Patent ID: 8154632

Claim:
A method for detecting hot pixels in a sensor which senses a plurality of pixels, comprising: detecting a plurality of pixel values, the plurality of pixel values comprising values of a first pixel and each nearest neighboring pixel to the first pixel; storing the plurality of pixel values in a memory; reading a value of the first pixel from the memory; reading a highest value among nearest neighboring pixels to the first pixel from the memory, wherein the highest value is a value of a second pixel; reading a next highest value among the nearest neighboring pixels to the first pixel from the memory, wherein the next highest value is a value of a third pixel; performing a first function on the value of the second pixel, wherein the first function produces a first output value; if the value of the first pixel is higher than the first output value, determining that the first pixel is hot; performing a second function on the value of the third pixel, wherein the second function produces a second output value; if the value of the first pixel is higher than the second output value and the value of the second pixel is also higher than the second output value, determining that the first pixel is hot.