KR20090081273A - Apparatus for adaptive noise reduction and image sensor using the apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

An adaptive noise removing apparatus and an image sensor using the same are provided to perform black and white level adjustment for a corresponding image before A/D(Analog to Digital) conversion, thereby improving the definition of a gray scale. A multi-phase noise removing filter(52) removes the noise of an inputted image data and outputs the processed image data. A filter factor database(54) stores filter coefficients which are preset for a plurality of luminance levels. A filter coefficient selection unit(56) receives information about an exposure time and signal gain from an image sensor. By using the exposure time and the signal gain, the filter coefficient selection unit selects a luminance level according to a preset filter factor selection algorithm. The filter coefficient selection unit reads filter coefficients from the filter factor database according to the selected luminance level.

Description

Adaptive noise canceling device and image sensor using the device {APPARATUS FOR ADAPTIVE NOISE REDUCTION AND IMAGE SENSOR USING THE APPARATUS}

The present invention relates to an apparatus for adaptive noise removing of an image sensor, and more particularly, to an adaptive noise removing apparatus for efficiently removing a noise included in an image captured by an image sensor to obtain a clear image. An image sensor for mounting a device to obtain a clear image.

Recently, the development of image sensors has been accelerated due to the rapid development of imaging devices. The image sensor collectively refers to a device for taking an image using a property of a semiconductor that reacts to light. In general, each part of a subject existing in nature has different brightness and wavelengths of light. Therefore, the image sensor performs a function of converting light energy (photons) obtained by the brightness and wavelength of light through the lens into an electrical signal (charge). Representative of such image sensors include a charge coupled device (CCD) image sensor and a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor. The two types of image sensors are composed of a photo detector for generating charge according to the strength of the scanned light, and a circuit for transferring the charge to the outside. The two types of sensors having such a configuration go through the same process to generate a charge through the photo detector, but there is a big difference in the method of processing the charge thereafter.

1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a process of processing an image signal of a general CMOS image sensor. Referring to FIG. 1, the image sensor 100 includes an optical unit 110, a pixel array unit 112, and an image processing unit 114. The optical unit 110 photographs a subject through a lens and outputs light energy (photons) obtained by the imaging. The pixel array 112 is composed of hundreds of thousands to millions of pixels, and converts an optical signal incident through a lens of the optical unit 110 into an analog electric signal and outputs the analog signal. . In this case, the pixel array unit 112 operates by a timing signal and a sensor control signal provided from the image processor 114.

The video signal output from the image processing unit 114 is displayed through the display unit or recorded in the storage unit. The display unit includes various display windows (CRT, LCD, etc.), and a configuration for processing the video signal to display an image through the display window. The image signal stored in the storage unit may be variously applied later. Although not shown in the drawing, an image signal output from the image processor 114 or an image signal stored in the storage unit may be printed by a printer.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a general structure of the image processor 114 of the image sensor of FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 2, the image processor 114 may include an image signal adjuster 210, an interpolation / pixel adjuster 212, a color corrector 214, a gamma corrector 216, and a spatial converter 218 to which a signal is input. ), An automatic white balance adjustment unit 220, an automatic exposure adjustment unit 222, and a timing generation / sensor control unit 224.

The image signal adjusting unit 210 receives a white control signal and a gain control signal for adjusting the image signal together with the image signal from the pixel array unit. In addition, this part is composed of analog because it is a gray-scale resolution attenuation when configured in digital. The white control signal includes a gain value of the R signal and the B signal. The gain values of the R and B signals may be manually adjusted, but it is assumed in the present invention to be adjusted automatically. The gain values of the R and B signals are used for white correction.

The image signal adjusting unit 210 converts not only a gain correction for the video signal but also a white correction and black level adjusted analog signal by digital gain and white control signal through A / D conversion. Details of the correction and adjustment will be described in the description of FIG. 3.

The digital image data output from the image signal adjusting unit 210 is provided to the interpolation / pixel adjusting unit 212. The interpolation / pixel adjusting unit 212 performs interpolation on dead pixels of the image signal.

Image data from the interpolation / pixel adjustment unit 212 is provided to the color correction unit 214. The color corrector 214 corrects the image data to standard image data. That is, the input R, G, and B data are corrected with standard R (sR), standard G (sG), and standard B (sB) data.

The standard video signal is provided to the gamma correction unit 216. In general, gamma is a measure of contrast and the gamma correction unit 216 performs gamma correction on the standard image data so that the final image signal may have linearity in consideration of the nonlinear characteristics of the CRT display. .

