Patent ID: 7652250

Claim:
A noise reduction method for an infrared imaging devices comprising the steps of: (a) calculating a horizontal pixel ratio and a vertical pixel ratio based upon a plurality of receptor pixels within an imager and a plurality of pixels within an infrared detection array, said horizontal pixel ratio equal to the number of said receptor pixels horizontally disposed along said imager divided by the number of said pixels horizontally disposed along said infrared detection array, said vertical pixel ratio equal to the number of said receptor pixels vertically disposed alone said imager divided by the number of said pixels vertically disposed along said infrared detection array; (b) defining a plurality of composite pseudo-pixels within said imager based on said horizontal pixel ratio and said vertical pixel ratio, each said composite pseudo-pixel comprised of at least two said receptor pixels, each said receptor pixel within said imager assigned to at least one said composite pixel, the total number of said composite pixels equal to the total number of said pixels; (c) capturing at least one frame of an infrared image with said infrared detection array and said imager; (d) calculating a composite intensity for each said composite pseudo-pixel based on an intensity for each said receptor pixel within said composite pseudo-pixel; and (e) reconstructing said frame so that each said receptor pixel within said composite pseudo-pixel has said composite intensity.