One embodiment of an edge-preserving vertical interpolation system constructs a de-interlaced video frame on a pixel-by-pixel basis using an edge-preserving vertical interpolation technique. Pixels within a pixel window centered about a selected pixel determine the direction of an intensity gradient associated with the selected pixel. A first pixel is constructed by interpolating between pixels that are perpendicular to the direction of the intensity gradient and a confidence factor is computed that indicates the likelihood that there is only one edge within the pixel window. A second pixel is constructed using a non-edge-preserving vertical interpolation technique. Interpolating between the first pixel and the second pixel based on the confidence factor generates a pixel in the de-interlaced video frame corresponding to the selected pixel. Unlike prior art techniques, the present invention does not attempt to correlate between pixel features and is therefore more robust to noisy pixel data than prior art techniques.
展开▼