The gamma corrected image signals sR ', sG', and sB 'are provided to the spatial converter 218. The spatial converter 216 converts the gamma corrected image data into data of the luminance component Y and the chromaticity components Cb and Cr and outputs the converted data. In addition, the spatial converter 218 rearranges and outputs image data according to an output image data frame format to output the required number of frames per second. The Y data corresponds to the luminance component of the output image data, and the Cb and Cr signals correspond to the color components of the output image data. Accordingly, the Cb and Cr signals are provided to the auto-white balance adjusting unit 220, and the Y signals are provided to the auto-exposure adjusting unit 222.

The automatic exposure adjustment unit 222 detects the amount of light entering through the lens using the average value of the Y signal. The exposure time is adjusted according to the amount of light, that is, the average value of the Y data. For example, when the output image is generally dark because the amount of light is small, the exposure time is increased. On the contrary, when the image that is saturated due to the large amount of light is output, the exposure time is adjusted.

The exposure time is input to the timing generator and the sensor controller 224. The timing generation / sensor control unit 224 receives a master clock as well as the exposure time. The timing generation and sensor controller 224 generates a timing signal and a sensor control signal by the exposure time and the master clock.

The automatic white balance adjusting unit 220 adjusts a gain value for white balance of an image signal by using the Cb and Cr signals. In this case, the gain value includes an R gain value correcting the R signal based on the G signal and a B gain value correcting the B signal. The gain value is adjusted in consideration of the color temperature of the ambient light.

3 is a block diagram schematically illustrating an internal structure of an embodiment of the image signal adjusting unit 210 described above. Referring to FIG. 3, the image signal adjusting unit 210 includes a gain unit 310, a white adjusting unit 312, an offset adjusting unit 314, and an A / D converter 316. The gain unit 310 may acquire an image having a desired brightness by adjusting the amplification degree Kg of an input signal when the image of the desired brightness cannot be obtained through the exposure time adjustment by the automatic exposure adjusting unit. At this time, since the noise components generated in the electronic circuit as well as the video signal are amplified together, noise removal is also essential.

In addition, the white adjusting unit 312 adjusts K _R , K _B to obtain a white image of a desired color temperature. At this time, since the G signal has the largest contribution to the luminance Y signal and has little influence on the color temperature, the G signal is fixed at a gain K _G = 1.

The offset adjustment unit 314 is a part for removing the increase of the voltage for the lowest brightness of the video signal by amplification, and expresses the lowest brightness of the input video signal in black and sets the brightness to zero.

Meanwhile, in the process of acquiring an image using a CCD and a CMOS image sensor having the above-described configuration, by changing the time (Exposure Time) (hereinafter referred to as "exposure time") that is captured by the photodiode according to the subject and the ambient brightness The average amount of charges by photo / electric conversion of the photodiode is made constant. For example, when the subject and the ambient brightness is bright, the exposure time is shortened. On the contrary, when the subject and the ambient brightness are dark, the exposure time is increased, thereby making the amount of charge charged in the photodiode constant. This is called auto-exposure. Therefore, the darker the subject and the surrounding brightness, the longer the exposure time.

However, when the conventional image sensor requires more exposure time than the limit value of the automatic exposure function, the average value of the acquired image is made constant by using the electronic circuit amplifier function. In this case, since noise components generated in the electronic circuit are also amplified and included in the image, the sharpness of the acquired image is lowered. In this case, since the noise components included in the image are different depending on the exposure time and the degree of amplification, there is a problem that the clarity of the acquired image is not always constant.

An object of the present invention for solving the above problems is to remove the noise included in the image obtained by the image sensor of the camera efficiently, by varying the noise removal step according to the subject and the ambient brightness, thereby improving the sharpness of the acquired image. It is an object of the present invention to provide an adaptive noise canceling device which is kept constant.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image sensor for outputting a clear image by using the adaptive noise removing device.

A feature of the present invention for achieving the above technical problem relates to an adaptive noise removing device, the adaptive noise removing device,

An input terminal to which image data for each pixel constituting the image is input;

A multi-stage noise removing filter having a predetermined number n filters to remove noise of the input image data and output the noise;

A filter coefficient database for storing filter coefficients preset for a plurality of illumination levels;

Receiving information on an exposure time and a signal gain from an image sensor, selecting an illumination level according to a preset filter coefficient selection algorithm using the exposure time and signal gain, and filtering from the filter coefficient database according to the selected illumination level A filter coefficient selector for reading coefficients and providing the filter coefficients to the multi-level noise reduction filter;

The multi-level noise removing filter operates by applying the filter coefficients provided from the filter coefficient selecting unit to the internal filters.

