2.3.2 21 Digital Image Processing 2020 21

Digital Image

Processing (17EC72)

Module - 1
Digital Image Fundamentals
Ravikiran B. A.
Asst. Professor, Dept. of ECE
KSSEM, Bangalore

K S SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT

Recommended Books
• Text Book:
• Digital Image Processing- Rafael C Gonzalez and
Richard E. Woods, PHI 3rd Edition, 2010.
• Reference Books:
1. Digital Image Processing- S. Jayaraman, S.
Esakkirajan, T. Veerakumar, Tata McGraw Hill
2014.
2. Fundamentals of Digital Image Processing-A. K.
Jain, Pearson 2004.
Digital Image Processing (17EC72) 2

What Is Digital Image Processing?
• Image may be defined as a two-dimensional function, f(x, y)
where x and y are spatial (plane) coordinates
• The amplitude of f at any pair of coordinates (x, y) is called
the intensity or gray level of the image at that point.
• When x, y and the intensity values of f are all finite, discrete
quantities, we call the image a digital image.
• The field of digital image processing refers to processing
digital images by means of a digital computer.
• Digital image is composed of a finite number of elements,
each of which has a particular location and value. These
elements are called picture elements, image elements, pels,
and pixels.

• Human Vision is limited to Visible Spectrum. Imaging Machines can
cover almost the entire EM spectrum, ranging from gamma to radio
waves.
• They can operate on images generated by sources that humans are not
accustomed to associating with images.
Eg. Ultrasound, electron microscopy, and computer-generated images.
• 3 types of computerized processes : low-, mid-, and high-level processes.

 Low-level processes - Primitive operations such as image
preprocessing to reduce noise, contrast enhancement, and image
sharpening.
Both its inputs and outputs are images.
 Mid-level processes - Tasks such as segmentation (Partitioning),

description, classification (recognition) of individual objects.
Inputs generally are images, but its outputs are attributes extracted
from those images (e.g., edges, contours, and the identity of individual
objects).
 Higher-level processing - “making sense” of an ensemble of

recognized objects, as in image analysis, and at the far end of the
continuum, performing the cognitive functions normally associated
with vision

Origins of Digital
Image Processing
• One of the first applications of
digital images was in the
newspaper industry.
• Pictures were first sent by
submarine cable between London
and New York in the early 1920s –
fast transmission.
• Specialized printing equipment
coded pictures for cable
transmission and then
reconstructed them at the
receiving end.
• Technique was abandoned toward
the end of 1921 in favor of a
technique based on photographic
reproduction made from tapes
perforated at the telegraph
receiving terminal.
• The improvements are evident,
both in tonal quality and in
resolution.
• The early Bartlane systems
were capable of coding
images in five distinct levels
of gray. This capability was
increased to 15 levels in 1929.
• System for developing a film
plate via light beams that were
modulated by the coded
picture tape improved the
reproduction process.
• Although the examples cited
involve digital images, they
are not considered digital
image processing results in the
context of our definition
because computers were not
involved in their creation
• The first computers powerful
enough to carry out meaningful
image processing tasks appeared
in the early 1960s.
• Work on using computer
techniques for improving images
from a space probe began at the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1964
• Pictures of the moon transmitted
by Ranger 7 were processed by a
computer to correct various types
of image distortion inherent in the
on-board television camera.
• The imaging lessons learned with
Ranger 7 were used to enhance
and restore images from the
Surveyor missions to the moon,
the Mariner series of flyby
missions to Mars, the Apollo (the markers, called reseau marks, are
manned flights to the moon, and used for geometric corrections)
others.
• Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT) aka Computerized
Tomography (CT) – invented independently by Sir Godfrey N.
Hounsfield and Professor Allan M. Cormack in early 1970s, who shared
the 1979 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their invention.
• Computer procedures are used to enhance the contrast or code the intensity levels
into color for easier interpretation of X-rays and other images used in industry,
medicine, and the biological sciences.
 Geographers use the same or similar techniques to study pollution patterns

from aerial and satellite imagery.
 Image enhancement and restoration procedures are used to process

degraded images of unrecoverable objects or experimental results too
expensive to duplicate.
 In archeology, image processing methods have successfully restored blurred

pictures that were the only available records of rare artifacts lost or
damaged after being photographed.
 In physics and related fields, computer techniques routinely enhance images

of experiments in areas such as high-energy plasmas and electron microscopy.
 Similarly successful applications of image processing concepts can be found in

astronomy, biology, nuclear medicine, law enforcement, defense, and
industry.

Fields that Use
Digital Image
Processing
• Almost all areas of technology now use DIP in some way or
another.
• One of the simplest ways to develop a basic understanding of
the extent of image processing applications is to categorize
images according to their source (e.g., visual, X-ray, and so
on).
• The principal energy source for images in use today is the

electromagnetic energy spectrum.
• Other important sources of energy include acoustic,
ultrasonic, and electronic (in the form of electron beams
used in electron microscopy).
• Synthetic images, used for modeling and visualization, are
generated by computer.

EM Spectrum Imaging
• Electromagnetic waves - propagating sinusoidal waves of
varying wavelengths OR stream of massless particles, each
traveling in a wavelike pattern and moving at the speed of
light.
• Each massless particle contains a certain amount (or bundle)
of energy. Each bundle of energy is called a photon.
• If spectral bands are grouped according to energy per photon,
we obtain the spectrum shown below, ranging from gamma
rays (highest energy) at one end to radio waves (lowest
energy) at the other.

Gamma-Ray Imaging
• Most popular in nuclear medicine
and astronomical observations.
• In nuclear medicine, patient
injected with a radioactive isotope
that emits gamma rays as it
decays. Images produced from
emissions collected by gamma ray PET image shows a
detectors. tumor in the brain
and one in the lung
• Images of this sort are used to
locate sites of bone pathology –
infections, tumors, etc.
• Positron Emission Tomography
(PET) uses same principle as X-
ray tomography. Bone scan using
• Patient is given a radioactive Gamma Ray
isotope that emits positrons as it Imaging
decays. When a positron meets an
electron, both are annihilated and
two gamma rays are given off.
These are detected and a 3D
tomographic image is created.

• Gamma Rays are
produced as natural Cygnus Loop
radiation among Superheated
certain celestial bodies stationary gas cloud,
created due to star
like stars, gas clouds, explosion in Cygnus,
supernovae, etc. Imaged in Gamma
Band
• Gamma Rays are also

produced during
Gamma
nuclear fission and radiation (bright
fusion reactions – can spot) from a
be used in nuclear reactor valve.
reactor monitoring.

