Adaptive Image Enhancement based on Bi-Histogram Equalization with a clipping limit

A new approach based on Bi-Histogram Equalization is presented to enhance grayscale images. The proposed Adaptive Image Enhancement based on Bi-Histogram Equalization (AIEBHE) technique divides the input histogram into two sub-histograms, which are at the threshold of the histogram median for mean brightness preservation. Histogram clipping is performed to control the enhancement rate, and then the clipped sub-histograms are equalized and integrated to obtain the enhanced image. The novelty of AIEBHE is its flexibility in choosing the clipping limit that automatically selects the smallest value among histogram bins, mean, and median values, resulting in the conservation of a greater amount of information in the image. Automatic selection of the clipping limit addresses the issue of over-emphasizing of high frequency bins during histogram equalization. Simulation results reveal that AIEBHE technique outperforms other histogram-equalization-based enhancement techniques in terms of detail preservation and mean brightness preservation.     

Image contrast enhancement using fuzzy clustering with adaptive cluster parameter and sub-histogram equalization

Histogram equalization is an effective technique to boost image quality and contrast enhancement. However, in some cases the increase in image contrast by traditional histogram equalization exceeds the desired amount Which damages the image properties and wanes its natural look. Histogram division and performing a separate equalization for each sub-histogram is one of the presented solutions. The dividing method and determining the number of sub-histograms are the main problems directly affecting the output image quality. In this study, a method is introduced for automatic determination of the number of sub-histograms and density based histogram division leading to appropriate output with no need for parameter setting. Each main peak is in a separate section. Image contrast is increased with no loss of image specifications through determining the number of sub-histograms based on the number of main peaks. The introduced histogram equalization approach consists of three stages. The first stage, using histogram analysis, produces an automated estimate of number of clusters for image brightness levels. The second, clusters the image brightness levels, and using the provided transfer function, the final stage includes contrast enhancement for each individual cluster separately. The results of the proposed approach demonstrate not only clearer details along with a boost in contrast, but also noticeably more natural appearance in the images.     

Gaussian mixture modeling of histograms for contrast enhancement

The current major theme in contrast enhancement is to partition the input histogram into multiple sub-histograms before final equalization of each sub-histogram is performed. This paper presents a novel contrast enhancement method based on Gaussian mixture modeling of image histograms, which provides a sound theoretical underpinning of the partitioning process. Our method comprises five major steps. First, the number of Gaussian functions to be used in the model is determined using a cost function of input histogram partitioning. Then the parameters of a Gaussian mixture model are estimated to find the best fit to the input histogram under a threshold. A binary search strategy is then applied to find the intersection points between the Gaussian functions. The intersection points thus found are used to partition the input histogram into a new set of sub-histograms, on which the classical histogram equalization (HE) is performed. Finally, a brightness preservation operation is performed to adjust the histogram produced in the previous step into a final one. Based on three representative test images, the experimental results demonstrate the contrast enhancement advantage of the proposed method when compared to twelve state-of-the-art methods in the literature.     

一种区域多直方图红外图像增强方法*

直方图均衡是一种简单有效的红外图像增强技术,但存在着细节信息损失较大的缺陷。为改进这一缺陷,使直方图均衡在增强图像对比度的同时不损失灰度级别,并能增强图像细节特征,提出一种基于区域的multi-HE红外图像增强方法。该方法通过聚类算法将图像分割成多目标区域,据此将直方图分割成多个子图,运用多直方图均衡化对图像进行处理,从而达到在不同目标范围内的图像增强。经过实验验证,该算法能有效地抑制背景区的过增强,扩大了目标区的灰度范围,增强细节部分。     

