NEC Develops Super-Resolution Technologies

SINGAPORE, Dec 19 (Bernama) -- NEC Corporation announced on Monday the development of super-resolution technologies for fine magnification of surveillance camera images, including persons’ faces and license plates. In a statement it said until now, existing technologies required numerous still images from a video in order to improve a subject’s resolution and enable its magnification. However, these images blur when magnified by more than two or three times (four to nine times the number of pixels). Therefore, it said significant demand remains for technologies that improve resolution and enable images to be magnified with greater clarity. NEC’s new technologies create a super-resolution image from just one shot of a subject, such as a person’s face or a car’s license plate, by utilising a database (library) of categorised images. This enables images to maintain fine details even when magnified by more than four times (more than 16 times the number of pixels), making it possible to distinguish small and distant subjects, which was difficult with conventional technologies. These new technologies are expected to be applied with surveillance cameras that cover such large areas as airports or traffic intersections. Looking forward, NEC aims to expand the use of these technologies into a broad range of fields, including the enhancement of satellite and medical images, as the company actively promotes development of technologies that contribute to the safety and security of daily lives. -- BERNAMA Malaysia