Patent ID: 7990443

Claim:
An image processing method comprising: a first step of sensing light representing a subject image by an image sensing device; a second step of extracting, by a first component extractor, a first component having a predetermined frequency out of a photographic image obtained by the image sensing device; a third step of extracting, by a second component extractor, a second component having a frequency higher than the frequency of the first component out of the photographic image; a fourth step of compressing, by a compressor, a dynamic range of the first component extracted by the first component extractor with a predetermined compression ratio; a fifth step of generating, by an image generator, an image based on a compressed first component obtained by compressing the dynamic range of the first component by the compressor, and the second component extracted by the second component extractor; and a sixth step of calculating, by a compression correction coefficient calculator, a compression correction coefficient used in compressing the first component, using the second component extracted by the second component extractor, wherein the fourth step is a step of determining the compression ratio by the compressor in such a manner that the larger compression correction coefficient increases the compression ratio based on the compression correction coefficient calculated by the compression correction coefficient calculator, and compressing the dynamic range of the first component based on the determined compression ratio.