频域内分位数的蒙古族家具纹样增强算法

为了使灰度图像的细节更加突出、可视性增强,提出一种基于离散余弦变换与分位数算法结合的图像增强方法。通过离散余弦变换提取出图像的低频分量,图像高频分量保持不变。对低频分量进行分位数的细分,使参与增强过程低频分量的增强级别具有选择性,再分别对这些子直方图进行直方图均衡化,使图像对比度增强。将处理后的低频分量与未处理的高频分量进行逆变换,得到增强后的图像。选取蒙古族家具纹样,与传统的自适应直方图均衡化算法及方向自适应插值算法相比较,提出的方法在蒙古族纹样增强方面具有更好的视觉效果,其评价指标也有显著提高。     

Histogram modification based enhancement along with contrast-changed image quality assessment

Contrast is the difference in visual characteristics which make an object more recognizable. Despite the significance of contrast enhancement (CE) in image processing applications, few attempts have been made on assessment of the contrast change. In this paper, a visual information fidelity-based contrast change metric (VIF-CCM) is presented which includes visual information fidelity (VIF), local entropy, correlation coefficient, and mean intensity measures. The validation results of the presented VIF-CCM show its efficiency and superiority over the state-of–the-arts image quality assessment metrics. A histogram modification based contrast enhancement (HMCE) method is also proposed in this paper. The proposed HMCE comprises of four steps: segmentation of the input image, employing a set of weighting constraints, applying the combination of adaptive gamma correction and equalization on modified histogram, and optimization the value of the constraint weights by PSO algorithm. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed HMCE outperforms other existing CE methods subjectively and objectively.

     

利用累积分布函数的亮度保持均衡算法

为了解决对比增强算法中的亮度保持问题,提出一个有效的基于直方图的亮度保持和对比增强算法.首先利用累积分布函数计算关键点,这些关键点对亮度保持有重要影响;然后基于关键点将直方图分割为几个子直方图,并对每个子直方图进行均衡;最后将均衡之后的子直方图合并,得到增强的图像.实验结果表明,与已有的一些基于直方图的算法相比,该算法...     

Image contrast enhancement for intelligent surveillance systems using multi-local histogram transformation

Among all applications to monitor the safety and security of working environments, surveillance systems that use computer vision are the most efficient and intuitive in the manufacturing industry. This paper introduces a new technique of contrast enhancement for surveillance systems using computer vision. The histogram equalization method is a common and widespread image enhancement method which maximizes the contrast of the image. This contrast enhancement method usually improves the quality of images, but it can suffer from visual deterioration caused by excessive histogram modification. To overcome the limitations of conventional contrast enhancement methods, this paper introduces a new multi-local histogram transformation method for surveillance systems. This technique is based on the local histograms, which are separated from the overall histogram of the image, and the contrast of the image can be enhanced through two major processes: range reassignment of local histograms and local histogram equalization. The multi-local histogram transformation in this paper enhances the contrast of images, preventing excessive compression and extension of image histograms. The performance of the suggested contrast enhancement method is verified by the experiments in four different environments.     

A novel context sensitive multilevel thresholding for image segmentation

Most of the traditional histogram-based thresholding techniques are effective for bi-level thresholding and unable to consider spatial contextual information of the image for selecting optimal threshold. In this article a novel thresholding technique is presented by proposing an energy function to generate the energy curve of an image by taking into an account the spatial contextual information of the image. The behavior of this energy curve is very much similar to the histogram of the image. To incorporate spatial contextual information of the image for threshold selection process, this energy curve is used as an input of our technique instead of histogram. Moreover, to mitigate multilevel thresholding problem the properties of genetic algorithm are exploited. The proposed algorithm is evaluated on the number of different types of images using a validity measure. The results of the proposed technique are compared with those obtained by using histogram of the image and also with an existing genetic algorithm based context sensitive technique. The comparisons confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed technique.     

