JP2010273282A - Image processing apparatus, imaging apparatus, and image processing program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique capable of correcting a pixel value in a defective pixel or the like without degrading correction accuracy. <P>SOLUTION: This image processing apparatus includes: a first interpolation section for calculating a first interpolation value of a correction object pixel using a pixel value of a pixel where a pattern of noise different from a pattern of noise distributed in the correction object pixel and pixels around it is distributed, out of pixels having color filters having color identical to that of the correction object pixel around the correction object pixel; a second interpolation section for calculating a second interpolation value of the correction object pixel using a pixel value of a pixel where a pattern of noise identical to a pattern of noise distributed in the correction object pixel is distributed, out of pixels having color filters having color identical to that of the correction object pixel around the correction object pixel; and a pixel calculation section for obtaining the pixel value of the correction object pixel by adding a correction value obtained from the first interpolation value and the second interpolation section to the interpolation value. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing device, an imaging device, and an image processing program.

  Conventionally, various techniques for correcting pixel values of defective pixels and focus detection pixels in an image sensor using pixel values of other pixels around them have been developed.

  For example, Patent Document 1 uses, in an image, pixel values of pixels in the vertical and horizontal directions on the same color line that is one line away from the pixel of interest to determine whether the pixel of interest is a defective pixel, whether there is a line crawl, A technique for evaluating the influence of line crawl and determining the pixel value of a pixel of interest by determining the presence or absence of an edge in the direction is disclosed.

JP 2006-304231 A

  However, in the conventional technique such as Patent Document 1, the pixel value of the pixel of interest is calculated using the pixel value of the pixel in the vertical and horizontal directions on the same color line separated by one line from the pixel of interest. In the case of an image having a proper image structure, the calculation accuracy is lowered.

  In view of the problems of the above-described conventional technology, an object of the present invention is to provide a technology capable of correcting a pixel value in a defective pixel or the like without reducing correction accuracy.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the image processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a pixel having a color filter of the same color as the correction target pixel around the correction target pixel, and noise distributed in the correction target pixel and the surrounding pixels. The first interpolation unit that calculates the first interpolation value of the correction target pixel using the pixel value of the pixel in which the noise pattern different from the pattern is distributed, and the same as the correction target pixel around the correction target pixel The second interpolation value of the correction target pixel is calculated using the pixel value of the pixel having the same noise pattern as the noise pattern distributed to the correction target pixel among the pixels having the color filter of the color. 2 interpolation units, and a pixel calculation unit that adds a correction value obtained from the first interpolation value and the second interpolation value to the first interpolation value to obtain a pixel value of the correction target pixel. .

  Further, the correction value may be within a predetermined range.

  In addition, the pixel calculation unit may include a correction value calculation unit that calculates a correction value by clipping the difference between the first interpolation value and the second interpolation value within a predetermined range.

  The predetermined range may be determined based on optical conditions at the time of image capturing.

  An imaging apparatus of the present invention includes an imaging unit that generates an image of a subject image captured by an imaging element, and the image processing apparatus of the present invention.

  The image processing program of the present invention causes a computer to function as the image processing apparatus of the present invention.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to correct a pixel value in a defective pixel or the like without reducing correction accuracy.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic camera 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows a part of image data imaged with the image pick-up element 2 Flowchart of image processing by electronic camera 10 The figure which shows the flow of the image data in CPU5 of the electronic camera 10

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an electronic camera 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The electronic camera 10 includes an imaging lens 1, an imaging device 2, an A / D conversion unit 3, a buffer memory 4, a CPU 5, a card interface (card I / F) 6, an operation member 8, a storage unit 9, and a display unit 11. The The buffer memory 4, the CPU 5, the card I / F 6, the operation member 8, the storage unit 9, and the display unit 11 are connected via a bus 12 so that information can be transmitted. FIG. 1 shows only the main part of the electronic camera 10. For example, in FIG. 1, a timing generator that emits timing pulses for shooting instructions to the image sensor 2 and the A / D converter 3 in accordance with a command from the CPU 5 is omitted.

  The imaging lens 1 is composed of a plurality of optical lenses, and forms a subject image on the light receiving surface of the imaging element 2.