X-Ray Imaging
• Among the oldest sources of EM radiation used for imaging.
• Used in medical diagnostics, industry and other areas like
astronomy.
• X-rays for medical and industrial imaging are generated using
an X-ray tube, which is a vacuum tube with a cathode and
anode.
• Cathode is heated, causing free electrons to be released. These
electrons flow at high speed to the positively charged anode.
When electrons strike nucleus, energy is released in the form
of X-ray radiation.
• The energy of X-rays controlled by anode voltage and by a
current applied to cathode filament.
• Object to be imaged is placed between X-ray source and X-
ray sensitive film.

• In digital radiography,
digital images are obtained
by one of two methods:
 Digitizing X-ray films
 X-rays that pass through the
patient fall directly onto
devices (such as a phosphor
screen) that convert X-rays to
light
• Angiography is another
major application in
Contrast Enhancement
Radiography – images of
blood vessels
• X-Ray Imaging is core part
of CAT imaging. Produces
High Resolution 3D images

• Similar techniques but generally
involving higher energy X-rays,
are applicable in industrial
processes.
• See X-ray image of an electronic
circuit board. Can be used to
examine circuit boards for flaws
in manufacturing, such as
missing components or broken
traces.
• Industrial CAT scans are useful
when the parts can be penetrated
by X-rays, such as in plastic
assemblies, and even large
bodies, like solid-propellant
rocket motors.
• X-ray imaging in popular in
astronomy. This image is the
same Cygnus Loop, but imaged
this time in the X-ray band.
Ultraviolet Band Imaging
• Commonly used in lithography,
industrial inspection,
microscopy, lasers, biological
imaging, and astronomical
observations.
• Fluorescence microscopy - use
an excitation light to irradiate a
prepared specimen. Then,
separate the much weaker
radiating fluorescent light from
the brighter excitation light onto
dark background. Normal Corn in UV Diseased Corn in UV
• Excellent method for studying
materials that can be made to
fluoresce, either in their natural
form (primary fluorescence) or
when treated with chemicals
capable of fluorescing
(secondary fluorescence).
Digital Image Processing (17EC72) Cygnus Loop in UV 18

Visible and Infrared Band Imaging
• Visible Band Imaging – most popular of all.
• IR Band Imaging – used along with Visible Band Imaging.
• Common uses - light microscopy, astronomy, remote sensing,
industry, and law enforcement.
• Light Microscopy – very common in pharmaceuticals and
microinspection to materials characterization. Processing
ranging from enhancement to measurements.
• Another major area of visual processing is remote sensing,
which usually includes several bands in the visual and
infrared regions of the spectrum.

• Multispectral Imaging from different EM bands helps
immensely in Remote Sensing .
• Weather observation and prediction also are major
applications of multispectral imaging from satellites
• A major area of imaging in the visual spectrum is in
automated visual inspection of manufactured goods.
• Image Processing can be used to inspect batches of goods for
defects, missing components, damage, etc.
• Digital Image Processing is commonly used in Law
Enforcement in the form of facial recognition, fingerprint
identification, vehicle numberplate recognition, fake currency
detection, etc.

Microwave Band Imaging
• Dominant application of imaging in the microwave band is
radar.
• Can collect data over virtually any region at any time,
regardless of weather or ambient lighting conditions.
• An imaging radar works provides its own illumination
(microwave pulses) to illuminate an area on the ground and
take a snapshot image.
• Instead of a camera lens, a radar uses an antenna and digital
computer processing to record its images.
• In a radar image, one can see only the microwave energy that
was reflected back toward the radar antenna.
• This offers high clarity and detail of the image,
unencumbered by clouds or other atmospheric conditions that
normally interfere with images in the visual band.

Radio Band Imaging
• Major applications are in medicine and astronomy.
• In medicine, radio waves are used in Magnetic Resonance
Imaging (MRI). This technique places a patient in a
powerful magnet and passes radio waves through his or her
body in short pulses. Each pulse causes a responding pulse
of radio waves to be emitted by the patient’s tissues.
• Computer then produces a two-dimensional picture of a
section of the patient. MRI can produce pictures in any
plane
• Radio Band Imaging is useful in astronomical imaging of
pulsars, quasars, etc.
• Usually, in astronomy, multispectral imaging is done to
extract different information from different bands.

Centaurus A or NGC 5128 galaxy

Centaurus A Imaging- Video
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKxbMtH6tFM

Other Imaging Modalities
• Non- EM spectrum imaging uses other modalities like acoustic
imaging, electron microscopy, and synthetic (computer-generated)
imaging.
• Imaging using sound (Acoustic Imaging) finds application in
geological exploration, industry, and medicine.
• Geological applications use low frequency sound (commercial
applications in mineral and oil exploration) on land or under water.

• Most common use in medicine, especially in obstetrics, where
unborn babies are imaged to determine the health of their
development. Also used for ultrasound imaging of internal organs.
• The ultrasound system (a computer, ultrasound probe consisting of a

source and receiver, and a display) transmits high-frequency (1 to 5
MHz) sound pulses into the body.
• The sound waves travel into the body and hit a boundary between
tissues (e.g., between fluid and soft tissue, soft tissue and bone). Some
of the sound waves are reflected back to the probe, while some travel
on further until they reach another boundary and get reflected.
• The reflected waves are picked up by the probe and relayed to the
computer.
• The machine calculates the distance from the probe to the tissue or
organ boundaries using the speed of sound in tissue (1540 m/s) and the
time of each echo’s return.
• The system displays the distances and intensities of the echoes on the
screen, forming a two-dimensional image.

Electron Microscopy
• Electron microscopes function as their optical counterparts,
except that they use a focused beam of electrons instead of
light to image a specimen
 A stream of electrons is produced by an electron source and

accelerated toward the specimen using a positive electrical potential.
 This stream is confined and focused using metal apertures and
magnetic lenses into a thin, monochromatic beam. This beam is
focused onto the sample using a magnetic lens.
 Interactions occur inside the irradiated sample, affecting the electron
beam.
 These interactions and effects are detected and transformed into an
image, much in the same way that light is reflected from, or absorbed
by, objects in a scene.
• Electron microscopes are capable of very high magnification. While light
microscopy is limited to magnifications on the order 1000X, electron
microscopes can achieve magnification of 10,000X or more.

• Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) works much like a
slide projector.
 TEMs work the same way, except that they shine a beam of electrons
through a specimen (analogous to the slide).
 The fraction of the beam transmitted through the specimen is
projected onto a phosphor screen.
 The interaction of the electrons with the phosphor produces light and,
therefore, a viewable image.
• Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) works like a raster
scan beam in a CRT.
 It scans the electron beam and records the interaction of beam and
sample at each location. This produces one dot on a phosphor screen.
 A complete image is formed by a raster scan of the beam through the
sample, much like a TV camera.
 The electrons interact with a phosphor screen and produce light.
• SEMs are suitable for “bulky” samples, while TEMs require
very thin samples.

