Electronic Detection and Concealment of Film Dirt

Richard Storey

Film, as an image source for television, has several inherent imperfections, all of which can, at least in theory, be minimized electronically. Specialized equipment is already available to minimize color errors and film grain. This article describes a method of detecting and concealing dirt. The equipment can detect the majority of dirt particles in typical 16mm film with negligible motion impairment, missing only the largest. An alternative choice of operating parameters allows detection of all dirt sizes, but with occasional motion impairment during rapid motion. Concealment is achieved by substituting a simple interpolation from the two adjacent frames. The equipment is currently being field tested by the BBC.

Print ISSN
Published
1985-06
Content type
Original Research
DOI
10.5594/J07936