Image processing method and apparatus

Abstract

An image processing apparatus is arranged to process a first relatively underexposed and sharp image of a scene, and a second relatively well exposed and blurred image, nominally of the same scene, the first and second images being derived from respective image sources. The apparatus provides a portion of the relatively first underexposed image as an input signal to an adaptive filter; and a corresponding portion of the second relatively well exposed image as a desired signal to the adaptive filter. The adaptive filter produces an output signal from the input signal and the desired signal; and an image generator constructs a first filtered image from the output signal, relatively less blurred than the second image.

Description

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an image processing method and apparatus, and particularly to combining sharp and blurred images of different resolution and exposure to produce a relatively high resolution, fully exposed and relatively sharp image.

2. Description of the Related Art

Two source images nominally of the same scene may be used to produce a single target image of better quality or higher resolution than either of the source images.

In super-resolution, multiple differently exposed lower resolution images can be combined to produce a single high resolution image of a scene, for example, see “High-Resolution Image Reconstruction from Multiple Differently Exposed Images”, Gunturk et al., IEEE Signal Processing Letters, Vol. 13, No. 4, April 2006; or “Optimizing and Learning for Super-resolution”, Lyndsey Pickup et al, BMVC 2006, 4-7 Sep. 2006, Edinburgh, UK, each being incorporated by reference. However, in super-resolution, blurring of the individual source images either because of camera or subject motion are usually not of concern before the combination of the source images.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,072,525, incorporated by reference, discloses adaptive filtering of a target version of an image that has been produced by processing an original version of the image to mitigate the effects of processing including adaptive gain noise, up-sampling artifacts or compression artifacts.

PCT Application No. PCT/EP2005/011011 and U.S. Ser. No. 10/985,657, incorporated by reference, discloses using information from one or more presumed-sharp short exposure time (SET) preview images to calculate a motion function for a fully exposed higher resolution main image to assist in the de-blurring of the main image.

Indeed many other documents, including US 2006/0187308, Suk Hwan Lim et al.; and “Image Deblurring with Blurred/Noisy Image Pairs”, Lu Yuan et al, SIGGRAPH07, Aug. 5-9, 2007, San Diego, Calif., incorporated by reference, are directed towards attempting to calculate a blur function in the main image using a second reference image before de-blurring the main image.

Other approaches, such as disclosed in US2006/0017837, incorporated by reference, have involved selecting information from two or more images, having varying exposure times, to reconstruct a target image where image information is selected from zones with high image details in SET images and from zones with low image details in longer exposure time images.

It is desired to provide an improved method of combining a sharp image and a blurred image of differing resolution and exposure to produce a relatively high resolution, fully exposed and relatively sharp image.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An image processing method is provided to process a first relatively underexposed and sharp image of a scene, and a second relatively well exposed and blurred image nominally of the same scene. The first and second images are derived from respective image sources. A portion of a relatively first underexposed image is provided as an input signal to an adaptive filter. A corresponding portion of the second relatively well exposed image is provided as a desired signal to the adaptive filter. An output signal is provided from the input signal and the desired signal. A first filtered image is constructed from the output signal that is relatively less blurred than the second image. The first filtered image or a further processed version is displayed, transmitted, projected and/or stored.

The first and second images may be in YCC format. The image portions may include a respective Y plane of the first and second images. The constructing the first filtered image may include using the output signal as a Y plane of the first filtered image and using Cb and Cr planes of the input image as the Cb and Cr planes of the first filtered image.

The image source for the second image may be of a relatively higher resolution than the image source for the first image. The method may include aligning and interpolating the first image source to match the alignment and resolution of the second image source.

The first image may be one of an image acquired soon before or after the second image.

The image source for the second image may be of a relatively lower resolution than the image source for the first image. The method may include aligning and interpolating the second source to match the alignment and resolution of the first source. Responsive to the first and second sources being misaligned by more than a pre-determined threshold, the method may further include providing the desired signal from a linear combination of first and second image sources or from a combination of phase values from one of the first and second image sources and amplitude values for the other of the first and second image sources.

The method may include noise filtering the first filtered image and/or applying color correction to one of the first filtered image or the noise filtered image.

The method may include acquiring a first partially exposed image from an image sensor, acquiring a second further exposed image from the image sensor, and subsequently resetting the image sensor. The obtaining the first relatively underexposed and sharp image of a scene may include subtracting the first partially exposed image from the second further exposed image. The second relatively well exposed and blurred image may be obtained from the image sensor immediately prior to the resetting.

A further image processing method is provided. A first relatively underexposed and sharp image of a scene is obtained. A second relatively well exposed and blurred image, nominally of the same scene, is also obtained, wherein the first and second images are derived from respective image sources. A portion of the relatively first underexposed image is provided as an input signal to an adaptive filter. A corresponding portion of the second relatively well exposed image is provided as a desired signal to the adaptive filter. The input signal is adaptively filtered to produce an output signal. A first filtered image is constructed from the output signal, and is relatively less blurred than the second image. The first filtered image and/or a processed version is/are displayed, transmitted, projected and/or stored.

The method may include providing a portion of the first filtered image as the input signal to an adaptive filter, providing a corresponding portion of the second image as a desired signal to the adaptive filter, further adaptively filtering the input signal to produce a further output signal, and constructing a further filtered image from the further output signal relatively less blurred than the first filtered image.

The first and second images may be in RGB format and may be used to produce the first filtered image. The image portions may include a respective color plane of the first and second images. The providing of a portion of the first filtered image may include converting the first filtered image to YCC format. The method may also include converting the second image to YCC format. The image portions for further adaptive filtering may include a respective Y plane of said converted images.

The first and second images may be in YCC format and may be used to produce the first filtered image. The image portions may include a respective Y plane of the first and second images. The providing of a portion of the first filtered image may include converting the first filtered image to RGB format. The method may include converting the second image to RGB format. The image portions for further adaptive filtering may include a respective color plane of the converted images.

The adaptive filtering may be performed one of row or column wise on said input signal and wherein further adaptively filtering is performed on the other of row or column wise on said input signal.

The method may include noise filtering the first filtered image and/or applying color correction to the first filtered image and/or the noise filtered image.

The first and second images may be in RGB format. The image portions may include a respective color plane of the first and second images. The adaptive filtering includes producing a set of filter coefficients from a combination of said input signal and a error signal being the difference between said desired signal and said output signal; and wherein the method further comprises constructing each color plane of said first filtered image from a combination of said filter coefficients and said input signal color plane information.

Prior to adaptive filtering, a point spread function, PSF, is estimated for the second image. The second image is de-blurred with the point spread function. The de-blurring may be performed in response to the PSF being less than a pre-determined threshold.

The method may include amplifying the luminance characteristics of the under exposed image prior to the adaptive filtering.

An image processing apparatus is further provided to process a first relatively underexposed and sharp image of a scene, as well as a second relatively well exposed and blurred image, nominally of the same scene. The first and second images are derived from respective image sources. The apparatus includes processor-based components to provide a portion of the relatively first underexposed image as an input signal to an adaptive filter and to provide a corresponding portion of the second relatively well exposed image as a desired signal to the adaptive filter. The apparatus also includes an adaptive filter arranged to produce an output signal from the input signal and the desired signal. An image generator of the apparatus is arranged to construct a first filtered image from the output signal, which is relatively less blurred than the second image.

One or more processor-readable media are also provided having embedded therein processor-readable code for programming a processor to perform any of the image processing methods described herein.

A portable digital image acquisition device is also provided. The device includes a lens and image sensor for capturing a digital image, and a processor, and one or more processor-readable media having processor-readable code embedded therein for programming the processor to perform any of the image processing methods described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the processing of images prior to adaptive filtering in accordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates corresponding grid points from a preview and a full resolution image used in the processing of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates adaptive filtering of images in R/G/B color space in accordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates adaptive filtering of images in YCbCr color space in accordance with certain embodiments.

FIGS. 5( a) and 5(b) illustrate adaptive filtering of images in accordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a sliding vector employed in the filtering of FIGS. 5(a)-(b) at successive iterations for L=3.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating processing of images prior to adaptive filtering in accordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates timing involved in acquiring two images in accordance with certain embodiments.