Computer Generated Images
• Fractals are striking examples of computer-generated
images.
• Fractal is an iterative reproduction of a basic pattern
according to some mathematical rules. They are useful
sometimes as random textures.
• A more structured approach to image generation by computer
lies in 3-D modeling and is the basis for many 3-D
visualization systems (e.g., flight simulators).
• Images of this type can be used for medical training and for a
host of other applications, such as criminal forensics and
special effects.

Fundamental
Steps in Digital
Image Processing
1. Image acquisition – Acquiring digital images from a variety
of sources. This could include digitization of existing
images, or acquisition from imaging equipment. This stage
may also involve preprocessing operations like scaling.
2. Image enhancement – Used to bring out obscured details, or
highlight certain features of interest in an image. Eg.
Adjusting brightness or contrast. This is very subjective area
(based on individual preference).
3. Image restoration - Deals with improving appearance of an
image. Unlike enhancement, image restoration is objective -
techniques tend to be based on mathematical or probabilistic
models of image degradation.
4. Color image processing – Deals with processing of digital
images with colour. This includes color adjustments,
conversions, etc.

5. Wavelets - Foundation for representing images in various
degrees of resolution. Used for image data compression and
pyramidal representation (images are subdivided
successively into smaller regions)
6. Compression - Deals with techniques for reducing the
storage required to save an image, or the bandwidth required
to transmit it. Very useful in case of high resolution images
and videos of large sizes, for streaming and storage
applications.
7. Morphological processing - deals with tools for extracting
image components that are useful in the representation and
description of shape.

8. Segmentation - Partitions an image into its constituent parts
or objects. Very useful for image recognition and
identification processes. Autonomous segmentation is still a
huge challenge.
9. Representation and Description - almost always follows
output of a segmentation stage, usually raw pixel data, of
either the boundary of a region, or all the points in the
region itself. Representation deals with converting the data
to a form suitable for computer processing (Boundary or
Region). Description, or feature selection, deals with
extracting attributes that result in some quantitative
information of interest, or are basic for differentiating one
class of objects from another.
10. Recognition – The process that assigns a label (e.g.,
“vehicle”) to an object based on its descriptors.

Knowledge Base
• Knowledge about a problem domain is coded into an image
processing system in the form of a knowledge database.
• May be as simple as detailing regions of an image where the
information of interest is known to be located.
• Can be quite complex, such as an interrelated list of all major
possible defects in a materials inspection problem or an
image database containing high-resolution satellite images of
a region in connection with change-detection applications.
• Knowledge Base guides operation of each processing
module, and also controls the interaction between modules.

Components of an
Image Processing
System
• Shift from dedicated image processing hardware boards
towards personal computers and workstations.
• Basic components of a general purpose digital image
processing system are shown:
1. Image Sensors: Two elements are required to acquire digital
images. The first is a physical sensor, that is sensitive to the
energy radiated by the object we wish to image. The second,
called a digitizer, is a device for converting the output of the
physical sensing device into digital form.
2. Specialized image processing hardware - Usually consists of
the digitizer, plus hardware that performs other primitive
operations, such as an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), which
performs arithmetic and logical operations in parallel on
entire images. Also called a front-end subsystem, and has
high speed for fast data throughputs

3. Computer - General-purpose computer can range from a PC
to a supercomputer. In dedicated applications, specially
designed computers are used, but for general purposes, a PC
is sufficient.
4. Software - image processing software consists of
specialized modules that perform specific tasks. A well-
designed package also includes the capability for the user to
write code that, as a minimum, utilizes the specialized
modules.
5. Mass storage – This capability is a must in image processing
applications. Digital storage for image processing
applications falls into three principal categories:
 Short Term storage for use during processing
 On-line storage for relatively fast recall
 Archival storage, characterized by infrequent access.

 Short Term Storage is usually provided by computer memory.
Sometimes, specialized boards called frame buffers are used to store
one or more images for rapid access, usually at video rates (30fps)
 Online Storage is usually in the form of magnetic disks or Optical
Media storage
 Archival Data -massive storage requirements, but infrequent access.
Magnetic Tapes and optical disks are used for archival applications.
6. Image displays - Mainly color (preferably flat screen) TV
monitors, driven by the outputs of image and graphics
display cards.
7. Hardcopy - devices for recording images include laser
printers, film cameras, heat-sensitive devices, inkjet units,
and digital units, such as optical and CD-ROM disks.
8. Networking – Due to large data sizes in images, dedicated
fast networks with high bandwidth are required for easy
transmission of images to remote locations.

Elements of Visual
Perception
Structure of the Human Eye

• The eye is nearly a sphere, with an average diameter of
approximately 20 mm.
• Three membranes enclose the eye: the cornea and sclera outer
cover; the choroid; and the retina.
 Cornea - Tough, transparent tissue that covers the anterior

surface of the eye.
 Sclera - Continuous with the cornea, is an opaque membrane
that encloses the remainder of the optic globe.
 Choroid - Lies directly below the sclera. This membrane
contains a network of blood vessels that serve as the major
source of nutrition to the eye. Heavily pigmented and helps to
reduce the amount of extraneous light entering the eye and the
backscatter within the optic globe. At its anterior extreme, the
choroid is divided into the ciliary body and the iris.
 Iris - contracts or expands to control the amount of light that
enters the eye. The central opening of the iris (the pupil) varies
in diameter from approximately 2 to 8 mm. The front of the iris
contains the visible pigment of the eye, whereas the back
contains a black pigment.

 Lens - made up of concentric layers of fibrous cells.
Suspended by fibers that attach to the ciliary body. Colored
by a slightly yellow pigmentation that increases with age. In
extreme cases, excessive clouding of the lens, caused by the
affliction commonly referred to as cataracts, can lead to
poor color discrimination and loss of clear vision. The lens
absorbs approximately 8% of the visible light spectrum,
with relatively higher absorption at shorter wavelengths.
 Retina - Innermost membrane of the eye, which lines the
inside of the wall’s entire posterior portion. When the eye is
properly focused, light from an object outside the eye is
imaged on the retina. Pattern vision is afforded by the
distribution of discrete light receptors over the surface of
the retina. There are two classes of receptors: cones and
rods.
 Fovea - Circular indentation in the retina of about 1.5 mm
in diameter.
 Cones - The cones in each eye number between 6 and 7
million. They are located primarily in the central portion of
the retina, called the fovea, and are highly sensitive to color.
Humans can resolve fine details with these cones largely
because each one is connected to its own nerve end. Muscles
controlling the eye rotate the eyeball until the image of an
object of interest falls on the fovea. Cone vision is called
photopic or bright-light vision.
 Rods – Larger in Number - 75 to 150 million distributed over
the retinal surface. The larger area of distribution, several rods
are connected to a single nerve end reduce the amount of
detail discernible by these receptors. Rods give a general,
overall picture of the field of view. They are not involved in
color vision and are sensitive to low levels of illumination.
For example, objects that appear brightly colored in daylight
when seen by moonlight appear as colorless forms because
only the rods are stimulated. This phenomenon is known as
scotopic or dim-light vision.
Retinal Distribution of Rods and Cones
• Figure 2.2 shows the density of rods and cones for a cross
section of the right eye passing through the region of
emergence of the optic nerve from the eye.

