Method of providing a sharpness measure for an image

1. A method comprising:

detecting an object region within an image;

obtaining meta-data for the image;

scaling the object region to obtain a scaled region;

determining a threshold for the scaled region based at least in part on the meta-data;

calculating map values for the scaled region;

comparing the map values to the threshold;

obtaining, based at least in part on the comparing, filtered map values;

calculating a noise measure for the object region by:

sorting mean sharpness values in order of magnitude to obtain sorted sharpness values;

selecting a sub-range of sharpness values from the sorted sharpness values; and

calculating the noise measure for the object region as a function of the sub-range of sharpness values;

determining a sharpness measure for the object region based at least in part on the filtered map values and the noise measure; and

correcting focus of the object region based at least in part on the sharpness measure.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the map values comprise gradient map values.

3. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the sharpness measure is proportional to at least one of the filtered map values.

4. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the threshold for the image is a function of one or more of: a contrast level for the object region, a distance to a subject in the object region, or an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) value used for image acquisition.

5. A method according to claim 1 , wherein scaling the object region comprises scaling the object region to a fixed size.

6. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the object region comprises a face.

7. A method according to claim 1 , wherein calculating the noise measure further comprises:

splitting the filtered map values into an array; and

determining the mean sharpness values for each cell of the array.

8. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising extracting meta-data from the image to determine one or more parameters for the threshold.

9. A non-transitory computer program product comprising computer readable instructions, which when executed in an image processing device are arranged to perform operations comprising:

detecting an object region within an image;

obtaining meta-data for the image;

scaling the object region to obtain a scaled region;

determining a threshold for the scaled region based at least in part on the meta- data;

calculating map values for the scaled region;

comparing the map values to the threshold;

obtaining, based at least in part on the comparing, filtered map values;

calculating a noise measure for the object region by:

sorting mean sharpness values in order of magnitude to obtain sorted sharpness values;

selecting a sub-range of sharpness values from the sorted sharpness values; and

calculating the noise measure for the object region as a function of the sub-range of sharpness values;

determining a sharpness measure for the object region based at least in part on the filtered map values and the noise measure; and

correcting focus of the object region based at least in part on the sharpness measure.

10. A non-transitory computer program product according to claim 9 , wherein the map values comprise gradient map values.

11. A non-transitory computer program product according to claim 9 , wherein the sharpness measure is proportional to at least one of the filtered map values.

12. A non-transitory computer program product according to claim 9 , wherein the threshold for the image is a function of one or more of: a contrast level for the object region, a distance to a subject in the object region, or an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) value used for image acquisition.

13. A non-transitory computer program product according to claim 9 , wherein scaling the object region comprises scaling the object region to a fixed size.

14. A non-transitory computer program product according to claim 9 , wherein the object region comprises a face.

15. An image processing device comprising:

a processing unit; and

a computer program product storing computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processing unit, configures the image processing device to perform operations comprising:

detecting an object region within an image;

obtaining meta-data for the image;

scaling the object region to obtain a scaled region;

determining a threshold for the scaled region based at least in part on the meta-data;

calculating map values for the scaled region;

comparing the map values to the threshold;

obtaining, based at least in part on the comparing, filtered map values;

calculating a noise measure for the object region by:

sorting mean sharpness values in order of magnitude to obtain sorted sharpness values;

selecting a sub-range of sharpness values from the sorted sharpness values; and

calculating the noise measure for the object region as a function of the sub-range of sharpness values;

determining a sharpness measure for the object region based at least in part on the filtered map values and the noise measure; and

correcting focus of the object region based at least in part on the sharpness measure.

16. An image processing device according to claim 15 , wherein the map values comprise gradient map values.

17. An image processing device according to claim 15 , wherein the sharpness measure is proportional to at least one of the filtered map values.

18. An image processing device according to claim 15 , wherein the threshold for the image is a function of one or more of: a contrast level for the object region, a distance to a subject in the object region, or an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) value used for image acquisition.

19. An image processing device according to claim 15 , wherein scaling the object region comprises scaling the object region to a fixed size.

20. An image processing device according to claim 15 , wherein the object region comprises a face.