Patent ID: 6111975
Filing Date: 2000-08-29
Classification: G06T

Abstract:
Apparatus for producing a second image having reduced background clutter from a first image of a scene containing an object of interest, said apparatus comprising:a memory for temporarily storing a group of pixel elements in the first image, each pixel element having a value representative of image intensity at an associated position in the first image;a selector for selecting a value of a center pixel element located within the group;means for determining a median value of the pixel element values of a first array in the group including the center element;means for determining a median value of the pixel element values of a second array in the group including the center element in the second array;means for generating the difference between the median value of the first array and the value of the center element to generate an anti-median value of the first array;means for generating the difference between the median value of the second array and the value of the center element to generate an anti-median value of the second array; andmeans for generating, for each pixel position in the first image, a filtered output having a value which is the lesser of the anti-median value of the first array and the anti-median value of the second array; andmeans for creating a second image of reduced background clutter from the filtered outputs.