• Blind spot – Region of emergence of Optical Nerve from the
eye, due to absence of receptors.
• Except for the blind spot, the distribution of receptors is
radially symmetric about the fovea.
• Receptor density is measured in degrees from the fovea.
• We see that cones are most dense in the center of the retina
(in the center area of the fovea). Rods increase in density
from the center out to approximately 20° off axis and then
decrease in density out to the extreme periphery of the retina.
• Cones are primarily situated at the fovea, as seen in the
diagram. The density of cones in the fovea area of the retina
is approximately 150,000 elements per mm2.

Image Formation in
the Eye
• In an ordinary photographic camera, lens has a fixed focal
length, and focusing is achieved by varying the distance
between lens and imaging plane (film or sensor)
• In the human eye, distance between the lens and the imaging
region (the retina) is fixed.
• Focal length needed to achieve proper focus is obtained by
varying the shape of the lens.
• Ciliary body fibers flatten or thicken the lens, to focus image,
for distant or nearby objects respectively.
• The range of focal lengths is approximately 14 mm to 17 mm,
the latter taking place when the eye is relaxed and focused at
distances greater than about 3 m.
• Retinal image is focused primarily on the region of the fovea.
• Perception then takes place by relative excitation of light
receptors, which transform radiant energy into electrical
impulses that ultimately are decoded by the brain.

• The geometry in the Figure illustrates how to obtain the
dimensions of an image formed on the retina.
• For example, suppose that a person is looking at a tree 15 m
high at a distance of 100 m. Letting h denote the height of
that object in the retinal image, we get:
15 ℎ
= or h = 2.5 mm
100 17

• Structure and Working of the Human Eye (Video)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbwPPcwknPU

Brightness
Adaptation and
Discrimination
• Digital images are displayed as a discrete set of intensities.
• The eye’s ability to discriminate between different
intensity levels is an important consideration in presenting
image processing results.
• Range of light intensity levels to which the human visual
system can adapt is enormous - on the order of 1010 from
the scotopic threshold to the glare limit.
• Experimental evidence indicates that subjective brightness
(intensity as perceived by the human visual system) is a
logarithmic function of the light intensity incident on the
eye.
• A plot of light intensity versus subjective brightness,
illustrates this characteristic.

• The long solid curve represents
the range of intensities to
which the visual system can
adapt.
• In photopic vision alone, the
range is about 106
• The transition from scotopic to
photopic vision is gradual over
the approximate range from
0.001 to 0.1 millilambert ( -3 to
-1 mL in the log scale), as the
double branches of the
adaptation curve in this range
show.
• Essential point of interpretation
is that the visual system cannot
operate over such a range
simultaneously.

• Visual System accomplishes this large variation by changing its
overall sensitivity, a phenomenon known as brightness adaptation.
• Total range of distinct intensity levels eye can discriminate
simultaneously is rather small when compared with the total
adaptation range.
• For any given set of conditions, current sensitivity level of the
visual system is called the brightness adaptation level, which may
correspond, for example, to brightness Ba in Figure.
• The short intersecting curve represents the range of subjective
brightness that the eye can perceive when adapted to this level.
• This range is rather restricted, having a level Bb at and below
which all stimuli are perceived as indistinguishable blacks.
• The upper portion of the curve is not actually restricted but, if
extended too far, loses its meaning because much higher intensities
would simply raise the adaptation level higher than Ba

Brightness Discrimination
• The ability of the eye to discriminate
between changes in light intensity
at any specific adaptation level is
also of considerable interest.
• Experiment used to determine the
capability of the human visual
system for brightness discrimination
consists of having a subject look at a
flat, uniformly illuminated area large
enough to occupy the entire field of
view.
• This area typically is a diffuser, such
as opaque glass, that is illuminated
from behind by a light source whose
intensity I, can be varied.
• To this field is added an increment
of illumination ΔI, in the form of a
short-duration flash that appears as a
circle in the center of the uniformly
illuminated field, as shown.

• If ΔI is not bright enough, the subject says “no” indicating no
perceivable change.
• As ΔI gets stronger, the subject may give a positive response
of “yes” indicating a perceived change.
• Finally, when ΔI is strong enough, the subject will give a
response of “yes” all the time.
• The quantity ΔIC /I where ΔIC is the increment of
illumination discriminable 50%of the time with background
illumination I, is called the Weber ratio.
• A small value of ΔIC /I means that a small percentage change
in intensity is discriminable. This represents “good”
brightness discrimination.
• Conversely, a large value of ΔIC /I means that a large
percentage change in intensity is required. This represents
“poor” brightness discrimination.
• A plot of as a function of log
ΔIC /I has the general shape
shown in Figure.
• This curve shows that
brightness discrimination is
poor (the large Weber ratio)
at low levels of illumination,
and it improves significantly
(small Weber ratio) as
background illumination
increases.
• The two branches in the
curve reflect the fact that at
low levels of illumination
vision is carried out by the
rods, whereas at high levels
(better discrimination) vision
is the function of cones.

• If background illumination is held constant and intensity of
the other source is allowed to vary incrementally from never
being perceived to always being perceived, the typical
observer can discern a total of one to two dozen different
intensity changes.
• Roughly, this result is related to the number of different
intensities a person can see at any one point in a monochrome
image.
• Two phenomena demonstrate that perceived brightness is not
a simple function of intensity:
 Mach Band Effect

 Simultaneous Contrast

Mach Band Effect
• The visual system tends to
undershoot or overshoot
around the boundary of
regions of different intensities.
• Although the intensity of the
stripes is constant, we actually
perceive a brightness pattern
that is strongly scalloped near
the boundaries.
• These seemingly scalloped
bands are called Mach bands

Simultaneous Contrast
• A region’s perceived brightness does not depend simply on
its intensity.
• All the center squares have exactly the same intensity.
However, they appear to the eye to become darker as the
background gets lighter.

Optical Illusions
• Other examples of
human perception
phenomena are optical
illusions, in which the
eye fills in non-existing
information or wrongly
perceives geometrical
properties of objects.
• Optical illusions are a
characteristic of the
human visual system
that is not fully
understood.

