Digital Image Processing

Chapter 3: Image Enhancement in

the Spatial Domain
Background
Spatial domain process

where is the input image,
is the processed image, and T is an
operator on f, defined over some
neighborhood of
)] , ( [ ) , ( y x f T y x g =
) , ( y x f
) , ( y x g
) , ( y x
Neighborhood about a point
Gray-level transformation function

where r is the gray level of and
s is the gray level of at any
point
) (r T s =
) , ( y x f
) , ( y x g
) , ( y x
Contrast enhancement
For example, a thresholding function
Masks (filters, kernels, templates,
windows)
A small 2-D array in which the values
of the mask coefficients determine the
nature of the process
Some Basic Gray Level
Transformations

Image negatives

Enhance white or gray details
r L s = 1
Log transformations

Compress the dynamic range of images
with large variations in pixel values
) 1 log( r c s + =
From the range 0- to the range
0 to 6.2
6
10 5 . 1
Power-law transformations
or
maps a narrow range of dark
input values into a wider range of
output values, while maps a
narrow range of bright input values into
a wider range of output values
: gamma, gamma correction

cr s =

c ) ( + = r c s
1 <
1 >

Monitor,
5 . 2 =


Piecewise-linear transformation
functions
The form of piecewise functions can be
arbitrarily complex
Contrast stretching
Gray-level slicing
Bit-plane slicing


Histogram Processing
Histogram

where is the kth gray level and is
the number of pixels in the image
having gray level
Normalized histogram
k k
n r h = ) (
k
r
k
n
k
r
n n r p
k k
/ ) ( =

Histogram equalization
1 0 ), ( s s = r r T s
1 0 ), (
1
s s =

s s T r
Probability density functions (PDF)
ds
dr
r p s p
r s
) ( ) ( =
}
= =
r
r
dw w p r T s
0
) ( ) (
) ( ) (
) (
0
r p dw w p
dr
d
dr
r dT
dr
ds
r
r
r
=
(

= =
}
1 ) ( = s p
s

1 ,..., 2 , 1 , 0 , ) ( ) (
0 0
= = = =

= =
L k
n
n
r p r T s
k
j
j
k
j
j r k k


Histogram matching (specification)
}
= =
r
r
dw w p r T s
0
) ( ) (
}
= =
z
z
s dt t p z G
0
) ( ) (
)] ( [ ) (
1 1
r T G s G z

= =
) (z p
z
is the desired PDF

1 ,..., 2 , 1 , 0 , ) ( ) (
0 0
= = = =

= =
L k
n
n
r p r T s
k
j
j
k
j
j r k k
1 ,..., 2 , 1 , 0 , ) ( ) (
0
= = = =

=
L k s z p z G v
k
k
i
i z k k
1 ,..., 2 , 1 , 0 )], ( [
1
= =

L k r T G z
k k

Histogram matching
Obtain the histogram of the given
image, T(r)
Precompute a mapped level for each
level
Obtain the transformation function G
from the given
Precompute for each value of
Map to its corresponding level ;
then map level into the final level
) (z p
z
k
s
k
r
k
z
k
s
k
r
k
s
k
s
k
z



Local enhancement
Histogram using a local neighborhood,
for example 7*7 neighborhood
Use of histogram statistics for
image enhancement
denotes a discrete random variable
denotes the normalized
histogram component corresponding to
the ith value of
Mean

) (
i
r p
r
r

=
=
1
0
) (
L
i
i i
r p r m
The nth moment



The second moment

=
=
1
0
) ( ) ( ) (
L
i
i
n
i n
r p m r r

=
=
1
0
2
2
) ( ) ( ) (
L
i
i i
r p m r r
Global enhancement: The global mean
and variance are measured over an
entire image
Local enhancement: The local mean
and variance are used as the basis for
making changes
is the gray level at coordinates
(s,t) in the neighborhood
is the neighborhood normalized
histogram component
mean:


local variance
t s
r
,
) (
,t s
r p

e
=
xy
xy
S t s
t s t s S
r p r m
) , (
, ,
) (

e
=
xy
xy xy
S t s
t s S t s S
r p m r
) , (
,
2
,
2
) ( ] [ o
are specified parameters
is the global mean
is the global standard deviation
Mapping
2 1 0
, , , k k k E
G
M
G
D

s s
s

=
otherwise ) , (
and
if
) , (
) , (
2 1
0
y x f
D k D k
M k m
y x f E
y x g
G S G
G S
xy
xy
o



Enhancement Using Arithmetic/Logic
Operations
AND
OR
NOT
Subtraction
Addition
Multiplication
Division

Image subtraction
Enhancement of differences between
images
) , ( ) , ( ) , ( y x h y x f y x g =

Mask mode radiography
Image Averaging


Averaging K different noisy images
) , ( ) , ( ) , ( y x y x f y x g q + =

=
=
K
i
i
y x g
K
y x g
1
) , (
1
) , (
{ } ) , ( ) , ( y x f y x g E =
2
) , (
2
) , (
1
y x y x g
K
q
o o =
) , ( ) , (
1
y x y x g
K
q
o o = ,


Basics of Spatial Filtering

) 1 , 1 ( ) 1 , 1 (
) , 1 ( ) 0 , 1 (
) , ( ) 0 , 0 (
) , 1 ( ) 0 , 1 (
) 1 , 1 ( ) 1 , 1 (
+ +
+ +
+ +
+ +
+ =
y x f w
y x f w
y x f w
y x f w
y x f w R

