Infrared image enhancement with learned features

Due to the variation of imaging environment and limitations of infrared imaging sensors, infrared images usually have some drawbacks: low contrast, few details and indistinct edges. Hence, to promote the applications of infrared imaging technology, it is essential to improve the qualities of infrared images. To enhance image details and edges adaptively, we propose an infrared image enhancement method under the proposed image enhancement scheme. On the one hand, on the assumption of high-quality image taking more evident structure singularities than low-quality images, we propose an image enhancement scheme that depends on the extractions of structure features. On the other hand, different from the current image enhancement algorithms based on deep learning networks that try to train and build the end-to-end mappings on improving image quality, we analyze the significance of first layer in Stacked Sparse Denoising Auto-encoder and propose a novel feature extraction for the proposed image enhancement scheme. Experiment results prove that the novel feature extraction is free from some artifacts on the edges such as blocking artifacts, “gradient reversal”, and pseudo contours. Compared with other enhancement methods, the proposed method achieves the best performance in infrared image enhancement.     

Multi-sparse dictionary colorization algorithm based on the feature classification and detail enhancement

For the problems of missing details and performance of the colorization based on sparse representation, we propose a conceptual model framework for colorizing gray-scale images, and then a multi-sparse dictionary colorization algorithm based on the feature classification and detail enhancement (CEMDC) is proposed based on this framework. The algorithm can achieve a natural colorized effect for a gray-scale image, and it is consistent with the human vision. First, the algorithm establishes a multi-sparse dictionary classification colorization model. Then, to improve the accuracy rate of the classification, the corresponding local constraint algorithm is proposed. Finally, we propose a detail enhancement based on Laplacian Pyramid, which is effective in solving the problem of missing details and improving the speed of image colorization. In addition, the algorithm not only realizes the colorization of the visual gray-scale image, but also can be applied to the other areas, such as color transfer between color images, colorizing gray fusion images, and infrared images.     

Gaussian mixture model-based gradient field reconstruction for infrared image detail enhancement and denoising

Infrared images are characterized by low signal-to-noise ratio and low contrast. Therefore, the edge details are easily immerged in the background and noise, making it much difficult to achieve infrared image edge detail enhancement and denoising. This article proposes a novel method of Gaussian mixture model-based gradient field reconstruction, which enhances image edge details while suppressing noise. First, by analyzing the gradient histogram of noisy infrared image, Gaussian mixture model is adopted to simulate the distribution of the gradient histogram, and divides the image information into three parts corresponding to faint details, noise and the edges of clear targets, respectively. Then, the piecewise function is constructed based on the characteristics of the image to increase gradients of faint details and suppress gradients of noise. Finally, anisotropic diffusion constraint is added while visualizing enhanced image from the transformed gradient field to further suppress noise. The experimental results show that the method possesses unique advantage of effectively enhancing infrared image edge details and suppressing noise as well, compared with the existing methods. In addition, it can be used to effectively enhance other types of images such as the visible and medical images.     

基于光照-反射成像模型和形态学操作的多谱段图像增强算法

为解决多谱段降质图像增强问题,提出了一种基于光照-反射成像模型和形态学操作的多谱段图像增强算法.首先对图像饱和度使用自适应非线性拉伸函数进行拉伸,使增强后的图像色彩更加饱和、自然;接下来利用引导滤波算法提取出图像的光照分量,提出了一种基于细节特征的加权融合策略,利用光照分布特性构造了一种自适应Gamma校正函数对光照分量进行处理,并将其与利用对比度受限的自适应直方图均衡化方法处理后的光照分量以及原始光照分量进行融合;然后在反射分量校正时,构造了一种形态学操作函数来校正反射信息;最后合并光照分量和反射分量,并与处理后的饱和度分量和色调分量一起得到增强图像.采用主客观评价指标对可见光低照度图像、水下图像、高动态范围图像、沙尘暴图像、雾天图像和热红外图像6种降质多谱段图像实验结果进行分析比较,结果表明本文算法能够有效地抑制图像噪声、增强图像细节信息、改善图像视觉效果,可应用于多种图像增强领域.     

