New edge-adaptive image interpolation using anisotropic Gaussian filters

Abstract

Edge-adaptive interpolation is an effective technique to obtain a sharp high-resolution (HR) image from a low-resolution (LR) image. In this paper, we propose a new image interpolation method using edge-adaptive anisotropic Gaussian filters (AGFs). In the proposed method, the edge information of the LR image, which is the edge orientation and its energy, is first estimated using the modified Leung-Malik (LM) filter bank. Then, the edge information of the LR image is converted into that of the HR image by using a mapping function. Based on the HR edge information, edge-adaptive interpolation is performed using the AGF with variable shape and direction. Simulation results show that the proposed method objectively and subjectively outperforms conventional edge-based methods. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.