Patent ID: 8170337

Claim:
A video processing apparatus comprising: a histogram generating module configured to generate a histogram by calculating numbers of pixels for luminance levels with respect to each frame of a video signal, based on the luminance levels of the pixels of the video signal; a dark region cumulative value calculating module configured to calculate a sum of the numbers of pixels for luminance levels which are higher than a pedestal level and lower than a threshold among the luminance levels with respect to each frame of the video signal; a blend correction value calculating module configured to calculate a blend correction value corresponding to the sum, using a predetermined conversion function; a tone curve generating module configured to generate a first tone curve which controls luminance values of the video signal based on the histogram; a blend parameter generating module configured to generate blend parameters for blending the first tone curve and a prescribed tone curve, the blend parameters comprising a blend parameter that is set to be a greater one of the blend correction value and a predetermined blend set value and applied to a luminance level less than a first luminance level, and a blend parameter that is set to be the predetermined blend set value and applied to a luminance level not less than the first luminance level; and a blending module configured to generate a second tone curve by blending the first tone curve and the prescribed tone curve based on the blend parameters, wherein each of the modules is hardware or a hardware and software combination.