Variational infrared image enhancement based on adaptive dual-threshold gradient field equalization

Infrared images are characterized by low signal to noise ratio (SNR) and fuzzy texture edges. This article introduces the variational infrared image enhancement algorithm based on gradient field equalization with adaptive dual thresholds. Firstly, we transform the image into gradient domain and get the gradient histogram. Then, we do the gradient histogram equalization. By setting adaptive dual thresholds to qualify the gradients, the image is prevented from over enhancement. The total variation (TV) model is adopted in the reconstruction of the enhanced image to suppress noise. It is shown from experimental results that the image edge details are significantly enhanced, and therefore the algorithm is qualified for enhancement of infrared images in different applications.     

基于TMS320C6678的高动态范围红外图像细节增强算法改进与实现

利用图像分层处理的细节增强基本框架,提出了一种基于引导滤波器的高动态范围红外图像显示与细节增强算法。该算法能有效将高动态范围红外图像映射到适合监视器显示的动态范围,且能有效调整图像对比度,增强图像细节,抑制背景噪声。相比较于其他同类算法,该算法计算量少,易于工程实现,且不会产生梯度翻转效应。并研究设计了基于TMS320C6678DSP芯片的细节增强图像处理系统,实现了图像视频流的传输、处理等系列功能。实验结果表明了本算法的优势。     

Image enhancement algorithm based on improved lateral inhibition network

There is often substantial noise and blurred details in the images captured by cameras. To solve this problem, we propose a novel image enhancement algorithm combined with an improved lateral inhibition network. Firstly, we built a mathematical model of a lateral inhibition network in conjunction with biological visual perception; this model helped to realize enhanced contrast and improved edge definition in images. Secondly, we proposed that the adaptive lateral inhibition coefficient adhere to an exponential distribution thus making the model more flexible and more universal. Finally, we added median filtering and a compensation measure factor to build the framework with high pass filtering functionality thus eliminating image noise and improving edge contrast, addressing problems with blurred image edges. Our experimental results show that our algorithm is able to eliminate noise and the blurring phenomena, and enhance the details of visible and infrared images.     

Hierarchical image enhancement

Image enhancement is an important technique in computer vision. In this paper, we propose a hierarchical image enhancement approach based on the structure layer and texture layer. In the structure layer, we propose a structure-based method based on GMM, which better exploits structure details with fewer noise. In the texture layer, we present a structure-filtering method to filter unwanted texture with keeping completeness of detected salient structure. Next, we introduce a structure constraint prior to integrate them, leading to an improved enhancement result. Extensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed approach achieves higher quality results than previous approaches.     

Multi-window visual saliency extraction for fusion of visible and infrared images

Fusion for visible and infrared images aims to combine the source images of the same scene into a single image with more feature information and better visual performance. In this paper, the authors propose a fusion method based on multi-window visual saliency extraction for visible and infrared images. To extract feature information from infrared and visible images, we design local-window-based frequency-tuned method. With this idea, visual saliency maps are calculated for variable feature information under different local window. These maps show the weights of people’s attention upon images for each pixel and region. Enhanced fusion is done using simple weight combination way. Compared with the classical and state-of-the-art approaches, the experimental results demonstrate the proposed approach runs efficiently and performs better than other methods, especially in visual performance and details enhancement.     

基于双边纹理滤波的图像细节增强方法

为了实现图像的细节增强,特别是纹理细节增强,同时尽可能保持图像的结构完整,提出了一种基于双边纹理滤波的图像多尺度分解方法。首先,对图像进行多尺度双边纹理滤波分解,分别得到一幅基本图像和一系列细节纹理图像。接着,类似于小波增强方法,对细节图像采用多尺度自适应增强方法,得到一系列增强后的纹理细节图像。最后,将基本图像和增强后细节图像相加,重构出最后的增强图像。实验结果表明:本文提出的增强方法能够在突出边缘的同时,较好地增强图像中的纹理细节信息。将基于双边纹理滤波的多尺度分解引入图像增强,能更好地体现图像纹理细节特征,为增强图像提供更加丰富的信息。     

