Patent ID: 7362894

Claim:
An image processing apparatus for generating a color image, in which each pixel in the color image has a plurality of color components and a uniform sensitivity characteristic relative to optical intensity, on the basis of a color-and-sensitivity mosaic image in which each pixel has one of the plurality of color components and is captured with one of a plurality of sensitivity characteristics relative to the optical intensity, comprising: extraction means for extracting a predetermined area centered on a pixel of interest, which is an object to be processed, from the color-and-sensitivity mosaic image; generation means for making uniform the sensitivity characteristics relative to the optical intensity of pixels included in the predetermined area extracted by the extraction means and generating local area information including the pixels, each of the pixels having one of the plurality of color components and the uniform sensitivity characteristic relative to the optical intensity; edge detection means for detecting an edge of the local area information on the basis of, of the pixels included in the local area information, those pixels having a first color component; first interpolation means for interpolating the first color component associated with the pixel of interest by computing a weighted average using, of the pixels included in the local area information, those pixels having the first color component, on the basis of the direction of the edge detected by the edge detection means; statistic-information computing means for computing statistical information on the basis of the pixels included in the local area information; and second interpolation means for interpolating a color component other than the first color component associated with the pixel of interest on the basis of the first color component associated with the pixel of interest, which is interpolated by the first interpolation means, and the statistical information, wherein the statistic-information computing means computes, as the statistical information, at least one of an average of each color component, a standard deviation of each color component, and a correlation coefficient between the first color component and the other color component on the basis of those pixels included in the local area information, and wherein the second interpolation means interpolates the other color component, the color component other than the first color component associated with the pixel of interest, on the basis of the first color component associated with the pixel of interest, which is interpolated by the first interpolation means, and the average of the other color component, the standard deviation of the other color component, and the correlation coefficient between the first color component and the other color component, which are computed by the statistic-information computing means.