An edge-preserving image interpolation system for a digital camcorder

Conventional image interpolation techniques degrade the quality of the magnified image due to various artifacts, such as, blocking artifact and excessive smoothing. Those degradations become worse as the magnification ratio increases and there also exists a tradeoff between reducing the blocking artifact and excessive smoothness. An image interpolation system, which provides more naturally magnified images than the conventional ones, is proposed. The system preserves the original edge while not destroying the smoothness in the flat area. The hardware structure of the proposed system is also proposed.