The multi-level noise canceling filter of the adaptive noise canceling device having the above-mentioned characteristics

An edge processor consisting of n time delays sequentially connected;

N stage filter sections each consisting of a filter and a time delay unit; And

A filter selection unit for selecting and outputting one of the image data input from the corner processing unit and the n filter units according to a preset filter selection algorithm, and the output of the filter of each stage filter unit is input to the filter of the next stage filter unit Characterized in that,

The filter selection algorithm,

(a) checking whether the image data inputted to the multi-level noise reduction filter is a pixel of an edge region;

(b) selecting and outputting image data input from the edge processor if the input image data is a pixel of an edge region;

(c) if the input image data is not a pixel of the corner area, obtaining an average brightness of the area of the corresponding pixel, and setting (n-1) brightness reference values in advance;

(d) sequentially comparing the area average brightness with the n-1 brightness reference values;

(e) selecting and outputting image data input from one of the n stage filter units according to the comparison result.

The filter coefficient selection algorithm of the filter coefficient selection unit of the adaptive noise removing device having the above-mentioned characteristics

(a) if the automatic exposure time is smaller than a preset reference exposure time value, determining the corresponding image as a high illumination image, and reading filter coefficients for processing the high illumination signal from the filter coefficient database;

(b) if the signal gain is smaller than a preset reference signal gain value, determining the corresponding image as a medium-light image, and reading the filter coefficient for the light intensity signal processing from the filter coefficient database;

(c) if the signal gain is not less than the reference signal gain value, determining the corresponding image as a low light image, and reading filter coefficients for low light signal processing from the filter coefficient database;

(d) outputting the read filter coefficients to a multi-stage noise reduction filter.

The signal gain of the adaptive noise canceller having the above-mentioned features is composed of an analog signal gain and a digital signal gain, and the filter coefficient selection algorithm of the filter coefficient selector is

(a) if the automatic exposure time is smaller than a preset reference exposure time value, determining the corresponding image as a high illumination image, and reading filter coefficients for processing the high illumination signal from the filter coefficient database;

(b) if the digital signal gain is smaller than a preset reference digital signal gain value, determining the corresponding image as a medium illumination image and reading the filter coefficient for processing the light intensity signal from the filter coefficient database;

(c) if the analog signal gain is smaller than a preset reference analog signal gain value, determining the corresponding image as a low light image and reading a filter coefficient for low light signal processing from the filter coefficient database;

(d) if the analog signal gain is not smaller than the reference analog signal gain value, determining the corresponding image as the lowest illumination image, and reading the minimum illumination signal processing filter coefficients from the filter coefficient database;

(e) outputting the read filter coefficients to a multi-level noise reduction filter.

The multi-stage noise canceling filter having the above-mentioned characteristics is characterized in that three stages, the multi-stage noise removing filter is

An edge processor comprising three time delays sequentially connected to each other;

First, second and third stage filter sections, each consisting of a filter and a time delay unit; And

And a filter selector configured to select and output one of image data input from the edge processor and the first, second and third stage filter units according to a preset filter selection algorithm.

The output of the filter of the first stage filter unit is input to the filter of the second stage filter unit, the output of the filter of the second stage filter unit is input to the filter of the third stage filter unit,

Preferably, the edge processing unit, the first, second and third stage filter units are simultaneously input to the filter selection unit.

In the adaptive noise removing apparatus according to the present invention, the noise included in the image data is removed to improve the sharpness of the image, and the existing image processing order is changed. That is, the present invention analyzes noise components and characteristics of the image data by using an exposure time, a signal gain, and a correlation thereof, and efficiently removes them according to the result.

As digital technology develops, black level adjustment and white adjustment are made after A / D conversion, but this causes attenuation of gray scale resolution. Therefore, in the present invention, the gray scale resolution is improved by adjusting the black level and white of the corresponding image before the A / D conversion.

