A new type of adaptive center weighted median filters is developed for impu
lsive noise reduction of an image without the degradation of an original si
gnal. The weight in the proposed filter is decided by the weight controller
based on counter propagation networks. This controller classifies an input
vector into some cluster according to its feature and gives the weight cor
responding to the cluster. The parameters in the weight controller are adju
stable by using the learning algorithm. The degradation of the original sig
nal can be reduced by the proposed technique. An example is also given to i
llustrate the utility of the proposed technique. (C) 2000 The Franklin Inst
itute. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.