System and method for selecting an image processing path using estimated appearance of noise

A method for processing an image based on noise appearance in the image, comprising the steps of:

• a) forming a noise table representing noise magnitude vs. intensity of the image;
• b) providing an image processing path having at least one image transform;
• c) modifying the noise table according to the image transform(s) in the image processing path to produce an output noise table;
• d) generating a noise metric from the output noise table, said noise metric representing the noise appearance of the image processed by the image processing path;
• and
• e) comparing the noise metric to a predefined threshold and modifying the image processing path and repeating steps c) through e) if the noise metric is greater than the predetermined threshold.

A method for processing an image based on noise appearance in the image, comprising the steps of:

• a) forming a noise table representing noise magnitude vs. intensity of the image;
• b) providing an image transform having an adjustable parameter;
• c) modifying the noise table according to the image transform to produce an output noise table;
• d) generating a noise metric from the output noise table, said noise metric representing the noise appearance of the image processed by the image transform;
• and
• e) comparing the noise metric to a predefined threshold and modifying the adjustable parameter of the image transform and repeating steps c) through e) if the noise metric is greater than the predetermined threshold.

A system for processing an image based on noise appearance in the image, comprising:

• a) means for forming a noise table representing noise magnitude vs. intensity of the image;
• b) means for providing a plurality of potential image processing paths, each path having at least one image transform;
• c) means for modifying the noise table according to the image transform(s) in the at least one image processing path to produce an output noise table;
• d) means for generating a noise metric from the output noise table, said noise metric representing the noise appearance of the image processed by the at least one image processing path;
• e) means for selecting one of the plurality of potential image processing paths based on the noise metric;
• and
• f) means for applying the selected image processing path to the image.