Camera with color correction after luminance and chrominance separation

1. An apparatus comprising:

a circuit configured to (i) convert a digital image from a red-green-blue representation to a luminance-and-chrominance representation, (ii) generate a reduced noise representation of said digital image by reducing noise in said luminance-and-chrominance representation, (iii) generate a color corrected representation of said digital image in said luminance-and-chrominance representation by first color correcting said reduced noise representation, wherein said first color correcting maps said reduced noise representation from a first color space to a second color space in three dimensions, and (iv) generate another color corrected representation of said digital image in said luminance-and-chrominance representation by second color correcting said color corrected representation as read from a memory.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said first color correcting of said reduced noise representation is an initial color correction of said digital image after being received from an electro-optical sensor.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said circuit is further configured to convert said digital image from a Bayer color filter array representation to said red-green-blue representation.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said circuit is further configured to second color correct said digital image prior to said reducing of said noise in said luminance-and-chrominance representation.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said circuit is further configured to compress said color corrected representation of said digital image.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said circuit is further configured to (i) noise filter a luminance component of said luminance-and-chrominance representation of said digital image by a first method and (ii) noise filter a chrominance component of said luminance-and-chrominance representation of said digital image by a second method, wherein said second method is a heavier filtering than said first method.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said circuit is further configured to store said digital image in a memory after said first color correcting.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said apparatus forms a digital camera.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said luminance-and-chrominance representation of said digital image comprises a YUV color representation of said digital image.

10. A method for reducing noise in a digital image, comprising the steps of:

(A) converting said digital image from a red-green-blue representation to a luminance-and-chrominance representation using a circuit;

(B) generating a reduced noise representation of said digital image by reducing noise in said luminance-and-chrominance representation;

(C) generating a color corrected representation of said digital image in said luminance-and-chrominance representation by first color correcting said reduced noise representation, wherein said first color correcting maps said reduced noise representation from a first color space to a second color space in three dimensions; and

(D) generating another color corrected representation of said digital image said luminance-and-chrominance representation by second color correcting said color corrected representation as read from a memory.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein said first color correcting of said reduced noise representation is an initial color correction of said digital image after being received from an electro-optical sensor.

12. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising the step of:

converting said digital image from a Bayer color filter array representation to said red-green-blue representation using said circuit.

13. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising the step of:

second color correcting said digital image prior to said reducing of said noise in said luminance-and-chrominance representation.

14. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising the step of:

generating a compressed representation of said digital image by compressing said color corrected representation of said digital image.

15. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising the steps of:

noise filtering a luminance component of said luminance-and-chrominance representation of said digital image by a first method; and

noise filtering a chrominance component of said luminance-and-chrominance representation of said digital image by a second method, wherein said second method is a heavier filtering than said first method.

16. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising the step of:

storing said digital image in a memory after step (C).

17. The method according to claim 10 , wherein said method is performed in a digital camera.

18. An apparatus comprising:

means for converting a digital image from a red-green-blue representation to a luminance-and-chrominance representation;

means for generating a reduced noise representation of said digital image by reducing noise in said luminance-and-chrominance representation;

means for generating a color corrected representation of said digital image in said luminance-and-chrominance representation by first color correcting said reduced noise representation, wherein said first color correcting maps said reduced noise representation from a first color space to a second color space in three dimensions; and

means for generating another color corrected representation of said digital image said luminance-and-chrominance representation by second color correcting said color corrected representation as read from a memory.