In the present invention, the image is divided into a plurality of sections according to the subject and the ambient brightness, and the exposure time, signal gain value, correlation, SNR, and noise characteristics are examined for each section. According to these characteristics, by using an adaptive noise canceling method that applies an efficient noise canceling filter for each section, the resolution and sharpness of the obtained image are improved. As a result, it is possible not only to obtain the optimum image quality of the video, but also to maintain a constant image quality for each section. In addition, according to the present invention, the image is divided into a certain number of sections according to the subject and the surrounding brightness, and by applying an adaptive noise removing method using a multiple noise removing filter for each section, it is possible to maintain a constant image quality for each section. There is.

The present invention analyzes noise components and characteristics of image data using an exposure time, a signal gain, and correlation thereof to remove noise generated in the process of acquiring an image using an image sensor. The proposed method is to remove and improve the resolution and sharpness of the image.

In addition, since the apparatus and method of the present invention can be applied anywhere before and after the interpolation / pixel adjustment unit, the color correction unit, the gamma correction unit, and the spatial change unit of the image processing unit of the image processing apparatus using the conventional image sensor, There is an effect that can have the compatibility and flexibility of the design.

In the present invention, by moving the positions of the gain control unit, the automatic white adjustment unit, and the offset control unit to the A / D conversion unit and processing them in the analog area, gray-scale resolution attenuation caused by the same processing in the digital area is eliminated. There is an effect of increasing the resolution of the image obtained by preventing.

The image sensor control and analysis system, which is an intermediate product of the present invention, has the ability to measure the resolution, clarity, and color reproducibility of the image sensor as well as the image sensor including the present invention. It can be used to evaluate the image quality of products using sensors.

Through the present invention, it is possible to obtain a clear picture quality by efficiently removing the noise generated in the image sensor, and is particularly suitable for the image processing unit of a high noise small image sensor, and to improve the quality and mass production of various types of portable terminals using the same. Is effective.

<First Embodiment>

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail the configuration and operation of the adaptive noise removing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In this specification, only parts necessary for understanding the operation and operation according to the present invention are described, and descriptions of other parts are omitted in order not to obscure the subject matter of the present invention.

Hereinafter, an adaptive noise removing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The adaptive noise canceling apparatus according to the present invention may be connected to an input terminal or an output terminal of the image processing unit shown in FIG. 2 or may be selectively inserted into one of the output terminals (1 to ⑤ of FIG.

10 is a block diagram showing an adaptive noise removing device 50 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 10, the adaptive noise removing device 50 according to the present invention includes a multi-level noise removing filter 52, a filter coefficient database 54, and a filter coefficient selecting unit 56.

The multi-level noise removing filter 52 receives image data from an image sensor, removes noise from the input image data, and outputs the image data. 11 is a block diagram schematically showing an internal configuration of a multi-stage noise reduction filter according to the present invention. The multi-stage noise reduction filter according to the present embodiment exemplarily illustrates a filter composed of three stages optimized by considering both noise reduction performance and design complexity, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, the stages of the filter can be further increased or decreased in consideration of the noise reduction performance required by the system, the complexity of the design, or the manufacturing cost.

Referring to FIG. 11, the multi-stage noise removing filter 52 according to the present invention includes an edge processor 500, a first stage filter unit 510, a second stage filter unit 520, and a third stage filter unit 530. And a filter selector 540.

The multi-level noise reduction filter 52 receives image data from an external source, and the image data includes the edge processing unit 500, the first stage filter unit 510, the second stage filter unit 520, and the third stage filter unit ( Input terminal 530 is simultaneously input.

In the corner processing unit 500, three time delay units 501, 502, and 503 are sequentially connected, and an output terminal of the last time delay unit is connected to an input terminal of the filter selector 540.

In the first stage filter unit 510, a first filter 511, a first time delayer 512, and a second time delayer 513 are sequentially connected, and external image data is transmitted to the first filter. The input signal of the first filter is input to the input terminal of the filter selector 540 through the first time delay unit and the second time delay unit.

In the second stage filter unit 520, a third time delay unit 521, a second filter 522, and a fourth time delay unit 523 are sequentially connected, and the output signal of the first filter is The input signal is input to the second filter, and the output signal of the second filter is input to the input terminal of the filter selector 540 through the fourth time delay unit 523.

In the third stage filter unit 530, a fifth time delay unit 531, a sixth time delay unit 532, and a third filter 533 are sequentially connected, and the output signal of the second filter is 3 is input to the input terminal of the filter, the output signal of the third filter is input to the input terminal of the filter selector 540.