FIGS. 9( a)-(e) illustrate some image data produced during the image acquisition illustrated at FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 illustrates an image enhancement algorithm in accordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 11 illustrates the image processing to effect image enhancement in accordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 12 illustrates a processing structure to sharpen an image in accordance with certain embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments are described to provide an image processing method and apparatus is arranged to process a first relatively underexposed and sharp image of a scene, and a second relatively well exposed and blurred image, nominally of the same scene, the first and second images being derived from respective image sources. The apparatus provides a portion of the relatively first underexposed image as an input signal to an adaptive filter; and a corresponding portion of the second relatively well exposed image as a desired signal to the adaptive filter.

Embodiments are also described to provide an image processing apparatus is arranged to process a first relatively underexposed and sharp image of a scene, and a second relatively well exposed and blurred image, nominally of the same scene, the first and second images being derived from respective image sources. The apparatus provides a portion of the relatively first underexposed image as an input signal to an adaptive filter; and a corresponding portion of the second relatively well exposed image as a desired signal to the adaptive filter. The adaptive filter produces an output signal from the input signal and the desired signal; and an image generator constructs a first filtered image from the output signal, relatively less blurred than the second image.

Embodiments further provide image enhancement methods and systems. In accordance with one embodiment, there is no need to perform image registration between picture pair, linear regression or gamma correction. The method shows robustness to image content differences and low quality previews. Also, the method can be easily applied to create video frames from the under-exposed and well exposed frame pair. For one such embodiment, implementation complexity is reduced and the resultant technique is robust in finite precision implementations. The method shows robustness to image content differences and low quality previews.

In this description, numerous specific details are set forth. However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure the understanding of this description.

Reference throughout the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearance of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” or “in certain embodiments” in various places throughout the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment or embodiments. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

Moreover, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, any claims following the Detailed Description are hereby expressly incorporated into this Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this invention.

Embodiments of the invention are applicable in a variety of settings in which image enhancement is effected. For one embodiment of the invention, during the acquisition step, the camera will acquire two images (one full-resolution under-exposed image and a well exposed blurred image (can be a preview or another full resolution image).

Referring now to FIG. 1, in a first embodiment, a well-exposed blurred relatively low resolution image 12 and a sharp but under-exposed full resolution image 10 are available for processing with a view to combining the images to produce an improved quality full resolution image.

The size of the lower resolution image 12 is OxP and the size of the under-exposed full resolution image 10 is QxR, with O<Q and P<R.

Where the images are acquired in a digital image acquisition device such as a digital stills camera, camera phone or digital video camera, the lower resolution image 12 may be a preview image of a scene acquired soon before or after the acquisition of a main image comprising the full resolution image 10, with the dimensions of the preview and full resolution images depending on the camera type and settings. For example, the preview size can be 320×240 (O=320; P=240) and the full resolution image can be much bigger (e.g. Q=3648; R=2736).

In accordance with certain embodiments, adaptive filtering (described in more detail later) is applied to the (possibly pre-processed) source images 10, 12 to produce an improved filtered image. Adaptive filtering requires an input image (referred to in the present specification as x(k)) and a desired image (referred to in the present specification as d(k)) of the same size, with the resultant filtered image (referred to in the present specification as y(k)) having the same size as both input and desired images.

As such, in an embodiment, the preview image is interpolated to the size Q×R of the full resolution image.

In interpolating the preview image, a misalignment between the interpolated image 14 and the full resolution image might exist. As such, in an embodiment, the images are aligned 16 to produce an aligned interpolated preview image 18 and an aligned full resolution image 20. Any known image alignment procedure can be used, for example, as described in Kuglin C D., Hines D C. “The phase correlation image alignment method”, Proc. Int. Conf Cybernetics and Society, IEEE, Bucharest, Romania, September 1975, pp. 163-165, incorporated by reference.

Other possible image registration methods are surveyed in “Image registration methods: a survey”, Image and Vision Computing 21 (2003), 977-1000, Barbara Zitova and Jan Flusser, incorporated by reference.

Alternatively, the displacements between the images 10 and 12/14 can be measured if camera sensors producing such a measure are made available.

In any case, either before or during alignment, the full resolution image can be down-sampled to an intermediate size S×T with the preview image being interpolated accordingly to produce the input and desired images of the required resolution, so that after alignment 16, the size of the aligned interpolated image and the aligned full resolution image will be S×T (S≦Q,T≦R).

These images are now subjected to further processing 22 to compute the input and desired images (IMAGE 1 and IMAGE 2) to be used in adaptive filtering after a decision is made based on the displacement value(s) provided from image alignment 16 as indicated by the line 24.

In real situations, there may be relatively large differences between the images 10, 14, with one image being severely blurred and the other one being under-exposed. As such, alignment may fail to give the right displacement between images.

If the displacement values are lower than a specified number of pixels (e.g. 20), then the full resolution aligned image 20 is used as IMAGE 1 and the aligned interpolated preview image 18 is used as IMAGE 2.

Otherwise, if the displacement values are higher than the specified number of pixels, several alternatives are possible for IMAGE 2, although in general these involve obtaining IMAGE 2 by combining the interpolated preview image 14 and the full resolution image 10 in one of a number of manners.

In a first implementation, we compute two coefficients c₁ and c₂ and the pixel values of IMAGE 2 are obtained by multiplying the pixel values of the full resolution image 10 with c₁ and adding c₂. These coefficients are computed using a linear regression and a common form of linear regression is least square fitting (G. H. Golub and C. F. Van Loan, Matrix Computations. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 3rd edition, 1996), incorporated by reference.

Referring to FIG. 2, a grid comprising for example 25 points is chosen from the preview image 12 and the corresponding 25 grid points from the full resolution image 10. If one pixel of the preview image has the coordinates (k, l), the corresponding chosen pixel from the full resolution image has the coordinates

$\left(\left(k·\frac{Q}{O},l·\frac{R}{P}\right)\right).$ Therefore we obtain two 5×5 matrices, M₁ that corresponds to the pixel values chosen from the preview image and M₂ that corresponds to the pixel values chosen from the full resolution image. Two vectors are obtained from the pixel values of these matrices by column-wise ordering of M₁(a=(a₁) and M₂b=(b_i)). We therefore have pairs of data (a_i,b_i) for i=1, 2, . . . , n, where n=25 is the total number of grid points from each image. We define the matrix

$V=\left(\begin{array}{c}{a}_{1}1\\ a_{2}1\\ \\ a_{n}1\end{array}\right).$ The coefficient vector c=[c₁c₂] is obtained by solving the linear system V^TVc=V^Tb. The linear system can be solved with any known method.

Another alternative is to amplify the pixels of the under-exposed image 10 with the ratio of average values of the 25 grid points of both images 10, 12 and rescale within the [0-255] interval for use as IMAGE 2.

In a still further alternative, IMAGE 2 is obtained by combining the amplitude spectrum of the interpolated blurred preview image 14 and the phase of the under-exposed full resolution image 10. As such, IMAGE 2 will be slightly deblurred, with some color artifacts, although it will be aligned with the under-exposed image 10. This should produce relatively fewer artifacts in the final image produced by adaptive filtering.

Alternatively, instead of computing FFTs on full resolution images to determine phase values, an intermediate image at preview resolution can be computed by combining the amplitude spectrum of the blurred image 12 and the phase of a reduced sized version of the under-exposed image 10. This can then be interpolated to produce IMAGE 2.

Another possibility is to use as IMAGE 2, a weighted combination of image 20 and image 18, e.g. 0.1*(Image 18)+0.9*(Image 20). This can be used if the preview image 12 has large saturated areas.

In any case, once the processing 22 is complete, two images of similar size are available for adaptive filtering 30, as illustrated at FIGS. 3-4.

In a first implementation, the input and desired images are in RGB color space, e.g., see FIG. 3, whereas in another implementation the input and desired images are in YCC space, e.g., see FIG. 4. For the RGB case, one color plane (e.g. G plane) is selected from both images and the computed filter coefficients from adaptive filtering are used to update the pixel values for all color planes. The filter coefficients w(k) are obtained at each iteration of the filter 36. The updated pixel value for all color planes will be y_G(k)=w(k)·x_G(k), y_R(k)=w(k)·x_R(k), y_B(k)=w(k)·x_B(k), where x_R(k), x_G(k), x_B(k) are the sliding vectors 32 for the R,G,B planes respectively. This provides a solution of reduced numerical complexity vis-à-vis filtering all three color planes.

In the YCC case, the Y plane is selected with the Cb and Cr planes being left unchanged.

Referring now to FIG. 5(a), where the adaptive filtering of FIGS. 3 and 4 is shown in more detail. Two sliding one-dimensional vectors 32, 34 with the dimension L are created, L being the length of the adaptive filter. Within the adaptive filter, the input signal x(k) is the first vector signal 32, while the desired signal d(k) is second vector 34.

