Lecture notes Digital Image Processing by Jorma Kekalainen

Digital Image Processing

Jorma Kekalainen

Contents
• Introduction to images and image processing
• Electromagnetic radiation and image formation
• Image acquisition and sensing
• Use of Matlab
• Images and Matlab
• Image display
• Point operations and histograms
• Spatial filtering
• Noises and noise cleaning
• Differences and edges
• Fourier transforms and frequency filtering
• Color models and processing

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Lecture notes Digital Image Processing by Jorma Kekalainen

Literature and sources

• An Introduction to Digital Image Processing
with Matlab; Notes for Image Processing by
Alasdair McAndrew
• Digital Image Processing by Gonzalez & Woods
• Image processing course material in Internet
• Matlab® virtual manuals

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Digital Image Processing

Introduction to Image
and Image Processing

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Image and picture

• For our purposes, an image is a single picture
which represents something.
• It may be a picture of a person, of people or
animals, or of an outdoor scene, or a
microphotograph of an electronic component,
or the result of medical imaging.
• Even if the picture is not immediately
recognizable, it will not be just a random blur.

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What is image processing?

• Image processing involves changing the nature of an image
in order to either
– 1) improve its pictorial information for human interpretation,
– 2) render it more suitable for autonomous machine perception.
• These two aspects represent two separate but equally
important aspects of image processing.
• A procedure which satisfies the first condition - a
procedure which makes an image look better - may be the
very worst procedure for satisfying the second condition.
• Humans like their images to be sharp, clear and detailed;
machines prefer their images to be simple and uncluttered.

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Improving pictorial information

for human interpretation
• Enhancing the edges of an image to make it
appear sharper.
– Sharpening edges is a vital component of printing.
– In order for an image to appear at its best on the
printed page some sharpening is usually
performed.
• Removing noise from an image.
– Noise being random errors in the image.
• Removing motion blur from an image.

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Image sharpening
• Original image • Enhanced original

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Processed images

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Image sharpening

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Thumb print

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Removing motion blur

• Original, blurry image • Enhanced image

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Removing motion blur from an

image
• Blurred image • Restored image

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Image corrupted by noise

• X-ray image of circuit • Noise reduction with a
board corrupted by salt- 3 x3 median filter.
and-pepper noise.

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Image scrambling: Same information?!

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Rendering images more suitable for

autonomous machine perception
• Examples may include:
Obtaining the edges of an image.
– This may be necessary for the measurement of objects in an
image.
– Once we have the edges we can measure their spread, and the
area contained within them.
– We can also use edge detection algorithms as a first step in edge
enhancement.
Removing details from an image.
– For measurement or counting purposes, we may not be
interested in all the detail in an image.
– For example, a machine inspected items on an assembly line,
the only matters of interest may be shape, size or color.
– For such cases, we might want to simplify the image.

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Images and edges

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Automated visual inspection of

manufactured goods etc.

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Imaging – the creation of images

• Examples of different sources
– Electromagnetic radiation
• Transmitted gamma-rays
• Transmitted and reconstructed gamma-rays, Single
Photon Emission Tomography (SPECT)
• Emitted and reconstructed gamma-rays, Positron
Emission Tomography (PET)
• Transmitted and reconstructed X-rays, Computed
Tomography (CT)

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Imaging – the creation of images

• Examples of different sources
– Electromagnetic radiation
• Excitation rays from ultraviolet light, fluorescence
microscopy
• Reflected rays from visible light
• Reflected infrared rays
• Emitted radio waves + magnetic fields and
reconstruction => magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
– Ultrasound
• Transmitted and reflected ultrasound
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Image
• Suppose we take an image, e.g. a photo.
• Suppose the photo is black and white (that is, lots of
shades of gray), so no color.
• We may consider this image as being a two
dimensional function f(x,y), where the function values
give the brightness of the image at any given point
(x,y).
• In other words, there is a function f that depends on
the spatial (room) coordinates x and y.
• We may assume that in such an image brightness
values can be any real numbers in the range 0 (black)
to 1 (white).

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Digital image
• A digital image differs from a photo in that the x, y and f(x,y)
values are all discrete.
• Usually they take on only integer values, so e.g. x and y
ranging from 1 to 256 each, and the) brightness values also
ranging from 0 (black) to 255 (white).
• A digital image can be considered as a large array of discrete
dots, each of which has a brightness associated with it.
• These dots are picture elements called pixels.
• Surroundings of a given pixel form a neighborhood.
• A neighborhood can be characterized by its shape in the same
way as a matrix.
– E.g. we can speak of a 5*5 neighborhood, or of a 7*9 neighborhood.
Note: Except in very special circumstances, neighborhoods have odd numbers of rows and
Jorma Kekalainen
columns, because this ensures thatDigital Image Processing
the current 22
pixel is in the centre of the neighborhood.