基于互结构正则约束的红外偏振图像增强算法

为有效改善红外偏振图像视觉效应,提高红外偏振成像质量,提出了基于互结构正则约束的红外偏振图像增强算法。根据红外偏振特性描述,对Stokes参数Q分量与U分量进行加权邻域梯度融合,获得起偏特征图像,捕获目标边缘、轮廓的偏振特性;提出互结构正则约束模型,以梯度幅值相似算子联合正则约束融合结果与起偏特征图像的边缘结构相似性,及与辐射强度图像的灰度一致性,优化得到增强后的高质量红外偏振图像。实验结果表明,基于互结构正则约束的红外偏振图像增强算法,能有效提高红外偏振图像对比度与清晰度,同时提升复杂背景下人造目标边缘轮廓的偏振显著性,算法快速,工程实时性高.     

基于多引导滤波的图像增强算法

图像增强技术可以有效地突出图像中的有用信息,已广泛应用于多个领域.现有的图像增强算法往往无法应对自然图像中复杂的梯度分布,难以准确保持图像中前景与背景的边缘信息.为了改善输出图像的边界过平滑问题,本文提出了一个基于多引导滤波的图像增强算法.首先,设计了一个以滤波核为变量的通用图像优化模型,现有的联合滤波器可视为该模型的解;然后,依据集成学习的思想,将联合滤波器中的单幅引导图像扩展到多幅,以更好地利用引导图中的结构信息进而获得更好的输出结果,并给出了一个多幅引导图的来源途径;最后,对多幅输出图像进行平滑,在图像优化模型中加入正则化项,以确保由多引导滤波得到的不同滤波输出保持一致.实验结果表明,本文算法在抑制图像噪声的同时,可以更好地保留物体的边界信息,从而使图像的信噪比进一步提升.     

极值温差红外图像的自适应双局部增强算法

针对目前红外焦平面成像系统在观察目标、特别是极值温差目标时,各温度段灰度描述不均匀和细节不够的问题,提出了一种自适应红外图像双局部增强算法。详细介绍了通过空间分布和灰度统计特性两个方向实现对极值温差图像自适应增强的方法,该方法首先从红外图像的空间分布特性出发,将图像切割成多个局部图像,然后再从直方图灰度分布出发,将局部图像的直方图进行聚类分段,并对分段直方图均衡增强,最后对生成的每个局部图像增强结果进行线性插值拼接完成增强算法。通过在红外焦平面系统中实验证明了极值温差自适应的红外图像双局部增强算法的可行性,并获得了很好的效果,成像质量有明显提高。     

Motion deblurring using edge map with blurred/noisy image pairs

Motion deblurring methods using blurred/noisy image pairs usually include denoising process of the noisy image. Because both remaining noise and distorted fine details in the denoised image cause an error on deblurring, we propose an algorithm using an edge map of the noisy image to retain sharp edge information while neglecting noise in any smooth region that does not contain information about the motion that occurred during the exposure. In addition, the blur kernel is efficiently estimated by employing the fast total variation regularization method for the gradients of blurred and noisy images only on edge regions. For latent image restoration, another fidelity term is added, which compares the gradients of the noisy and estimated latent images on edge regions to preserve the fine details of the noisy image. To model a sparse distribution of real-world image gradients, a deconvolution method imposing hyper-Laplacian priors based on an alternating minimization scheme is also derived to restore a latent image efficiently. Experimental results show that the peak signal-to-noise ratios of the restored images against the original latent images have been increased by 11.1% on average, when compared to the existing algorithms using an image pair.     

High dynamic range compression and detail enhancement of infrared images in the gradient domain

To find the trade-off between providing an accurate perception of the global scene and improving the visibility of details without excessively distorting radiometric infrared information, a novel gradient-domain-based visualization method for high dynamic range infrared images is proposed in this study. The proposed method adopts an energy function which includes a data constraint term and a gradient constraint term. In the data constraint term, the classical histogram projection method is used to perform the initial dynamic range compression to obtain the desired pixel values and preserve the global contrast. In the gradient constraint term, the moment matching method is adopted to obtain the normalized image; then a gradient gain factor function is designed to adjust the magnitudes of the normalized image gradients and obtain the desired gradient field. Lastly, the low dynamic range image is solved from the proposed energy function. The final image is obtained by linearly mapping the low dynamic range image to the 8-bit display range. The effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method are analyzed using the infrared images obtained from different operating conditions. Compared with other well-established methods, our method shows a significant performance in terms of dynamic range compression, while enhancing the details and avoiding the common artifacts, such as halo, gradient reversal, hazy or saturation.     

