Image defects in digital images are easily detectable by the human eye but may be difficult to detect in a computer-implemented fashion. In an embodiment of a digital-image-acquisition device, defects are removed on the CFA domain before color interpolation takes place. In order to allow cancellation of couplets of defective pixels, a two pass embodiment is presented. Such embodiment presents methods and systems that can remove both couplets and singlets without damaging the image. The system includes a ring corrector that detects a defect in the ring of pixels that surround a central pixel, a singlet corrector that detects and corrects the central pixel and removes a couplet if the ring corrector is activated, whereas if the ring corrector is switched off, the singlet corrector only removes singlets, and a peak-and-valley detector that avoids overcorrection by avoiding correcting signal peaks or valleys in case of spikes or drops in signal.