In the simplest implementation, L=1 and this can be used if the original image acquisition device can provide good quality under-exposed pictures with a low exposure time. Where the acquisition device produces low quality and noisy under-exposed images, a longer filter length L should be chosen (e.g. 2 or 3 coefficients).

The sliding vectors 32, 34 are obtained from the columns of the image matrices, as illustrated at FIG. 6. The vectors scan both matrices, column by column, and with each iteration of the adaptive filter, the following pixel value is added to the vector and the trailing pixel value is discarded.

When the vectors 32, 34 are combined in the adaptive filter 36, the most recent pixel value added to the first sliding vector 32 is updated. In the preferred embodiment, the updated pixel is the dot product of the filter coefficients and the L pixel values of the first vector. Many variations of adaptive algorithms (e.g., Least Mean Square based, Recursive Least Square based) can be applied and many such algorithms can be found for example in S. Haykin, “Adaptive filter theory”, Prentice Hall, 1996, incorporated by reference. Preferably, the sign-data LMS is employed as described in Hayes, M, Statistical Digital Signal Processing and Modeling, New York, Wiley, 1996, incorporated by reference.

The formulae are:x(k)=[x(k),x(k−1) . . . x(k−L+1)],w(k)=[w(k),w(k−1) . . . w(k−L+1)],y(k)=w(k)·x(k),e(k)=d(k)−y(k),w(k+1)=w(k)+μ(k)·e(k)·sign(x(k))=w(k)+μ(k)·e(k),where

• w(k) are the filter coefficients calculated within the filter 36,
• p(k) is the step size (fixed or variable),
• x(k) is the most recent pixel value(s) of the sliding vector 32 from Image 1 (it has always positive values),
• d(k) is the most recent pixel value(s) of the sliding vector 34 from Image 2,
• y(k) is the scalar product of the sliding vector 32 and the filter coefficients vector w,
• e(k) is the error signal computed as the difference between d(k) and y(k).

Other considered variants were:w(k+1)=w(k)+μ(k)·e(k)·x(k) (standard LMS) orw(k+1)=w(k)+μ(k)·e(k)/(1+x(k))

The term 1+x(k) is used above to avoid the division by zero. Alternatively, the formula:

$w\left(k+1\right)=w\left(k\right)+\mu \left(k\right)·\frac{e\left(k\right)}{x\left(k\right)}$ could be used, with any zero-valued x pixel value replaced with a 1.

In a further variant, the step size μ(k) is variable as follows:

$\mu \left(k\right)=\frac{1-\alpha }{x\left(k\right)}$ or

$\mu \left(k\right)=\frac{1-\alpha }{\max \left(\beta ,x\left(k\right)\right)}.$ So, using the above formula:w(k+1)=w(k)+μ(k)·e(k)·sign(x(k))=w(k)+μ(k)·e(k)this gives:

$\begin{array}{c}w\left(k\right)+\frac{1-\alpha }{x\left(k\right)}\left(d\left(k\right)-w\left(k\right)·x\left(k\right)\right)=w\left(k\right)+\frac{d\left(k\right)}{x\left(k\right)}-w\left(k\right)-\alpha ·\frac{d\left(k\right)}{x\left(k\right)}+\\ \alpha ·w\left(k\right)\\ =\alpha ·w\left(k\right)+\left(1-\alpha \right)·\frac{d\left(k\right)}{x\left(k\right)}\end{array}$

If μ(k)=μ=1−α, α very close to 1 (e.g. 0.99999), for L=1, we have

$w\left(k+1\right)=w\left(k\right)+\mu \left(k\right)·\frac{e\left(k\right)}{x\left(k\right)},$ with vectors being replaced with scalars. Therefore, for this particular fixed step size, the sign-data LMS and the previous equation are equivalent.

The β parameter can be used in order to avoid division by zero and to over-amplify any black pixels. β is preferably in the interval [1 . . . 10], and preferably in the interval [5 . . . 10], particularly if the under-exposed image is too dark. If not, β=1 is enough.

Some thresholds or resetting for the filter coefficients w(k) or output values y(k) can be imposed in order to avoid artifacts in the filtered image 38. An upper threshold, δ is imposed for the values that can be allowed for the coefficients of w(k) (i.e. w_i(k)=δ for any i=1 . . . L, if its computed value at iteration k is above δ). A suitable threshold value for the mentioned LMS algorithm, can be chosen as

$\delta =1+\frac{\stackrel{\_}{b}}{4·\stackrel{\_}{a}},$ where b and ā the average values of above mentioned vectors b and a respectively. Also, the filter output can be forced to be within the [0 255] interval if uint8 images are used. As can be seen, the updated pixel values y(k) replace the old pixel values x(k) and can be taken into account for the next sliding vectors.

The updated color matrix 38 is completed when the last pixel from the last column has been updated. If filtering has been performed in RGB space, then a final reconstructed image 40 is obtained by concatenating the R/G/B updated matrices. Alternatively, if filtering has been performed in YCC space, the concatenated updated Y plane, i.e. matrix 38, with unchanged Cb and Cr planes of the under-exposed image 10 can be converted back to RGB color space.

The filtering can be repeated with the reconstructed image 40 replacing the under-exposed image, i.e. IMAGE 1.

In this case, adaptive filtering can be performed on the Y plane of an image converted from RGB space, if previous filtering had been performed in RGB space; or alternatively filtering can be performed on an RGB color plane of an image converted from YCC space, if previous filtering had been performed on the Y plane.

It will also be seen that filtering can be operated column wise or row wise. As such, adaptive filtering can be performed first column or row wise and subsequently in the other of column or row wise.

In each case where filtering is repeated, it has been found that the quality of the reconstructed image after two filtering operations is superior than for each individual filtering result.

Referring to FIG. 5(b), in some cases saturation problems might appear in the filtered image, especially when the coefficient c₁ has a large value (e.g. when using a very dark under-exposed image and very light blurred image). This saturation can be avoided using, for example, techniques described in Jourlin, M., Pinoli, J. C.: “Logarithmic image processing. the mathematical and physical framework for the representation and processing of transmitted images” Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics 115 (2001) 129-196; or Deng, G., Cahill, L. W., Tobin, G. R.: “The study of logarithmic image processing model and its application to image enhancement”. IEEE Trans. on Image Processing 4 (1995) 506-512, each incorporated by reference.

Therefore, the pixel value of the filtered image z(k) is generated by the following formula:

$z\left(k\right)=D-{D\left(1-\frac{x\left(k\right)}{D}\right)}^{w\left(k\right)}$

• where D is the maximum permitted value (e.g. 255 for a 8 bit representation of images). The adaptive filter provides the first filter coefficient w(k) computed using the error signal e(k). Another alternative to reduce saturation problems is to reduce the value of the step size μ(k).

Referring now to FIG. 7, in a second embodiment, an under-exposed relatively-sharp low resolution image and a full resolution blurred image 72 are available. The low resolution image, for example, a preview image as before, is interpolated and aligned with the full resolution image to produce image 70.

A PSF estimation block 74 computes a PSF for the blurred image 72, from the interpolated preview 70 and the full resolution image 72, using any suitable method such as outlined in the introduction.

The blurred 72 image is then deblurred using this estimated PSF to produce a relatively deblurred image 76. Examples of deblurring using a PSF are disclosed in “Deconvolution of Images and Spectra” 2nd. Edition, Academic Press, 1997, edited by Jannson, Peter A. and “Digital Image Restoration”, Prentice Hall, 1977 authored by Andrews, H. C. and Hunt, B. R., incorporated by reference.

Prior to adaptive filtering, the average luminance of the interpolated preview image 70 is equalized in processing block 78 with that of the full resolution (relatively) deblurred image 76. Preferably, this comprises a gamma (γ) amplification of the under-exposed image. The exact value of gamma is determined by obtaining a ratio of average luminance ( Y in YCC format) for the blurred full resolution and the preview image, and then using this ratio as an index for a look-up table to return γ. The deblurred full resolution image 76 is then chosen as IMAGE 2 and the interpolated/aligned/luminance equalized preview image produced by the processing block 78 is chosen as IMAGE 1.

Adaptive filtering is then applied and re-applied if necessary to IMAGE 1 and IMAGE 2 as in the first embodiment. Again when repeating adaptive filtering, the under-exposed image, i.e. IMAGE 1 is replaced with the reconstructed one.

