• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
• /
• 2008.10b
• /
• pp.137-138
• /
• 2008

This paper proposes the modified image contrast enhancement technique for small-sized display of mobile handset. Sample images are user interface images, in which scaled up wVGA($800{\times}480$) from qVGA($320{\times}240$) that we can see easily in mobile handset. The display size of mobile handset is relatively small, so the goal of this paper is to simplify image contrast enhancement algorithm based on conventional HE (Histogram Equalization) algorithm and improve computational effectiveness to minimize power consumption in real hardware IC. In this paper, we adopt HE technique, which is classical and widely used for image contrast enhancement. At first, the input frame image is partitioned to temporal sub-frames and then analyzes gray level histogram of each sub-frame. In case that the analyzed histogram of some sub-frames deviates so much from reference level (it means that the sub-frame image components consist of too bright ones or dark ones), apply DHE(Dynamic Histogram Equalization) algorithm. In the other case, apply classical Histogram Linearization (or Global HE) algorithm. Also we compare the HE technique with gamma LUT (Look-Up Table) method, which is known as the simplest technique to enhance image contrast.

• IEIE Transactions on Smart Processing and Computing
• /
• v.3 no.6
• /
• pp.358-365
• /
• 2014

This paper proposes a method that reduces the flickering effect caused by A-GLG (Adaptive Gray-Level Grouping) during video contrast enhancement. Of the GLG series, A-GLG shows the best contrast enhancement performance. The GLG series is based on histogram grouping. Histogram grouping is calculated differently between the continuous frames with a similar histogram and causes a subtle change in the transformation function. This is the reason for flickering effect when the video contrast is enhanced by A-GLG. To reduce the flickering effect caused by A-GLG, the proposed method calculates a modified transformation function. The modified transformation function is calculated using a previous and current transformation function applied with a weight separately. The proposed method was compared with A-GLG for flickering effect reduction and video contrast enhancement. Through the experimental results, the proposed method showed not only a reduced flickering effect, but also video contrast enhancement.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
• /
• 2003.11a
• /
• pp.477-480
• /
• 2003

This paper describes a novel method for image contrast enhancement by controlling gamma curve in AMLCD. The key idea is to automatically manipulate gamma voltage in accordance with the image data distribution. This method is applied to 17" SXGA LCD monitor module. The contrast ratio and the brightness are enhanced respectively by about 3 times and 1.7 times, by using the proposed method.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
• /
• v.15 no.8
• /
• pp.1782-1790
• /
• 2011

The goal of image processing is to improve the perceptual aspect and visual appearance of images for human viewers. The objectives of image enhancement vary according to its specific application and an image enhancement techniques used for a specific objective may not be accepted in some other applications. In this paper we review some of conventional enhancement techniques, such as histogram shrink, equalization, and the conservative adaptive contrast enhancement filter. And also, The adaptive contrast enhancement filter has optimized the applied values of variables which is configured rightly the medical image field. In the postprocessing, we used the histogram equalization method. As a result, the inputs which used a medical images has enhanced the edges of a result images which has applied the proposed filter. And also, because of the postprocessing, the image outlines has been lightened.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
• /
• v.14 no.11
• /
• pp.1365-1372
• /
• 2011

This paper proposes a cognitive contrast enhancement algorithm based on the non-linear masking to advance low cognitive contrast in dark regions of images. In order to improve brightness in dark regions of an image, we propose a new contrast enhancement algorithm based on the non-linear masking using regional adaptive parameters of an image. For performance evaluation of the proposed method, chromaticity and saturation comparison as a quantitative assessment and z-score comparison as a qualitative assessment were executed between test images and their simulated images by SSR, MSR, a conventional non-linear masking and the proposed method, respectively. As a result, the proposed method showed low chromaticity and saturation difference and improved cognitive contrast for the three methods.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers P
• /
• v.62 no.2
• /
• pp.90-94
• /
• 2013

