Patent ID: 8184183

Claim:
An image processing apparatus comprising: an imaging device in which a plurality of types of imaging elements having different spectral sensitivities are aligned on a single plane and which obtains a color imaging signal; a first edge direction judging unit which judges a direction along which an edge is produced in the color imaging signal based on pixel values of the respective imaging elements; a high-color difference region judging unit which judges a region where the pixel values have a high-color difference equal to or above a predetermined value when the first edge direction judging unit determines that the direction of the edge is other than a specific direction; a second edge direction judging unit which further judges a direction of the edge when the high-color difference judging unit determines the region where the pixel values have the high-color difference; a direction dependence smoothing unit which smooths the pixel values of the respective imaging elements by interpolating the pixel values along the direction determined by the second edge direction judging unit; and an omnidirectional smoothing unit which smooths the pixel values of the respective imaging elements in all directions based on pixel values of peripheral pixels when the second edge direction judging unit determines that there is no edge in all directions.