Patent ID: 7379561

Claim:
A method for modifying a digital image ( 100 ) composed of pixels having pixel values ( 102 ); the said digital image being decomposed into zones ( 103 ); each of the said pixels being associated with at least one adjacent zone ( 105 ); at least one zone value ( 104 ) being allocated to each of the said zones Zi ( 103 ); at least one parameter value Vpij ( 203 ) being allocated to each of the said zones Zi ( 103 ); a set of pairs (Zi; Vpij), composed of a zone Zi ( 103 ) and of a parameter value Vpij ( 203 ) associated with the said zone ( 103 ), constituting a parameter image ( 201 ); the said method including: (a) the stage of determining, for each zone ( 103 ), determined parameter values Vpir ( 305 ), in particular as a function of the zone values ( 104 ) of the said digital image ( 100 ); the said parameter image ( 201 ) formed in this way being referred to hereinafter as the determined parameter image ( 505 ); the said zone values ( 104 ) varying between at least one of the said zones ( 103 ) and a contiguous zone ( 403 ), the said variation being referred to hereinafter as the variation ( 401 ) of the digital image; the said determined parameter values ( 305 ) varying between the said zone ( 103 ) and at least one contiguous zone ( 403 ), the said variation being referred to hereinafter as the variation of the determined parameter image ( 402 ); the said method additionally including the following stages: (b) the stage of regularizing the determined parameter image ( 505 ) as a function of the said variation ( 401 ) of the digital image, by reducing the said variations of the determined parameter image ( 505 ) in order to produce a parameter image, referred to hereinafter as the regularized parameter image ( 507 ), having a smaller variation level than that of the said variations ( 401 ) of the digital image; (c) the stage of modifying the pixel values ( 102 ) of a determined pixel ( 101 ) of the said digital image ( 100 ) as a function of the parameter values ( 203 ) of the said regularized parameter image ( 507 ), relative to the zones adjacent to the said determined pixel; so that the digital image is modified differentially for each of the said pixels and quasi-regularly for the contiguous zones.