Image Sensing and
Acquisition
• Most images are generated by combination of “illumination”
source and reflection or absorption of energy from the source
by the elements of the “scene” being imaged.
• Depending on the nature of the source, illumination energy is
reflected from (eg. Light reflected from a planar surface), or
transmitted through objects (eg. X-rays pass through a patient’s
body).
• In some applications, reflected / transmitted energy is
focused onto a photoconverter (eg., a phosphor screen), to
convert energy into visible light (eg. Electron Microscopy, Gamma
Ray Imaging).

Principal Sensor Arrangements
• Incoming energy is
transformed into a voltage
by combination of input
electrical power and
sensor material.
• Sensor is responsive to the
particular type of energy
being detected.
• O/P voltage waveform is
the response of the
sensor(s).
• Digital quantity is
obtained from each sensor
by digitizing its response.

Image Acquisition Using Single Sensor
• Most familiar sensor of this type is the
photodiode, constructed of silicon materials,
whose output voltage waveform is
proportional to light.
• Filter in front of sensor improves selectivity.
• In order to generate 2-D image using single
sensor, there has to be relative displacements
in both the x- and y- directions between the
sensor and the area to be imaged.
• Figure shows high-precision scanning.
 Film negative is mounted onto a drum whose
mechanical rotation provides displacement in
one dimension.
 The single sensor is mounted on a lead screw
that provides motion in the perpendicular
direction.
 Because mechanical motion can be controlled
with high precision, this method is an
inexpensive (but slow) way to obtain high-
resolution images.

• Other similar mechanical arrangements use a flat bed, with
the sensor moving in two linear directions. These types of
mechanical digitizers sometimes are referred to as
microdensitometers.
• Another example of imaging with a single sensor places a
laser source coincident with the sensor.
• Moving mirrors are used to control the outgoing beam in a
scanning pattern and to direct the reflected laser signal onto
the sensor.
• This arrangement can be used also to acquire images using
strip and array sensors.

Image Acquisition Using Sensor Strips
• In-line arrangement of sensors in the
form of a sensor strip. The strip provides
imaging elements in one direction.
Motion perpendicular to the strip
provides imaging in the other direction.
• Used in most flat bed scanners. Can
provide very high resolution
• In-line sensors are used routinely in
airborne imaging applications
 Imaging system is mounted on an aircraft
that flies at a constant altitude and speed
over the geographical area to be imaged.
 One-dimensional imaging sensor strips
that respond to various bands of the
electromagnetic spectrum are mounted
perpendicular to the direction of flight.
 The imaging strip gives one line of an
image at a time, and the motion of the strip
completes the other dimension of a two-
dimensional image. Image acquisition using a
 Lenses or other focusing schemes are used linear sensor strip.
to project the area to be scanned onto the
sensors.

• Sensor strips mounted in a ring
configuration are used in medical and
industrial imaging to obtain cross-
sectional (“slice”) images of 3-D
objects, as shown.
• A rotating X-ray source provides
illumination and the sensors opposite the
source collect the X-ray energy that
passes through the object.
• This is the basis for medical and
industrial computerized axial
tomography (CAT) imaging.
• Output of the sensors must be processed
by reconstruction algorithms which
transform the sensed data into
meaningful cross-sectional
• Images are not obtained directly from
the sensors by motion alone; they
require extensive processing.
• A 3-D digital volume consisting of
stacked images is generated as the object Image acquisition using a
is moved in a direction perpendicular to circular sensor strip.
the sensor ring.
Image Acquisition Using Sensor Arrays
• Numerous electromagnetic and some ultrasonic sensing
devices frequently are arranged in an array format.
• Also predominant arrangement found in digital cameras
(CCD arrays)
• Response of each sensor is proportional to the integral of the
light energy projected onto the surface of the sensor.
• Noise reduction – let the sensor integrate the input light
signal over minutes or even hours.
• Since Array is 2-D, key advantage is that a complete image
can be obtained by focusing the energy pattern onto the
surface of the array.
• Motion is not necessary.

• Computer Tomography Working (Video)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9swbAtRRbg
• Image Acquisition using Array of sensors (Video)
• www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vgtJJ2wwMA

A Simple Image
Formation Model
• Energy from an illumination source is reflected from a scene
element.
• The first function performed by the imaging system is to
collect the incoming energy and focus it onto an image plane.
• If the illumination is light, the front end of the imaging
system is an optical lens that projects the viewed scene onto
the lens focal plane.
• The sensor array, which is coincident with the focal plane,
produces outputs proportional to the integral of the light
received at each sensor.
• Digital and analog circuitry sweep these outputs and convert
them to an analog signal, which is then digitized by another
section of the imaging system.
• The output is a digital image, as shown.

• Images can be denoted by a 2-D function f(x,y)
• Value or amplitude of f at spatial coordinates (x,y) is a +ve
scalar quantity whose physical meaning is determined by the
image source.
• When image is generated by physical process, intensity
values proportional to energy radiated by source. So, f(x, y) is
non-zero and finite.
0 < f(x, y) < ∞
• The function f(x, y) has two components:
 Amount of source illumination incident on the scene being viewed
 Amount of illumination reflected by the objects in the scene.
• These are called the illumination and reflectance components
and are denoted by i(x, y) and r(x, y) respectively.
• The two functions combine as a product to form f(x, y) :
f(x, y)= i(x, y) r(x, y)
• Where 0 < i(x, y) < ∞

and 0 < r(x, y) < 1
• Equations indicate that reflectance is bounded by 0 (Total
absorption) and 1 (total reflection).
• Nature of i(x, y) is determined by illumination source.
• Nature of r(x, y) is determined by characteristics of imaged
object.
• In case of images formed by tramission through a medium
(Eg. X-rays), we use transmittivity instead of reflectivity.
Image Sampling and Quantization
• O/p of most sensors is a continuous voltage waveform whose
amplitude and spatial behavior are related to the physical
phenomenon being sensed.
• To create a digital image, we need to convert continuous
sensed data into digital form. This involves two processes:
sampling and quantization
• Consider a continuous image f that we want to convert to
digital form. An image may be continuous with respect to the
x- and y-coordinates, and also in amplitude.
• To convert it to digital form, we have to sample the function
in both coordinates and in amplitude.
• Digitizing the coordinate values is called sampling.
Digitizing the amplitude values is called quantization.

