Image Stabilization Based on Fusing the Visual Information in Differently Exposed Images

The objective of image stabilization is to prevent or remove the motion blur degradation from images. We introduce a new approach to image stabilization based on combining information available in two differently exposed images of the same scene. In addition to the image normally captured by the system, with an exposure time determined by the illumination conditions, a very shortly exposed image is also acquired. The difference between the exposure times of the two images determines differences in their degradations which are exploited in order to recover the original image of the scene. We formulate the problem as a maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation based on the degradation models of the two observed images, as well as by imposing an edge-preserving image prior. The proposed method is demonstrated through a series of simulation experiments, and visual examples on natural images.