Image Processing Apparatus Chromatic Aberration Correction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image processing methods struggle to accurately correct chromatic aberration, leading to unnatural color shifts and overcorrection issues, especially on blurred edges, which affect image quality and observer perception.
Innovation Solution
An image processing apparatus and method that calculates color differences between multiple color planes at various positions relative to each other, determining the optimal correction distance by minimizing the sum of absolute color differences within a predetermined range to prevent overcorrection and maintain original color tones.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If color shift correction is performed using correlation between individual color components on the edge portion, then the amount of color shift can be obtained, but overcorrection occurs on blurred edges causing unnatural color changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating processing between edge portions and non-edge portions. Edge portions are identified through edge detection, and only non-edge portions are used for color shift amount calculation. This ensures that blurred edges do not contaminate the measurement, while still allowing correction to be applied globally to the image.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the image into edge portions and non-edge portions using edge detection. This segmentation allows the color shift calculation to be performed only on reliable non-edge regions, while the correction is applied to the entire image including edges, thus avoiding overcorrection artifacts.
2Measurement precision
If pixel size is reduced to increase the number of pixels on the image sensor, then image resolution is improved, but chromatic aberration of magnification becomes more prominent causing image quality degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical/optical correction methods with digital image processing. Instead of using complex optical systems to correct chromatic aberration, the invention uses computational methods to detect and correct color shifts in the captured image, thereby maintaining high resolution while eliminating chromatic aberration artifacts.
3Ease of manufacture
If the amount of color shift is obtained by minimizing error between color component arrays, then calculation is simplified, but precise color shift amount cannot be obtained on blurred edges
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating processing between edge portions and non-edge portions. Edge portions are identified through edge detection, and only non-edge portions are used for color shift amount calculation. This ensures that blurred edges do not contaminate the measurement, while still allowing correction to be applied globally to the image.
Data Source
AI summary
This invention discloses an image processing apparatus that can obtain, from an image, the amount of correction for chromatic aberration of magnification, that can appropriately correct a color shift while suppressing a change in color on the edge portion of the image before and after the correction. In obtaining the amount of color shift between one color plane and another color plane, the color differences before and after the color shift is corrected are calculated for each pair of pixels included in regions of interest. It is determined whether the amount of change in color difference before and after correction falls within a predetermined range. The amount of color shift is obtained in the range in which it is determined that the amount of change in color difference before and after correction falls within a predetermined range.