• Figure A shows image which is continuous both spatially and
in terms of intensities. AB is a row of all pixels along the
lines along which sampling is done.
• Figure B plots the intensities of each pixel, against the
location of the pixels. The random variations are due to
image noise.
• Figure C shows the sampled points along the line AB. Here,
the equally spaced points (ticks) indicate the linearly spaced
samples along the line. Note that while the image is spatially
sampled, it is still continuous in intensities.
• Figure D shows the quantized signal from Figure C. The
continuous range of intensity values, has now been
discretized into 8 intervals, from black to white, assigning the
closest value to each sample.
• This entire process is repeated for each line to produce a
digitized 2-D image.
• In practice, spatial sampling is determined by the sensor
arrangement (limited control), or by mechanical motion of sensor
element (controllable), or quality of optical component (hard to
control).
• When a sensing array is used for image acquisition, there is no
motion and the number of sensors in the array establishes the
limits of sampling in both directions.

Representing Digital
Images
• Let f(s, t) represent a continuous image function of two
continuous variables, s and t. This is converted to a digital
image by sampling and quantization.
• Suppose that we sample the continuous image into a 2-D
array, f(x, y), containing M rows and N columns, where (x, y)
are discrete coordinates (0 ≤ x ≤ M-1 and 0 ≤ y ≤ N-1)
• The section of real plane spanned by the coordinates of an
image is called the spatial domain, with x and y being
referred to as spatial variables or spatial coordinates.
• Three basic ways to represent f(x, y):
 2 axes representing spatial location, third representing intensities
 As shown on monitor or photograph
 Graphically, in terms of arrays of values

• Image displays are best for fast visualization.
• Numerical arrays are used for processing and algorithm
development.
• M X N Numerical Array can be written as:
• Each element of this matrix is called an image element, picture

element, pixel, or pel.
• Sometimes, it is advantageous to use a more traditional matrix
notation to denote a digital image and its elements:
• Image can also be represented as a vector v, of size MNx1

elements, collected columnwise.

• Note that the origin of a digital image is at the top left.
• Positive x-axis extends downward and the positive y-axis
extends to the right. (Convention based on Raster Scan)
• Express Sampling and Quantization mathematically:
 Let Z and R denote the set of integers and the set of real numbers,
respectively.
 The sampling process may be viewed as partitioning the xy-plane
into a grid, with the coordinates of the center of each cell in the grid
being a pair of elements from the Cartesian product Z2 which is the
set of all ordered pairs of elements (zi, zj), with zi and zj being
integers from Z.
 f(x,y) is a digital image if (x, y) are integers from Z2 and f is a
function that assigns an intensity value (that is, a real number from
R) to each distinct pair of coordinates (x, y). This functional
assignment is the quantization process. If f(x,y) is also an integer, Z
replaces R, to get a digital image.

• M, N and L (intensity levels) have to be decided during
digitization.
• M and N are to be positive integers.
• Due to quantizing hardware considerations, L is typically a
power of 2. :
L = 2k
• We assume that the discrete levels are equally spaced and that
they are integers in the interval [0, L - 1].
• Dynamic range of an imaging system is the ratio of the
maximum measurable intensity to the minimum detectable
intensity level.
• The upper limit is determined by saturation and the lower
limit by noise
• Contrast is the difference in intensity between the highest
and lowest intensity levels in an image
• The number, b, of bits required to store a digitized image is:
b=M*N*k
• When M = N, this equation becomes:
b = N2 k

Spatial and Intensity
Resolution
• Spatial Resolution is a measure of the smallest discernible
detail in an image (line pairs per unit distance, dots (pixels)
per unit distance, etc)
• Alternatively, it is largest number of discernible line pairs per
unit distance (alternating black and white lines)
• Dots per unit distance is a measure of image resolution used
commonly in the printing and publishing industry (dpi)
• To be meaningful, measures of spatial resolution must be
stated with respect to spatial units.
• Intensity (Gray Level) resolution refers to the smallest
discernible change in intensity level.
• Number of intensity levels usually is an integer power of two
(Usually 8, 16 or 32 bits)

Effects of Reducing Spatial Resolution
1250 dpi 300 dpi

150 dpi 72 dpi

• We observe that with a reduction in the spatial resolution, a
lot of fine details in the image are lost, and the image gets
degraded. These effects can be reduced by using appropriate
interpolation methods.
• Checkerboard effect – When spatial resolution is very low,
the images appear as blocks and ridges (Checkerboard
pattern). Thus, a curve may appear as a staircase.
• The checkerboard effect is caused by pixel replication, that
is, lower resolution images were duplicated in order to fill the
display area.

Effects of Reducing Intensity Resolution
256-level image. 128-level image.

64-level image. 32-level image.

Image displayed
in 16, 8, 4, and 2
intensity levels.

• We notice as the intensity resolution becomes smaller, very
fine ridge-like structures in areas of constant or nearly
constant intensity are seen (particularly in the skull).
• This effect, caused by the use of an insufficient number of
intensity levels in smooth areas of a digital image, is called
false contouring.
• It appears in the image as contours of gray levels not present
in the original image.
• The results illustrate the effects produced on image quality by
varying N (Spatial resolution) and k (Intensity Resolution)
independently.
• An early study by Huang [1965] attempted to quantify
experimentally the effects on image quality produced by
varying N and k simultaneously.

• The experiment consisted of a set of subjective tests. Images
similar to those shown were used.
 The woman’s face - image with relatively little detail
 Cameraman - intermediate amount of detail
 Crowd picture - a large amount of detail.
• Sets of these three types of images were generated by varying
N and k, and observers were then asked to rank them
according to their subjective quality.
• Results were summarized in the form of so-called
isopreference curves in the Nk-plane.
• Each point in the Nk-plane represents an
image having values of N and k equal to the
coordinates of that point.
• Points lying on an isopreference curve
correspond to images of equal subjective
quality.
• It was found that the isopreference curves
tended to shift right and upward.
• This shift up and right in the curves simply
means larger values for N and k, which
implies better picture quality.
• Curves tend to become more vertical as the
detail in the image increases.
• This result suggests that for images with a
large amount of detail only a few intensity
levels may be needed.
• Decrease in k tends to increase the apparent
contrast, a visual effect that humans often
perceive as improved quality in an image.

Image Interpolation
• Used extensively in zooming, shrinking, rotating and
geometric corrections
• Shrinking and zooming – resampling methods
• Interpolation = using known data to estimate values at
unknown locations (zooming)
• Shrinking = decimation = reducing the number of pixels

Image shrinking
Process of reducing spatial resolution by removing certain
rows and columns from original image (subsampling).
Eg: Consider a 1024x1024 image to be shrunk to 512x512
Alternate rows and columns need to be discarded to get the
shrunken image. Further filters can be used to clean up the
image.
20 22 25 27 29 30
38 37 24 28 33 32 20 25 29
24 31 23 24 25 28 24 23 25
29 26 21 25 27 29

Image zooming
• Process of oversampling image to increase spatial
resolution.
• Increases the total number of pixels in the image.
• Similar to interpolation process.
• 2 stages:
1. creation of new pixel locations
2. Assignment of new gray level values to these locations
• Interpolation methods:
 Nearest neighbour (Pixel replication)
 Bilinear interpolation
 Bicubic interpolation

Nearest Neighbour Interpolation
First, extra rows and columns are created in zoomed image,
and pixel values of the nearest neighbour are copied into
newly created pixels.
Has tendency to produce undesirable artifacts, like severe

distortion of straight edges.
Used very rarely

BiLinear Interpolation
New rows and columns are created, and values are assigned
based on linear average of neighbouring pixels.
Bilinear interpolation processes 2x2 (4 pixels) squares
First, linear average of neighbouring row pixels are
calculated, and then column pixels are used in next step.

