Dynamic noise reduction for high dynamic range in digital imaging

A method, comprising:

• receiving a high dynamic range (HDR)-processed version of a data related to digital imaging and a pre-HDR processing version of the data;
• determining a first level of HDR enhancement in a level of brightness for a first portion of a plurality of portions of the data and a second level of HDR enhancement in the level of brightness for a second portion of the plurality of portions of the data, the first level of HDR enhancement and the second level of HDR enhancement being different;
• and
• performing a first level of noise reduction for the first portion of the data and a second level of noise reduction for the second portion of the data, the first level of noise reduction and the second level of noise reduction being different,
• wherein the first level of noise reduction corresponds to a first amount of enhancement in intensity for the first portion of the data,
• wherein the second level of noise reduction corresponds to a second amount of enhancement in intensity for the second portion of the data different from the first amount of enhancement in intensity,
• wherein the determining of the first level of HDR enhancement in the level of brightness for the first portion of the data and the second level of HDR enhancement in the level of brightness for the second portion of the data comprises determining a respective HDR enhancement ratio for each of the first portion and the second portion of the data, and
• wherein the determining of the respective HDR enhancement ratio for each of the first portion and the second portion of the data comprises:
• determining a post-HDR target mean value associated with a level of brightness for the data;
• and
• for each of the first portion and the second portion of the data:
• determining a respective mean value associated with a level of brightness by comparing the HDR-processed version of the data and a pre-HDR processing version of the data;
• and
• calculating the respective HDR enhancement ratio based on a ratio between the target mean value and the respective mean value.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a computation engine configured to receive a pre-high dynamic range (HDR) processing version of an data related to digital imaging and an HDR-processed version of the data, the computation engine also configured to determine a respective HDR enhancement ratio for each of one or more portions of a plurality of portions of the HDR-processed data, the computation engine further configured to determine a respective level of noise reduction corresponding to the respective HDR enhancement ratio for each of the one or more portions of the HDR-processed data,
• wherein the respective level of noise reduction corresponds to a respective amount of enhancement in intensity for each of the one or more portions of the HDR-processed data, and
• wherein, in determining the respective level of noise reduction corresponding to the respective HDR enhancement ratio for each of the one or more portions of the data, the computation engine is configured to perform operations comprising:
• for each of the one or more portions of the data:
• determining whether the respective HDR enhancement ratio is a multiple of an integer;
• mapping the respective HDR enhancement ratio to a corresponding level of sensitivity of light of a plurality of levels of sensitivity of light of an imaging device that captured the data in response to a determination that the respective HDR enhancement ratio is a multiple of an integer;
• and
• mapping the respective HDR enhancement ratio to an interpolated level of sensitivity of light based on the plurality of levels of sensitivity of light of the imaging device in response to a determination that the respective HDR enhancement ratio is not a multiple of an integer.