Method and system for luminance noise filtering

Abstract

In a method and system for luminance noise filtering, a region of pixel data directly from the image sensor is used for determining a virtually filtered luminance for a pixel location within the region. Luminance noise reduction is performed using the region of pixel data directly from the image sensor such that frame memory is eliminated. In addition, the present invention provides adaptive noise filtering by selecting the virtually filtered luminance as a final luminance for a darker image and by selecting a reference luminance without virtual noise filtering for a brighter image.

1 . A method for luminance noise filtering, comprising:
 inputting a region of pixel data from an image sensor;   determining a virtually filtered luminance from a first processing of said region of pixel data and without using other pixel data for a pixel location within the region; and   determining a reference luminance for the pixel location from a second processing of said same region of pixel data and without using other pixel data,   wherein the reference luminance is determined after respective interpolated color components for the pixel location are determined such that the reference luminance is determined using said respective interpolated color components.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second processing includes the steps of:
 determining said interpolated color components for the pixel location from said region of pixel data; and   determining the reference luminance for the pixel location from the interpolated color components.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 selecting between the virtually filtered luminance and the reference luminance as a final luminance of the pixel location depending on an adaptive luminance.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 determining a threshold value from the adaptive luminance;   selecting the virtually filtered luminance if an absolute of a difference between the virtually filtered luminance and the reference luminance is less than or equal to the threshold value; and   selecting the reference luminance if the absolute of the difference between the virtually filtered luminance and the reference luminance is greater than the threshold value.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the adaptive luminance is determined from an average reference luminance for a predetermined region of pixel data. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the adaptive luminance is indicated by an auto exposure gain for the image sensor. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the adaptive luminance is indicated by the reference luminance. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the virtually filtered luminance is determined by averaging a respective pixel data multiplied with a respective weighting coefficient for each pixel location of the region. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the image sensor is part of a hand-held image pick-up device having minimized line memory capacity. 
     
     
         10 . A system for luminance noise filtering, comprising:
 a memory device for storing a region of pixel data from an image sensor;   a noise filter for determining a virtually filtered luminance from a first processing of said region of pixel data and without using other pixel data for a pixel location within the region; and   a matrix for determining a reference luminance for the pixel location from a second processing of said same region of pixel data and without using other pixel data,   wherein the matrix determines the reference luminance after respective interpolated color components for the pixel location are determined such that the reference luminance is determined using said respective interpolated color components.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the matrix determines said interpolated color components for the pixel location from said region of pixel data such that the reference luminance is determined from the interpolated color components. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the noise filter selects between the virtually filtered luminance and the reference luminance as a final luminance of the pixel location depending on an adaptive luminance. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 a data processor that determines a threshold value from the adaptive luminance;   wherein the noise filter selects the virtually filtered luminance if an absolute of a difference between the virtually filtered luminance and the reference luminance is less than or equal to the threshold value; and   wherein the noise filter selects the reference luminance if the absolute of the difference between the virtually filtered luminance and the reference luminance is greater than the threshold value.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the adaptive luminance is determined from an average reference luminance for a predetermined region of pixel data. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the adaptive luminance is indicated by an auto exposure gain for the image sensor. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the adaptive luminance is indicated by the reference luminance. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the virtual luminance is determined by averaging a respective pixel data multiplied with a respective weighting coefficient for each pixel location of the region. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the image sensor is part of a hand-held image pick-up device having minimized line memory capacity. 
     
     
         19 . A system for luminance noise filtering, comprising:
 means for inputting a region of pixel data from an image sensor;   means for determining a virtually filtered luminance from said region of pixel data and without using other pixel data for a pixel location within the region; and   means for determining a reference luminance for the pixel location from a second processing of said same region of pixel data and without using other pixel data,   wherein the reference luminance is determined after respective interpolated color components for the pixel location are determined such that the reference luminance is determined using said respective interpolated color components.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 means for determining said interpolated color components for the pixel location from the said region of pixel data; and   means for determining the reference luminance for the pixel location from the interpolated color components.   
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 20 , further comprising:
 means for selecting between the virtually filtered luminance and the reference luminance as a final luminance of the pixel location depending on an adaptive luminance.