Gradient histogram: Thresholding in a region of interest for edge detection

Selecting a threshold from the gradient histogram, a histogram of gradient magnitudes, of an image plays a crucial role in a gradient based edge detection system. This paper presents a methodology to determine the threshold from a gradient histogram generated using any kind of linear gradient operator on an image. We consider the image as a random process with dependent samples, model the gradient histogram using theories of random process and random input to a system, and determine a region of interest in the gradient histogram using certain properties of a probability density function. Standard histogram thresholding techniques are then used within the region of interest to get the threshold value. To obtain the edges, this threshold value is then used as the upper threshold of the hysteresis thresholding technique that follows the non-maximum suppression operation applied on the gradient magnitude image. The proposed methodology of determining a threshold in a gradient histogram is deduced through rigorous analysis and hence it helps in achieving consistently appreciable edge detection performance. Experimental results using different real-life and benchmark images are shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique.     

Exact Histogram Specification for Digital Images Using a Variational Approach

We consider the problem of exact histogram specification for digital (quantized) images. The goal is to transform the input digital image into an output (also digital) image that follows a prescribed histogram. Classical histogram modification methods are designed for real-valued images where all pixels have different values, so exact histogram specification is straightforward. Digital images typically have numerous pixels which share the same value. If one imposes the prescribed histogram to a digital image, usually there are numerous ways of assigning the prescribed values to the quantized values of the image. Therefore, exact histogram specification for digital images is an ill-posed problem. In order to guarantee that any prescribed histogram will be satisfied exactly, all pixels of the input digital image must be rearranged in a strictly ordered way. Further, the obtained strict ordering must faithfully account for the specific features of the input digital image. Such a task can be realized if we are able to extract additional representative information (called auxiliary attributes) from the input digital image. This is a real challenge in exact histogram specification for digital images. We propose a new method that efficiently provides a strict and faithful ordering for all pixel values. It is based on a well designed variational approach. Noticing that the input digital image contains quantization noise, we minimize a specialized objective function whose solution is a real-valued image with slightly reduced quantization noise, which remains very close to the input digital image. We show that all the pixels of this real-valued image can be ordered in a strict way with a very high probability. Then transforming the latter image into another digital image satisfying a specified histogram is an easy task. Numerical results show that our method outperforms by far the existing competing methods.     

A local variance-controlled reversible data hiding method using prediction and histogram-shifting

The stego image quality produced by the histogram-shifting based reversible data hiding technique is high; however, it often suffers from lower embedding capacity compared to other types of reversible data hiding techniques. In 2009, Tsai et al. solved this problem by exploiting the similarity of neighboring pixels to construct a histogram of prediction errors; data embedding is done by shifting the error histogram. However, Tsai et al.’s method does not fully exploit the correlation of the neighboring pixels. In this paper, a set of basic pixels is employed to improve the prediction accuracy, thereby increasing the payload. To further improve the image quality, a threshold is used to select only low-variance blocks to join the embedding process. According to the experimental results, the proposed method provides a better or comparable stego image quality than Tsai et al.’s method and other existing reversible data hiding methods under the same payload.     

A multilevel color image segmentation technique based on cuckoo search algorithm and energy curve

Amongst all the multilevel thresholding techniques, standard histogram based thresholding approaches are very impressive for bi-level thresholding. But, it is not effective to select spatial contextual information of the image for choosing optimal thresholds. In this paper, a new color image thresholding technique is presented by using an energy function to generate the energy curve of an image by considering spatial contextual information of the image. The property of this energy curve is very much similar to histogram of the image. To estimate the spatial contextual information for thresholding practice, in place of histogram, the energy curve function is used as an input. A new energy curve based color image segmentation approach using three well known objective functions named Kapur’s entropy, between-class-variance, and Tsalli’s entropy is proposed. In this paper, cuckoo search (CS) and egg lying radius-cuckoo search (ELR-CS) optimization algorithms with different parameter analysis have been used for solving the color image multilevel thresholding problem. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed CS-Kapur’s energy curve based segmentation can powerfully and accurately search the multilevel thresholds.     

