Apparatus and method for enhancing image quality of image captured by using multiple color-filter aperture

A method for enhancing image quality of an image, the method comprising:

• a region of interest (ROI) classifying operation of classifying ROIs according to distances from an image capturing device in an input image captured by the image capturing device having an aperture with a plurality of openings employing different color filters by using a cluster-based image segmentation algorithm, the ROI classifying operation comprising:
• a salient region selecting operation of selecting a salient region corresponding to an object by applying a K-means clustering scheme and a hill-climbing scheme to the input image;
• and
• an ROI labeling operation of labeling blocks corresponding to the selected salient region among blocks segmented by using a block partitioning scheme, as ROIs;
• a color channel registering operation of determining motion vectors of color channels corresponding to the respective ROIs by analyzing a high frequency component of image data included in the ROIs, and moving the color channels based on the determined motion vectors to obtain a registered image of the respective ROIs;
• an image fusing operation of fusing the registered images of the respective ROIs to obtain a fused image;
• and
• a smoothing operation of smoothing the border between the ROIs existing in the fused image to enhance image quality of the fused image.

A computer-readable medium containing program instructions for enhancing image quality of an image, wherein execution of the program instructions by one or more processors of a computer system causes the one or more processors to carry out the acts of:

• a region of interest (ROI) classifying operation of classifying ROIs according to distances from an image capturing device in an input image captured by the image capturing device having an aperture with a plurality of openings employing different color filters by using a cluster-based image segmentation algorithm;
• the ROI classifying operation comprising:
• a salient region selecting operation of selecting a salient region corresponding to an object by applying a K-means clustering scheme and a hill-climbing scheme to the input image;
• and
• an ROI labeling operation of labeling blocks corresponding to the selected salient region among blocks segmented by using a block partitioning scheme, as ROIs;
• a color channel registering operation of determining motion vectors of color channels corresponding to the respective ROIs by analyzing a high frequency component of image data included in the ROIs, and moving the color channels based on the determined motion vectors to obtain a registered image of the respective ROIs;
• an image fusing operation of fusing the registered images of the respective ROIs to obtain a fused image;
• and
• a smoothing operation of smoothing the border between the ROIs existing in the fused image to enhance image quality of the fused image.