Hue preservation post processing with early exit for highlight recovery

A method, comprising:

• generating a plurality of target hues for a plurality of color channels of a pixel in an image using candidate hue values for the color channels of the pixel;
• determining an intensity value for a color channel of the plurality of color channels of the pixel, using corresponding ratios of the target hues for the plurality of color channels of the pixel;
• and
• selecting the intensity value as a recovered hue value for the color channel of the pixel, when a target hue of the plurality of target hues for the color channel is the largest among the target hues.

An electronic device, comprising:

• an image sensor configured to capture an image comprising a pixel with hue information having at least one color channel of a plurality of color channels with an intensity above a predetermined threshold;
• and
• an image signal processor coupled to the image sensor, the image signal processor configured to perform raw processing of the image to obtain a raw processed version of the image having the plurality of color channels, the image signal processor including:
• a hue target circuit configured to generate a plurality of target hues for a plurality of color channels of a pixel in the image using candidate hue values for the color channels of the pixel,
• an intensity value calculator circuit coupled to the hue target circuit, the intensity value calculator circuit configured to determine an intensity value for a color channel of the plurality of color channels of the pixel, using corresponding ratios of the target hues for the plurality of color channels of the pixel, and
• a hue processor coupled to the hue target circuit and the intensity value calculator circuit, the hue processor configured to select the intensity value as a recovered hue value for the color channel of the pixel, when a target hue of the plurality of target hues for the color channel is the largest among the target hues.