Patent ID: 8319897

Claim:
A noise reduction method for reducing noise in an input video signal to output an output video signal, the method comprising the steps of: generating a motion-compensated reference video signal from the output video signal; delaying the output video signal to generate a non-motion-compensated reference video signal; mixing the motion-compensated reference video signal with the non-motion-compensated reference video signal to generate a reference video signal; subtracting the generated reference video signal from the input video signal to generate a differential signal; compensating the differential signal to generate a noise reduction signal; and subtracting the noise reduction signal from the input video signal, wherein the step of generating the reference video signal includes the steps of dividing one screen of the motion-compensated reference video signal or one screen of the non-motion-compensated reference video signal into a plurality of divided areas, at least two of the divided areas partially overlapping each other in an overlapped area; calculating, for each of the divided areas, a residual of the motion-compensated reference video signal or the non-motion-compensated reference video signal with respect to the input video signal; setting, for each of the divided areas, a blend ratio by which the motion-compensated reference video signal is mixed with the non-motion-compensated reference video signal in accordance with at least one of the calculated residuals; and performing, based on at least two of the blend ratios, weighted addition to the motion-compensated reference video signal and the non-motion-compensated reference video signal to mix, in the overlapped area, the motion-compensated reference video signal with the non-motion-compensated reference video signal.