Cauchy noise removal using high-order total variation and overlapping group sparsity

Abstract

Image denoising presents a significant challenge in computer vision, aiming to eliminate unwanted noise from images and restore their original quality. Cauchy noise, characterized by its heavy-tailed distribution, poses a unique hurdle among various types of noise. While several denoising models have been proposed, Total Variation (TV)-based methods, such as the Remove Cauchy Noise model, are widely used for their effectiveness. However, these approaches often suffer from issues such as oversmoothing, staircase artifacts, and the introduction of false details. To address these limitations, recent research has explored the combination of high-order TV with Overlapping Group Sparsity (OGS), showing promising results in noise removal. Inspired by this, our article introduces a novel Cauchy denoising model. Our approach leverages OGS and directional higher-order TV to effectively remove Cauchy noise while preserving image details and minimizing aliasing and smoothing artifacts. The Chambolle-Pock algorithm efficiently solves the underlying optimization problem. Through qualitative and quantitative evaluations, including visualization and parameter measurements, we demonstrate the competitiveness of our model compared to existing methods.