Adaptive Luma Chroma Filtering for Low-Light Noise Reduction

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing methods for removing low-light noise from images are computationally intensive and inefficient, particularly on low-power devices, as they do not adapt to available resources or image complexity, leading to unnecessary resource usage.

Innovation Solution

A system using Gaussian distribution and correlation techniques to separate and filter luma and chroma components of images, employing adaptive filters like edge-detection and dilation filters, which adjust based on computational cost and image complexity, preserving high-frequency details and reducing noise effectively.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If transform-domain methods (DCT, wavelet, or other statistical methods) are used to remove low-light noise, then noise removal effectiveness is improved, but computational resource consumption increases significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenoise removal effectivenessVSAvoidcomputational resource consumption
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The image is divided into multiple blocks or regions, and noise filtering is applied independently to each block. This segmentation allows the system to process only relevant regions with noise, reducing overall computational load while maintaining effective noise removal where needed.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Different filtering strategies are applied to different regions of the image based on local characteristics. Regions with high noise levels receive more aggressive filtering, while regions with low noise or important details receive lighter processing, optimizing the balance between noise removal and computational efficiency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Ease of manufacture

If fixed filtering methods are applied to all images, then implementation simplicity is improved, but resource efficiency deteriorates due to processing simple images with complex filters

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveimplementation simplicityVSAvoidresource efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The filtering method dynamically adapts to each image based on its characteristics. The system analyzes image complexity and adjusts the filtering intensity and type accordingly, transitioning from static fixed filtering to dynamic adaptive filtering that matches processing effort to actual needs.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

Filtering parameters such as filter strength, block size, and processing depth are changed based on image characteristics. Simple images use lighter parameters while complex noisy images use heavier parameters, optimizing resource efficiency without sacrificing noise removal effectiveness where needed.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

3Reliability

If aggressive filtering is applied to remove all noise, then noise removal effectiveness is improved, but image detail preservation deteriorates due to loss of high-frequency information

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenoise removal effectivenessVSAvoidimage detail preservation
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of applying full-strength filtering uniformly, the system applies partial filtering only where necessary. By identifying and targeting specific noisy regions rather than processing the entire image aggressively, the system removes noise effectively while preserving important high-frequency details in non-noisy areas.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentEP2641390B1Component filtering for low-light noise reduction
Publication Date: 2017.11.08 ANALOG DEVICES INC
  • EP2641390B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2641390B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2641390B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

In general, in one embodiment, low-light noise is removed from an image by separately filtering luma and chroma components of the image, by adaptively filtering the image based at least in part on a Gaussian distribution of the image, and/or by dividing the image into separate regions and filtering each region separately.