In the second embodiment, the quality of the reconstructed image 76 produced by adaptive filtering may not be good enough, especially if the PSF is relatively large. In such cases, de-blurring using the PSF may not be used, because can it introduce significant ringing.

In cases such as this, re-applying adaptive filtering as in the first embodiment can attenuate the blurring artifacts in the original image 72 and improve the quality of the image to some extent.

Again, the adaptive filtering can be performed on Y plane if RGB filtering had been performed previously and on the RGB color space if Y filtering had been performed previously.

Again, filtering can be operated on columns or rows, and sequentially on columns and rows.

It has also been found that the second embodiment is useful, if the ratio between the full resolution image 72 and the preview image sizes is less than three and the preview image is not too noisy. If this is not the case, the filtered image can have a lower quality than that obtained by de-blurring the blurred image with a very good PSF estimation such as described in the introduction.

In both of the first and second embodiments, a single preview image is described as being interpolated to match the resolution of the full resolution image. However, it will also be appreciated that super-resolution of more than 1 preview image, nominally of the same scene, could also be used to generate the interpolated images 14, 70 of the first and second embodiments, and/or one or more post-view images may be used, and/or another reference image may be used having a partially or wholly overlapping exposure period. Thus, wherever “preview image” is mentioned herein, it is meant to include post-view and overlapping images.

In the above embodiments and in particular in relation to the second embodiment, the short-exposure time (presumed sharp) image is described as comprising a preview image acquired either soon before or after acquisition of a main high resolution image.

However, in a further refined embodiment, the two images are acquired within the longer time period of acquisition of the relatively blurred image. In an implementation of this embodiment, an image acquisition device including a CMOS sensor which allows for a non-destructive readout of an image sensor during image acquisition is employed to acquire the images.

A schematic representation of the timing involved in acquiring these images is explained in relation to FIG. 8. For a dark scene, the exposure time T_long required to expose the image F properly can result in motion blur caused by hand jitter. Nonetheless, using a non-destructive sensor, it is possible to have an intermediate reading at T_short providing an under-exposed (noise prone), but sharp image G.

In certain embodiments, the read-out of the under-exposed image is placed mid-way through the longer exposure period, i.e between T₀ and T₀+T_short. As such, the actual exposing scheme goes as follows:

• • At t=0 start exposing
  • At t=T₀ take the first readout to obtain G′
  • At t=T₀+T_short take the second readout to obtain G
  • The short exposed image is G=G′−G″
  • At t=T_long take the third (last) readout to obtain the well-exposed frame, F.
  • Reset the image sensor.

This means that statistically, the chances of content differences between the short exposure and the long exposure images G and F are minimized. Again, statistically, it is therefore more likely that the differences are caused only by the motion existing in the period [0, T_long]. The well exposed picture is blurred by the motion existing in its exposure period, while the other is not moved at all, i.e. the motion blur makes the content differences.

Referring now to FIG. 9, a still image of a scene is recorded. The period T₀ is chosen to be long enough so that motion appears in the image G′ read at time T₀, FIG. 9(c). The values of the PSF for this image are shown in FIG. 9(a). From T₀ to T_short there is not enough time for extra motion to appear. However, the entire interval, [0;T₀+T_short], is long enough so that the resulting image G″, FIG. 9(d), will be blurred as can be seen from the corresponding PSF values of FIG. 9(b). The resulting under-exposed image, G=G″−G′, FIG. 9 (e), is not blurred as can be seen from the small difference between the PSF values for the original images G″ and G′.

The image G can now be combined with the image F through adaptive filtering as described above and in particular in relation to the second embodiment, luminance enhancement can be performed on the image G before being combined with the image F.

Subsequent to producing the filtered image 40 through adaptive filtering, the filtered image can be subjected to further processing to improve its quality further.

Noise correction of the filtered image can be performed using a modified version of the Lee Least mean square (LLMSE) filter. In the following example, G₁ is the filtered image, G₁^x is the convolution of G₁ with an X×X uniform averaging kernel; so G₁³ is the convolution of G₁ with a 3×3 uniform averaging kernel; and G₁⁷ is the convolution of G₁ with a 7×7 uniform averaging kernel.

The noise cleared picture is: G₂=αG₁^x+(1−α)G₁

• • where

$\alpha =\frac{s_n}{s_n+s_F}$

• • S_G1 is the filtered image standard deviation computed for a 5×5 vicinity of a pixel;
  • S_F is the well-exposed image squared standard deviation computed for a 3×3 vicinity of the corresponding pixel; andS_n=|S_F−S_G1|

If S_F is smaller than a predetermined threshold (meaning that the current pixel in a perfectly uniform area) then G₁^X=G₁⁷ otherwise (in the current pixel neighborhood there is an edge) G₁^X=G₁³. It will therefore be seen that where the variation around a pixel is high, G₂ is approximately equal to G₁.

As discussed, the under-exposed acquired image has intensities in the lower part of the range (darkness range). The spectral characteristics of the cameras, in this area, differ from those of normally exposed areas. Therefore, the adaptively filtered image, G₁ or G₂, depending on whether noise filtering has been applied or not, may have deviations in color. To compensate for these deviations, a rotation or a translation in the (Cb,Cr) plane can be applied. The parameter values for these operations will depend on the camera and number of exposure stops between the well-exposed and the under-exposed images. One exemplary scheme for color correction in RBG space is as follows:

• • Compute the average luminance: ( Y_F, Y_G2)
  • Compute the color averages ( R_F, R_G2, Gr_F, Gr_G2B_F, B_G2)
  • Correct G₂ to obtain G₃ as follows:

FIG. 10 illustrates an algorithm in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 10, two images of similar size are selected. The pair of images with image G being a full resolution under-exposed image (M×N×3) and image F being a well exposed preview (P×Q×3). Where M>P and N>Q. For one embodiment, the smaller image can be interpolated or up-sampled to the size of the full resolution image.

In certain embodiments, non-linear adaptive amplification is used with a logarithmic model. A one-pass dynamic range correction method may also be used to correct the uneven luminance of a previously obtained image, and noise correction may be used.

As shown in FIG. 10, an initial coefficient, H(1,1), is computed as a function of the ratio of exposure times of the well exposed preview and of the full resolution image or the ratio of average luminance of both pictures. The rows or columns of one color channel are parsed and two corresponding pixels are taken from both images (F(i,j) and G(i,j)). They can be from each color channel or preferably the grayscale values. For this pixel pair, the coefficient is changed to: H(i,j)=H(i−1,j)+s·sign(F(i,j)−H(i−1,j)·G(i,j)), where s is a step size whose value depends on the dynamic range of the pixels. Therefore, if F(i,j)>H(i−1,j)·G(i,j), H(i,j) become H(i−1,j)+s, otherwise is H(i−1,j)−s as shown in FIG. 10. It corresponds to the sign-data sign-error LMS for L=1 used in the same way as the other adaptive algorithm equations mentioned in U.S. application Ser. No. 11/856,721, which is assigned to the same assignee and is hereby incorporated by reference. The update of H can be performed after a number of pixels are passed through the comparator. For example, a counter is incremented for each +1 from the output of the comparator and decremented for each −1 from the output of the comparator. The value of the H is updated to H+s. if the counter reaches a specified positive value (e.g. 256) and to H−s if the counter reaches a specified negative value (e.g. −256). The step size depends on the size of the full resolution picture, the thresholds or the allowed bandwidth around the initial value (e.g. around 0.0001 for 8-bit images and above mentioned thresholds). Another possibility is to use an adaptive step size, depending on previous values of the comparator.

The non-linear amplification is performed for each pixel of the under-exposed image, G(i,j,k), with i=1 . . . M, j=1 . . . N, k=1, 2, 3. A conventional logarithmic image model may be used in order to avoid the saturation of the colors.

For each color channel, k, the amplification if performed as:

$G_1\left(i,j,k\right)=D-{D\left(1-\frac{G\left(i,j,k\right)}{D}\right)}^{\varepsilon ·H\left(i,j\right)}$

• where D is the maximum permitted value (e.g. 255 for 8 bit representation of images) and g is a constant with values between 1 and 3. Simple examination of the formula above shows that only values smaller that D may be obtained.

Still referring to FIG. 10, an IIR method may be implemented on digital camera or phone camera which addresses the potential problems arising from use of poles very close to 1 (e.g. 0.999999). A similar technique to that used in adaptive modulation schemes avoids the propagation of the errors and can replace the IIR block. This advantageous method may be efficiently implemented and is robust in finite precision implementations. There is no need to perform image registration between picture pair, linear regression or gamma correction. The method shows robustness to image content differences and low quality previews. Also, the method can be easily applied to create video frames from the under-exposed and well exposed frame pair.