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Example of a digital image

pixel =
picture element

Zoom

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Original image: 500x340
Digital Image Processing 23
pixels

Digital image: Formal definition

• A digital image, I, is a mapping from a 2D grid of uniformly
spaced discrete points, {p = (r,c)}, into a set of positive integer
values, {I( p)}, or a set of vector values, e.g., {[R G B]T( p)}.
• At each column location in each row of I there is a value.
• The pair ( p, I( p) ) is called a “pixel” (for picture element).
• p = (r,c) is the pixel location indexed by row, r, and column, c.
• I( p) = I(r,c) is the value of the pixel at location p.
• If I( p) is a single number then I is monochrome.
• If I( p) is a vector (ordered list of numbers) then I has multiple
bands (e.g., a color image).

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Pixel: [ p, I(p)]

c
Value: I(p)=I(r,c)

r Location: p=(r,c)

Pixel Location: p = (r , c)
Pixel Value: I(p) = I(r , c)

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Pixel: [ p, I(p)]

c
Value: I(p)=I(r,c)

r Location: p=(r,c)

 red 
p=(r,c)  
=(row#, col#) I (p ) = green 
 blue 
 
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Example
Pixels and a neighborhood

Current pixel

3*5 neighborhood
Note: If a neighborhood has an even number of rows or columns (or both), it may
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be necessary to specify which pixel inDigital
theImage Processing
neighborhood is the current pixel. 27

Digital image processing

• We shall be concerned with digital image
processing, which involves using a computer
to change the nature of a digital image.
DFT of the small circle

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Some applications
• Image processing has an enormous range of applications in almost
every area of science and technology e.g.,
• Industry
– Automatic inspection of items on a production line
• Agriculture
– Satellite/aerial views of land, for example to determine how much
land is being used for different purposes, or to investigate the
suitability of different regions for different crops, or inspection of fruit
and vegetables - distinguishing good and fresh produce from old.
• Medicine
– Inspection and interpretation of images obtained from X-rays, MRI
(magnetic resonance imaging) or CT scans.
• Law enforcement:
– Fingerprint analysis,
– Sharpening or de-blurring of speed-camera images,
– All kinds of surveillance camera applications

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Aspects of image processing

• It is convenient to subdivide different image processing
algorithms into broad subclasses.
• There are different algorithms for different tasks and
problems, and often we would like to distinguish the nature
of the task at hand.
– Image enhancement refers to processing an image so that the
result is more suitable for a particular application.
– Image restoration may be considered as reversing the damage
done to an image by a known cause.
– Image analysis or segmentation involves subdividing an image
into principal parts, or isolating certain aspects of an image.
• These classes are not disjoint.
– A given algorithm may be used for both image enhancement or
for image restoration.

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Example: Image enhancement

• Image enhancement refers to processing an image so that
the result is more suitable for a particular application:
– sharpening or de-blurring an out of focus image,
– highlighting edges,
– improving image contrast, or brightening an image,
– removing noise
• Image enhancement techniques bring out the detail in an
image that is obscured or highlight certain features of
interest in an image.
• Image enhancement techniques, such as contrast
adjustment and filtering, typically return a modified version
of the original image.
– These techniques are frequently used as a preprocessing step to
improve the results of image analysis.
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Example: Image restoration

• Image restoration may be considered as
reversing the damage done to an image by a
known cause:
– removing of blur caused by linear camera motion,
– removal of optical distortions,
– removing periodic interference.

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Example: Image analysis or

segmentation
• Image analysis is the process of extracting meaningful
information from images such as finding shapes, counting
objects, identifying colors, or measuring object properties.
• Image segmentation is the process of partitioning an image
into parts or regions
– finding lines, circles, or particular shapes in an image,
– in an aerial photograph: identifying cars, trees, buildings, or
roads.
• This division into parts is often based on the characteristics
of the pixels in the image.
• E.g., one way to find regions in an image is to look for abrupt
discontinuities in pixel values, which typically indicate edges.
• These edges can define regions.
• Another method is to divide the image into regions based
on color values.
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Types of digital images

• We shall consider four basic types of images:
– Binary
– Grayscale
– True color, or RGB
– Indexed

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Digital image

a grid of squares,
each of which
contains a single
color

each square is
called a pixel (for
picture element)

Color images have 3 values per pixel; monochrome

images have 1 value per pixel.
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Binary image
• Each pixel is just black or white.
• Since there are only two possible values for
each pixel, we only need one bit per pixel.
• Such images can therefore be very efficient in
terms of storage.
• Images for which a binary representation may
be suitable include text (printed or
handwriting), fingerprints, blueprints,
architectural plans etc.
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Example: Binary image

In this image, we have only the two

colors: black for the edges, and
white for the background or the
Jorma Kekalainen other way round.
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Grayscale
• Each pixel is a shade of gray, normally from 0 (black) to
255 (white).
• This range means that each pixel can be represented by
eight bits i.e. exactly one byte.
• This is a very natural range for image file handling.
• Other grayscale ranges are used, but generally they are
a power of 2.
• Such images arise in medicine (X-rays), images of
printed works, and indeed 256 different gray levels is
sufficient for the recognition of most natural objects.

