Image Processing Device Frame Alignment Noise Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional image processing devices fail to effectively remove noise from video frames due to camera vibration, leading to image lag and inadequate noise suppression.
Innovation Solution
An image processing device that aligns target frames with previous frames to cancel camera motion, using a combination of temporal and spatial correction processes to generate output frames, thereby enhancing noise removal efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional noise removal processing is applied without frame alignment, then processing simplicity is maintained, but noise removal effectiveness deteriorates due to camera vibration causing wide-range frame differences
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing frame alignment before noise removal processing. The alignment unit aligns the current frame with the previous frame in advance, canceling camera motion effects before the correction unit performs temporal correction. This preliminary alignment ensures that subsequent noise removal operates on properly registered frames, significantly improving noise removal effectiveness without requiring complex adaptive processing during the correction phase.
2Ease of operation
If feedback coefficient is weakened to correct moving subject lag, then subject motion tracking improves, but noise removal effectiveness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the image processing into distinct functional units: an alignment unit that handles camera motion compensation by aligning frames, and a correction unit that performs temporal correction for noise removal. This segmentation allows the alignment unit to address motion tracking independently, while the correction unit focuses on noise removal using the aligned frames, eliminating the need to weaken feedback coefficients and preserving noise removal effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The alignment unit serves as an intermediary between the input frames and the correction unit. It processes the raw frames to cancel camera motion effects before passing aligned frames to the correction unit. This intermediary alignment process enables the correction unit to perform effective temporal correction without being interfered by camera vibration, thus maintaining strong noise removal performance while properly handling moving subjects.
3Productivity
If temporal correction uses unaligned previous frames, then processing speed is maintained, but noise removal quality deteriorates due to motion artifacts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary frame alignment before temporal correction, ensuring that corresponding pixels across frames represent the same scene locations. This preliminary alignment cancels camera motion effects, allowing the correction unit to perform temporal correction on properly registered frames. The result is high-quality noise removal without motion artifacts, while the processing remains efficient due to the straightforward sequential implementation of alignment followed by correction.
Data Source
AI summary
An image processing device comprising: a recording unit configured to record a previous frame image input before a target frame image that is to be a processing target or an output frame image from the previous frame image; an alignment unit configured to align the target frame image with the previous frame image or with the output frame image from the previous frame image; a correction unit configured to perform a temporal correction process to correct a pixel value of the target frame image by use of a pixel value of the previous frame image or a pixel value of the output frame image from the previous frame image that has been aligned by the alignment unit, with reference to the recording unit; and a generation unit configured to generate an output frame image from the target frame image by use of the target frame image corrected by the correction unit.