Acquisition

In an image acquisition operation in accordance with certain embodiments, the camera will acquire two images (one full-resolution under-exposed image and a well exposed blurred image (can be a preview, post-view, exposure overlap, or another full resolution image).

Algorithm

Two images of similar size are obtained. For example, a pair of images may include image G which is a full resolution under-exposed image (M×N×3) and image F may be a well exposed preview or postview image (P×Q×3), while M>P and N>Q.

The smaller image can be interpolated or up-sampled to the size of the full resolution image.

There are the following steps:

• • Non-linear adaptive amplification using the logarithmic model
  • The one pass dynamic range correction method presented in FN-275-modified ID.doc is used to correct the uneven luminance of previously obtained image
  • noise correction
  • Non-linear adaptive amplification using the logarithmic model

An initial coefficient, H(1,1), is computed as a function of the ratio of exposure times of the well exposed preview and of the full resolution image or the ratio of average luminance of both pictures. We parse the rows or columns of one color channel and take two corresponding pixels from both images (F(i,j) and G(i,j)). They can be from each color channel or preferably the grayscale values. For this pixel pair, the coefficient is changed to: H(i,j)=H(i−1,j)+s·sign(F(i,j)−H(i−1,j)·G(i,j)), where s is a step size whose value depends on the dynamic range of the pixels. Therefore, if F(i,j)>H(i−1,j)·G(i,j), H(i,j) become H(i−1,j)+s, otherwise is H(i−1,j)−s (FIG. 1). It corresponds to the sign-data sign-error LMS for L=1 used in the same way as the other adaptive algorithm equations mentioned in FN-204.

The update of H can be performed after a number of pixels are passed through the comparator. For example, a counter is incremented for each +1 from the output of the comparator and decremented for each −1 from the output of the comparator. The value of the His updated to H+s. if the counter reaches a specified positive value (e.g. 256) and to H−s if the counter reaches a specified negative value (e.g. −256). The step size depends on the size of the full resolution picture, the thresholds or the allowed bandwidth around the initial value (e.g. around 0.0001 for 8-bit images and above mentioned thresholds). Another possibility is to use an adaptive step size, depending on previous values of the comparator.

The non-linear amplification is performed for each pixel of the under-exposed image, G(i,j,k), with i=1 . . . M, j=1 . . . N, k=1, 2, 3. The classical logarithmic image model described by the following papers may be used in order to avoid the saturation of the colors.

• • Jourlin, M., Pinoli, J. C.: “Logarithmic image processing. the mathematical and physical framework fro the representation and processing of transmitted images” Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics 115 (2001) 129-196, and
  • Deng, G., Cahill, L. W., Tobin, G. R.: “The study of logarithmic image processing model and its application to image enhancement”. IEEE Trans. on Image Processing 4 (1995) 506-512, each has been referenced and incorporated by reference above

For each color channel, k, the amplification if performed as:

$G_1\left(i,j,k\right)=D-{D\left(1-\frac{G\left(i,j,k\right)}{D}\right)}^{\varepsilon ·H\left(i,j\right)}$

• where D is the maximum permitted value (e.g. 255 for 8 bit representation of images) and ε is a constant with values between 1 and 3. Simple examination of the formula above shows that only values smaller that D may be obtained.

For each pixel, a conversion RGB to YCbCr is performed and the one pass dynamic range correction method presented in PCT/EP08/000,378, assigned to the same assigned and incorporated by reference, may be used to correct the uneven luminance of the previously computed pixel. A conversion YCbCr to RGB is performed (see FIG. 11). The DRC operation can be performed on RGB color space as well.

The noise correction is performed using any known method in YCC, RGB or other color space on the enhanced image. The strength of the de-noising method depends on the computed DRC coefficient.

The dynamic range correction and noise correction are shown in FIG. 11. For each pixel, a conversion RGB to YCbCr is performed and a one pass dynamic range correction method is used to correct the uneven luminance of the previously computed pixel. A conversion YCbCr to RGB is performed. The DRC step can be performed on RGB color space as well. The noise correction is performed using any known method in YCC, RGB or other color space on the enhanced image. The strength of the de-noising method depends on the computed DRC coefficient.

For alternative embodiments, the non-linear adaptive technique may use a fixed/variable step size, a counter and two thresholds. In a further alternative embodiment, the noise reduction method strength is correlated depending on the coefficient computed by the DRC method.

The present invention provides a one-pass image technique that uses an IIR filter to improve the quality of pictures, using only one image and with efficient use of processor resources.

Certain embodiments provide for the automatic correction of uneven luminance in the foreground/background of an image. This implementation improves quality especially where the background is more illuminated/or darker than the foreground.

Implementations of these embodiments provide an estimate of the average of the red, green and blue channels while another recursive filter filters a term that has a component inversely proportional with the values of each color plane pixel value or the intensity value. Its output is multiplied with one or more correction terms dependent on the color channel(s) and preferably limited by two thresholds. The enhanced pixel value is obtained by using a linear or logarithmic model.

Using the embodiment, as well as an automatic correction of uneven luminance in the foreground/background, color boost is also obtained.

In certain embodiments, the average values of each color channel are not used for comparison purposes and they can be replaced by sliding averaging windows ending on the pixel being processed. In any case, these average values are used to determine correction terms which in turn are used to avoid over-amplification of red or blue channels.

Coefficients of the IIR filter may be advantageously fixed, rather than employ adaptive filters. As such, the present method may involve merely one pass through an image and the output of one filter does not have to be used as an input to another filter.

Referring now to FIG. 12, an acquired image G is supplied for filtering according to the present invention. While the embodiment is described in terms of processing an image in RGB space, the invention can be applied to luminance channels only or other color spaces.

Only one input image, G, is used and a running average on each color channel is computed 20 as each pixel value is read. Therefore for each pixel G(i,j,k) of each plane k=1 . . . 3, we compute:R=β· R+(1−β)·G(i,j,1)G=β· G+(1−β)·G(i,j,2)B=β· B+(1−β)·G(i,j,3),where β is a coefficient between 0 and 1.

Another variant is to compute on each color channel, the sum of 2N+1 pixel values around the pixel G(i,j,k) and divide by 2N+1.

From the moving average values, R, G, B, correction terms γ_R,γ_B are calculated, step 25, as follows:

${\gamma }_R=\frac{\stackrel{\_}{G}}{\stackrel{\_}{R}}·\frac{\left[\left(1-a\right)·\stackrel{\_}{R}+255·a\right]}{\left[\left(1-a\right)·\stackrel{\_}{G}+255·a\right]}\mathrm{and}{\gamma }_B=\frac{\stackrel{\_}{G}}{\stackrel{\_}{B}}·\frac{\left[\left(1-a\right)·\stackrel{\_}{B}+255·a\right]}{\left[\left(1-a\right)·\stackrel{\_}{G}+255·a\right]}$

Preferably, both correction terms, γ_R and γ_B values are limited within a chosen interval (e.g. between 0.95 and 1.05; if any of γ_R and γ_B values is below 0.95 their value is set to 0.95; if any of γ_R and γ_B values is above 1.05 their value is set to 1.05). This prevents over-amplification of the red and blue channels in further processing.

In parallel with generating the moving average values, the pixels are parsed on rows or columns and for each pixel of a color plane G(i,j,k), a coefficient H(i,j) is calculated as follows:

$H\left(i,j\right)=\alpha H\left(i,j-1\right)+\left(1-\alpha \right)\left(1-a+\frac{255·a}{\max \left(\delta ,\frac{\left(\begin{array}{c}G\left(i,j,1\right)+\\ G\left(i,j,2\right)+\\ G\left(i,j,3\right)\end{array}\right)}{3}\right)}\right)$

In FIG. 12, this processing is broken into step 30:

$f\left(G\left(i,j,k\right),a,\delta \right)=\left(1-a+\frac{255·a}{\max \left(\delta ,\frac{\left(\begin{array}{c}G\left(i,j,1\right)+\\ G\left(i,j,2\right)+\\ G\left(i,j,3\right)\end{array}\right)}{3}\right)}\right)$ followed by a recursive filter, step 40:H(i,j)=αH(i,j−1)+(1−α)(f(G(i,j,k),aδ))where:

• α is a positive value less than 1 (e.g. α=0.125); and
• α is the pole of the corresponding recursive filtering, e.g. α can have values between 0.05 and 0.8).

