Improved flicker removal through motion vectors compensation

Image flicker, the unnatural temporal fluctuation in perceived image intensity, is an annoying artifact existing in many old film sequences and its removal is an integral part in any old film restoration process. In this paper, we propose an improved flicker removal method based on flicker parameters estimation with the aide of motion vectors compensation. We tested the proposed method on sequences with artificially added global and local flicker, as well as on natural real flicker film material. Test results obtained showed the proposed method produced much better flicker correction quality than an established flicker removal method known as the "Roosmalen method".