DIRECT METHOD FOR RESTORATION OF MOTION-BLURRED IMAGES

We deal with the problem of restoration of images blurred by relative motion between the camera and the object of interest. This problem is common when the imaging system is in moving vehicles or held by human hands, and in robot vision. For correct restoration of the degraded im age, it is useful to know the point-spread function (PSF) of the blurr ing system. We propose a straightforward method to restore motion-blur red images given only the blurred image itself. The method first ident ifies the PSF of the blur and then uses it to restore the blurred imag e. The blur identification here is based on the concept that image cha racteristics along the direction of motion are affected mostly by the blur and are different from the characteristics in other directions. B y filtering the blurred image, we emphasize the PSF correlation proper ties at the expense of those of the original image. Experimental resul ts for image restoration are presented for both synthetic and real mot ion blur. (C) 1998 Optical Society of America.