METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EXTENDED DEPTH OF FIELD IMAGING

A method for constructing an extended depth of field image from a plurality of source images taken of an object at substantially identical fields of view but at differing focal distances, the method including receiving the plurality of source images, and filtering the plurality of source images to obtain relatively high frequency components in each of the filtered images. The energy levels of the high frequency components are estimated. The sub-regions in each filtered image having energy levels which are greater than energy levels of sub-regions in other filtered images are selected. The selected sub-regions of each filtered image are mapped to corresponding sub-regions in each source image. Finally, the corresponding sub-regions of the source images are merged to obtain the extended depth of field image.