Patent ID: 7545443

Claim:
An apparatus for processing a video signal, comprising: direct-current component shift processing means for shifting a direct-current component of a first luminance signal that is a luminance component of a supplied video signal to generate a second luminance signal; and expansion means for performing a predetermined expansion processing to increase a signal level of a portion of the second luminance signal to a highlight portion of the first luminance signal so that a maximum luminance level of the second luminance signal equals a maximum luminance level of the first luminance signal, wherein the expansion means comprises: superposition signal generation means for detecting the highlight portion of the first luminance signal to generate a superposition signal having a signal level corresponding to the signal level of the highlight portion; and superposition means for superposing the superposition signal generated by the superposition signal generation means on the corresponding portion of the second luminance signal, wherein the highlight portion is detected based on a reference signal that sets the minimum signal level of the highlight portion, and wherein the first luminance signal is shifted by a predetermined amount selected on a basis of an average level of the first luminance signal.