Image data processing method by reducing image noise, and camera integrating means for implementing said method

The method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the points are pixels for a bidimensional image or voxels for a tridimensional image, or else temporal pixels when the image to be processed is a film.

The method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said distance is evaluated on the basis of a sum of squares of the differences of values of points, between the first window and the second window.

The method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the weighting assigned to a current point q decreases with the distance between the values associated with this point q and the values associated with the reference point p.

The method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the size of the learning zone, in number of points, is greater than 20×20.

The method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, in which, in step a) the points of the image are acquired from one or more light sensors of given area, by imposing on the sensor(s) a predetermined time of exposure to light, per unit area,

• a decrease in the exposure time bringing about an increase in the noise,
• characterized in that, the implementation of steps c1), c2) and c) offering a reduction in the noise by a factor K, a reduction, substantially by a factor K2, in the exposure times of the sensor or sensors is authorized so as to operate at substantially constant signal-to-noise ratio.

The method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises prior steps consisting in

• estimating a level of noise in the image to be processed, and
• adapting the format, in particular in terms of number of points, of said first and second windows as a function of the estimated noise level.

The method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises the following global steps:

• magnifying the image to be processed by a digital zoom operation,
• applying steps a), b), c1), c2) and c),
• and reducing in the reverse sense the image processed, by a zoom-out operation.

A computer program product, intended to be stored in a memory of a processing unit, or on a removable memory medium, intended to cooperate with a reader of said processing unit, characterized in that it comprises instructions for the implementation of all or part of the steps of the method as claimed in one of the preceding claims.