The multi-level noise removing filter 52 receives a first step filter coefficient, a second step filter coefficient, and a third step filter coefficient from the filter coefficient selector 56. Filter Coefficient) is input. A first step filter coefficient, a second step filter coefficient, and a third step filter coefficient are the first filter 511 and the second filter 522. And third filters 533, respectively. The first filter 511, the second filter 522, and the third filter 533 are operated by applying the input filter coefficients.

The filter selector 540 simultaneously inputs image data output from the edge processor 500, the first stage filter unit 510, the second stage filter unit 520, and the third stage filter unit 530. . Image data input to the input terminal of the adaptive noise canceller is simultaneously input to the edge processing unit, the first stage filter unit, the second stage filter unit, and the third stage filter unit to be signal processed, and then simultaneously output to the filter selection unit. do. The filter selector 540 selects and outputs one of the input image data according to a preset filter selection algorithm.

Hereinafter, a filter selection algorithm of the filter selection unit according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 12. 12 is a flowchart sequentially illustrating a filter selection algorithm according to the present invention. N

Referring to FIG. 12, it is first checked whether the input image data is a pixel of an edge region (step 600). If the input image data is a pixel of the corner region, the image data input from the edge detector 500 is selected and output (step 604). As such, by outputting image data that has not undergone the noise removal process to the pixels in the edge area, the edges are unclear due to the noise removal process to prevent the resolution of the image from being attenuated. Meanwhile, the edge region detection method for determining whether the edge region is a corner region is a technique well known in the art of image processing, and thus, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

If the input image data is not the pixel of the corner area, an area average brightness is obtained and the preset first brightness reference value is compared with the area average brightness (step 608). Here, the area average brightness is an average value of image data of pixels of the input image data and neighboring pixels in contact with the pixels.

If the area average brightness is greater than the first brightness reference value Th1 (step 610), the image data input from the first step filter unit 510 is selected and output (step 612).

If the area average brightness is not greater than the first brightness reference value, the preset second brightness reference value is compared with the area average brightness.

If the area average brightness is greater than the second brightness reference value Th2 (step 620), the image data input from the second stage filter unit 520 is selected and output (step 622), otherwise, the third stage filter The image data input from the unit 530 is selected and output (step 632).

The first brightness reference value Th1 and the second reference brightness reference value Th2 are integers having positive values having a relationship of Th1> Th2. In the first embodiment according to the present invention, after dividing the entire brightness range of the image data into three levels, the boundary value between the first level and the second level is set to the first brightness reference value, and the second level and the third level are set. The boundary value of is set as the second brightness reference value. However, in addition to the above-described method, the first brightness reference value and the second brightness reference value may be set in various ways, and the first brightness reference value and the second brightness reference value set by the above-described method may be appropriately corrected and used according to each image. .

Accordingly, in the adaptive noise removing apparatus according to the present invention, when the region average brightness is greater than the first brightness reference value, the corresponding pixel is image data of high illumination, and when the region average brightness is greater than the second brightness reference value, the pixel is selected. In the case of the image data of medium illumination, and the average brightness of the area is smaller than the second brightness reference value, the corresponding pixel is the image data of low illumination. In general, a pixel having high illumination image data has a low noise, and a low luminance of the pixel increases the noise. Accordingly, the adaptive noise removing apparatus according to the present invention removes noise once using the first stage filter unit in the case of high luminance image data, and eliminates noise twice using the second stage filter unit in the case of medium image data. In case of low-light image data, noise is removed three times using a third stage filter unit. As a result, the adaptive noise removing device according to the present invention can provide a clearer image by appropriately removing noise according to the brightness of the image data.

The filter coefficient database 54 sets and stores filter coefficients used in the first filter, the second filter, and the third filter of the multi-level noise removing filter in advance.

The filter coefficient database stores filter coefficients for high light signal processing, filter coefficients for medium light signal processing, filter coefficients for low light signal processing, and filter coefficients for low light signal processing, and filter coefficients for high light signal processing. The filter coefficients for the low light signal processing, the filter coefficients for the low light signal processing, and the filter coefficients for the low light signal processing include all filter coefficients used for the first filter, the second filter, and the third filter.

The filter coefficient selector receives information on an analog signal gain, a digital signal gain, and an automatic exposure time from an automatic exposure controller of an image sensor, and uses a preset filter. Filter coefficients are read from the filter coefficient database and provided to the multi-level noise reduction filter according to a coefficient selection algorithm. Since the adaptive noise removing apparatus according to the present invention applies the same filter to an image of one frame, the filter coefficient selector operates once for an image of one frame.

