Unit -I

Digital Image Fundamentals

A digital image is a representation of a
two-dimensional image as a finite set of
digital values, called picture elements or
pixels

A digital image is a representation

of a two-dimensional image as a finite
set of digital values, called picture
elements or pixels
Pixel values typically
represent gray levels, colours,
heights, opacities etc
Remember digitization
implies that a digital image is
an approximation of a real
scene
1 pixel
Digital image processing focuses
on two major tasks
Improvement of pictorial
information for human
interpretation
Processing of image data for
storage, transmission and
representation for autonomous
machine perception
What is DIP? (cont)
The continuum from image processing
to computer vision can be broken up
into low-, mid- and high-level
processes
Low Level Process Mid Level Process High Level
Input: Image Input: Image Process
Input: Attributes
Output: Image Output: Attributes Output:
Examples: Noise Understanding
Examples: Object
removal, image recognition, Examples: Scene
sharpening segmentation understanding,
autonomous
navigation

In this course we will

stop here
 Examples: Image
Enhancement
mages taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

One of the most common uses of DIP

techniques: improve quality, remove
noise etc
Examples: The Hubble
Telescope
Launched in 1990 the Hubble
telescope can take images of
very distant objects
However, an incorrect mirror
made many of Hubbles
images useless
Image processing
techniques were
used to fix this
 Examples: Medicine
mages taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

Take slice from MRI scan of canine

heart, and find boundaries between
types of tissue
Image with gray levels representing
tissue density
Use a suitable filter to highlight edges

Original MRI Image of a Dog Heart Edge Detection Image

 Examples: GIS
mages taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

Geographic Information Systems

Digital image processing techniques are
used extensively to manipulate satellite
imagery
Terrain classification
Meteorology
Examples: PCB Inspection
Printed Circuit Board (PCB) inspection
Machine inspection is used to determine that
all components are present and that all solder
joints are acceptable
Both conventional imaging and x-ray imaging
are used
 Examples: Law Enforcement
Image processing
mages taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

techniques are used

extensively by law
enforcers
Number plate
recognition for
speed
cameras/automated
toll systems
Fingerprint
recognition
Components of DIP System
Elements of Digital Image
Processing System
Key Stages in Digital Image
Processing
Image Morphologic
Restoration al Processing

Image
Segmentatio
Enhancemen
n
t

Image Object
Acquisition Recognition

Representatio
Problem Domain n&
Description
Colour
Image
Image
Compression
Processing
 Key Stages in Digital Image Processing:
Image Aquisition
mages taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

Image Morphologic
Restoration al Processing

Image
Segmentatio
Enhancemen
n
t

Image Object
Acquisition Recognition

Representatio
Problem Domain n&
Description
Colour
Image
Image
Compression
Processing
 Key Stages in Digital Image Processing:
Image Enhancement
mages taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

Image Morphologic
Restoration al Processing

Image
Segmentatio
Enhancemen
n
t

Image Object
Acquisition Recognition

Representatio
Problem Domain n&
Description
Colour
Image
Image
Compression
Processing
 Key Stages in Digital Image Processing:
Image Restoration
mages taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

Image Morphologic
Restoration al Processing

Image
Segmentatio
Enhancemen
n
t

Image Object
Acquisition Recognition

Representatio
Problem Domain n&
Description
Colour
Image
Image
Compression
Processing
 Key Stages in Digital Image Processing:
Morphological Processing
mages taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

Image Morphologic
Restoration al Processing

Image
Segmentatio
Enhancemen
n
t

Image Object
Acquisition Recognition

Representatio
Problem Domain n&
Description
Colour
Image
Image
Compression
Processing
 Key Stages in Digital Image Processing:
Segmentation
mages taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

Image Morphologic
Restoration al Processing

Image
Segmentatio
Enhancemen
n
t

Image Object
Acquisition Recognition

Representatio
Problem Domain n&
Description
Colour
Image
Image
Compression
Processing
 Key Stages in Digital Image Processing:
Object Recognition
mages taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

