In this paper, the signal processing method based on the total variation (TV) algorithm is used to eliminate time domain noise and improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the phase-sensitive optical time domain reflection (φ-OTDR) system. Intensity and position information of the Rayleigh backscattering traces can be processed by converting the traces into a two-dimensional gray image. The TV algorithm can smooth the time domain noise and extract the useful information efficiently via the gradient descent method. Experimental results verify that on the sensing fiber with the length of 3.5 km, the TV algorithm can effectively realize the distributed measurement of 300 Hz vibration signal, and the SNR of the vibration position can realize 10.13 dB. In addition, we further verify the ability of the TV algorithm to detect wideband vibration signals, and successfully realize the wideband disturbance signal recognition in the frequency range of 300 Hz~1 kHz. It is shown that the TV algorithm can extract vibration information effectively in φ-OTDR system.