Hereinafter, a filter coefficient selection algorithm of the filter coefficient selection unit of the adaptive noise removing device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 13. 13 is a flowchart sequentially illustrating a filter coefficient selection algorithm according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 13, the reference exposure time value Ref_ET, the reference analog gain value Ref_Again, and the reference digital gain value Ref_Dgain are set in advance (step 700).

First, the automatic exposure time input from the image sensor is compared with the reference exposure time value Ref_ET (step 702). If the automatic exposure time is smaller than the reference exposure time value Ref_ET, the image is determined to be a high illumination image and the filter coefficients for processing the high illumination signal processing are read from the filter coefficient database (step 704).

If the automatic exposure time is not smaller than the reference exposure time value Ref_ET, the digital signal gain Dgain input from the image sensor is compared with the reference digital gain value Ref_Dgain (step 710). If the digital signal gain is smaller than the reference digital gain value Ref_Dgain, the image is determined to be a light intensity image and the filter coefficients for processing the light intensity signal processing are read from the filter coefficient database (step 712).

If the digital signal gain is not smaller than the digital gain value Ref_Dgain, the analog signal gain Again input from the image sensor is compared with the reference analog gain value Ref_Again (step 720). If the analog signal gain is smaller than the reference analog gain value Ref_Again, the image is determined to be a low light image and the filter coefficients for low light signal processing are read from the filter coefficient database (step 722).

If the analog signal gain is not smaller than the reference analog gain value Ref_Again, the image is determined as the lowest illumination image and the filter coefficients for the lowest illumination signal processing are read from the filter coefficient database (step 732).

The read filter coefficients are then output to the multi-level noise reduction filter (step 740).

14, 15 and 16 show images obtained at different ambient brightness levels using the adaptive noise canceller according to the present invention. 14 are images obtained at an ambient brightness of 500 Lux, FIG. 15 is 100 Lux, and FIG. 16 is 30 Lux. 14, 15, and 16, it can be seen that the adaptive noise removing apparatus according to the present invention effectively removes noise generated by the existing image sensor.

Hereinafter, a process of detecting noise components and characteristics according to ambient brightness in order to preset filter coefficients stored in the filter coefficient database of the adaptive noise removing device according to the present invention will be described. 4 shows an example of an analysis system that analyzes exposure time, signal gain, correlation thereof, and noise components and characteristics included in image data.

4, the analysis system includes a standard sample / standard light source device 412, an image sensor / control device 410, a frame grabber device 414, and control / analysis software 416. The standard sample / standard light source device 412 is a device for adjusting the subject and the ambient brightness. The image sensor / control device 410 is an image sensor to improve image quality by removing image noise and a control device made to control the same. The frame grabber device 414 can also store image data output from the image sensor to a computer. Control / analysis software 416 analyzes noise components and noise characteristics by comparing image data stored on a computer with standard sample data. In addition, the control / analysis software 416 may precisely control all parts of the image sensor, and may receive and display information such as automatic exposure time and automatic white setting that are automatically set in the image processing unit.

5 is a screen capture of an example of the control / analysis software 416 described above, and FIGS. 6-9 illustrate results through the control / analysis software.

6 (a) and 6 (b) show images acquired according to ambient brightness of 50 Lux and 30 Lux, respectively. Although the noise included in the image in the 50 Lux environment of FIG. 6 (a) cannot be accurately determined by the eye, the image captured in the 30 Lux environment of FIG. 6 (b) may be visually determined. It is serious enough. Accordingly, it can be seen from FIG. 6 that even when the same standard image is taken, an image having a different image quality is obtained even when using the same image sensor according to the ambient brightness.

7 is a graph illustrating noises included in image data photographed in environments having different ambient brightnesses. The x-axis represents pixel numbers, the y-axis represents pixel values, and 500g represents 500 Lux. it means. In (a) of FIG. 6, the image acquired in the 50 Lux environment could not be distinguished from the eye, but it can be seen that the noise component is considerable in FIG. 7. In addition, the darker the ambient brightness, the more severe the effect of noise.

8 and 9 illustrate results of SNR analysis according to average noise level and brightness according to ambient brightness when sensor control / analysis software is applied to image data photographed under different ambient brightness environments of FIG. 7. As one graph, the x-axis is the ambient brightness, the y-axis of Figure 8 is the noise level, the y-axis of Figure 9 is SNR, 500g means that the ambient brightness is 500 Lux. 8 and 9 show that the amount of noise is small when the ambient brightness is bright, but the amount of noise increases as the ambient brightness becomes dark, and the SNR changes rapidly.

