Patent ID: 7676084

Claim:
An apparatus for detecting a dead pixel, comprising: a pixel value storage unit configured to store a series of pixel values, said series of pixel values including a reference pixel value; a dead pixel processing unit configured to bypass said reference pixel value by comparing said reference pixel value with a neighboring same kind pixel value or generating a compensated pixel value by using said neighboring same kind pixel value; a frequency detection unit configured to generate a frequency bypass flag when differences between a plurality of same kind pixel values are smaller than an upper first threshold, bigger than a lower second threshold, or between said upper first threshold and said lower second threshold, wherein said values of said upper first threshold and lower second threshold are selected based on a frequency of said image; a pattern detection unit configured to generate a pattern bypass flag if a difference between said reference pixel value and a neighboring pixel value is smaller than a third threshold; and a selection unit configured to select one of said reference pixel value and an output value of said dead pixel processing unit by a combination of said frequency bypass flag and said pattern bypass flag.