An apparatus and a method is provided for enhancing a digital image comprised of pixels by adaptively sharpening the pixels and clipping the numerical values of the sharpened edge pixels so as to fall between the smallest unsharpened numerical value and the greatest unsharpened numerical value, respectively, of the pixels located within a neighborhood of the pixels. Pixels which are located on an edge are sharpened in the direction perpendicular to the edge. The threshold value used to ascertain the presence of an edge and sharpening parameter used to control the degree of sharpening can be adaptively controlled by the zoom ratio. The apparatus of the invention is particularly suited for an electronic set-top video camera.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/141,057, filed Aug. 27, 1998 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,614,474, to which priority is claimed under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 120.
