Patent ID: 7265785

Claim:
An imaging apparatus, comprising: imaging means, gain adjusting means of adjusting a gain of an output signal of the imaging means, smoothing means of performing smoothing on an output signal of the gain adjusting means, selecting means of selecting and outputting either an output signal of the gain adjusting means or an output signal of the smoothing means according to a magnitude of the gain of the gain adjusting means, noise reducing means of performing recursive noise reduction on an output signal of the selecting means, and detail enhancing means of enhancing a two-dimensional high-frequency component of an output signal of the noise reducing means, wherein the selecting means performs selection so that the output signal of the gain adjusting means is caused to serve as an input to the noise reducing means when the gain adjusting means has a gain equal to or lower than a predetermined value and the output signal of the smoothing means is caused to serve as an input to the noise reducing means when the gain adjusting means has a gain exceeding the predetermined value.