Image size:
Mask size:



and
and
N M
n m

= =
+ + =
a
a s
b
b t
t y s x f t s w y x g ) , ( ) , ( ) , (
2 / ) 1 ( = m a 2 / ) 1 ( = n b
1 ,..., 2 , 1 , 0 = M x 1 ,..., 2 , 1 , 0 = N y

=
=
+ + + =
9
1
9 9 2 2 1 1

...
i
i i
z w
z w z w z w R
Smoothing Spatial Filters
Smoothing
Noise reduction
Smoothing of false contours
Reduction of irrelevant detail

=
=
9
1
9
1
i
i
z R

= =
= =
+ +
=
a
a s
b
b t
a
a s
b
b t
t s w
t y s x f t s w
y x g
) , (
) , ( ) , (
) , (


Order-statistic filters
median filter: Replace the value of a
pixel by the median of the gray levels
in the neighborhood of that pixel
Noise-reduction

Sharpening Spatial Filters
Foundation
The first-order derivative


The second-order derivative
) ( ) 1 ( x f x f
x
f
+ =
c
c
) ( 2 ) 1 ( ) 1 (
2
2
x f x f x f
x
f
+ + =
c
c

Use of second derivatives for
enhancement-The Laplacian
Development of the method
) , ( 2 ) , 1 ( ) , 1 (
2
2
y x f y x f y x f
x
f
+ + =
c
c
2
2
2
2
2
y
f
x
f
f
c
c
+
c
c
= V
) , ( 2 ) 1 , ( ) 1 , (
2
2
y x f y x f y x f
y
f
+ + =
c
c

) , ( 4 )] 1 , (
) 1 , ( ) , 1 ( ) , 1 ( [
2
y x f y x f
y x f y x f y x f f

+ + + + + = V

V +
V
=
positive is
mask Laplacian the of
t coefficien center the if
) , ( ) , (
negative is
mask Laplacian the of
t coefficien center the if
) , ( ) , (
) , (
2
2
y x f y x f
y x f y x f
y x g


Simplifications
)] 1 , (
) 1 , ( ) , 1 ( ) , 1 ( [ ) , ( 5
) , ( 4 )] 1 , (
) 1 , ( ) , 1 ( ) , 1 ( [ ) , ( ) , (

+ + + + + =
+
+ + + + + =
y x f
y x f y x f y x f y x f
y x f y x f
y x f y x f y x f y x f y x g

Unsharp masking and high-boost
filtering
Unsharp masking
Substract a blurred version of an image
from the image itself



: The image, : The
blurred image
) , ( ) , ( ) , ( y x f y x f y x f
s
=
) , ( y x f
) , ( y x f
High-boost filtering


) , ( ) , ( ) , ( y x f y x Af y x f
hb
=
) , ( ) , ( ) , ( ) 1 ( ) , ( y x f y x f y x f A y x f
hb
+ =
) , ( ) , ( ) 1 ( ) , ( y x f y x f A y x f
s hb
+ =
Use the Laplacian as the sharpening
filtering

V +
V
=
positive is
mask Laplacian the of
t coefficien center the if
) , ( ) , (
negative is
mask Laplacian the of
t coefficien center the if
) , ( ) , (
2
2
y x f y x Af
y x f y x Af
f
hb


Use of first derivatives for
enhancementThe gradient
(
(
(
(

c
c
c
c
=
(

= V
y
f
x
f
G
G
y
x
f
The magnitude is rotation invariant
(isotropic)
| |
2
1
2
2
2
1
2 2

) ( mag
(
(

|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
+
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
=
+ = V = V
y
f
x
f
G G f
y x
f
y x
G G f + ~ V
Computing using cross differences,
Roberts cross-gradient operators
) (
5 9
z z G
x
= ) (
6 8
z z G
y
=
and
| |
2
1
2
6 8
2
5 9
) ( ) ( z z z z f + = V
6 8 5 9
z z z z f + ~ V
Sobel operators
A weight value of 2 is to achieve some
smoothing by giving more importance to
the center point
) 2 ( ) 2 (
) 2 ( ) 2 (
7 4 1 9 6 3
3 2 1 9 8 7
z z z z z z
z z z z z z f
+ + + + +
+ + + + ~ V


Combining Spatial Enhancement
Methods
An example
Laplacian to highlight fine detail
Gradient to enhance prominent edges
Smoothed version of the gradient
image used to mask the Laplacian
image
Increase the dynamic range of the gray
levels by using a gray-level
transformation



Example 1
Histogram Equalization
(a) Write a computer program for computing the
histogram of an image.
(b) Implement the histogram equalization technique
discussed in Section 3.3.1.
(c) Download Fig. 3.8(a) and perform histogram
equalization on it.
Fig3.08(a).bmp
histo.c

Example 2
Arithmetic Operations
Write a computer program capable of performing the
four arithmetic operations between two images. This
project is generic, in the sense that it will be used in
other projects to follow. (See comments on pages
112 and 116 regarding scaling). In addition to
multiplying two images, your multiplication function
must be able to handle multiplication of an image by
a constant.
Fig3.08(a).bmp
new2.bmp
arithmetic.c