Robustified vector median filter

In this paper a novel, efficient extension of the vector median filter intended for the suppression of impulsive noise in color images is proposed. The new filter operates on the trimmed distances between color pixels belonging to the filtering window. The cumulated distances calculated for each pixel in the local window is used to perform the reduced vector ordering, which allows to find the pixel which is centrally located in the cluster of most similar samples. The introduced generalization allows to improve the effectiveness of the standard vector median filter and can be used for more efficient restoration of color images distorted by high intensity impulsive noise. The unique property of the described filtering framework is its ability to sharpen the image edges which was quantified using a novel image restoration measure. Additionally, the proposed vector median extension does not increase its computational intensity, which allows to use it in real time applications.