The comparison with δ is used in order to avoid division by zero and to amplify dark pixels (e.g. δ=15). The initial value H(1,1) can have values between 1 and 2.

Using this filter, darker areas are amplified more than illuminated areas due to the inverse values averaging and, therefore, an automatic correction of uneven luminance in the foreground/background is obtained.

It will be seen from the above that the recursive filter, H, doesn't filter the pixel values. For example, if a=α=⅛ and δ=15, the filter 30/40 is filtering a sequence of numbers that varies between 1 and 3 depending on actual pixel value G(i,j,k) and the preceding values of the image. If the filter 40 simply uses as input the pixel values G(i,j,k), it generates a simple low pass filtered image, with no luminance correction.

In one implementation of the embodiment, the modified pixel values, G₁(i,j,k), are given by a linear combination, step 50, of the filter parameters H and the correction terms γ_R,γ_B:G₁(i,j,1)=G(i,j,1)·H(i,j)·γR G₁(i,j,2)=G(i,j,2)·H(i,j)G₁(i,j,3)=G(i,j,3)·H(i,j)·γ_B.

One more complex alternative to the linear model is a logarithmic model. In such an implementation, the output pixel G₁(i,j,k) corresponding to the enhanced color plane (R/G/B color planes), is as follows:

$G_1\left(i,j,1\right)=D-{D\left(1-\frac{G\left(i,j,1\right)}{D}\right)}^{\varepsilon H\left(i,j\right){\gamma }_R},G_1\left(i,j,2\right)=D-{D\left(1-\frac{G\left(i,j,2\right)}{D}\right)}^{\varepsilon H\left(i,j\right)},G_1\left(i,j,3\right)=D-{D\left(1-\frac{G\left(i,j,3\right)}{D}\right)}^{\varepsilon H\left(i,j\right){\gamma }_B}$ where:

• D is the maximum permitted value (e.g. 255 for 8 bit representation of images); and ε is a constant whose indicated values are between 1 and 3.

Examination of the formula above shows that only values smaller than D may be obtained. In this implementation, the degree of color and brightness boost are obtained by varying the pole value (α) and the logarithmic model factor (ε).

The computations can be adapted for the YCC or other color spaces. For example, when using YCC color space in the embodiment of FIG. 2, there is no need to compute the correction terms γ_R,γ_B, and ε=1 for the Y channel if the logarithmic model is used. The inverting function for the Y channel is therefore:

$f\left(Y\left(i,j\right),a,\delta \right)=\left(1-a+\frac{255·a}{\max \left(\delta ,Y\left(i,j\right)\right)}\right).$

The linear model can be applied for the luminance channel and the logarithmic model can be used for the chrominance channels using the H(i,j) coefficient computed on the luminance channel.

This approach leads to computational savings and add the possibility of adjusting the color saturation by using a different positive value for ε (e.g. ε=0.9) when computing the new chrominance values. The brightness of the enhanced image can be varied by multiplying the Y channel with a positive factor, g, whose value can be different than the value of g used for the chrominance channels.

In another embodiment, the processing structure of FIG. 2 can be used to sharpen an image.

In this embodiment, the image is preferably provided in YCC format and the processing is performed on the Y channel only. The ratio of the next pixel and the current pixel value is computed and filtered with a one pole IIR filter (e.g. α= 1/16), step 40. The operations can be performed on successive or individual rows or columns. The initial H coefficient is set to 1 and in case of operating on row i we have:

$H\left(i,j\right)=\alpha H\left(i,j-1\right)+\left(1-\alpha \right)\frac{Y\left(i,j+1\right)}{\max \left(\delta ,Y\left(i,j\right)\right)},$ where:

• α is the pole of the IIR filter.

Again, this processing can be broken down in step 30:

$f\left(Y\left(i,j\right),\delta \right)=\frac{Y\left(i,j+1\right)}{\max \left(\delta ,Y\left(i,j\right)\right)}$ followed by the recursive filter, step 40:H(i,j)=αH(i,j−1)+(1−α)(f(Y(i,j),δ))

Again, the comparison with δ is used in order to avoid division by zero (δ is usually set to 1). H(i,j) is a coefficient that corresponds to the current pixel position (i, j) of the original image. The initial coefficient can be set to 1 at the beginning of the first row or at the beginning of each row. In the first case, the coefficient computed at the end of the one row is used to compute the coefficient corresponding to the first pixel of the next row.

The enhanced pixel value Y₁(i,j) is given by the following formula:Y₁(i,j)=Y(i,j)[1+ε(i,j)·(1−H(i,j))]where ε(i,j) can be a constant gain factor or a variable gain depending on the H coefficients. Another alternative for ε(i,j) is to use the difference between consecutive pixels or the ratio of successive pixel values. For example, if the difference between successive pixels is small (or the ratio of consecutive pixel values is close to 1) the value of ε(i,j) should be lower, because the pixel might be situated in a smooth area. If the difference is big (or the ratio is much higher or much lower than 1), the pixels might be situated on an edge, therefore the value of δ(i,j) should be close to zero, in order to avoid possible over-shooting or under-shooting problems. For intermediate values, the gain function should vary between 0 and a maximum chosen gain. An example of ε(i,j) according to these requirements has a Rayleigh distribution.

In some implementations, a look up table (LUT) can be used if a variable ε(i,j) is chosen, because the absolute difference between consecutive pixels has limited integer values.

This method is highly parallelizable and its complexity is very low. The complexity can be further reduced if LUTs are used and some multiplications are replaced by shifts.

Furthermore, this embodiment can also be applied to images in RGB space.

This embodiment can be applied in sharpening video frames either by sharpening each individual video frame or identified slightly blurred frames.

In each embodiment, the pixels can be parsed using any space-filling curves (e.g. Hilbert curves), not only by rows or columns. The corrected image can be thought as a continuously modified image, pixel by pixel, through a path of a continuously moving point.

It will also be seen that the image sharpening image processing of this embodiment can be applied after the luminance correction of the first embodiment to provide a filtered image with even superior characteristics to either method implemented independently.

Indeed either method can be applied in conjunction with other image processing methods as required for example following the processing described in PCT Application No. PCT/EP2007/009939, hereby incorporated by reference.

In accordance with an embodiment, image enhancement data processing is effected using a digital processing system (DPS). The DPS may be configured to store, process, and communicate a plurality of various types of digital information including digital images and video.

Certain embodiments may employ a DPS or devices having digital processing capabilities. Exemplary components of such a system include a central processing unit (CPU), and a signal processor coupled to a main memory, static memory, and mass storage device. The main memory may store various applications to effect operations of certain embodiments, while the mass storage device may store various digital content. The DPS may also be coupled to input/output (I/O) devices and audio/visual devices. The CPU may be used to process information and/or signals for the processing system. The main memory may be a random access memory (RAM) or some other dynamic storage device, for storing information or instructions (program code), which are used by the CPU. The static memory may be a read only memory (ROM) and/or other static storage devices, for storing information or instructions, which may also be used by the CPU. The mass storage device may be, for example, a hard disk drive, optical disk drive, or firmware for storing information or instructions for the processing system.

Embodiments have been described involving image enhancement methods and systems.

Embodiments have been described as including various operations. Many of the processes are described in their most basic form, but operations can be added to or deleted from any of the processes without departing from the scope of the invention. The operations of the invention may be performed by hardware components or may be embodied in machine-executable instructions, which may be used to cause a general-purpose or special-purpose processor or logic circuits programmed with the instructions to perform the operations. Alternatively, the steps may be performed by a combination of hardware and software. The invention may be provided as a computer program product that may include a machine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions, which may be used to program a computer (or other electronic devices) to perform a process according to the invention. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, floppy diskettes, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magneto-optical disks, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnet or optical cards, flash memory, or other type of media/machine-readable medium suitable for storing electronic instructions. Moreover, the invention may also be downloaded as a computer program product, wherein the program may be transferred from a remote computer to a requesting computer by way of data signals embodied in a carrier wave or other propagation medium via a communication cell (e.g., a modem or network connection). All operations may be performed at the same central cite or, alternatively, one or more operations may be performed elsewhere.

While an exemplary drawings and specific embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated, it is to be understood that that the scope of the present invention is not to be limited to the particular embodiments discussed. Thus, the embodiments shall be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive, and it should be understood that variations may be made in those embodiments by workers skilled in the arts without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims that follow and their structural and functional equivalents.

