Image processing device and image processing program

An image processing device comprising:

• input means for inputting an digital image wherein one or more color components are non-existent in each pixel, obtained from a single-sensor image-pickup system, a double-sensor image-pickup system, or a triple-sensor pixel spatial offset image-pickup system;
• first non-existent color component generating means for making a combination of two or more pixels from a plurality of pixels having the same color component near the pixel of interest within the image signals input from the input means, calculating the average for the combination the color components of two or more pixels for a plurality kinds of combinations in the region near the pixel of interest, and selecting one of the calculated averages so as to generate the non-existent color component;
• second non-existent color component generating means for estimating the color correlation which is a correlation between different kinds of color components near the pixel of interest for each pixel, and generating the non-existent color component based upon the estimated color correlation and the color component obtained in each pixel;
• evaluation means for evaluating the reliability of the color correlation estimated by the second non-existent color component estimation means;
• and
• third non-existent color component generating means for setting the weight as to the non-existent color component generated by the second non-existent color component generating means based upon the reliability evaluated by the evaluation means, and calculating the weighted average for the non-existent color component generated by the first non-existent color generating means and the non-existent color component generated by the second non-existent color component generating means using the set weight, thereby generating the non-existent color component value.

An image processing program for inputting an digital image wherein one or more color components are non-existent in each pixel, obtained from a single-sensor image-pickup system, a double-sensor image-pickup system, or a triple-sensor pixel spatial offset image-pickup system, estimating the non-existent color component for each pixel so as to output a color digital image, the program comprising:

• step for combination average calculation processing for making a combination of two or more pixels from a plurality of pixels having the same color component near the pixel of interest, and calculating the average for the combination of the color components of two or more pixels for a plurality kinds of combinations of pixels in the region near the pixel of interest;
• step for color correlation estimation processing for estimating color correlation which is a correlation between different color components within the region near the pixel of interest;
• and
• step for combination selection processing for selecting one of the plurality of combination averages calculated by the combination average calculation processing, as the non-existent color component for the pixel of interest, based upon the color correlation estimated by the color correlation estimation processing.

An image processing program for inputting an digital image wherein one or more color components are non-existent in each pixel, obtained from a single-sensor image-pickup system, a double-sensor image-pickup system, or a triple-sensor pixel spatial offset image-pickup system, estimating the non-existent color component for each pixel so as to output a color digital image comprising:

• step for first non-existent color component generating processing for making a combination of two or more pixels from a plurality of pixels having the same color component near the pixel of interest, calculating the average for the combination of the color component values of two or more pixels for a plurality kinds of combinations of pixels in the region near the pixel of interest, and selecting one of the calculated averages so as to generate the non-existent color component;
• step for second non-existent color component generating processing for estimating the color correlation which is a correlation between different kinds of color components near the pixel of interest for each pixel, and generating the non-existent color component based upon the estimated color correlation and the color component obtained in each pixel;
• step for evaluation processing for evaluating the reliability of the color correlation estimated by the second non-existent color component estimation processing;
• and
• step for third non-existent color component generating processing for setting the weight as to the non-existent color component generated by the second non-existent color component generating processing based upon the reliability evaluated by the evaluation processing, and calculating the weighted average for the non-existent color component generated by the first non-existent color generating processing and the non-existent color component generated by the second non-existent color component generating processing using the set weight, thereby generating the non-existent color component value.