Image Processing Apparatus Blur Suppression Noise Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image capturing techniques struggle to suppress subject blur effectively while maintaining image quality, often resulting in noise due to high sensitivity settings when exposure times are not optimally adjusted.
Innovation Solution
An image processing apparatus that aligns and composites short-time-exposure images with a long-time-exposure image, outputting either the long-time-exposure image if it meets a predetermined condition or a composite image generated from selected short-time-exposure images if it does not, to suppress subject blur and reduce noise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a short exposure time is used to suppress subject blur, then subject blur is reduced, but noise increases due to high sensitivity settings
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple short-time-exposure images into a composite image through alignment and compositing operations. By merging multiple images captured with short exposure times, the system maintains subject blur suppression while reducing noise through the aggregation of multiple frames, effectively resolving the contradiction between blur suppression and noise reduction.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs alignment processing on multiple short-time-exposure images before compositing them. This preliminary alignment action ensures that corresponding pixels from different images are properly registered, enabling effective noise reduction through compositing while maintaining the subject blur suppression benefits of short exposure times.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a long exposure time is used to reduce noise, then noise is reduced, but subject blur occurs due to subject motion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the image capture process into multiple short-time-exposure frames rather than using a single long exposure. By dividing the total capture time into multiple shorter intervals, the system avoids subject blur that would occur with a single long exposure while still achieving noise reduction through subsequent compositing of the segmented frames.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If multiple images are captured and composited, then noise is reduced and image quality is improved, but processing time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs alignment processing as a preliminary step before compositing, organizing the multiple captured images in advance. This preliminary alignment action streamlines the subsequent compositing operation, reducing the overall processing time required to generate the final low-noise composite image while maintaining the noise reduction benefits.
Data Source
AI summary
An image processing apparatus includes: an alignment unit configured to perform alignment for a group of images including a plurality of short-time-exposure images that are captured with a first exposure time and a long-time-exposure image that is captured with a second exposure time that is longer than the first exposure time; and an output unit configured to output the long-time-exposure image in a case where the long-time-exposure image satisfies a predetermined condition and configured to output a composite image which is generated by compositing a plurality of images selected from among the plurality of short-time-exposure images, in a case where the long-time-exposure image does not satisfy the predetermined condition.