Image Enhancement in The Spatial Domain: © 2002 R. C. Gonzalez & R. E. Woods

Digital Image Processing, 2nd ed. www.imageprocessingbook.
com
Chapter 3
Image Enhancement
in the Spatial Domain
2002 R. C. Gonzalez & R. E. Woods

Digital Image Processing, 2nd ed. www.imageprocessingbook.com
Image Enhancement in the

Spatial Domain
The spatial domain:

The image plane
For a digital image is a Cartesian coordinate system of discrete rows
and columns. At the intersection of each row and column is a pixel.
Each pixel has a value, which we will call intensity.
The frequency domain :
A (2-dimensional) discrete Fourier transform of the spatial domain
We will discuss it in chapter 4.
Enhancement :
To improve the usefulness of an image by using some transformation
on the image.
Often the improvement is to help make the image better looking,
such as increasing the intensity or contrast.

Background
A mathematical representation of spatial

domain enhancement:
g ( x, y ) T [ f ( x, y )]
where f(x, y): the input image
g(x, y): the processed image
T: an operator on f, defined over some neighborhood of
(x, y)

Gray-level Transformation

Some Basic Gray Level Transformations

Image Negatives
Let the range of gray level be [0, L-1], then

s L 1 r

Log Transformations
s c log( 1 r )
where c : constant
r 0

Power-Law Transformation
s cr
where c, : positive constants

Example 1: Gamma Correction
0.4

1 0.6
0.4 0.3
1 3.0
4.0 5.0

Piecewise-Linear Transformation Functions

Case 1: Contrast Stretching


Case 2:Gray-level Slicing
An image Result of using the transformation in (a)


Case 3:Bit-plane Slicing
Bit-plane slicing:
It can highlight the contribution made to total image appearance by
specific bits.
Each pixel in an image represented by 8 bits.
Image is composed of eight 1-bit planes, ranging from bit-plane 0 for
the least significant bit to bit plane 7 for the most significant bit.


Bit-plane Slicing: A Fractal Image


Bit-plane Slicing: A Fractal Image
7 6
5 4 3
2 1 0

Histogram Processing

Histogram Processing

Histogram Equalization
Histogram equalization:
To improve the contrast of an image
To transform an image in such a way that the transformed image has a
nearly uniform distribution of pixel values
Transformation:
Assume r has been normalized to the interval [0,1], with r = 0
representing black and r = 1 representing white
s T (r ) 0 r 1
The transformation function satisfies the following conditions:
T(r) is single-valued and monotonically increasing in the interval 0 r 1
0 T (r ) 1 for 0 r 1

For example:

Histogram equalization is based on a transformation of the

probability density function of a random variable.
Let pr(r) and ps(s) denote the probability density function of
random variable r and s, respectively.
If pr(r) and T(r) are known, then the probability density
function ps(s) of the transformed variable s can be obtained
dr
p s ( s ) pr ( r )
ds r
Define a transformation function s T (r ) 0 pr (w)dw
where w is a dummy variable of integration
and the right side of this equation is the cumulative distribution
function of random variable r.

r
Given transformation function T(r), T (r ) 0 pr (w)dw
dr dT (r ) d r p (r )
dr 0
p ( w) dw
ds dr
r r
dr 1
ps ( s) pr (r ) pr (r ) 1 0 s 1
ds pr (r )
ps(s) now is a uniform probability density function.
T(r) depends on pr(r), but the resulting ps(s) always is uniform.

In discrete version:
The probability of occurrence of gray level rk in an image is
nk
pr ( r ) k 0,1,2,..., L 1
n
n : the total number of pixels in the image
nk : the number of pixels that have gray level rk
L : the total number of possible gray levels in the image
The transformation function is
k k nj
sk T (rk ) pr (rj ) k 0,1,2,..., L 1
j 0 j 0 n
Thus, an output image is obtained by mapping each pixel with level rk

in the input image into a corresponding pixel with level sk.



Transformation functions (1) through (4) were obtained form the

histograms of the images in Fig 3.17(1), using Eq. (3.3-8).

Histogram Matching
Histogram matching is similar to histogram equalization,

except that instead of trying to make the output image have a
flat histogram, we would like it to have a histogram of a
specified shape, say pz(z).
We skip the details of implementation.

Local Enhancement
The histogram processing methods discussed above are global,

in the sense that pixels are modified by a transformation
function based on the gray-level content of an entire image.
However, there are cases in which it is necessary to enhance
details over small areas in an image.
original global local

Use of Histogram Statistics for Image Enhancement
Moments can be determined directly from a histogram much faster than

they can from the pixels directly.
Let r denote a discrete random variable representing discrete gray-levels in
the range [0,L-1], and p(ri) denote the normalized histogram component
corresponding to the ith value of r, then the nth moment of r about its mean
is defined as L 1
n (r ) (ri m) n p (ri )
i 0
where m is the mean value of r
L 1
m ri p (ri )
i 0
For example, the second moment (also the variance of r) is

L 1
2 (r ) (ri m) 2 p (ri )
i 0

Two uses of the mean and variance for enhancement

purposes:
The global mean and variance (global means for the entire
image) are useful for adjusting overall contrast and
intensity.
The mean and standard deviation for a local region are
useful for correcting for large-scale changes in intensity
and contrast. ( See equations 3.3-21 and 3.3-22.)


