METHOD OF EXEMPLAR-BASED IMAGE INPAINTING USING STRUCTURE MATRIX

The present invention relates to a method for example-based image inpainting using a structure matrix, which is capable of calculating the priority of all pixels belonging to the boundary of an area to be reconstructed in image data to be reconstructed to determine a pixel with the highest priority in the boundary of the area to be reconstructed, calculating patch similarity between the pixel with the highest priority in the boundary of the area to be reconstructed and all pixels belonging to a known area to select a pixel with the highest similarity in the known area, copying patches around the pixel with the highest similarity in the known area to patches around the pixel with the highest priority in the boundary of the area to be reconstructed to extend the known area and reduce the area to be reconstructed, repeating the above processes until all the areas to be reconstructed are removed from the image data to be reconstructed. Thus, the priority of a patch to be reconstructed can be determined by using priorities of an area obtained by using a structure matrix, a patch most similar to the patch to be reconstructed can be selected, and an image to be reconstructed can be inpainted to reconstruct the image more naturally, thereby significantly improving the performance of image inpainting. [Reference numerals] (AA) Start; (BB) No; (CC) Yes; (DD) End; (S10) Calculate the priority of all pixels belonging to the boundary of an area to be reconstructed; (S20) Calculate similarity between a pixel with the highest priority and all pixels belonging to a known area; (S30) Copy patches around the pixel with the highest similarity to patches around the pixel with the highest priority; (S40) Is an area to be reconstructed nonexistent?