In this paper, we propose a new algorithm to improve the contrast ratio, to preserve information of bright regions and to maintain the color of backlight image that appears with a great relative contrast. Backlight images of the natural environment have characteristics for difference of local brightness; the overall image contrast improvement is not easy. To improve the contrast of the backlight images, MSR (Multi-Scale Retinex) algorithm using the existing multi-scale Gaussian filter is applied. However, existing multi-scale Gaussian filter involves color distortion and information loss of bright regions due to excessive contrast enhancement and noise because of the brightness improvement of dark regions. Moreover, it also increases computational complexity due to the use of multi-scale Gaussian filter. In order to solve these problems, a linear MSR is performed that reduces the amount of computation from the HSV color space preventing the color distortion and information loss due to excessive contrast enhancement. It can also remove the noise of the dark regions which is occurred due to the improved contrast through edge preserving filter. Through experimental evaluation of the average color difference comparison of CIELAB color space and the visual assessment, we have confirmed excellent performance of the proposed algorithm compared to conventional MSR algorithm.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
• /
• v.17 no.9
• /
• pp.2206-2212
• /
• 2013

We propose a method for the classification of fatty liver by ultrasound imaging using Fuzzy Contrast Enhancement Technique and FCM. ROI images are extracted after removal of information data except ultrasound image of the liver and the kidney then image contrast is improved by Fuzzy Contrast Enhancement Algorithm. The images applied Fuzzy Contrast Enhancement Technique is applied average binarization then ROI images of liver and kidney parenchyma are extracted using Blob algorithm. Representative brightness is extracted in the liver and kidney images using the most frequent brightness level after classification of 10 brightness levels. We applied this method to ultrasound images and a radiologist confirmed the accuracy of diagnosis for fatty liver. This method would be a model for automatic method in the diagnosis of fatty liver.

• IEIE Transactions on Smart Processing and Computing
• /
• v.2 no.3
• /
• pp.130-139
• /
• 2013

This paper proposes a new approach for enhancing digital images based on red channel information, which has the most analogous characteristics to invisible infrared rays. Specifically, a red channel in RGB space is used to analyze the image contents and improve the visual quality of the input images but it can cause unexpected problems, such as the over-enhancement of reddish input images. To resolve this problem, inter-channel correlations between the color channels were derived, and the weighting parameters for visually pleasant image fusion were estimated. Applying the parameters resulted in significant brightness as well as improvement in the dark and bright regions. Furthermore, simple contrast and color corrections were used to maintain the original contrast level and color tone. The main advantages of the proposed algorithm are 1) it can improve a given image considerably with a simple inter-channel correlation, 2) it can obtain a similar effect of using an extra infrared image, and 3) it is faster than other algorithms compared without artifacts including halo effects. The experimental results showed that the proposed approach could produce better natural images than the existing enhancement algorithms. Therefore, the proposed scheme can be a useful tool for improving the image quality in consumer imaging devices, such as compact cameras.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
• /
• v.52 no.10
• /
• pp.108-117
• /
• 2015

If typical contrast enhancement algorithms for natural images are applied to X-ray images, they may cause artifacts such as overshooting or produce unnatural visual quality because they do not consider inherent characteristics of X-ray images. In order to overcome such problems, we propose a locally adaptive block-based contrast enhancement algorithm for X-ray images. After we derive a weighted cumulative distribution function for each block, we apply it to each block for contrast enhancement. Then, we obtain images that are removed from block effect by adopting block-based overlapping. In post-processing, we obtain the final image by emphasizing high frequency components. Experimental results show that the proposed block-based contrast enhancement algorithm provides at maximum 5-times higher visual quality than the exiting algorithm in terms of quantitative contrast metric.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
• /
• v.11 no.6
• /
• pp.737-745
• /
• 2008

In this paper, a novel neighborhood metric of histogram equalization (HE) algorithm for contrast enhancement is presented. We present a refinement of HE using neighborhood metrics with a general framework which orders pixels based on a sequence of sorting functions which uses both global and local information to remap the image greylevels. We tested a novel sorting key with the suggestion of using the original image greylevel as the primary key and a novel neighborhood distinction metric as the secondary key, and compared HE using proposed distinction metric and other HE methods such as global histogram equalization (GHE), HE using voting metric and HE using contrast difference metric. We found that our method can preserve advantages of other metrics, while reducing drawbacks of them and avoiding undesirable over-enhancement that can occur with local histogram equalization (LHE) and other methods.