Image Enhancement
(Point Processing)
Awais Muhammad Lodhi
Contents
In this lecture we will look at image enhancement point
processing techniques:
Connectivity & Relationship b/w Pixels
What is Image Processing
What is point processing?
Negative images
Thresholding
Logarithmic transformation
Power law transforms
Grey level slicing
Bit plane slicing
What is Image Enhancement
Process an image to make the result more suitable than the
original image for a specific application
–Image enhancement is subjective (problem /application oriented)
Image enhancement methods:
Spatial domain: Direct manipulation of pixel in an image (on
the image plane)
Frequency domain: Processing the image based on modifying the
Fourier transform of an image
Many techniques are based on various combinations of methods from
these two categories
Relationship Between Pixels
Connectivity
Establishing boundaries of objects and components of
regions in an image.
Group the same region by assumption that the pixels
being the same color or equal intensity will have the
same region
Two pixels may be four neighbors, but they are said
to be connected only if they have the same value
(gray level)
Basic Relationship b/w Pixels
6
Basic Relationship b/w Pixels
Basic Relationship b/w Pixels
8
Basic Relationship b/w Pixels
A Note About Grey Levels
So far when we have spoken about image grey level
values we have said they are in the range [0, 255]
Where 0 is black and 255 is white
There is no reason why we have to use this range
The range [0,255] stems from display technologes
For many of the image processing operations in this
lecture grey levels are assumed to be given in the range
[0.0, 1.0]
What Is Image Enhancement?
Image enhancement is the process of making images
more useful
The reasons for doing this include:
Highlighting interesting detail in images
Removing noise from images
Making images more visually appealing
Image Enhancement Examples
Image Enhancement Examples (cont…)
Image Enhancement Examples (cont…)
Image Enhancement Examples (cont…)
Spatial & Frequency Domains
There are two broad categories of image enhancement
techniques
Spatial domain techniques
Direct manipulation of image pixels
Frequency domain techniques
Manipulation of Fourier transform or wavelet transform of an
image
For the moment we will concentrate on techniques that
operate in the spatial domain
Image Engancement
Process an image to make the result more suitable than the
original image for a specific application
–Image enhancement is subjective (problem /application oriented)
Image enhancement methods:
Spatial domain: Direct manipulation of pixel in an image (on
the image plane)
Frequency domain: Processing the image based on modifying the
Fourier transform of an image
Many techniques are based on various combinations of methods from
these two categories
Image Enhancement
18
Some Basic Concepts
Spatial domain enhancement methods can be generalized as
g(x,y)=T[f(x,y)]
f(x,y): input image
g(x,y): processed (output) image
T[*]: an operator on f (or a set of input images),
defined over neighborhood of (x,y)
Neighborhood about (x,y): a square or rectangular
sub-image area centered at (x,y)
19
Some Basic Concepts
20
Some Basic Concepts
g(x,y) = T [f(x,y)]
Pixel/point operation:
Neighborhood of size 1x1: g depends only on f at (x,y)
T: a gray-level/intensity transformation/mapping function
Let r = f(x,y) s = g(x,y)
r and s represent gray levels of f and g at (x,y)
Then s = T(r)
Local operations:
g depends on the predefined number of neighbors of f at (x,y)
Implemented by using mask processing or filtering
Masks (filters, windows, kernels, templates) :
a small (e.g. 3×3) 2-D array, in which the values of the
coefficients determine the nature of the process
Point Processing
The simplest spatial domain operations occur when the
neighbourhood is simply the pixel itself
In this case T is referred to as a grey level transformation
function or a point processing operation
Point processing operations take the form
s=T(r)
where s refers to the processed image pixel value and r
refers to the original image pixel value
Common Pixel Operations
Image Negatives
Log Transformations
Power-Law Transformations
23
Point Processing Example:
Negative Images
Negative images are useful for enhancing white or grey detail
embedded in dark regions of an image
Note how much clearer the tissue is in the negative image of the
mammogram below
Original Negative
Image Image
Negative Images
Point Processing Example:
Negative Images (cont…)
Original Image Enhanced Image x
x
y Image f (x, y) y Image f (x, y)
s = intensitymax - r
For L gray levels the transformation function is
s =T(r) = (L - 1) - r
Point Processing Example:
Thresholding
Thresholding transformations are particularly useful for
segmentation in which we want to isolate an object of
interest from a background
255 r > threshold
s=
0 r <= threshold
Point Processing Example:
Thresholding
Point Processing Example:
Thresholding (cont…)
Original Image Enhanced Image x
x
y Image f (x, y) y Image f (x, y)
255 r > threshold
s=
0 r <= threshold
Intensity Transformations
Basic Grey Level Transformations
There are many different
kinds of grey level
transformations
Three of the most
common are shown
here
Linear
Negative/Identity
Logarithmic
Log/Inverse log
Power law
nth power/nth root
