Image processing apparatus, image processing method, noise-amount estimate apparatus, noise-amount estimate method, and storage medium

• US 20050157938A1
• Filed: 03/16/2005
• Published: 07/21/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Naoki Kobayashi, Tetsujiro Kondo
• Original Assignee: Naoki Kobayashi, Tetsujiro Kondo
• Inventors: Kondo, Tetsujiro, Kobayashi, Naoki
• Granted Patent: US 7,209,595 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/254
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/20 using local operators
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/40 using histogram techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/70 Denoising; Smoothing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/254 involving subtraction of images

Abstract

An image processing apparatus processes input pixel data and outputs the processed pixel data as output pixel data. The image processing apparatus includes an input reliability calculation section for calculating an input reliability indicating the reliability of the input pixel data, an output reliability calculation section for calculating an output reliability indicating the reliability of the output pixel data, a motion-amount detecting section for detecting the amount of the motion of the input pixel data, a compensation section for compensating the output reliability according to the amount of the motion, and a processing section for processing the input pixel data according to the input reliability and the compensated output reliability and for outputting the output pixel data.

Claims

1-14. -14. (canceled)

15. A noise-amount estimate apparatus for estimating the amount of noise included in pixel data, comprising:

variance calculation means for processing in units of a predetermined number of pixels and for calculating the variance of a plurality of pixel data in a local area including each pixel data;

histogram generating means for generating the histogram of the variance calculated for each pixel data, in units of the predetermined number of pixels; and

noise-amount calculation means for obtaining the amount of noise included in the pixel data according to the histogram, in units of the predetermined number of pixels.

16. A noise-amount estimate apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said noise-amount calculation means obtains the peak value of the histogram to calculate the value corresponding to the variance having the peak value as the amount of noise.

17. (canceled)

18. A noise-amount estimate method for estimating the amount of noise included in pixel data, comprising:

a step of processing in units of a predetermined number of pixels and of calculating the variance of a plurality of pixel data in a local area including each pixel data;

a step of generating the histogram of the variance calculated for each pixel data, in units of the predetermined number of pixels; and

a step of obtaining the amount of noise included in the pixel data according to the histogram, in units of the predetermined number of pixels.

19. (canceled)

20. A storage medium for storing a computer-controllable program for estimating the amount of noise included in pixel data, the program comprising:

a step of processing in units of a predetermined number of pixels and of calculating the variance of a plurality of pixel data in a local area including each pixel data;

a step of generating the histogram of the variance calculated for each pixel data, in units of the predetermined number of pixels; and

a step of obtaining the amount of noise included in the pixel data according to the histogram, in units of the predetermined number of pixels.

21. (canceled)

22. A noise-amount estimate apparatus, comprising:

variance calculator configured to process in units of a predetermined number of pixels and calculate the variance of a plurality of pixel data in a local area including each pixel data;

histogram generator configured to generate the histogram of the variance calculated for each pixel data, in units of the predetermined number of pixels; and

noise-amount calculator configured to obtain the amount of noise included in the pixel data according to the histogram, in units of the predetermined number of pixels.