Visual impact enhancement via image histogram smoothing and continuous intensity relocation

Image contrast enhancement is a fundamental pre-processing stage in applications requiring image processing operations. Among revenues of available approaches, histogram equalization is a popular and attractive candidate method to produce resultant images of increased contrast. However, images obtained from canonical histogram equalization frequently suffer from the accompanying artefacts and give rises to uncomfortable viewing particularly in homogeneous regions. In this work, the problem is tackled using the histogram matching concept where the intensity histogram of the input image is matched to its smoothed version for contrast enhancement. Furthermore, homogeneous pixel intensities are randomly perturbed in order to reduce undesirable artefacts. The resultant image intensities are thus distributed over the available range and an increased image contrast is derived. Satisfactory results are obtained from a collection of benchmark images captured under different conditions to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

The Implementation of Optimization Methods for Contrast Enhancement

The performances of the multivariate techniques are directly related to the variable selection process, which is time consuming and requires resources for testing each possible parameter to achieve the best results. Therefore, optimization methods for variable selection process have been proposed in the literature to find the optimal solution in short time by using less system resources. Contrast enhancement is the one of the most important and the parameter dependent image enhancement technique. In this study, two optimization methods are employed for the variable selection for the contrast enhancement technique. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) and artificial bee colony (ABC) optimization methods are implemented to the histogram stretching technique in parameter selection process. The results of the optimized histogram stretching technique are compared with one of the parameter independent contrast enhancement technique; histogram equalization. The results show that the performance of the optimized histogram stretching is better not only in distorted images but also in original images. Histogram equalization degraded the original images while the optimized histogram stretching has no effect due to being an adaptive solution.     

Reversible watermarking method based on asymmetric-histogram shifting of prediction errors

This paper tries to provide a new perspective for the research of reversible watermarking based on histogram shifting of prediction errors. Instead of obtaining one prediction error for the current pixel, we calculate multiple prediction errors by designing a multi-prediction scheme. An asymmetric error histogram is then constructed by selecting the suitable one from these errors. Compared with traditional symmetric histogram, the asymmetric error histogram reduces the amount of shifted pixels, thus improving the watermarked image quality. Moreover, a complementary embedding strategy is proposed by combining the maximum and minimum error histograms. As the two error histograms shift in the opposite directions during the embedding, some watermarked pixels will be restored to their original values, thus the image quality is further improved. Experimental findings also show that the proposed method re-creates watermarked images of higher quality that carry larger embedding capacity compared to conventional symmetric histogram methods, such as Tsai et al.’s and Luo et al.’s works.     

一种基于颜色聚合向量的图像检索方法

颜色直方图被广泛地应用在基于内容的图像检索中,其优点是效率高,对于视点细微的变化不敏感。然而直方图只是图像的一个粗糙特征,对于视觉上完全不相似的图像,其直方图有可能非常相似。该文在颜色直方图的基础上进行了改进,采用一种基于颜色聚合向量的图像检索方法,极大地提高了检索精度。     

A fast,non-iterative and exact histogram matching algorithm

A fast, non-iterative algorithm is presented for transforming an image so as to give it exactly a given target histogram. This is achieved for any original and target histogram combinations and examples of results are given in addition to a comparison with applying the earth mover's distance (EMD) method to this task.     

基于模拟退火算法的红外图像自适应对比度增强

基于模拟退火算法击和非完全Beta函数，提出了一种自适应红外图像对比度增强方法。首先基于输入红外图像的灰度直方圈给出一种有效的判据。对输入红外图像先利用所提出的判据判断图像的对比度类型．然后利用这个判据来确定灰度变换参数的搜索空间，进一步指导模拟退火算法的搜索方向和初值的选取，利用模拟退火算法在上述确定的灰度变换参数空间中搜索最佳的灰度变换参数，从而获得一条最佳的灰度变换曲线，实现对图像进行全局增强处理。实验结果表明，该算法在有效地提高红外图像整体对比度的同时，很好地保留了图像中的细节部分信息。算法在视觉质量上优于传统的直方图均衡法、反锐化掩膜法。