Through the above-described analysis system, when the subject and the ambient brightness are bright, the noise of the image is small, and as the ambient brightness becomes dark, the noise of the image increases. Therefore, in the adaptive noise canceller according to the present invention, the multilevel noise is reduced so as to reduce the noise level to be removed for a high illumination image having a bright ambient brightness and to significantly increase the noise level to be removed for a low illumination image having a low ambient brightness. Set the filter coefficients of the cancellation filter.

Second embodiment

Hereinafter, an image sensor according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The image sensor according to the present embodiment is characterized in that the noise is removed by installing the adaptive noise removing device according to the first embodiment described above.

The image sensor includes an optical unit, a pixel array unit, and an image processing unit, and an image signal output from the image processing unit is displayed through a display unit or recorded in a storage unit. The image processor includes an image signal adjusting unit, an interpolation / pixel adjusting unit, a color correcting unit, a gamma correcting unit, a space converting unit, an automatic white balance adjusting unit, an automatic exposure adjusting unit, and a timing generating / sensor controlling unit. The image signal adjusting unit includes a gain unit, a white adjusting unit, an offset adjusting unit, and an A / D converter.

The image sensor according to the present embodiment is connected to the input terminal or the output terminal of the image processing unit shown in Figure 2, or selectively inserted into one of the output terminal (1 ~ ⑤ of Figure 2) of the image processing unit shown in FIG. Can be.

In addition, it is preferable that the gain unit, the white adjustment unit, and the offset adjustment unit of the image signal adjusting unit of the image sensor according to the present embodiment comprise an analog circuit, and connect the A / D converter to finally convert the analog signal into a digital signal and output the digital signal. Do.

The adaptive noise canceling apparatus and method thereof according to the present invention can be widely used in an image sensor.

1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a process of processing an image signal of a general CMOS image sensor.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a general structure of the image processor 114 of the image sensor of FIG. 1.

3 is a block diagram schematically illustrating an internal structure of an embodiment of the image signal adjusting unit 210 described above.

 4 shows an example of an analysis system that analyzes exposure time, signal gain, correlation thereof, and noise components and characteristics included in image data.

FIG. 5 is a screen capture of an example of the control / analysis software 416 according to FIG. 4, and FIGS. 6-9 illustrate the results through the control / analysis software.

10 is a block diagram illustrating an adaptive noise removing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram schematically illustrating an internal configuration of a multi-stage noise removing filter of the adaptive noise removing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

12 is a flowchart for sequentially explaining a filter selection algorithm of the filter selection unit of the adaptive noise removing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

13 is a flowchart for sequentially explaining a filter coefficient selection algorithm of the filter coefficient selection unit of the adaptive noise removing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

14, 15, and 16 show images acquired at different ambient brightness levels using the adaptive noise canceller according to the present invention, respectively. FIG. 14 is 500 Lux, FIG. 15 is 100 Lux, and FIG. These images were obtained at an ambient brightness of 30 Lux.

<Description of the reference numerals for the main parts of the drawings>

100: image sensor

110: optical unit

112: pixel array unit

114: image processing unit

210: video signal adjusting unit

212 interpolation / pixel adjustment unit

214: color correction unit

216 gamma correction unit

218: spatial transform unit

220: automatic white balance adjustment unit

222: automatic exposure adjustment unit

224: timing generation / sensor control unit

310: gain section

312: white adjustment part

314: offset adjustment unit

316: A / D converter

50: adaptive noise canceller

52: multi-level noise reduction filter

54: filter coefficient database

56: filter coefficient selection unit

500: corner treatment

510; First stage filter unit

520: second stage filter unit

530: third stage filter unit

540: filter selector

Claims (9)

