Film line scratch removal using Kalman filtering and Bayesian restoration

Abstract

A suitable detection/reconstruction approach is proposed for removing line scratches from degraded motion picture films. The detection procedure consists of two steps. First, a simple 1D-extrema detector provides line scratch candidates. Line artifacts persist across several frames. Therefore, to reject false detections, the detected scratches are tracked over the sequence using a Kalman filter. A new Bayesian restoration technique, dealing with both low and high frequencies around and inside the detected artifacts, is investigated to achieve a near invisible restoration of damaged areas.