REAL-TIME IMAGE STABILIZATION

An apparatus and method for stabilizing image frames in a video data stream. A weighted average or centroid of the intensity or hue associated with pixels vs. the horizontal and vertical position of each pixel is calculated for a reference frame in the video data stream. A corresponding centroid is calculated for a subsequent frame in the stream. This image frame is then translated so that the centroid of the subsequent frame and the centroid of the reference frame coincide, reducing artifacts from shaking of the video capture device. Alternatively, the video stream frames may be divided into tiles and centroids calculated for each tile. The centroids of the tiles of a subsequent frame are curve fit to the centroids of tiles in a reference frame. An affine transform is then performed on the subsequent frame to reduce artifacts in the image from movements of the video capture device.