Image processing system and method employing adaptive filtering to provide improved reconstruction of continuous tone images from halftone images including those without a screen structure

Abstract

An image processing system is provided to convert halftone images to continuous tone images. It employs an adaptive filter which processes successive pixels in an input halftone image. The adaptive filter employs a filter that is selected under feedback control from a plurality of filter sets each having a plurality of filters. The halftone image is also low-pass filtered to generate a first approximation image (FAI). A spatial gradient value is computed for each pixel in the FAI. A control operates the adaptive filter to apply one of the predetermined filters to the current pixel as a function of the associated pixel spatial gradient. An output image from the adaptive filter in a first iteration of the filtering procedure can then be applied to the input of the adaptive filter for a second adaptive filtering iteration. Pixel gradients for the second iteration are computed from the image output from the first iteration. A predetermined number of iterations are performed and the image output from the last iteration is a continuous tone image for system output.

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