PROTECTION FILTER FOR IMAGE AND VIDEO PROCESSING

A filter includes a conventional filtering block and a protection block. The conventional filtering block receives input values and provides filtered values. The protection block receives filtered values and a group of input values proximate the current input, to ensure that the output is lies within a range computed for the current input. The range is determined by the protection block based on the group of input values proximate the current input. Any algorithm or statistical function may be applied to the group of input values to determine the range. If a filtered value provided by the conventional filtering block is outside the range, then the protection block computes and outputs a value that is within the range. The filter may be used in temporal or spatial filtering of images and video to mitigate artifacts such as motion artifacts and static artifacts.