Patent · US Expired

Method of enhancing the tone scale of a digital image to extend the linear response range without amplifying noise

US6937775B2 · kind B2 · utility

34Cited by
18References
28Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 15, 2002
Grant dateAug 30, 2005
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 18, 2024

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06T2207/20064
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method of processing a digital image to improve contrast, the digital image being derived from an image captured by a recording medium having a nonlinear response to light, includes the steps of: applying a spatial filter to the digital image to produce a noise reduced digital image; subtracting the noise reduced digital image from the digital image to produce a difference digital image; applying a tone scale function to the noise reduced digital image to produce a tone scale adjusted digital image having the appearance of being derived from an image captured by a recording medium having a linear response; and combining the difference digital image with the tone scale adjusted digital image to produce a processed digital image, whereby the contrast of the digital image is improved without amplifying noise.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.