NOISE REDUCTION APPARATUS, NOISE REDUCTION METHOD, AND PROGRAM

• US 20140205202A1
• Filed: 08/21/2012
• Published: 07/24/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Toda, Masato
• Granted Patent: US 9,299,131 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/275
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20016 Hierarchical, coarse-to-fine, multiscale or multiresolution image processing; Pyramid transform
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20076 Probabilistic image processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/70 Denoising; Smoothing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/409 Edge or detail enhancement; Noise or error suppression

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a noise reduction method, comprising: for each of multi-layer regions each containing a pixel of interest and having a successively reducing area, calculating a pixel statistic value of pixels in that region; for each of successive layers, correcting the pixel statistic value for a region at a current layer using a corrected pixel statistic value for a region at a preceding layer having a greater area than that of the region at the current layer; and correcting the pixel of interest using a corrected pixel statistic value for a region with a smallest area.

Claims

1. A noise reduction method, comprising:

for each of multi-layer regions each containing a pixel of interest and having a successively reducing area, calculating a pixel statistic value of pixels in that region;

for each of successive layers, correcting the pixel statistic value for a region at a current layer using a corrected pixel statistic value for a region at a preceding layer having a greater area than that of the region at the current layer; and

correcting said pixel of interest using a corrected pixel statistic value for a region with a smallest area.

2. The noise reduction method according to claim 1, comprising:

calculating edge information for a region at each layer; and

correcting the pixel statistic value in the region at the current layer using the corrected pixel statistic value at a preceding layer and edge information at the preceding layer.

3. The noise reduction method according to claim 2, comprising:

weighting to the corrected pixel statistic value at the preceding layer according to the edge information at the preceding layer.

4. The noise reduction method according to claim 3, wherein:

in a case that the edge information for the region at the preceding layer exceeds a predetermined threshold, no correction is applied to the pixel statistic value at the current layer.

5. The noise reduction method according to any one of claims 1, comprising:

modifying a parameter in the correcting function for correcting the pixel statistic value on a layer-by-layer basis.

6. The noise reduction method according to claim 5, comprising:

modifying the parameter in the correcting function for correcting the pixel statistic value according to the amount of change in the pixel value due to a noise in the region at the current layer.

7. The noise reduction method according to claim 5, comprising:

modifying the parameter in the correcting function for correcting the pixel statistic value on a layer-by-layer basis based on the edge information.

8. The noise reduction method according to claim 1, wherein:

the function for correcting the pixel statistic value is a function having such a property as to generate an output value coming closer to zero for an input value for the function closer to zero, and an output value coming closer to the input value for a greater absolute value of the input value.

9. The noise reduction method according to claim 1, wherein:

said pixel statistic value is a spatial average value of pixels in a region at each layer.

10. The noise reduction method according to claim 9, wherein:

said spatial average value is any one of an arithmetic mean value, a geometric mean value, and a weighted average value of pixels in a region at each layer.

11. A noise reduction apparatus, comprising:

pixel statistic value calculating unit configured to, for each of multi-layer regions each containing a pixel of interest and having a successively reducing area, calculate a pixel statistic value of pixels in that region;

correcting unit configured to, for each of successive layers, correct the pixel statistic value for a region at a current layer using a corrected pixel statistic value for a region at a preceding layer having a greater area than that of the region at the current layer, and correcting said pixel of interest using a corrected pixel statistic value for a region with a smallest area.

12. The noise reduction apparatus according to claim 11, comprising:

edge information calculating unit configured to calculate edge information for a region at each layer, wherein

said correcting unit corrects the pixel statistic value in the region at the current layer using the corrected pixel statistic value at a preceding layer and edge information at the preceding layer.

13. The noise reduction apparatus according to claim 12, wherein:

said correcting unit applies weighting to the corrected pixel statistic value at the preceding layer according to the edge information at the preceding layer.

14. The noise reduction apparatus according to claim 13, wherein:

in a case that the edge information for the region at the preceding layer exceeds a predetermined threshold, said correcting unit applies no correction to the pixel statistic value at the current layer.

15. The noise reduction apparatus according to claim 11, wherein:

said correcting unit modifies a parameter in the correcting function for correcting the pixel statistic value on a layer-by-layer basis.

16. The noise reduction apparatus according to claim 15, wherein:

said correcting unit modifies the parameter in the correcting function for correcting the pixel statistic value according to the amount of change in the pixel value due to a noise in the region at the current layer.

17. The noise reduction apparatus according to claim 15, wherein:

said correcting unit modifies the parameter in the correcting function for correcting the pixel statistic value on a layer-by-layer basis based on the edge information.

18. The noise reduction apparatus according to claim 11, wherein:

said correcting unit corrects said pixel statistic value by a function having such a property as to generate an output value coming closer to zero for an input value closer to zero, and an output value coming closer to the input value for a greater absolute value of the input value.

19. The noise reduction apparatus according to claim 11, wherein:

said pixel statistic value calculating unit calculates a spatial average value of pixels in a region at each layer as said pixel statistic value.

20. (canceled)

21. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a program causing a computer to execute the processing of:

for each of multi-layer regions each containing a pixel of interest and having a successively reducing area, calculating a pixel statistic value of pixels in that region;

for each of successive layers, correcting the pixel statistic value for a region at a current layer using a corrected pixel statistic value for a region at a preceding layer having a greater area than that of the region at the current layer; and

correcting said pixel of interest using a corrected pixel statistic value for a region with a smallest area.