Example: Enhancement based on local statistics





Enhancement Using Arithmetic/Logic Operations
Two images of the same size can be combined using

operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division,
logical AND, OR, XOR and NOT. Such operations are done
on pairs of their corresponding pixels.
Often only one of the images is a real picture while the other is
a machine generated mask. The mask often is a binary image
consisting only of pixel values 0 and 1.
Example: Figure 3.27

Enhancement Using Arithmetic/Logic Operations
AND
OR
Image Subtraction
Example 1

Image Subtraction
Example 2
When subtracting two images, negative pixel values can result.

So, if you want to display the result it may be necessary to
readjust the dynamic range by scaling.

Image Averaging
When taking pictures in reduced lighting (i.e., low

illumination), image noise becomes apparent.
A noisy image g(x,y) can be defined by
g ( x , y ) f ( x, y ) ( x, y )
where f (x, y): an original image
( x, y ) : the addition of noise
One simple way to reduce this granular noise is to take
several identical pictures and average them, thus
smoothing out the randomness.

Noise Reduction by Image Averaging

Example: Adding Gaussian Noise
Figure 3.30 (a): An image

of Galaxy Pair NGC3314.
Figure 3.30 (b): Image
corrupted by additive
Gaussian noise with zero
mean and a standard
deviation of 64 gray
levels.
Figure 3.30 (c)-(f):
Results of averaging
K=8,16,64, and 128 noisy
images.

Noise Reduction by Image Averaging

Example: Adding Gaussian Noise
Figure 3.31 (a):

From top to bottom:
Difference images
between Fig. 3.30 (a)
and the four images in
Figs. 3.30 (c) through
(f), respectively.
Figure 3.31 (b):

Corresponding
histogram.

Basics of Spatial Filtering
In spatial filtering (vs. frequency domain filtering), the output image is

computed directly by simple calculations on the pixels of the input image.
Spatial filtering can be either linear or non-linear.
For each output pixel, some neighborhood of input pixels is used in the
computation.
In general, linear filtering of an image f of size MXN with a filter mask of
size mxn is given by
a b
g ( x, y ) w(s, t ) f ( x s, y t )
s at b
where a=(m-1)/2 and b=(n-1)/2

This concept called convolution. Filter masks are sometimes called
convolution masks or convolution kernels.


Nonlinear spatial filtering usually uses a neighborhood too, but

some other mathematical operations are use. These can
include conditional operations (if , then), statistical
(sorting pixel values in the neighborhood), etc.
Because the neighborhood includes pixels on all sides of the
center pixel, some special procedure must be used along the
top, bottom, left and right sides of the image so that the
processing does not try to use pixels that do not exist.

Smoothing Spatial Filters
Smoothing linear filters

Averaging filters (Lowpass filters in Chapter 4))
Box filter
Weighted average filter
Box filter Weighted average

The general implementation for filtering an MXN image with

a weighted averaging filter of size mxn is given by
a b
w(s, t ) f ( x s, y t )
g ( x, y ) s at b
a b
w(s, t )
s at b
where a=(m-1)/2 and b=(n-1)/2


Image smoothing with masks of various sizes


Another Example

Order-Statistic Filters
Order-statistic filters
Median filter: to reduce impulse noise (salt-and-
pepper noise)

Sharpening Spatial Filters
Sharpening filters are based on computing spatial

derivatives of an image.
The first-order derivative of a one-dimensional
function f(x) is f
f ( x 1) f ( x)
x
The second-order derivative of a one-dimensional
function f(x) is 2 f
f ( x 1) f ( x 1) 2 f ( x)
x 2

Sharpening Spatial Filters

An Example

Use of Second Derivatives for Enhancement

The Laplacian
Development of the Laplacian method

The two dimensional Laplacian operator for continuous
functions: 2
f 2
f
2 f 2 2
x y
The Laplacian is a linear operator.
2 f
f ( x 1, y ) f ( x 1, y ) 2 f ( x, y)
x 2
2 f
f ( x, y 1) f ( x, y 1) 2 f ( x, y)
y 2
2 f [ f ( x 1, y) f ( x 1, y) f ( x, y 1) f ( x, y 1)] 4 f ( x)


The Laplacian


The Laplacian
To sharpen an image, the Laplacian of the image is subtracted

from the original image.
f ( x, y) 2 f if the center coefficien t of the Laplacian mask is negative.
g ( x, y)
f ( x, y) f if the center coefficien t of the Laplacian mask is positive.
2
Example: Figure 3.40



The Laplacian: Simplifications
The g(x,y) mask

Not only 2 f

Use of First Derivatives for Enhancement

The Gradient
Development of the Gradient method

The gradient of function f at coordinates (x,y) is defined as
the two-dimensional column vector:
f
Gx x
f f
G y
y
The magnitude of this vector is given by
1
f 2 f 2

1 2
f mag (f ) G G 2 2 2

x y
x y

f G x G y


The Gradient
Roberts cross-gradient
operators
Sobel
operators


The Gradient: Using Sobel Operators

Combining Spatial
Enhancement Methods

Combining Spatial
Enhancement Methods


Image Enhancement in The Spatial Domain: © 2002 R. C. Gonzalez & R. E. Woods

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Digital Image Processing, 2nd ed. www.imageprocessingbook.

2002 R. C. Gonzalez & R. E. Woods