An Alternate Algorithm for (3x3) Median Filtering of Digital Images

Median filtering is a commonly used technique in image processing. The main problem of the median filter is its high computational cost (for sorting N pixels, the temporal complexity is O(N·log N), even with the most efficient sorting algorithms). When the median filter must be carried out in real time, the software implementation in general-purpose processors does not usually give good results. This Paper presents an efficient algorithm for median filtering with a 3x3 filter kernel with only about 9 comparisons per pixel using spatial coherence between neighboring filter computations. The basic algorithm calculates two medians in one step and reuses sorted slices of three vertical neighboring pixels. An extension of this algorithm for 2D spatial coherence is also examined, which calculates four medians per step.