Image Morphologic
Restoration al Processing

Image
Segmentatio
Enhancemen
n
t

Image Object
Acquisition Recognition

Representatio
Problem Domain n&
Description
Colour
Image
Image
Compression
Processing
 Key Stages in Digital Image Processing:
Representation & Description
mages taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

Image Morphologic
Restoration al Processing

Image
Segmentatio
Enhancemen
n
t

Image Object
Acquisition Recognition

Representatio
Problem Domain n&
Description
Colour
Image
Image
Compression
Processing
Key Stages in Digital Image Processing:
Image Compression

Image Morphologic
Restoration al Processing

Image
Segmentatio
Enhancemen
n
t

Image Object
Acquisition Recognition

Representatio
Problem Domain n&
Description
Colour
Image
Image
Compression
Processing
Key Stages in Digital Image Processing:
Colour Image Processing

Image Morphologic
Restoration al Processing

Image
Segmentatio
Enhancemen
n
t

Image Object
Acquisition Recognition

Representatio
Problem Domain n&
Description
Colour
Image
Image
Compression
Processing
Human Visual System
The best vision model we have!
Knowledge of how images form in the
eye can help us with processing digital
images
We will take just a whirlwind tour of
the human visual system
 Structure Of The Human Eye
mages taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

The lens focuses light from objects onto the

retina
The retina is covered with
light receptors called
cones (6-7 million) and
rods (75-150 million)
Cones are concentrated
around the fovea and are
very sensitive to colour
Rods are more spread out
and are sensitive to low levels of illumination
 Photopic or Bright-light vision
Cone vision-highly sensitive
to colour
Scotopic or Dim-light vision
Rod vision-sensitive to low
levels of illumination
Distribution of rods and cones in the
retina
Image Formation In The Eye
Muscles within the eye can be used to
change the shape of the lens allowing
us focus on objects that are near or far
away
An image is focused onto the retina
causing rods and cones to become
excited which ultimately send signals
to the brain
Brightness Adaptation &
Discrimination
The human visual system can
perceive approximately 1010 different
light intensity levels
However, at any one time we can only
discriminate between a much smaller
number brightness adaptation
Similarly, the perceived intensity of a
region is related to the light intensities
of the regions surrounding it
 Plot of Light intensity Vs subjective
brightness(brightness as perceived by
the human visual system)
Experimental setup Brightness
Discrimination

I = uniform illumination
I = increment of illumination (short duration flash)
Weber ratio = Ic/I, where Ic = the increment of illumination
discriminable 50% of the time with background illumination I
A small value of Ic/I means a small percentage in intensity is
discriminable.This represents good brightness discrimination.

A large value of Ic/I means a large percentage change in

intensity is required.This represents poor brightness
discrimination
Two Phenomena for perceived
brightness is not a simple
function of intensity

Mach Band pattern

Simultaneous contrast
 Brightness Adaptation &
Discrimination (cont)
mages taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

An example of Mach bands

mages taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

Discrimination (cont)
Brightness Adaptation &
 Brightness Adaptation &
Discrimination (cont)
mages taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

An example of simultaneous contrast

Optical Illusions
Our visual
systems play
lots of
interesting
tricks on us
Light And The Electromagnetic
Spectrum
Light is just a particular part of the
electromagnetic spectrum that can be
sensed by the human eye
The electromagnetic spectrum is split
up according to the wavelengths of
different forms of energy
 Image Representation
mages taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