In addition, in methods that may be performed according to the claims below and/or preferred embodiments herein, the operations have been described in selected typographical sequences. However, the sequences have been selected and so ordered for typographical convenience and are not intended to imply any particular order for performing the operations, unless a particular ordering is expressly provided or understood by those skilled in the art as being necessary.

Claims

1. An image processing method to process a first relatively underexposed and sharp image of a scene, and a second relatively well exposed and blurred image nominally of the same scene, said method comprising: providing a portion of said first relatively underexposed image as an input signal to an adaptive filter;providing a corresponding portion of said second relatively well exposed image as a desired signal to said adaptive filter;producing an output signal from said input signal and said desired signal by multiplying the input signal by one or more coefficients that are calculated from values of the input signal and the desired signal;constructing a first filtered image, from said output signal, that is relatively less blurred than said second image; anddisplaying, transmitting, projecting or storing the first filtered image or a further processed version, or combinations thereof;wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices.

2. An image processing method according to claim 1 wherein said first and second images are in YCC format and has image portions that comprise a respective Y plane of said first and second images.

3. An image processing method according to claim 2 wherein said constructing said first filtered image comprises using said output signal as a Y plane of said first filtered image and using Cb and Cr planes of said input image as the Cb and Cr planes of said first filtered image.

4. An image processing method according to claim 1 wherein: said first image is derived from a first image source;said second image is derived from a second image source; andsaid second image source for said second image is of a relatively higher resolution than said first image source for said first image.

5. An image processing method according to claim 4 further comprising aligning and interpolating said first image source to match the alignment and resolution of said second image source.

6. An image processing method according to claim 1 wherein said first image is one of an image acquired soon before or after said second image.

7. An image processing method according to claim 1 wherein: said first image is derived from a first image source;said second image is derived from a second image source; andsaid second image source for said second image is of a relatively lower resolution than said first image source for said first image.

8. An image processing method according to claim 7 further comprising aligning and interpolating said second image source to match the alignment and resolution of said first image source.

9. An image processing method according to claim 8 comprising, responsive to said first and second image sources being misaligned by more than a pre-determined threshold, providing said desired signal from a linear combination of said first and second image sources.

10. An image processing method according to claim 8 comprising, responsive to said first and second image sources being misaligned by more than a pre-determined threshold, providing said desired signal from a combination of phase values from one of said first and second image sources and amplitude values for the other of said first and second image sources.

11. An image processing method according to claim 1 comprising noise filtering said first filtered image.

12. An image processing method according to claim 1 comprising applying color correction to the first filtered image or a noise filtered image or both.

13. An image processing method according to claim 1 comprising: acquiring a first partially exposed image from an image sensor; acquiring a second further exposed image from said image sensor; and subsequently resetting said image sensor,wherein said first relatively underexposed and sharp image of a scene is obtained by subtracting said first partially exposed image from said second further exposed image.

14. An image processing method according to claim 13 wherein said second relatively well exposed and blurred image is obtained from said image sensor just prior to said resetting.

15. An image processing method comprising: obtaining a first relatively underexposed and sharp image of a scene;obtaining a second relatively well exposed and blurred image, nominally of the same scene;providing a portion of said first relatively underexposed image as an input signal to an adaptive filter;providing a corresponding portion of said second relatively well exposed image as a desired signal to said adaptive filter;adaptively filtering said input signal to produce an output signal by multiplying the input signal by one or more coefficients that are calculated from values of the input signal and the desired signal;constructing a first filtered image, from said output signal, relatively less blurred than said second image; anddisplaying, transmitting, projecting or storing the first filtered image or a further processed version, or combinations thereof:,wherein the method is performed using one or more computing devices.

16. An image processing method according to claim 15 comprising: providing a portion of said first filtered image as said input signal to an adaptive filter;providing a corresponding portion of said second image as a desired signal to said adaptive filter;further adaptively filtering said input signal to produce a further output signal;constructing a further filtered image from said further output signal relatively less blurred than said first filtered image.

17. An image processing method according to claim 16, wherein said first and second images are in RGB format to produce said first filtered image having image portions; wherein said image portions comprise a respective color plane of said first and second images;wherein said providing a portion of said first filtered image comprises converting said first filtered image to YCC format;wherein said method further comprises converting said second image to YCC format; andwherein said image portions for further adaptive filtering comprise a respective Y plane of said converted image.

18. An image processing method according to claim 17, wherein said first and second images are in YCC format and, for producing said first filtered image;wherein said image portions comprise a respective Y plane of said first and second images;wherein said providing a portion of said first filtered image comprises converting said first filtered image to RGB format;wherein said method further comprises converting said second image to RGB format; andwherein said image portions for further adaptive filtering comprise a respective color plane of said converted image.

19. An image processing method according to claim 15 wherein said adaptively filtering is performed one of row or column wise on said input signal and wherein further adaptively filtering is performed on the other of row or column wise on said input signal.

20. An image processing method according to claim 15 comprising noise filtering said first filtered image.

21. An image processing method according to claim 15 comprising applying color correction to one of said first filtered image or a noise filtered image.

22. An image processing method according to claim 17, wherein said first and second images are in RGB format and wherein said image portions comprise a respective color plane of said first and second images.

23. An image processing method according to claim 22, wherein said adaptively filtering includes producing a set of filter coefficients from a combination of said input signal and an error signal being the difference between said desired signal and said output signal; andwherein the method further comprises constructing each color plane of said first filtered image from a combination of said filter coefficients and color plane information of said input signal.

24. An image processing method as claimed in claim 15 comprising: prior to adaptive filtering, estimating a point spread function, PSF, for said second image; andde-blurring said second image with said point spread function.

25. An image processing method according to claim 24 wherein said de-blurring is performed in response to said PSF being less than a pre-determined threshold.

26. An image processing method according to claim 15 comprising the steps of amplifying luminance characteristics of said under exposed image prior to said adaptively filtering.

27. An image processing apparatus arranged to process a first relatively underexposed and sharp image of a scene, and a second relatively well exposed and blurred image, nominally of the same scene, said apparatus comprising: means for providing a portion of said first relatively underexposed image as an input signal to an adaptive filter;means providing a corresponding portion of said second relatively well exposed image as a desired signal to said adaptive filter;an adaptive filter arranged to produce an output signal from said input signal and said desired signal by multiplying the input signal by one or more coefficients that are calculated from values of the input signal and the desired signal; andan image generator arranged to construct a first filtered image from said output signal, relatively less blurred than said second image.

28. One or more non-transitory processor-readable media having embedded therein processor-readable code for programming a processor to perform an image processing method to process a first relatively underexposed and sharp image of a scene, and a second relatively well exposed and blurred image nominally of the same scene, said method comprising: providing a portion of said first relatively underexposed image as an input signal to an adaptive filter;providing a corresponding portion of said second relatively well exposed image as a desired signal to said adaptive filter;producing an output signal from said input signal and said desired signal by multiplying the input signal by one or more coefficients that are calculated from values of the input signal and the desired signal;constructing a first filtered image, from said output signal, that is relatively less blurred than said second image.

29. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 28 wherein said first and second images are in YCC format and has image portions that comprise a respective Y plane of said first and second images.

30. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 29 wherein said constructing said first filtered image comprises using said output signal as a Y plane of said first filtered image and using Cb and Cr planes of said input image as the Cb and Cr planes of said first filtered image.

31. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 28 wherein: said first image is derived from a first image source;said second image is derived from a second image source; andsaid second image source for said second image is of a relatively higher resolution than said first image source for said first image.

32. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 31 wherein the method further comprises aligning and interpolating said first image source to match the alignment and resolution of said second image source.

33. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 28, wherein said first image is one of an image acquired soon before or after said second image.

34. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 31, wherein said second image source for said second image is of a relatively lower resolution than said first image source for said first image.

35. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 34, wherein the method further comprises aligning and interpolating said second image source to match the alignment and resolution of said first image source.

36. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 35, wherein the method further comprises, responsive to said first and second image sources being misaligned by more than a pre-determined threshold, providing said desired signal from a linear combination of said first and second image sources.

37. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 31, wherein the method further comprises, responsive to said first and second image sources being misaligned by more than a pre-determined threshold, providing said desired signal from a combination of phase values from one of said first and second image sources and amplitude values for the other of said first and second image sources.

38. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 28, wherein the method further comprises noise filtering said first filtered image.

39. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 28, wherein the method further comprises applying color correction to the first filtered image or a noise filtered image or both.

40. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 28, wherein the method further comprises: acquiring a first partially exposed image from an image sensor;acquiring a second further exposed image from said image sensor; and subsequently resetting said image sensor,wherein said first relatively underexposed and sharp image of a scene are obtained by subtracting said first partially exposed image from said second further exposed image.

41. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 40, wherein said second relatively well exposed and blurred image is obtained from said image sensor just prior to said resetting.

42. One or more non-transitory processor-readable media having embedded therein processor-readable code for programming a processor to perform an image processing method that comprises: obtaining a first relatively underexposed and sharp image of a scene;obtaining a second relatively well exposed and blurred image, nominally of the same sceneproviding a portion of said first relatively underexposed image as an input signal to an adaptive filter;providing a corresponding portion of said second relatively well exposed image as a desired signal to said adaptive filter;adaptively filtering said input signal to produce an output signal by multiplying the input signal by one or more coefficients that are calculated from values of the input signal and the desired signal; andconstructing a first filtered image, from said output signal, relatively less blurred than said second image.

43. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 42, wherein the method further comprises: providing a portion of said first filtered image as said input signal to an adaptive filter;providing a corresponding portion of said second image as a desired signal to said adaptive filter;further adaptively filtering said input signal to produce a further output signal;constructing a further filtered image from said further output signal relatively less blurred than said first filtered image.

44. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 43, wherein said first and second images are in RGB format to produce said first filtered image that has image portions that comprise a respective color plane of said first and second images; wherein said providing a portion of said first filtered image comprises converting said first filtered image to YCC format;wherein said method further comprises converting said second image to YCC format; andwherein said image portions for further adaptive filtering comprise a respective Y plane of said converted image.

45. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 44, wherein said first and second images are in YCC format and, for producing said first filtered image; wherein said image portions comprise a respective Y plane of said first and second images; andwherein said providing a portion of said first filtered image comprises converting said first filtered image to RGB format;wherein said method further comprises converting said second image to RGB format; andwherein said image portions for further adaptive filtering comprise a respective color plane of said converted image.

46. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 42 wherein said adaptively filtering is performed one of row or column wise on said input signal and wherein further adaptively filtering is performed on the other of row or column wise on said input signal.

47. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 42, wherein the method further comprises noise filtering said first filtered image.

48. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 42, wherein the method further comprises applying color correction to one of said first filtered image or a noise filtered image.

49. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 44, wherein said first and second images are in RGB format and wherein said image portions comprise a respective color plane of said first and second images.

50. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 49, wherein said adaptively filtering includes producing a set of filter coefficients from a combination of said input signal and an error signal being the difference between said desired signal and said output signal; and wherein the method further comprises constructing each color plane of said first filtered image from a combination of said filter coefficients and color plane information of said input signal.

51. One or more processor-readable media as claimed in claim 42, wherein the method further comprises: prior to adaptive filtering, estimating a point spread function, PSF, for said second image; andde-blurring said second image with said point spread function.

52. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 51 wherein said de-blurring is performed in response to said PSF being less than a pre- determined threshold.

53. One or more processor-readable media according to claim 42, wherein the method further comprises amplifying luminance characteristics of said under exposed image prior to said adaptively filtering.

54. A portable digital image acquisition device, comprising a lens, an image sensor for capturing a digital image, a processor, and one or more processor-readable media having processor-readable code embedded therein for programming the processor to process a first relatively underexposed and sharp image of a scene, and a second relatively well exposed and blurred image nominally of the same scene, and wherein the processor performs: providing a portion of said first relatively underexposed image as an input signal to an adaptive filter;providing a corresponding portion of said second relatively well exposed image as a desired signal to said adaptive filter;producing an output signal from said input signal and said desired signal by multiplying the input signal by one or more coefficients that are calculated from values of the input signal and the desired signal;constructing a first filtered image, from said output signal, that is relatively less blurred than said second image; anddisplaying, transmitting, projecting or storing the first filtered image or a further processed version, or combinations thereof.

55. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 54 wherein said first and second images are in YCC format and has image portions that comprise a respective Y plane of said first and second images.

56. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 55 wherein said constructing said first filtered image comprises using said output signal as a Y plane of said first filtered image and using Cb and Cr planes of said input image as the Cb and Cr planes of said first filtered image.

57. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 54 wherein; said first image is derived from a first image source;said second image is derived from a second image source; andsaid second image source for said second image is of a relatively higher resolution than said first image source for said first image.

58. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 57 further comprising aligning and interpolating said first image source to match the alignment and resolution of said second image source.

59. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 54 wherein said first image is one of an image acquired soon before or after said second image.

60. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 57 wherein said second image source for said second image is of a relatively lower resolution than said first image source for said first image.

61. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 60, wherein the method further comprises aligning and interpolating said second image source to match the alignment and resolution of said first image source.

62. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 61, wherein the method further comprises, responsive to said first and second image sources being misaligned by more than a pre-determined threshold, providing said desired signal from a linear combination of said first and second image sources.

63. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 61, wherein the method further comprises, responsive to said first and second sources being misaligned by more than a pre-determined threshold, providing said desired signal from a combination of phase values from one of said first and second image sources and amplitude values for the other of said first and second image sources.

64. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 54, wherein the method further comprises noise filtering said first filtered image.

65. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 54, wherein the method further comprises applying color correction to said first filtered image or a noise filtered image or both.

66. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 54, wherein the method further comprises: acquiring a first partially exposed image from an image sensor; acquiring a second further exposed image from said image sensor; and subsequently resetting said image sensor,wherein said first relatively underexposed and sharp image of a scene are obtained by subtracting said first partially exposed image from said second further exposed image.

67. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 66, wherein said second relatively well exposed and blurred image is obtained from said image sensor just prior to said resetting.

68. A portable digital image acquisition device, comprising a lens, an image sensor for capturing a digital image, a processor, and one or more processor-readable media having processor-readable code embedded therein for programming the processor to perform: obtaining a first relatively underexposed and sharp image of a scene;obtaining a second relatively well exposed and blurred image, nominally of the same sceneproviding a portion of said first relatively underexposed image as an input signal to an adaptive filter;providing a corresponding portion of said second relatively well exposed image as a desired signal to said adaptive filter;adaptively filtering said input signal to produce an output signal by multiplying the input signal by one or more coefficients that are calculated from values of the input signal and the desired signal; andconstructing a first filtered image,. from said output signal, relatively less blurred than said second image.

69. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 68, wherein the method further comprises: providing a portion of said first filtered image as said input signal to an adaptive filter;providing a corresponding portion of said second image as a desired signal to said adaptive filter;further adaptively filtering said input signal to produce a further output signal;constructing a further filtered image from said further output signal relatively less blurred than said first filtered image.

70. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 69, wherein said first and second images are in RGB format to produce said first filtered image and has image portions that comprise a respective color plane of said first and second images; wherein said providing a portion of said first filtered image comprises converting said first filtered image to YCC format;wherein said method further comprises converting said second image to YCC format; and wherein said image portions for further adaptive filtering comprise a respective Y plane of said converted image.

71. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 70, wherein said first and second images are in YCC format and, for producing said first filtered image; and wherein said image portions comprise a respective Y plane of said first and second images;wherein said providing a portion of said first filtered image comprises converting said first filtered image to RGB format;wherein said method further comprises converting said second image to RGB format; andwherein said image portions for further adaptive filtering comprise a respective color plane of said converted image.

72. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 68, wherein said adaptively filtering is performed one of row or column wise on said input signal and wherein further adaptively filtering is performed on the other of row or column wise on said input signal.

73. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 68, wherein the method further comprises noise filtering said first filtered image.

74. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 68, wherein the method further comprises applying color correction to one of said first filtered image or a noise filtered image.

75. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 70, wherein said first and second images are in RGB format and wherein said image portions comprise a respective color plane of said first and second images.

76. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 75, wherein said adaptively filtering includes producing a set of filter coefficients from a combination of said input signal and a error signal being the difference between said desired signal and said output signal; and wherein the method further comprises constructing each color plane of said first filtered image from a combination of said filter coefficients and said input signal color plane information.

77. A portable digital image acquisition device as claimed in claim 68, wherein the method further comprises: prior to adaptive filtering, estimating a point spread function, PSF, for said second image; andde-blurring said second image with said point spread function.

78. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 77, wherein said de-blurring is performed in response to said PSF being less than a pre- determined threshold.

79. A portable digital image acquisition device according to claim 68, wherein the method further comprises amplifying luminance characteristics of said under exposed image prior to said adaptively filtering.