Method and apparatus for reducing image artifacts based on aperture-driven color kill with color saturation assessment

1. A method of reducing false color artifacts in an image, the method comprising:

determining an aperture value based at least in part on brightness values of pixels in a window surrounding a subject pixel;

determining a color saturation value based at least in part on color values of pixels in the window;

determining an attenuation value based at least in part on the aperture value and the color saturation value; and

adjusting a color value of the subject pixel based at least in part on the attenuation value, wherein the color saturation value is proportional to color saturation within the window, wherein the window is a 3×3 pixel window and the subject pixel is located at the center of the window, and wherein the color saturation value is determined by:

averaging an absolute value of color value of each corner pixel in the window with absolute values of color values of respective neighboring pixels within the window to obtain a respective average color value for each corner pixel in the window;

comparing each average color value with the absolute value of the color value of the subject pixel; and

selecting the average color value closest to the color value of the subject pixel.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aperture value is proportional to edge content in the window surrounding the subject pixel.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the attenuation value is determined by selecting a maximum of 0 and a difference of 1 and a product of the aperture value, the color saturation value and a gain setting.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the adjusting step comprises multiplying the color value of the subject pixel by the attenuation value.

5. A method of reducing false color artifacts in an image in the YUV color space, the method comprising:

determining an aperture value for a window of the image surrounding a subject pixel based on brightness Y values in the YUV color space of pixels in the window;

determining a color saturation value based on chrominance U and V values in the YUV color space of pixels in the window;

determining an attenuation value based on the aperture value and the color saturation value; and

adjusting chrominance U and V values in the YUV color space of a subject pixel within the window based on the attenuation value, wherein the color saturation value is determined by:

averaging absolute values of chrominance U and V values of each corner pixel in the window and absolute values of chrominance U and V values of respective neighboring pixels to form four chrominance value pairs, each pair comprising an average U value and an average V value;

comparing each chrominance value pair with absolute values of chrominance values of the subject pixel; and

selecting the chrominance value pair closest to the chrominance values of the subject pixel.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the aperture value is a measure of brightness transitions within the window.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the neighboring pixels comprise pixels adjacent to a respective corner pixel.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the neighboring pixels further comprise pixels within the window and diagonally adjacent to a respective corner pixel.

9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the neighboring pixels further comprise pixels at least one pixel removed from a respective corner pixel.

10. The method of claim 5 , wherein the attenuation value, A, is determined as follows:

A =max[0, 1−( P×S×G )]

wherein P is the aperture value, S is the color saturation value, and G is a gain setting.

11. The method of claim 5 , wherein the adjusting step comprises determining new chrominance U and V values of the subject pixel, U′ and V′ respectively, as follows:

U′=U×A

V′=V×A

wherein A is the attenuation value.

12. An imager, the imager comprising:

a pixel array for generating image data; and

a processor configured to receive and process the image data from the pixel array, the processor configured to:

determine an aperture value for a window of pixels of the image data;

determine a color saturation value for the window;

determine an attenuation value based at least in part on the aperture and color saturation values; and

adjust a value of a subject pixel within the window based at least in part on the attenuation value, wherein the processor is further configured to determine the color saturation value by:

averaging a value of each corner pixel in the window with values of respective neighboring pixels to obtain an average for each corner pixel in the window;

comparing each average with the value of the subject pixel; and

selecting the average closest to the value of the subject pixel.

13. The imager of claim 12 , wherein the attenuation value is determined by selecting a maximum of 0 and a difference of 1 and a product of the aperture value, the color saturation value, and a gain setting.

14. The imager of claim 12 , wherein the adjusting step comprises multiplying the value of the subject pixel by the attenuation value.

15. The imager of claim 12 , wherein the imager forms a part of a digital camera.

16. A system for reducing image artifacts, the system comprising:

an input device configured to provide image data; and

a processor coupled to the input device and configured to:

determine an aperture value for a window of the image;

determine a color saturation value of the window:

determine an attenuation value based at least in part on the aperture and color saturation values; and

adjust a color saturation value of a subject pixel within the window based at least in part on the attenuation value, wherein the processor is configured to determine the color saturation value of the window by:

averaging a value of each corner pixel in the window with values of respective neighboring pixels to obtain an average for each corner pixel in the window;

comparing each average with the value of the subject pixel; and

selecting the average closest to the value of the subject pixel.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the attenuation value is determined by selecting a maximum of 0 and a difference of 1 and a product of the aperture value, the color saturation value and a gain setting.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the adjusting step comprises multiplying the value of the subject pixel by the attenuation value.