A digital image is composed of M rows

and N columns of pixels
each storing a value col

Pixel values are most

often grey levels in the
range 0-255(black-white)

f (row, col)
row
 Light void of colour = monochromatic (or achromatic) light
=> only attribute : intensity or gray level
Range of measured values = gray scale
Monochromatic images = gray-scale images
Chromatic light source: frequency + radiance, luminance,
brightness
Radiance = total amount of energy that flows from the light
source (W)
Luminance (in lumens, lm) = measure of the amount of energy
an observer perceives from a light source
Brightness = subjective descriptor of light perception
practically impossible to measure
 A simple image formation model
Images denoted by two-dimensional functions f(x,y)
Value of amplitude of f at (x,y): positive scalar quantity

Image generated by physical process: intensity values are proportional to

the energy radiated by a physical source => 0 < f(x,y) <

f(x,y) may be characterized by 2 components:

(1) The amount of source illumination incident on the scene: illumination
i(x,y)
(2) The amount of illumination reflected by the objects of the scene:
reflectance r(x,y)

f(x,y) = i(x,y) r(x,y), where 0 < i(x,y) < and 0 < r(x,y) < 1
0 -total absorption
1 -total reflectance
 A simple image formation
model(Cont.)
Example of typical ranges of
illumination i(x,y) for visible light
(average values):
Sun on a clear day: ~ 90,000 lm/m2,
down to 10,000 lm/m2 on a cloudy
day
Full moon on a clear evening: ~0.1
lm/m2
Typical illumination level in a
commercial office: ~1000 lm/m2
 A simple image formation
model(Cont.)
Typical values of reflectance r(x,y):
0.01 for black velvet
0.65 for stainless steel
0.8 for flat white wall paint
0.9 for silver-plated metal
0.93 for snow
 A simple image formation
model(Cont.)
Monochrome image
Intensity l: Lmin l Lmax.

In practice: Lmin=imin rmin and Lmax = imax rmax

Typical limits for indoor values in the absence of

additional illumination:Lmin 10 and Lmax 1000

[Lmin, Lmax] is called the gray (or intensity) scale

Common practice: shift to [0, L-1], where l=0 is

considered black and l=L-1 is considered white
 Some basic relationships between
pixels
Given an image f(x,y) and pixels are referred by p and q.

1. Neighbours of a pixel:

. A pixel p at (x,y) has 4 horizontal and vertical neighbours, whose

coordinates are:
(x+1,y), (x-1,y), (x,y+1), (x,y-1) set N 4(p) (4-neighbours of p)
NB: each is a unit distance from p, and some of these locations lie
outside the image (borders)

The 4 diagonal neighbours of p have coordinates:

(x+1,y+1), (x+1,y-1), (x-1,y+1), (x-1,y-1) set N D(p)

N4(p) ND(p) = N8(p) : the set of 8-neighbours of p

2.Adjacency , Connectivity, Regions and Boundaries:
Let V be a set of intensity values used to define
adjacency
4-adjacency: p and q with values in V are 4-
adjacent if q N4(p)
8-adjacency: p and q with values in V are 8-
adjacent if q N8(p)
m-adjacency (mixed adjacency): p and q with
values in V are m-adjacent if
q N4(p), or q ND(p) and N4(p) N4(q) has no
pixel with values from V
 (Digital) path (or curve) from p (x,y) to q
(s,t): sequence of distinct pixels with
coordinates:
(x0,y0), (x1, y1),. (xn,yn), where (x0,y0) = (x,y),
(xn,yn) = (s,t) and for i from 1 to n, (xi, yi) and
(xi-1, yi-1) are adjacent.
n = length of the path
If (x0,y0) = (xn,yn) => closed path
4-,8-, or m-paths depending on the type of
adjacency specified
Let S be a subset of pixels in an image
P and q are connected in S if path exists between
them consisting of pixels in S only
For any p in S, set of pixels connected to it in S is
called connected component of S.
If it has only one connected component ,then S is
a connected set
R is a region of the image if R is a connected set
Ri and Rj adjacent if Ri U Rj = connected set
Regions not adjacent are disjoint
3.Distance Measures:
For pixels p, q and z, with coord (x,y),
(s,t) and (v,w) resp., D is a distance
function or metric if:
Manhattan distance