Importance of Developing Image Restoration Techniques for Security Cameras under Severe Conditions

A concept, which was proposed and has been pursued by the authors for restoring the images of a suspected person taken by a security camera, is reviewed. In the concept, the peculiar facts concerning the security camera system that all the things in the image except the suspected person itself are usually preserved and that can be used for investigations are to be used as fully as possible. The authors have launched a project in which techniques based on the concept are developed for the police. In the project, some methods of restoring an image of a person's figure taken by a camera with dirty lens have been developed. The importance of pursuing the proposed concept is discussed from the viewpoints of not only the novelty in image processing technology but also the viewpoints of the efficiency in criminal investigation and social security