Patent ID: 7826660

Claim:
A method for processing an image, the method comprising: determining an absolute logarithm of an average luminance ratio for each region of a plurality of predetermined regions within the image, wherein the average luminance ratio of a region comprises a ratio of the average luminance of the region to an average luminance of the image excluding the region; identifying a region, from among the plurality of predetermined regions, with the highest absolute logarithm of the average luminance ratio of the region, the region with the highest absolute logarithm of the average luminance ratio being an active region of interest; extracting, from the image, values of at least one feature derived from the active region of interest in the image; predicting a desired exposure correction of the image based on the extracted values; and correcting, via a processor, the exposure of the image by the predicted exposure correction to produce an exposure-corrected image; wherein the active region of interest has a base size that is proportional to the dimensions of the image, wherein the dimensions of the active region of interest are proportional to the base size multiplied by a measure of average activity in the image, and wherein the average activity is based, at least in part, on luminance within the image.