Local adaptive directional color filter array interpolation based on inter-channel correlation

In this paper, we present a novel color image demosaicking algorithm. The algorithm consists of two steps: an interpolation step and a refinement step. The missing green color information is first interpolated by using the color channel difference. In the refinement step, a local weighted directional interpolation method guided by the pre-interpolated green channel is applied to refine the interpolation results along the determined interpolation direction. Lastly, post-processing is implemented to output the final demosaicked full color image. Due to well estimating the interpolation directions based on reliable inter-channel correlation, the interpolation accuracy is guaranteed, besides, an effective post-processing was implemented to reduce the interpolation artifacts. As a result, compared with the latest demosaicking algorithms, experiments showed that the proposed method provides superior performance in terms of both objective and subjective image qualities. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.