Patent ID: 8606016

Claim:
An edge detection apparatus, for detecting edges of an image, comprising: a computing circuit, comprising: a first multiplier block, comprising n×m first multiplier units, wherein each of the first multiplier units has a first multiplication factor, the n×m first multiplier units respectively perform multiplications on a horizontal detecting template to generate n×m first product values based on the corresponding first multiplication factors, wherein the horizontal detecting template comprises an n×m matrix, the n×m pixels include a target pixel, and n is not equal to m; and a first adder unit, coupled to the first multiplier block, for generating a first computation result according to the n×m first product values; a determining circuit, coupled to the computing circuit, for determining if the target pixel is an edge pixel positioned in a horizontal direction according to at least the first computation result; a second multiplier block, comprising n×m second multiplier units, wherein each of the second multiplier unit has a second multiplication factor, the n×m second multiplier units respectively perform multiplications on n×m pixels which are arranged as an n×m matrix to generate n×m second product values based on the corresponding second multiplication factors; and a second adder unit, coupled to the second multiplier block, for generating a second computation result according to the n×m second product values; a third multiplier block, comprising k×k third multiplier units, wherein each of the third multiplier units has a third multiplication factor, the k×k third multiplier units respectively perform multiplications on k×k pixels which are arranged as a k×k matrix to generate k×k third product values based on the corresponding third multiplication factors, wherein the third multiplier block is a Sobel filter; and a third adder unit, coupled to the third multiplier block, for generating a third computation result according to the k×k third product values; and the determining circuit determines if the target pixel is an edge pixel according to the first computation result, the second computation result, and the third computation result.