  In the image pickup device 2, a color filter of any of R (red), G (green), and B (blue) is provided in a Bayer array type on each of a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix on the light receiving surface. The image sensor is a semiconductor image sensor such as a CCD or CMOS, and can be appropriately selected and used. FIG. 2 shows a part of the image data captured by the image sensor 2. Each cell represents one pixel. The symbols R, G, and B at the head of each cell indicate pixels having the respective color filters, and the two-digit number following these symbols indicates the position of the pixel. Note that the image sensor 2 of the present embodiment has defective pixels and causes a line crawl phenomenon. Here, the line crawl means that, among the R, G, and B color filters provided in the Bayer array type, in particular, light having a long wavelength that transmits the color filter R is adjacent to another color filter G or B. The pixel value (noise) due to the light having a long leaked wavelength is added to the pixel value due to the light transmitted through the color filter G or B by the other adjacent color filter G or B pixels. This is a phenomenon that outputs the calculated value. The noise distribution is determined according to the distribution of the color filter R and the direction of incident light from the subject image.

  The imaging device 2 operates based on a timing pulse generated by a timing generator (not shown) in response to a command from the CPU 5 and acquires a subject image formed by the imaging lens 1 provided in front. The image signal output from the image sensor 2 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 3. The digital image signal is temporarily recorded in a frame memory (not shown) and then recorded in the buffer memory 4. As the buffer memory 4, an arbitrary nonvolatile memory among semiconductor memories can be appropriately selected and used.

  When the user presses the power button on the operation member 8 and power is supplied to the electronic camera 10, the CPU 5 reads the control program and the image processing program stored in the storage unit 9 and initializes the electronic camera 10. The CPU 5 receives an instruction signal from the user via the operation member 8 and outputs a subject image capturing command to a timing generator (not shown) based on a control program, or an image of the captured image. Process. Further, the CPU 5 also performs control such as recording on the card memory 7 and the storage unit 9 and display on the display unit 11. As the CPU 5, a CPU of a general computer can be used.

  A card memory 7 is detachably attached to the card I / F 6. The image recorded in the buffer memory 4 is subjected to image processing by the CPU 5 and then recorded in the card memory 7 as a file in JPEG format or YUV format.

  The operation member 8 outputs an operation signal corresponding to the content of the member operation by the user to the CPU 5. The operation member 8 includes operation members such as a power button, a mode setting button such as a shooting mode, and a release button. The operation member 8 may be a touch panel type button provided on the front surface of the screen of the display unit 11 to be described later.

  The storage unit 9 stores image data captured by the electronic camera 10 and various programs such as a control program for the CPU 5 to control the electronic camera 10. Furthermore, the storage unit 9 also stores various coefficient data used in image processing. Programs and data stored in the storage unit 9 can be referred to as appropriate from the CPU 5 via the bus 12. As the storage unit 9, a general hard disk device, a magneto-optical disk device, or a storage device such as a semiconductor memory can be appropriately selected and used.

  The display unit 11 displays a low-resolution image (so-called through image) for composition confirmation, a captured image, a mode setting screen, or the like. A liquid crystal monitor or the like can be appropriately selected and used for the display unit 11.

  Next, correction image processing for an image captured by the electronic camera 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of image processing in FIG. 3 and the flow of image data in the CPU 5 in FIG.

  When the user presses the power button on the operation member 8 and power is supplied to the electronic camera 10, the CPU 5 reads the control program and the image processing program stored in the storage unit 9 and initializes the electronic camera 10. The CPU 5 stands by until an instruction to capture a subject image is issued from the user.

  In the following description, it is assumed that a still image capturing mode such as portrait or landscape is selected by the mode setting button of the operation member 8 by the user. The correction image processing will be described using the pixel G45 illustrated in FIG. 2 as a correction target pixel that is a defective pixel, but the same processing is performed for other defective pixels.

  Step S10: When the user presses the release button of the operation member 8, the CPU 5 determines that an imaging instruction has been issued and issues an imaging instruction to a timing generator (not shown). A timing generator (not shown) emits a timing pulse to the image sensor 2, and the image sensor 2 captures a subject image formed by the imaging lens 1. The captured image data is converted into digital image data by the A / D converter 3 and recorded in the buffer memory 4.

