Interpolation of Image Data

Interpolation is the manufacture of non-existent information between two or more points by examining those points and using them as pointers to what the missing data is most likely to be. Consider the Bell Curve from grade school. If the middle of the Bell Curve were missing, there is sufficient surrounding data to rebuild the missing section. Image interpolation is very similar, except that the missing data is displayed a visually as an array of pixels instead of as a line.

Since raster images are arrays of pixels, each possessing a color, brightness and saturation, we can assign mathematical values to each point. When each point possesses a value, we can determine likely values between two or more pointe where data is missing between them. How well the missing data is calculated depends on the method of interpolation and how much data is available and how much is missing.