Image sensing apparatus and method having noise reduction function

An image sensing apparatus comprising:

• an area image sensor;
• a sensor operation unit which controls scanning operation of said area image sensor;
• a blur detector which detects blur information of a sensed image;
• area setting means for setting an area to be read of said area image sensor by controlling said sensor operation unit on the basis of the blur information;
• a noise reduction unit which performs noise reduction processing on pixel signals obtained by consecutively scanning said area image sensor at different timings;
• memory which holds the pixel signals from which noise has been reduced by said noise reduction unit;
• a memory controller which controls reading of pixel signals from said memory in accordance with the area to be read set by said area setting means;
• and
• a blur correction unit which corrects blurs of an image using the pixel signals outputted from said noise reduction unit on the basis of the blur information detected by said blur detection unit,
• wherein the pixel signals used in said noise reduction unit are pixel signals read from said memory and respective current pixel signals obtained by scanning said area image sensor.

An image processing apparatus for processing pixel signals obtained from an image sensing apparatus having an area image sensor and a sensor operation unit which controls scanning operation of said area image sensor, comprising:

• area setting means for setting an area to be read of said area image sensor by controlling said sensor operation unit on the basis of an expansion ratio;
• a noise reduction unit which performs noise reduction processing on pixel signals obtained by consecutively scanning said area image sensor at different timings;
• memory which holds the pixel signals from which noise has been reduced by said noise reduction unit;
• a memory controller which controls reading of pixel signals from said memory in accordance with the area to be read set by said area setting means;
• and
• an expansion unit which expands an image using the pixel signals outputted from said noise reduction unit on the basis of the expansion ratio,
• wherein the pixel signals used in said noise reduction unit are pixel signals read from said memory and respective current pixel signals obtained by scanning said area image sensor.

An image processing apparatus for processing pixel signals obtained from an image sensing apparatus having an area image sensor, a sensor operation unit which controls scanning operation of said area image sensor, and a blur detector which detects blur information of a sensed image, comprising:

• area setting means for setting an area to be read of said area image sensor by controlling said sensor operation unit on the basis of the blur information;
• a noise reduction unit which performs noise reduction processing on pixel signals obtained by consecutively scanning said area image sensor at different timings;
• memory which holds the pixel signals from which noise has been reduced by said noise reduction unit;
• a memory controller which controls reading of pixel signals from said memory in accordance with the area to be read set by said area setting means;
• and
• a blur correction unit which corrects blurs of an image using the pixel signals outputted from said noise reduction unit on the basis of the blur information detected by said blur detection unit,
• wherein the pixel signals used in said noise reduction unit are pixel signals read from said memory and respective current pixel signals obtained by scanning said area image sensor.

An image sensing method in an image sensing apparatus having an area image sensor and a sensor operation unit which controls scanning operation of said area image sensor, comprising:

• an area setting step of setting an area to be read of said area image sensor by controlling said sensor operation unit on the basis of an expansion ratio;
• a scanning step of scanning the area of said area image sensor set in said area setting step;
• a reading step of reading pixel signals previously stored in a memory in accordance with the area set in said area setting step;
• a noise reduction step of performing noise reduction processing on pixel signals obtained in said scanning step using the pixel signals read in said reading step;
• a storage step of storing the pixel signals from which noise has been reduced in said noise reduction step;
• and
• an expansion step of expanding an image using the pixel signals from which noise has been reduced in said noise reduction step on the basis of the expansion ratio.

An image sensing method in an image sensing apparatus having an area image sensor, a sensor operation unit which controls scanning operation of said area image sensor, and a blur detector which detects blur information of a sensed image, comprising:

• an area setting step of setting an area to be read of said area image sensor by controlling said sensor operation unit on the basis of the blur information;
• a scanning step of scanning the area of said area image sensor set in said area setting step;
• a reading step of reading pixel signals previously stored in a memory in accordance with the area set in said area setting step;
• a noise reduction step of performing noise reduction processing on pixel signals obtained in said scanning step using the pixel signals read in said reading step;
• a storage step of storing the pixel signals from which noise has been reduced in said noise reduction step;
• and
• a blur correction step of correcting blurs of an image using the pixel signals from which noise has been reduced in said noise reduction step on the basis of the blur information.

An image processing method for processing pixel signals obtained from an image sensing apparatus having an area image sensor and a sensor operation unit which controls scanning operation of said area image sensor, comprising:

• an area setting step of setting an area to be read of said area image sensor by controlling said sensor operation unit on the basis of an expansion ratio;
• a reception step of receiving pixel signals read from the area of said area image sensor set in said area setting step;
• a reading step of reading pixel signals previously stored in a memory in accordance with the area set in said area setting step;
• a noise reduction step of performing noise reduction processing on pixel signals received in said reception step using the pixel signals read in said reading step;
• a storage step of storing the pixel signals from which noise has been reduced in said noise reduction step;
• and
• an expansion step of expanding an image using the pixel signals from which noise has been reduced in said noise reduction step on the basis of the expansion ratio.

An image processing method for processing pixel signals obtained from an image sensing apparatus having an area image sensor, a sensor operation unit which controls scanning operation of said area image sensor, and a blur detector which detects blur information of a sensed image, comprising:

• an area setting step of setting an area to be read of said area image sensor by controlling said sensor operation unit on the basis of the blur information;
• a reception step of receiving pixel signals read from the area of said area image sensor set in said area setting step;
• a reading step of reading pixel signals previously stored in a memory in accordance with the area set in said area setting step;
• a noise reduction step of performing noise reduction processing on pixel signals received in said reception step using the pixel signals read in said reading step;
• a storage step of storing the pixel signals from which noise has been reduced in said noise reduction step;
• and
• a blur correction step of correcting blurs of an image using the pixel signals from which noise has been reduced in said noise reduction step on the basis of the blur information.

A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied in said medium for processing pixel signals obtained from an image sensing apparatus having an area image sensor and a sensor operation unit which controls scanning operation of said area image sensor, said product including:

• first computer readable program code means for setting an area to be read of said area image sensor by controlling said sensor operation unit on the basis of an expansion ratio;
• second computer readable program code means for receiving pixel signals read from the set area of said area image sensor;
• third computer readable program code means for reading pixel signals previously stored in a memory in accordance with the set area;
• fourth computer readable program code means for performing noise reduction processing on received pixel signals using the pixel signals read from the memory;
• fifth computer readable program code means for storing the pixel signals from which noise has been reduced;
• and
• sixth computer readable program code means for expanding an image using the pixel signals from which noise has been reduced on the basis of the expansion ratio.

A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied in said medium for processing pixel signals obtained from an image sensing apparatus having an area image sensor, a sensor operation unit which controls scanning operation of said area image sensor, and a blur detector which detects blur information of a sensed image, said product including:

• first computer readable program code means for setting an area to be read of said area image sensor by controlling said sensor operation unit on the basis of the blur information;
• second computer readable program code means for receiving pixel signals read from the set area of said area image sensor;
• third computer readable program code means for reading pixel signals previously stored in a memory in accordance with the set area;
• fourth computer readable program code means for performing noise reduction processing on received pixel signals using the pixel signals read from the memory;
• fifth computer readable program code means for storing the pixel signals from which noise has been reduced;
• and
• sixth computer readable program code means for correcting blurs of an image using the pixel signals from which noise has been reduced on the basis of the blur information.