Step S11: The CPU 5 reads the image data from the buffer memory 4, and the image direction determination unit 101 of the CPU 5 determines the image structure around the correction target pixel G45 in order to interpolate the pixel value at the correction target pixel G45. . Specifically, the image direction determination unit 101 uses the pixel values of the same color pixels around the correction target pixel G45 to calculate the values of the direction fluctuations H1 to H4, which are the change rates of the pixel values in the four directions, by the following equation. It calculates | requires using (1)-(4), respectively. In this embodiment, the four directions are 45 degrees and 135 degrees with respect to the horizontal scanning direction, the vertical scanning direction, and the horizontal scanning direction.
Direction variation H1 in the horizontal scanning direction =
2 × (| G34-G36 | + | G54-G56 |) + | R33-R35 | + | R53-R55 | + | B24-B26 | + | B64-B66 | (1)
Direction variation H2 in the vertical scanning direction =
2 × (| G34-G54 | + | G36-G56 |) + | R33-R53 | + | R35-R55 | + | B24-B64 | + | B26-B66 | (2)
Directional variation H3 = 45 degrees with respect to the horizontal scanning direction =
2 × (| G27-G36 | + | G54-G63 |) + | R35-R53 | + | R37-R55 | + | B26-B62 | + | B28-B64 | (3)
Directional change H4 = 135 degrees with respect to the horizontal scanning direction =
2 × (| G23-G34 | + | G56-G67 |) + | R33-R55 | + | R35-R57 | + | B22-B66 | + | B24-B68 | (4)
Step S12: The first interpolation unit 102 of the CPU 5 selects the direction of the smallest direction variation among the direction variations H1 to H4 obtained in Step S11, and selects the correction target pixel G45 among the pixels in that direction. Using the pixel value of the pixel having the most adjacent color filter G, the first interpolation value G1 at the position of the correction target pixel G45 is an expression corresponding to the direction selected from the following expressions (5) to (8). Find using.
When the direction change H1 is the minimum G1 = (G43 + G47) / 2 (5)
When direction change H2 is the minimum G1 = (G25 + G65) / 2 (6)
When the direction variation H3 is the minimum G1 = (G36 + G54) / 2 (7)
When direction change H4 is the minimum G1 = (G34 + G56) / 2 (8)
Step S13: The second interpolation unit 103 of the CPU 5 uses the pixel value of the pixel of the color filter G positioned in the horizontal scanning direction or the vertical scanning direction one line away from the correction target pixel G45, and uses the pixel value of the correction target pixel. The second interpolation value G2 at the position of G45 is obtained using an expression corresponding to the selected direction among the following expressions (9) to (12).
When the direction variation H1 is the minimum G2 = (G43 + G47) / 2 (9)
When the direction variation H2 is the minimum G2 = (G25 + G65) / 2 (10)
When the direction variation H3 is the minimum, G2 = (G27 + G63) / 2 (11)
When the direction variation H4 is the minimum, G2 = (G23 + G67) / 2 (12)
Here, the first interpolation value G1 calculated by the first interpolation unit 102 is obtained using the pixel value of the pixel having the color filter G closest to the correction target pixel G45, so that the correction accuracy is high. . However, since the pixel is located near, the pixel of the color filter R with respect to the correction target pixel G45 is located on both sides in the vertical scanning direction. On the other hand, for example, the pixels of the color filter R for each of the pixels G34, G36, G54, and G56 are located on both sides in the horizontal scanning direction. Therefore, the correction target pixel G45 and the pixels G34, G36, G54, and G56 have different noise patterns due to line crawl, and the influence of line crawl may not be accurately reproduced. In general, the influence is minute, but in a flat image region having a constant pixel value, it may be noticeable as a correction mark.

  On the other hand, the second interpolation value G2 calculated by the second interpolation unit 103 is one line away from the correction target pixel G45, and the color filter G pixel in which the color filter R pixel is adjacent in the vertical scanning direction. Since the pixel value of the pixel is used, the influence of line crawl in the correction target pixel G45 is correctly reproduced. However, since the pixel value of a pixel that is one line away from the correction target pixel G45 is used, if the pixel position of the correction target pixel G45 has a steep image structure, the correction result deteriorates. Therefore, correction values that accurately reproduce the influence of the line crawl, the image structure, and the like are calculated by performing correction processing in step S14 and subsequent steps on the calculated first interpolation value G1 and second interpolation value G2. To do.

Step S14: The correction value calculation unit 104 in the pixel calculation unit of the CPU 5 calculates the correction value C0 from the first interpolation value G1 and the second interpolation value G2, as shown in the following equation (13).
C0 = G2-G1 (13)
Then, the correction value calculation unit 104 clips the value of C0 in the range of −α to + α to obtain the correction value C. The value of ± α is set to be equivalent to the maximum value of noise caused by line crawl (for example, when processing a 12-bit image, the pixel value output by the pixel of the color filter G that is diagonally adjacent). Is done.

  Step S15: The pixel calculation unit of the CPU 5 calculates the corrected pixel value by adding the correction value C obtained in step S14 to the interpolation value G1.