Fusion of visible and infrared images using global entropy and gradient constrained regularization

Infrared and visible image fusion has been an important and popular topic in imaging science. Dual-band image fusion aims to extract both target regions in infrared image and abundant detail information in visible image into fused result, preserving even enhancing the information that inherits from source images. In our study, we propose an optimization-based fusion method by combining global entropy and gradient constrained regularization. We design a cost function by taking the advantages of global maximum entropy as the first term, together with gradient constraint as the regularized term. In this cost function, global maximum entropy could make the fused result inherit as more information as possible from sources. And using gradient constraint, the fused result would have clear details and edges with noise suppression. The fusion is achieved based on the minimization of the cost function by adding weight value matrix. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method performs well and has obvious superiorities over other typical algorithms in both subjective visual performance and objective criteria.     

Noise suppression and details enhancement for infrared image via novel prior

Infrared images always suffer from blurring edges, fewer details and low signal-to-noise ratio. So, sharpening edges and suppressing noise become the urgent techniques in infrared image technology field. However, they are contradictories in most cases. Hence, to depict correctly infrared image features under low signal-to-noise ratio circumstance, a novel prior, which is immune to noise, is presented in this paper. The proposed method scopes noise suppression and details enhancement. In noise suppression, the prior is introduced into Bayesian model to obtain optimal estimation through iteration. In details enhancement, based on the proposed prior, the final image is obtained by the improved unsharp mask algorithm which enhances adaptively details and edges of optimal estimation. The effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method is analyzed by testing the infrared images obtained from different signal-to-noise ratio conditions. Compared with other well-established methods, the proposed method shows a significant performance in terms of noise suppression, actual scene reappearance, enhancing the details and sharpening edges.     

真彩色传递双波段图像融合

针对基于颜色传递的双波段（中波红外、可见光）图像融合时,由于参考图像选择不当,造成的彩色融合图像对比度差、图像边缘细节下降等问题,提出了基于拉普拉斯金字塔分解及对比度可调的色彩传递图像融合算法。对待融合的两幅图像进行拉普拉斯金字塔三级分解,每一级按照不同的融合规则进行融合,以重构后的灰度融合图像作为融合结构的亮度分量Y,将可见光与红外图像的差值图像作为U分量,以红外图像为V分量。在颜色传递公式中,加入可调的比例系数,通过适当调节比例系数可调节融合图像的对比度。实验结果表明,获得的融合图像较好地保留了可见光图像的细节,既突出了红外目标同时又具有参考图像的颜色特征。图像评价结果表明,融合图像的均值、方差、熵等评价指标均得到较大提高。     

Multi-frame blind deconvolution using sparse priors

In this paper, we propose a method for multi-frame blind deconvolution. Two sparse priors, i.e., the natural image gradient prior and an l₁-norm based prior are used to regularize the latent image and point spread functions (PSFs) respectively. An alternating minimization approach is adopted to solve the resulted optimization problem. We use both gray scale blurred frames from a data set and some colored ones which are captured by a digital camera to verify the robustness of our approach. Experimental results show that the proposed method can accurately reconstruct PSFs with complex structures and the restored images are of high quality.     

An improved fusion algorithm for infrared and visible images based on multi-scale transform

In this paper, an improved fusion algorithm for infrared and visible images based on multi-scale transform is proposed. First of all, Morphology-Hat transform is used for an infrared image and a visible image separately. Then two images were decomposed into high-frequency and low-frequency images by contourlet transform (CT). The fusion strategy of high-frequency images is based on mean gradient and the fusion strategy of low-frequency images is based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Finally, the final fused image is obtained by using the inverse contourlet transform (ICT). The experiments and results demonstrate that the proposed method can significantly improve image fusion performance, accomplish notable target information and high contrast and preserve rich details information at the same time.