Image processing apparatus and recording medium, and image processing apparatus

An image processing method, for smoothing digital data for an input image and removing noise included in the digital data, the method comprising:

• an edge information calculation step of extracting an edge of the image from the digital data, and calculating edge information that includes a grade and a direction of a slope of the edge;
• a filter information generation step of generating filter information based on the edge information obtained at the edge information calculation step;
• and
• a processing step of smoothing the digital data based on the filter information generated at the filter information generation step.

A recording medium storing a computer program for causing an image processing apparatus, which includes an input unit for entering image data, a processor for processing digital data output by the input unit and a recording unit for recording filter information used to process the digital data, to smooth digital data for an input image and to remove noise included in the digital data, the image processing apparatus being caused by the computer program to perform:

• an edge information calculation step of extracting an edge of the image from the digital data received from the input unit, and calculating edge information including a grade and a direction of a slope of the edge;
• a filter information reading step of reading out specific filter information stored in the recording unit based on the edge information obtained at the edge information calculation step;
• and
• a processing step of smoothing the digital data based on the filter information read at the filter information reading step.

A recording medium storing a computer program for causing an image processing apparatus, which includes an input unit for entering image data and a processor for processing digital data output by the input unit, to smooth digital data for an input image and to remove noise included in the digital data, the image processing apparatus being caused by the computer program to perform:

• an edge information calculation step of extracting an edge of the image from the digital data, and calculating edge information that includes the grade and the direction of a slope of the edge;
• a filter information generation step of generating filter information based on the edge information obtained at the edge information calculation step;
• and
• a processing step of smoothing the digital data based on the filter information generated at the filter information generation step.

An image processing apparatus comprising:

• an image input unit for receiving image data and outputting the image data as digital data;
• an edge calculation unit for extracting an edge of an image from the digital data output by the image input unit, and for calculating edge information that includes the grade and the direction of a slope of the edge;
• a recording unit for storing filter information that is set in correlation with the edge information;
• a filter information selection unit for, based on the edge information calculated by the edge information calculation unit, selecting filter information stored in the recording unit;
• and
• a smoothing unit for smoothing the digital data based on the filter information selected by the filter information selection unit.

An image processing apparatus comprising:

• an image input unit for receiving image data and outputting the image data as digital data;
• an edge calculation unit for extracting an edge of an image from the digital data output by the image input unit, and calculating edge information that includes the grade and the direction of a slope of the edge;
• a filter information generation unit for generating filter information stored in the recording unit based on the edge information calculated by the edge information calculation unit;
• a smoothing unit for smoothing the digital data based on the filter information generated by the filter information generation unit;
• and
• a recording unit for storing the smoothed digital data.