Bilinear Interpolation
Example:
In general cases, where pixel distances are not equal:

𝑣 𝑥, 𝑦 = 𝑎𝑥 + 𝑏𝑦 + 𝑐𝑥𝑦 + 𝑑
Where 𝑣 𝑥, 𝑦 is the intensity of new pixel with co-ordinates
𝑥, 𝑦 and 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑 are weights
Bilinear interpolation gives much better results than nearest
neighbour interpolation

Bicubic Interpolation
• Uses sixteen nearest neighbours of a point
• Intensity values assigned to a point uses the equation:
3 3
𝑣 𝑥, 𝑦 = 𝑎𝑖𝑗 𝑥 𝑖 𝑦 𝑗
𝑖=0 𝑗=0
• Sixteen coefficients are determined from sixteen equations

in sixteen unknowns that can be written using the sixteen
nearest neighbours of point 𝑥, 𝑦 .
• If limits of summations are 0 and 1, it becomes bilinear
interpolation
• Bicubic interpolation is better than bilinear interpolation
for preserving fine detail. This is the standard algorithm
used in commercial image editing programs.
Comparison of Interpolation Techniques
(a) Image reduced to 72 dpi and zoomed back to its original size ( pixels)
using nearest neighbor interpolation.
(b) Image shrunk and zoomed using bilinear interpolation.
(c) Image shrunk and zoomed using bicubic interpolation.

(a) Image reduced to 150 dpi and zoomed back to its original size ( pixels)
using nearest neighbor interpolation.
(b) Image shrunk and zoomed using bilinear interpolation.
(c) Image shrunk and zoomed using bicubic interpolation.

Basic Relationships
between Pixels
y
(x-1, y-1) (x-1, y) (x-1, y+1)
x (x, y-1) (x, y) (x, y+1)
(x+1, y-1) (x+1, y) (x+1, y+1)

Neighbors of a Pixel
• A pixel p at coordinates (x, y) has four horizontal and vertical
neighbors whose coordinates are given by:
(x + 1, y), (x - 1, y), (x, y + 1), (x, y - 1)
• This set of pixels, called the 4-neighbors of p, is denoted by
N4(p).
• Each pixel is a unit distance from (x, y), and some of the
neighbor locations of p lie outside the digital image if (x, y) is
on the border of the image.
• The four diagonal neighbors of p are denoted by ND(p) and
have coordinates:
• (x + 1, y + 1), (x + 1, y - 1), (x - 1, y + 1), (x - 1, y - 1)
• These points, together with the 4-neighbors, are called
• the 8-neighbors of p, denoted by N8(p)

(a)4-neighborhood N4(p)
(b)Diagonal neighborhood ND(p)
(c)8-neighborhood N8(p)

Adjacency
• Let V be the set of intensity values used to define adjacency
• In a binary image, V = {1} if we are referring to adjacency of
pixels with value 1.
• In a gray-scale image, the idea is the same, but set V typically
contains more elements.
• (Eg: in the adjacency of pixels with a range of possible
intensity values 0 to 255, set V could be any subset of these
256 values)

• 3 Types of Adjacency:
1. 4-adjacency : Two pixels p and q with values from V are 4-
adjacent if q is in the set N4(p).
2. 8-adjacency : Two pixels p and q with values from V are 8-
adjacent if q is in the set N8(p)
3. m-adjacency (mixed adjacency) : Two pixels p and q with
values from V are m-adjacent if:
i. q is in N4(p), OR
ii. q is in ND(p), and the set N4(p) ∩ N4(q) has no pixels whose values
are from V.

Path
• A (digital) path (or curve) from pixel p with coordinates
(x, y) to pixel q with coordinates (s, t) is a sequence of
distinct pixels with coordinates:
• (x0, y0), (x1, y1), ….. , (xn, yn)
• Where (x0, y0) = (x, y), (xn, yn) = (s, t), and pixels (xi, yi) and
(xi-1, yi-1) are adjacent for 1 ≤ i ≤ n.
• In this case, n is the length of the path.
• If (x0, y0) = (xn, yn), the path is a closed path.
• We can define 4-, 8-, or m-paths depending on the type of
adjacency specified.

• Example: Consider the image segment shown in figure.
Compute length of the shortest-4, shortest-8 & shortest-m
paths between pixels p & q where, V = {1, 2}.
• V = {1, 2} means all pixels along the path have to have

values 1 or 2 only.
• Let us consider each case separately:

Case 1: 4- Path
• We see that 4-Path does not exist between p and q, for

V={1,2}

Case 2: 8- Path
• We see that the shortest 8-path is of length 4.

Case 3: M-path
• We see that M-path exists, and the shortest m-path is of

length 5.

EXERCISE PROBLEM
• For V = {2, 3, 4}, compute the length of the shortest 4-, 8-
m=paths between P and Q in the following:

Solution
No 4-Path Shortest 8-Path Length = 4
m-Path Length = 5

Connectivity and Regions
• Let S represent a subset of pixels in an image.
• Two pixels p and q are said to be connected in S if there
exists a path between them consisting entirely of pixels in S.
• For any pixel p in S, the set of pixels that are connected to it
in S is called a connected component of S.
• If it only has one connected component, then set S is called a
connected set.
• Let R be a subset of pixels in an image.
• We call R a region of the image if R is a connected set.
• Two regions, Ri and Rj are said to be adjacent if their union
forms a connected set.
• Regions that are not adjacent are said to be disjoint.

1 1 1
1 0 1 Ri
0 1 0
0 0 1
1 1 1 Rj
1 1 1
• Above regions are adjacent only if 8-adjacency is used.

Exercise Problem
• Consider the two image subsets, S1 and S2, shown in the
following figure. For V={1}, determine whether these two
subsets are (a) 4-adjacent, (b) 8-adjacent, or (c) m-adjacent.
• Soln:
 Not 4-connected subsets, since the neighboring 1s are NOT 4-
adjacent.
 Both 8-connected and m-connected because the neighboring 1s are
both 8-adjacent and m-adjacent

Boundary
• The boundary (also called the border or contour) of a region
R is the set of points that are adjacent to points in the
complement of R.
• Border of a region is the set of pixels in the region that have
at least one background neighbor.
• If R happens to be an entire image, then its boundary is
defined as the set of pixels in the first and last rows and
columns of the image.
• An image has no neighbours beyond its border.
• Inner border of the region corresponds to boundary points
along foreground.
• Outer border corresponds to boundary points along
background.

