Noise reduction apparatus for electronic edge enhancement

• US 6,097,848 A
• Filed: 11/03/1997
• Issued: 08/01/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: GE Inspection Technologies LP (General Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: Welch Allyn Incorporated
• Inventors: Salvati, Jon R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Thomas D.
• Assistant Examiner(s): BRINICH, STEPHEN M
• Application Number:
  US08/963,337
• Time in Patent Office: 1,002 Days
• Field of Search: 382/199, 382/266-269
• US Class Current: 382/266
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/208 for compensating for attenuation of high frequency components, e.g. crispening, aperture distortion correction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/21 Circuitry for suppressing or minimising disturbance, e.g. moiré or halo

Abstract

A video signal processor includes an edge enhancement determining circuit that senses the amount of some characteristic of that signal which provides a measure of noise inherent in the signal, precisely determines a preferred amount of edge enhancement to be applied to a video signal as a function of that characteristic, and applies that amount of edge enhancement to the video signal. The video signal characteristic, used to determine the noise content of the video signal includes the amount of automatic gain control amplification and the brightness of the viewed scene. Thus, the amount of edge enhancement added to the video signal is adaptively controlled according to the brightness level of the viewed scene and the amplification level of the video signal by the automatic gain control circuit, and provides the proper amount of edge sharpness to the viewed video scene as a function of its noise content. This provides an increase in perceived sharpness of the viewed image, without an increase in background noise that occurs in conventional non-adaptive systems.

Claims

1. An electrical imaging circuit for producing an electrical signal corresponding to a viewed scene said circuit comprising:

edge enhancement changing means for determining an amount of edge enhancement to apply to said electrical signal;

edge enhancement means for providing said amount of edge enhancement to said electrical signal,

wherein said edge enhancement changing means defines said amount of edge enhancement dynamically and wherein said electrical circuit further includes an automatic gain control circuit means for providing an automatic gain control level to said electrical circuit and said edge enhancement changing means monitors said level and defines said amount of edge enhancement in response to said level.

2. The electrical circuit of claim 1 wherein said edge enhancement changing means determines a decreased amount of edge enhancement in response to a monitored increased automatic gain control level, and determines an increased amount of edge enhancement in response to a monitored decreased amount of automatic gain control level.

3. The electrical signal of claim 1 wherein said edge enhancement changing means includes a memory means for storing a correspondence between a plurality of said characteristic values and a plurality of said amount of edge enhancement, and said edge enhancement changing means determines said amount of edge enhancement by accessing from said memory a stored memory corresponding to said characteristic value.