Image processing apparatus, control method therefor, and program

An image processing apparatus which corrects input image data on the basis of the image data and foreign substance information including information associated with a position and a size of a foreign substance adhering near an image sensor in an image capturing apparatus which has captured the image data, the image processing apparatus comprising:

• an acquisition unit adapted to acquire the foreign substance information;
• a correction unit adapted to correct the captured image data on the basis of the captured image data and the foreign substance information acquired by said acquisition unit so as to reduce an influence of a shadow of the foreign substance cast in the captured image data by interpolating the captured image data corresponding to a region of the foreign substance with the captured image data corresponding to a region surrounding the foreign substance;
• a uniformity determination unit adapted to, after said acquisition unit acquires the foreign substance information, determine the uniformity of the captured image in accordance with pixels of the region which is not contained in the foreign substance region;
• and
• a control unit adapted to, when said uniformity determination unit determines that the captured image is not a uniform image, prevent said correction unit from correcting the image data, and when said uniformity determination unit determines that the captured image is a uniform image, cause said correction unit to correct the image data.

A method of controlling an image processing apparatus which corrects input image data on the basis of the image data and foreign substance information including information associated with a position and a size of a foreign substance adhering near an image sensor in an image capturing apparatus which has captured the image data, the method comprising the steps of:

• acquiring the foreign substance information;
• correcting the captured image data on the basis of the captured image data and the foreign substance information acquired in the acquiring step so as to reduce an influence of a shadow of the foreign substance cast in the captured image data by interpolating the captured image data corresponding to a region of the foreign substance with the captured image data corresponding to a region surrounding the foreign substance;
• after the acquiring step acquires the foreign substance information, determining the uniformity of the captured image in accordance with pixels of the region which is not contained in the foreign substance region;
• and
• when it is determined in the uniformity determining step that the captured image is not a uniform image, preventing correction of the image data in the correcting step, and when it is determined in the uniformity determining step that the captured image is a uniform image, performing correction of the image data in the correcting step.

A program embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium for controlling an image processing apparatus which corrects input image data on the basis of the image data and foreign substance information including information associated with a position and a size of a foreign substance adhering near an image sensor in an image capturing apparatus which has captured the image data, causing a computer to execute a method comprising the steps of:

• acquiring the foreign substance information;
• correcting the captured image data on the basis of the captured image data and the foreign substance information acquired in the acquiring step so as to reduce an influence of a shadow of the foreign substance cast in the captured image data by interpolating the captured image data corresponding to a region of the foreign substance with the captured image data corresponding to a region surrounding the foreign substance;
• after the acquiring step acquires the foreign substance information, determining the uniformity of the captured image in accordance with pixels of the region which is not contained in the foreign substance region;
• and
• when it is determined in the uniformity determining step that the captured image is not a uniform image, preventing correction of the image data in the correcting step, and when it is determined in the uniformity determining step that the captured image is a uniform image, performing correction of the image data in the correcting step.