattern corresponding to buried information in an image, the information burying method having a storing unit, a selecting unit, and a superimposing unit in an image processing unit, the information burying method comprising:
in the storing unit, with dots of the dot pattern two-dimensionally arrayed and repeated generally at a predetermined period, storing plural dot patterns by shifting positions of the respective dots from positions at the predetermined period by a very small amount;
in selecting unit, selecting a dot pattern according to the buried information out of the plural dot patterns; and
in superimposing unit, superimposing the selected dot pattern on the image.
8. An image processing method having an input unit that inputs an original image and a halftone processing unit that applies halftone processing to a predetermined area of the original image, the image processing method comprising processing for:
selecting buried information; and
shifting dots of a halftone pattern in the halftone processing according to the selected buried information.
9. An image processing method according to claim 8, wherein, in the halftone processing, the shift of the dots is performed only in an area in which density is equal to or lower than predetermined density.
10. An image processing method according to claim 8, wherein the shift of the dots is performed according to shift of halftone dots.
11. An information burying apparatus comprising:
an input unit configured to input an image;
a first extracting unit configured to extract plural small areas from the image;
an analyzing unit configured to apply spectrum analysis to each of images of the plural small areas;
a determining unit configured to determine presence or absence of a predetermined pattern of pixels from a result of means for performing the spectrum analysis;
an adding unit configured to apply iterative addition to the pixels of the predetermined pattern in the plural small areas;
a position calculating unit configured to calculate a position of a peak pixel with respect to an output of means for performing the iterative addition; and
a second extracting unit configured to extract buried information from information concerning calculated plural peak positions.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A microphone system comprising:
a primary microphone for producing a primary signal;
a secondary microphone for producing a secondary signal;
a selector operatively coupled with the primary microphone and the secondary microphone;
a base mechanically coupling the primary and secondary microphones such that the primary and the secondary microphones receive substantially the same mechanical signals; and
an output,
the selector selectively permitting one or both of at least a portion of the primary signal and at least a portion of the secondary signal to be forwarded to the output as a function of the noise in the primary signal, wherein the selector forwards at least a portion of the primary signal to the output if the noise is below about a predefined amount, and further wherein the selector forwards at least a portion of the secondary signal to the output if the noise is greater than about the predefined amount.
2. The microphone system as defined by claim 1 wherein the respective portions of the primary signal or secondary signal may be processed prior to being forwarded to the output.
3. The microphone system as defined by claim 1 wherein the primary microphone has a primary low frequency cut-off, the secondary microphone having a secondary low frequency cut-off, the secondary low frequency cut-off being greater than the primary low frequency cut-off.
4. The microphone system as defined by claim 3 wherein the primary microphone has a primary diaphragm and a primary circumferential gap defined at least in part by the primary diaphragm, the secondary microphone having a secondary diaphragm and a secondary circumferential gap defined at least in part by the secondary diaphragm, the secondary circumferential gap being greater than the primary circumferential gap.
5. The microphone system as defined by claim 1 wherein the portion of the primary signal is not forwarded to the output when the portion of the secondary signal is forwarded to the output.
6. The microphone system as defined by claim 1 wherein the portion of the secondary signal is not forwarded to the output when the portion of the primary signal is forwarded to the output.
7. The microphone system as defined by claim 1 wherein the primary microphone is mechanically coupled with the secondary microphone.
8. The microphone system as defined by claim 1 wherein the primary microphone has a primary diaphragm and a first air leakage rate past the primary diaphragm, further wherein the secondary microphone has a secondary diaphragm and a second air leakage rate past the secondary diaphragm, the first air leakage rate and second air leakage rate being different.
9. A microphone system comprising:
a primary microphone for producing a primary signal;
a secondary microphone for producing a secondary signal;
a base supporting the primary and secondary microphones such that the primary and secondary microphones receive the same mechanical signals;
an output; and
means for selectively permitting one or both of at least a portion of the primary signal or at least a portion of the secondary signal to be forwarded to the output as a function of the noise in the primary signal.
10. The microphone system as defined by claim 9 wherein the means for selectively permitting comprises a selector.
11. The microphone system as defined by claim 9 wherein the primary microphone has a primary low frequency cut-off, the secondary microphone having a secondary low frequency cut-off, the secondary low frequency cut-off being greater than the primary low frequency cut-off.
12. The microphone system as defined by claim 9 wherein the secondary microphone comprises a logical high pass filter.
13. The microphone system as defined by claim 9 wherein no more than one of the primary signal and the secondary signal is forwarded to the output at a given time.
14. The microphone system as defined by claim 9 wherein the primary microphone has a primary diaphragm and a first air leakage rate past the primary diaphragm, further wherein the secondary microphone has a secondary diaphragm and a second air leakage rate past the secondary diaphragm, the first air leakage rate and second air leakage rate being different.