The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 03, 2007
Filed:
Aug. 25, 2005
Applicants:
Michael Chang, San Jose, CA (US);
Allan Yeh, San Jose, CA (US);
Kou-hu Tzou, San Jose, CA (US);
Inventors:
Assignee:
ESS Technology, Inc., Fremont, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H04N 9/64 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
Abstract
An image processing method and apparatus is described for processing a signal from a monochrome or color sensor that may be subject to pixel defects or blemishes. Without prior knowledge of any pixel defects, the processing method examines each pixel value and its neighboring pixel values. A number of tests are applied to the set of pixel values to determine whether the underlying pixel is defective. If the underlying pixel is determined to be defective, the pixel value is replaced by an estimate value derived from the values of its neighboring pixels. Otherwise, the pixel value remains intact.