Patent ID: 7809208

Claim:
A computer-implemented process for suppressing a halo effect caused by sharpening an image captured with a digital camera, comprising using a computer to perform the following process actions: for each edge pixel of the image prior to sharpening, identifying the intensity value of each pixel in a prescribed-sized window surrounding the edge pixel under consideration, and identifying the maximum and minimum intensity values among the pixels in said window; sharpening the image to establish a sharpened intensity value for each pixel of the image; and for each edge pixel of the image after sharpening, determining if the sharpened intensity value of the edge pixel under consideration exceeds the maximum intensity value identified in the window associated with that edge pixel, determining if the sharpened intensity value of the edge pixel under consideration is less than the minimum intensity value identified in the window associated with that edge pixel, whenever the sharpened intensity value of the edge pixel under consideration exceeds the maximum intensity value identified in the window associated with that edge pixel, setting the intensity value of the edge pixel under consideration to match the maximum intensity value identified in the window associated with the edge pixel, and whenever the sharpened intensity value of the edge pixel under consideration is less than the minimum intensity value identified in the window associated with that edge pixel, setting the intensity value of the edge pixel under consideration to match the minimum intensity value identified in the window associated with the edge pixel.