Super-resolution with adaptive macro-block topology applied to a multi-camera system

Abstract

Super-Resolution (SR) consists in processing an image or a set of images in order to enhance the resolution of a video sequence or a single frame. In this paper, fusion SR techniques are considered, where High-Resolution (HR) images are constructed from several observed Low-Resolution (LR) images, thereby increasing the high-frequency components and removing the degradations caused by the recording process of LR imaging acquisition devices. This paper follows a strategy combining the selection of the most appropriate frames and adaptive sized Macro-Blocks (MBs) together with a Multi-Camera (MC) system. This proposal optimizes the spatial and temporal correlations between the recorded sequences, and minimizes the appearance of annoying artifacts at the same time, improving the quality of the super-resolved HR sequence and reducing the computational cost by more than a factor of two. This type of image enhancement systems has many applications in Consumer Electronics appliances related to imaging. More specifically, many camera suppliers are incorporating Super-Resolution in their high-end products.