Image Scaling
s =T(r) = a.r (a is a constant)
Image Scaling
Logarithmic Transformations
The general form of the log transformation is
s = c * log(1 + r)
The log transformation maps a narrow range of low input
grey level values into a wider range of output values
The inverse log transformation performs the opposite
transformation
Log functions are particularly useful when the input grey
level values may have an extremely large range of values
Logarithmic Transformations (cont…)
Logarithmic Transformations
Properties of log transformations
–For lower amplitudes of input image the range of gray levels is
expanded
–For higher amplitudes of input image the range of gray levels is
compressed
Application:
This transformation is suitable for the case when the dynamic
range of a processed image far exceeds the capability of the
display device (e.g. display of the Fourier spectrum of an
image)
Also called “dynamic-range compression / expansion”
36 08/01/2018
Logarithmic Transformations (cont…)
Original Image Enhanced Image x
x
y Image f (x, y) y Image f (x, y)
s = log(1 + r)
We usually set c to 1
Grey levels must be in the range [0.0, 1.0]
Power Law Transformations
Power law transformations have the following form
s=c*rγ
c & γ must be positive
Map a narrow range
of dark input values
into a wider range of
output values or vice
versa
Varying γ gives a whole
family of curves
Power Law Transformations (cont…)
Original Image Enhanced Image x
x
y Image f (x, y) y Image f (x, y)
s=rγ
We usually set c to 1
Grey levels must be in the range [0.0, 1.0]
Power Law Transformations (cont…)
For γ < 1: Expands values of dark pixels,
compress values of brighter pixels
For γ > 1: Compresses values of dark pixels,
expand values of brighter pixels
If γ=1 & c=1: Identity transformation (s = r)
A variety of devices (image capture, printing, display) respond
according to power law and need to be corrected
Gamma (γ) correction
The process used to correct the power-law response phenomena
Power Law Example
Power Law Example (cont…)
γ = 0.6
1
0.9
0.8
Transformed Intensities
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Old Intensities
Power Law Example (cont…)
γ = 0.4
1
0.9
Transformed Intensities
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Original Intensities
Power Law Example (cont…)
γ = 0.3
1
0.9
Transformed Intensities
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Original Intensities
Power Law Example (cont…)
The images to the
right show a
magnetic resonance
(MR) image of a
fractured human
spine
Different curves
highlight different
detail
Power Law Example
γ = 1.0
Power Law Example (cont…)
γ = 3.0
Power Law Example (cont…)
γ = 4.0
Power Law Example (cont…)
γ = 5.0
1
0.9
Transformed Intensities
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Original Intensities
Power Law Transformations (cont…)
An aerial photo
of a runway is
shown
This time
power law
transforms are
used to darken
the image
Different curves
highlight
different detail
Power Law Transformations (cont…)
51
Gamma Correction
Problem: CRT display devices do not respond linearly to different intensities
More Contrast Issues
More Contrast Issues
Piecewise Linear Transformation
Contrast Stretching
Goal:
Increase the dynamic range of the gray levels for low
contrast images
Low-contrast images can result from
–poor illumination
–lack of dynamic range in the imaging sensor
–wrong setting of a lens aperture during image acquisition
Contrast Stretching
Contrast Stretching
57
Gray Level Slicing
Highlights a specific range of grey levels
Similar to thresholding
Other levels can be
suppressed or maintained
Useful for highlighting features
in an image
Bit Plane Slicing
Often by isolating particular bits of the pixel values in an
image we can highlight interesting aspects of that image
Higher-order bits usually contain most of the significant
visual information
Lower-order bits contain
subtle details
Bit Plane Slicing (cont…)
[10000000] [01000000]
[00100000] [00001000]
[00000100] [00000001]
Bit Plane Slicing (cont…)
Bit Plane Slicing (cont…)
Bit Plane Slicing (cont…)
Bit Plane Slicing (cont…)
Bit Plane Slicing (cont…)
Bit Plane Slicing (cont…)
Bit Plane Slicing (cont…)
Bit Plane Slicing (cont…)
Bit Plane Slicing (cont…)
Bit Plane Slicing (cont…)
Bit Plane Slicing (cont…)
Reconstructed image using
only bit planes 8 and 7
Reconstructed image using
only bit planes 8, 7 and 6
Reconstructed image using
only bit planes 7, 6 and 5
A Different Problem
Lets Double the Size
Interpolation
Nearest Neighbor
What Happens When Tripling
Is There a Better Method
Interpolation: Bi-Linear
Is There be a Better Method
What Happens in 2D
Which is Better
Which is Better
Lets Scale
Before Interpolation
Original
Nearest Neighbor Bi-Linear
No Interpolation Interpolated
Fast as No Processing Required Slow due to Processing
Depends on only 2 Pixel Depends on 4 or more pixels
Results are Blocky Smoother Gradients
Cannot Create New Values Can Find New Values
Not Recommended for Smooth Not Recommended for
Data Categorical Data
New Value always inside the Value may or May not be
boundary range outside the boundary range
Summary
We have looked at different kinds of point processing
image enhancement
Assignment & Quiz
Bring Your Laptops on Monday?
Next time we will start to look at Global Operations
