A novel image interpolation method using the bilateral filter

In general, since the noise deteriorates the interpolation performance in digital images, it is effective to employ denoising prior to the interpolation. In this paper, we propose a novel interpolation framework in which denoising and image sharpening methods are embedded. In the proposed framework, the image is first decomposed using the bilateral filter into the detail and base layers which represent the small and large scale features, respectively. The detail layer is adaptively smoothed to suppress the noise before interpolation and an edge-preserving interpolation method is applied to both layers. Finally, the high resolution image is obtained by combining the base and detail layers. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the conventional methods while suppressing blurring and jagging.