0 0 0 0 0
0 1 1 0 0
0 1 1 0 0
0 1 1 1 0
0 1 1 1 0
0 0 0 0 0
• RED colored 1 is NOT a member of border if 4-connectivity

is used between region and background.
• However, It is, if 8-connectivity is used.

Edges
• Unlike Boundaries, which form a closed path and are
GLOBAL, Edges are formed from pixels with derivative
values that exceed a preset threshold.
• The idea of an edge is a LOCAL concept that is based on a
measure of gray-level discontinuity at a point.
• It is possible to link edge points into edge segments, and
sometimes these segments are linked in such a way that they
correspond to boundaries, but this is not always the case.
• The one exception in which edges and boundaries correspond
is in binary images.

Distance Measures
• For pixels p, q, and z, with co-ordinates (x, y), (s, t), and
(v, w), respectively, D is a distance function or metric if:
 D(p, q) ≥ 0 (D(p, q) = 0 iff p = q)

 D(p, q) = D(q, p)
 D(p, z) ≤ D(p, q) + D(q, z) [Triangular
Inequality]

Euclidean Distance
• The Euclidean distance between p and q is defined as:
1
𝐷𝑒 𝑝, 𝑞 = [(𝑥 − 𝑠)2 +(𝑦 − 𝑡)2 ]2
• For this distance measure, the pixels having a distance less

than or equal to some value r from (x, y) are the points
contained in a disk of radius r centered at (x, y).
2
𝟐 1 𝟐
2 1 0 1 2
𝟐 1 𝟐
2
City Block Distance (D4 distance)
• The City-block distance between p and q is defined as:
𝐷4 𝑝, 𝑞 = 𝑥 − 𝑠| + 𝑦 − 𝑡|
• Here, the pixels having a 𝐷4 distance from (x, y) less than or

equal to some value r form a diamond centered at (x, y).
• The pixels with 𝐷4 =1 are the 4-neighbors of (x, y).
2
2 1 2
2 1 0 1 2
2 1 2
2
Chessboard Distance (D8 distance)
• The Chessboard distance between p and q is defined as:
𝐷8 𝑝, 𝑞 = max( 𝑥 − 𝑠|, 𝑦 − 𝑡|)

• Here, the pixels having a D8 distance from (x, y) less than or
equal to some value r form a square centered at (x, y).
• The pixels with 𝐷8 =1 are the 8-neighbors of (x, y).
2 2 2 2 2
2 1 1 1 2
2 1 0 1 2
2 1 1 1 2
2 2 2 2 2
Example:
Let p and q are the pixels at coordinates (10,15) and (15,25) respectively.
Find out which distance measure gives the minimum distance between them.
Solution:
1
• Euclidean Distance: 𝐷𝑒 𝑝, 𝑞 = [(𝑥 − 𝑠)2 +(𝑦 − 𝑡)2 ]2
1
𝐷𝑒 𝑝, 𝑞 = [(15 − 10)2 +(25 − 2
15) ]2 = 𝟏𝟏. 𝟏𝟖
• City-block Distance: 𝐷4 𝑝, 𝑞 = 𝑥 − 𝑠| + 𝑦 − 𝑡|
𝐷4 𝑝, 𝑞 = 15 − 10| + 25 − 15| = 𝟏𝟓
• Chessboard Distance: 𝐷8 𝑝, 𝑞 = max( 𝑥 − 𝑠|, 𝑦 − 𝑡|)

𝐷8 𝑝, 𝑞 = max( 15 − 10|, 25 − 15|) = 𝟏𝟎
• Hence we see that the Chessboard Distance of 10 is the minimum
distance.

Linear and Non-
Linear Operations
• Consider a general operator, H, that produces an output
image, g(x, y), for a given input image, f (x, y):
H[f(x, y)]= g(x, y)
• H is said to be a linear operator if:
H [a𝒊 𝒇𝒊 (x, y) + a𝒋 f𝒋 (x, y)] = a𝒊 H [f𝒊 (x, y)] + a𝒋 H [𝒇𝒋 (x, y)]
= a𝒊 g𝒊 (x, y) + a𝒋 𝒈𝒋 (x, y)
• Where a𝑖 , a𝑗 , 𝑓𝑖 (x, y) and 𝑓𝑗 (x, y) are arbitrary constants and
images (of the same size), respectively.
• The output of a linear operation due to the sum of two inputs
is the same as performing the operation on the inputs
individually and then summing the results (ADDITIVITY)
• The output of a linear operation to a constant times an input
is the same as the output of the operation due to the original
input multiplied by that constant (HOMOGENEITY)

• To check if ∑ (sum operator) is linear:
𝛴 [a𝑖 𝑓𝑖 (x, y) + a𝑗 f𝑗 (x, y)] = 𝛴 a𝑖 (x, y) + 𝛴a𝑗 f𝑗 (x, y)

= a𝑖 𝛴f𝑖 (x, y) + a𝑗 𝛴𝑓𝑗 (x, y)
= a𝑖 g𝑖 (x, y) + a𝑗 𝑔𝑗 (x, y)
• Hence, we see that the sum operator is LINEAR.

• However, consider Max operation on two images:
• Suppose a1 = 1 and a2 = -1
• LHS:
• RHS:
• We see that LHS ≠ RHS, and hence, max operation is Non-

Linear

ATTENDANCE
LINK:
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Digital Image

K S SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT

Digital Image Processing (17EC72) 2

Digital Image Processing (17EC72) 3

• 3 types of computerized processes : low-, mid-, and high-level processes.

 Mid-level processes - Tasks such as segmentation (Partitioning),

 Higher-level processing - “making sense” of an ensemble of

Digital Image Processing (17EC72) 4

 Geographers use the same or similar techniques to study pollution patterns

 Image enhancement and restoration procedures are used to process

 In archeology, image processing methods have successfully restored blurred

 In physics and related fields, computer techniques routinely enhance images

 Similarly successful applications of image processing concepts can be found in

Digital Image Processing (17EC72) 9

• The principal energy source for images in use today is the

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• Gamma Rays are also

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Digital Image Processing (17EC72) Cygnus Loop in UV 18

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• The ultrasound system (a computer, ultrasound probe consisting of a

Digital Image Processing (17EC72) 33

 A stream of electrons is produced by an electron source and

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 Cornea - Tough, transparent tissue that covers the anterior

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 Mach Band Effect

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