An input terminal to which image data for each pixel constituting the image is input; A multi-stage noise removing filter having a predetermined number n filters to remove noise of the input image data and output the noise; A filter coefficient database for storing filter coefficients preset for a plurality of illumination levels; Receiving information on an exposure time and a signal gain from an image sensor, selecting an illumination level according to a preset filter coefficient selection algorithm using the exposure time and signal gain, and filtering from the filter coefficient database according to the selected illumination level A filter coefficient selector for reading coefficients and providing the filter coefficients to the multi-level noise reduction filter; And the multistage noise canceling filter operates by applying filter coefficients provided from the filter coefficient selector to internal filters. The filter of claim 1, wherein the multi-stage noise reduction filter is An edge processor consisting of n time delays sequentially connected; N stage filter sections each consisting of a filter and a time delay unit; And A filter selection unit for selecting and outputting one of image data input from the corner processing unit and the n filter units according to a preset filter selection algorithm; The output of the filter of each stage filter unit is input to the filter of the next stage filter unit. The method of claim 2, wherein the filter selection algorithm, (a) checking whether the image data inputted to the multi-level noise reduction filter is a pixel of an edge region; (b) selecting and outputting image data input from the edge processor if the input image data is a pixel of an edge region; (c) if the input image data is not a pixel of the corner area, obtaining an average brightness of the area of the corresponding pixel, and setting (n-1) brightness reference values in advance; (d) sequentially comparing the area average brightness with the n-1 brightness reference values; (e) selecting and outputting image data input from one of the n stage filter units according to the comparison result; Multistage noise reduction device characterized in that it comprises a. The filter coefficient selection algorithm of claim 1, wherein the filter coefficient selection algorithm of the filter coefficient selection unit comprises: (a) if the automatic exposure time is smaller than a preset reference exposure time value, determining the corresponding image as a high illumination image, and reading filter coefficients for processing the high illumination signal from the filter coefficient database; (b) if the signal gain is smaller than a preset reference signal gain value, determining the corresponding image as a medium-light image, and reading the filter coefficient for the light intensity signal processing from the filter coefficient database; (c) if the signal gain is not less than the reference signal gain value, determining the corresponding image as a low light image, and reading filter coefficients for low light signal processing from the filter coefficient database; (d) outputting the read filter coefficients to a multi-level noise reduction filter; Multistage noise reduction device characterized in that it comprises a. The filter coefficient selection algorithm of claim 1, wherein the signal gain comprises an analog signal gain and a digital signal gain. (a) if the automatic exposure time is smaller than a preset reference exposure time value, determining the corresponding image as a high illumination image, and reading filter coefficients for processing the high illumination signal from the filter coefficient database; (b) if the digital signal gain is smaller than a preset reference digital signal gain value, determining the corresponding image as a medium illumination image and reading the filter coefficient for processing the light intensity signal from the filter coefficient database; (c) if the analog signal gain is smaller than a preset reference analog signal gain value, determining the corresponding image as a low light image and reading a filter coefficient for low light signal processing from the filter coefficient database; (d) if the analog signal gain is not smaller than the reference analog signal gain value, determining the corresponding image as the lowest illumination image, and reading the minimum illumination signal processing filter coefficients from the filter coefficient database; (e) outputting the read filter coefficients to a multi-level noise reduction filter; Multistage noise reduction device characterized in that it comprises a. According to claim 1, wherein the multi-stage noise reduction filter is characterized in that the three stages, An edge processor comprising three time delays sequentially connected to each other; First, second and third stage filter sections, each consisting of a filter and a time delay unit; And And a filter selector configured to select and output one of image data input from the edge processor and the first, second and third stage filter units according to a preset filter selection algorithm. The output of the filter of the first stage filter unit is input to the filter of the second stage filter unit, the output of the filter of the second stage filter unit is input to the filter of the third stage filter unit, Output of the edge processing unit, the first, second and third stage filter unit is simultaneously input to the filter selection unit. The method of claim 6, wherein the filter selection algorithm, (a) checking whether the image data inputted to the multi-level noise reduction filter is a pixel of an edge region; (b) selecting and outputting image data input from the edge processor if the input image data is a pixel of an edge region; (c) if the input image data is not a pixel of the corner area, obtaining an average brightness of the area of the pixel, and setting first and second brightness reference values in advance; (d) sequentially comparing the area average brightness with the first and second brightness reference values; (e) selecting and outputting image data input from the first stage filter unit if the region average brightness is greater than the first brightness reference value; (f) selecting and outputting image data input from the second stage filter unit if the area average brightness is greater than the second brightness reference value; (g) selecting and outputting image data input from the third stage filter unit if the area average brightness is not greater than the second brightness reference value; And a first brightness reference value> a second brightness reference value. An image sensor comprising the adaptive noise canceling device according to any one of claims 1 to 7. The method of claim 8, wherein the gain portion, the white adjuster, and the offset adjuster of the image signal adjusting unit of the image sensor are composed of an analog circuit, and the A / D converter is connected to the offset adjusting unit to finally convert the analog signal into a digital signal and output it. Image sensor characterized in that.

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