Motion adaptive image processing

1. A method of image processing comprising the steps of:

estimating pixel motion values for pixels in blocks of a current image field;

calculating a difference measure of a difference in pixel brightness or color values between corresponding blocks of the current image field and an adjacent image field;

calculating a variability measure of a variability of pixel brightness or color values in respect of at least one of said corresponding blocks;

determining whether the difference measure exceeds the variability measure; and

if the difference measure exceeds the variability measure,

overriding estimated pixel motion values to set respective inter-image mixing values for pixels in the corresponding block of the current image field to indicate that the current image field should not be mixed with the adjacent image field at that pixel position.

2. The method of image processing according to claim 1 , wherein the adjacent image field is the preceding image field.

3. The method of image processing according to claim 1 , wherein the step of calculating the difference measure comprises the steps of:

determining an average value for each of the corresponding blocks based upon the respective pixel values of each of the corresponding blocks; and

subtracting one of the average values from the other average value and taking a modulus of the resulting value to be the difference measure.

4. The method of image processing according to claim 1 , wherein the step of calculating the variability measure comprises the steps of:

determining a variability value for each of the corresponding blocks based upon the respective pixel values of each of the corresponding blocks; and

taking an average of the determined variability values of the corresponding blocks to be the variability measure.

5. The method of image processing according to claim 4 , wherein the variability value for each of the corresponding blocks is a standard deviation based upon the respective pixel values of each of the corresponding blocks.

6. The method of image processing according to claim 1 , wherein the step of calculating the variability measure comprises the steps of:

determining a variability value for each of the corresponding blocks based upon the respective pixel values of each of the corresponding blocks; and

taking variability value indicative of the greatest block variability of the corresponding blocks to be the variability measure.

7. The method of image processing according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of:

including at least one weighting value within the comparison of the difference measure and the variability measure, the at least one weighting value being adjustable to vary the point at which pixel data causes the difference measure to exceed the variability measure.

8. The method of image processing according to claim 1 , wherein, for a series of pixels at predetermined positions with respect to an edge of the corresponding block of the current image field, inter-image mixing values transition away from a centre of the corresponding block of the current image field over the series of pixels from a value indicating that the current image field should not be mixed with the adjacent image field, to a value based upon motion analysis.

9. A non-transitory storage medium comprising computer readable instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method of claim 1 .

10. The method of image processing according to claim 1 , wherein

the difference measure is calculated according to Expression (1)

|DC N −DC N-1 |  Expression (1),

DC N and DC N-1 are averages of the pixel brightness or color values within corresponding blocks in the current (N) image field and a preceding (N- 1 ) image field, respectively,

the variability measure is calculated according to Expression (2)

(SD N +SD N-1 )/2  Expresion (2), and

SD N and SD N-1 are the standard deviations of the pixel brightness or color values within corresponding blocks in the current (N) image field and the preceding (N- 1 ) image field, respectively.

11. The method of image processing according to claim 1 , wherein

the difference measure is calculated according to Expression (1)

|DC N −DC N-1 |  Expression (1),

DC N and DC N-1 are averages of the pixel brightness or color values within corresponding blocks in the current (N) image field and a preceding (N- 1 ) image field, respectively,

the variability measure is calculated according to Expression (2)

Max(SD N , SD N-1 )  Expresion (2), and

SD N and SD N-1 are the standard deviations of the pixel brightness or color values within corresponding blocks in the current (N) image field and the preceding (N- 1 ) image field, respectively.

12. An image processing apparatus, comprising:

circuitry configured to:

estimate pixel motion values in blocks of a current image field;

calculate a difference measure of a difference in pixel brightness or color values between corresponding blocks of the current image field and an adjacent image field;

calculate a variability measure of a variability of pixel brightness or color values in respect of at least one of said corresponding blocks;

determine whether the difference measure exceeds the variability measure; and

override estimated pixel motion values to set an inter-image mixing value of a pixel, wherein:

if, in operation, the circuitry determines that the difference measure exceeds the variability measure, then:

the circuitry overrides estimated pixel motion values to set respective inter-image mixing values for pixels in the corresponding block of the current image field to indicate that the current image field should not be mixed with the adjacent image field at that pixel position.

13. The image processing apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the adjacent image field is the preceding image field.

14. The image processing apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

determine an average value for each of the corresponding blocks based upon the respective pixel values of each of the corresponding blocks; and

subtract one of the average values from the other average value and take a modulus of the resulting value to be the difference measure.

15. The image processing apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

determine a variability value for each of the corresponding blocks based upon the respective pixel values of each of the corresponding blocks; and

take an average of the determined variability values of the corresponding blocks to be the variability measure.

16. The image processing apparatus according to claim 15 , wherein the variability value for each of the corresponding blocks is a standard deviation based upon the respective pixel values of each of the corresponding blocks.

17. The image processing apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

determine a variability value for each of the corresponding blocks based upon the respective pixel values of each of the corresponding blocks; and

take the larger of the standard deviation values of the corresponding blocks to be the variability measure.

18. The image processing apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein at least a first weighting value is adjustable in operation to vary the point at which pixel data causes the difference measure to exceed the variability measure.

19. The image processing apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the circuitry, for a series of pixels at predetermined positions with respect to an edge of the corresponding block of the current image field, is further configured to modify inter-image mixing values so as to transition away from a center of the corresponding block of the current image field over the series of pixels from a value indicating that the current image field should not be mixed with the adjacent image field, to a value based upon motion analysis.

20. A non-transitory storage medium comprising computer readable instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to operate as an image processing apparatus according to claim 12 .