  Step S16: The correction value substitution unit 105 of the CPU 5 substitutes the corrected pixel value obtained in step S15 as a new pixel value of the correction target pixel G45.

  Step S17: The CPU 5 performs image processing such as line crawl correction, saturation enhancement and contour enhancement on the corrected image. The CPU 5 converts the processed image into a file such as a JPEG format or a YUV format and records it in the card memory 7 or the storage unit 9 via the bus 12 and the card I / F 6 to complete a series of operations. .

  Thus, in the present embodiment, by adding the correction value C to the first interpolation value G1 based on the characteristics of the first interpolation value G1 and the second correction value G2 as described above, A value close to the interpolation value G2 of 2 is set as a corrected pixel value. As a result, even if the pixel value is a flat image region with a constant pixel value, the corrected pixel value is substantially equal to the second interpolation value G2, so that line crawl can be accurately reproduced.

Further, the correction value C for the first interpolation value G1 is suppressed within the range of ± α, but generally the value of ± α is smaller than the image structure, so deterioration due to the correction in the steep image structure is not caused. Can be kept small.
≪Supplementary items for the embodiment≫
In the present embodiment, it is desirable that the value of α is larger than the noise caused by line crawl. Therefore, it is preferable to determine and set the value of α in accordance with optical conditions such as F value and PO value when an image is captured. For example, when the F value is large or the PO value is large or small, it is expected that the influence of line crawl will be large. Therefore, the α value is set large, and the α value is small under other conditions. The value or 0 may be set to invalidate the processing in step S14.

  In the present embodiment, in the direction determination by the image direction determination unit 101, the direction fluctuations H1 to H4 are obtained using the equations (1) to (4), respectively, but the present invention is not limited to this. The direction fluctuations H1 to H4 may be obtained by other known methods.

  In addition, when the direction variation H1 or H2 is selected, the processing in the first interpolation unit 102 and the second interpolation unit 103 is the same, and therefore it is preferable to share them.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the specific pixel G45 is corrected as the correction target pixel has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be applied to, for example, correction of a line defect. In that case, it is preferable not to refer to the pixel on the line defect.

  In this embodiment, a defective pixel is used as a correction target pixel. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the correction target pixel may be applied to correction of a focus detection pixel. In that case, a known technique for correcting focus detection pixels may be combined with the present invention.

  In the present embodiment, correction image processing is performed on a still image captured by the electronic camera 10, but the present invention is not limited to this and can also be applied to a moving image or a through image. .

  Note that the present invention can also be applied to an image processing program for realizing the processing in the image processing apparatus according to the present invention by a computer.

  The present invention can be implemented in various other forms without departing from the spirit or the main features thereof. For this reason, the above-described embodiment is merely an example in all respects and should not be construed in a limited manner. Further, all modifications and changes belonging to the equivalent scope of the claims are within the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Imaging lens, 2 Imaging device, 3 A / D conversion part, 4 Buffer memory, 5 CPU, 6 Card I / F, 7 Card memory, 8 Operation member, 9 Memory | storage part, 10 Electronic camera, 11 Display part, 12 buses , 101 Image direction determination unit, 102 First interpolation unit, 103 Second interpolation unit, 104 Correction value calculation unit, 105 Correction value substitution unit

Claims (6)

Among pixels having a color filter of the same color as the correction target pixel around the correction target pixel, pixels having a noise pattern different from the noise pattern distributed to the correction target pixel and the surrounding pixels are distributed. A first interpolation unit that calculates a first interpolation value of the correction target pixel using a pixel value;
Among pixels having the same color filter as the correction target pixel around the correction target pixel, a pixel value of a pixel in which the same noise pattern as the noise pattern distributed in the correction target pixel is used is used. A second interpolation unit for calculating a second interpolation value of the correction target pixel;
A pixel calculation unit that adds a correction value obtained from the first interpolation value and the second interpolation value to the first interpolation value to obtain a pixel value of the correction target pixel;
An image processing apparatus comprising: The image processing apparatus according to claim 1.
The image processing apparatus, wherein the correction value is within a predetermined range. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2,
The pixel calculation unit includes:
An image processing apparatus comprising: a correction value calculation unit that calculates the correction value by clipping a difference between the first interpolation value and the second interpolation value within the predetermined range. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2 or 3,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined range is determined based on an optical condition when an image is captured. An imaging unit that generates an image of a subject image captured by the imaging element;
An image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
An imaging apparatus comprising:   An image processing program for causing a computer to function as the image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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