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Example: Grayscale image

C(150:170,210:235)

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Color images
• Are constructed from
three intensity maps.
• Each intensity map is
projected through a color
filter (e.g., red, green, or
blue, or cyan, magenta, or
yellow) to create a
monochrome image.
• The intensity maps are
overlaid to create a color
image.
• Each pixel in a color image
is a three element vector.
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Primary and secondary colors of

light (Additive color mixing)
Here, secondary colors are mixtures of two primary colors.

yellow = red + green

cyan = green + blue
magenta = red + blue

CRT
LCD
plasma

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Color images
• Formation of a vector from corresponding pixel
values in three RGB component images

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True color or RGB

• Here each pixel has a particular color; that color being
described by the amount of red, green and blue in it.
• If each of these components has a range 0 to 255, this
gives a total of 2563 =16777200 different possible colors in
the image.
• This is enough colors for any image.
• Since the total number of bits required for each pixel is 24
such images are also called 24-bit color images.
• Such an image may be considered as consisting of a stack of
three matrices representing the red, green and blue values
for each pixel.
• This means that for every pixel there correspond three
values.

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Example: True color image

Red Green Blue

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Example: Numerical values of

some discrete pixels

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Indexed image
• Most color images only have a small subset of the
more than sixteen million possible colors.
• For convenience of storage and file handling, the image
has an associated color map, or color palette, which is
simply a list of all the colors used in that image.
• Each pixel has a value which does not give its color (as
for an RGB image), but an index to the color in the
map.
• It is convenient if an image has 256 colors or less, for
then the index values will only require one byte each to
store.

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Example: Indexed image

Indices Color map

• In this image the indices, rather then being the gray values
of the pixels, are simply indices into the color map.
• Without the color map, the image would be very dark and
colorless.
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Example: Indexed image

• In this image the indices are simply indices into the color map.
Color map

0.1451 0.1176 0.1412

0.7451 0.2627 0.2314
0.7412 0.5451 0.6392
0.2392 0.2588 0.4000
0.8706 0.6941 0.1490
0.8706 0.8431 0.8196

Without the color map,

this image would be
nearly black, because
here the maximum index
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Example
A small index sample from the previous image
>> ind(117:123,347:352) Color map
ans =
0.1451 0.1176 0.1412
2 1 2 1 1 4 0.7451 0.2627 0.2314
1 4 4 1 1 1 0.7412 0.5451 0.6392
2 1 4 4 1 4 0.2392 0.2588 0.4000
5 5 2 2 1 1 0.8706 0.6941 0.1490
0.8706 0.8431 0.8196
5 5 5 5 5 1
5 5 5 5 5 5
5 5 5 5 5 5

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Image file sizes

• Image files tend to be large.
• For example, suppose we consider a 512*512
binary image.
• The number of bits used in this image
(assuming no compression, and neglecting any
header information) is
512*512*1 bit = 262 144 bits =32768 bytes
= 32.768 kB ≈ 0.033 MB
Note: Here we use the convention that a kilobyte is one thousand bytes, and a
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megabyte is one million bytes.

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Image file sizes

• A grayscale image of the same size requires:
512*512*1 byte = 262 144 bytes ≈ 262.14 kB
≈ 0.262MB
• In color images each pixel is associated with
3 bytes of color information.
• A 512*512 image thus requires
512*512*3 bytes = 786 432 bytes ≈ 786.43 kB
≈ 0.786 MB

Note: Many images are of course much larger than this. E.g. satellite images may be of
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the order of ten thousand pixels in each direction.

Example: “A picture is worth one

thousand words”
• Let’s test the well-known proverb “A picture is worth
one thousand words”.
• Assuming a word to contain 10 ASCII characters (on
average), and that each character requires 8 bits of
storage, then 1000 words contain
1000*10*8 = 80 000 bits of information
• This is roughly equivalent to the information in a
283*283 binary image
100*100 grayscale image
58*58 RGB color image
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Image perception
• Much of image processing is concerned with
making an image appear better to human eyes.
• We should therefore be aware of the limitations
of the human visual system.
• Image perception consists of two basic steps:
– capturing the image with the eye,
– recognizing and interpreting the image with the visual
cortex in the brain.
• The combination and immense variability of
these steps influences the ways in we perceive
the world around us.
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Eye works rather much like a

camera
Reflected light from Retina is
the object the sensor
Lens

upside down
Focal length

But the brain performs some more processing that

gives rise to visual phenomena…
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Color vision
• The human eye has cones which are sensitive to
different wavelength bands

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Absorption of light by
the cones in the human eye

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Example: Visual phenomenon

• Observed intensities vary as to the
background.
• A single block of gray will appear darker if
placed on a white background than if it were
placed on a black background.
• That is, we don't perceive gray scales as they
are, but rather as they differ from their
surroundings.

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Example: Visual phenomenon

A gray square on different backgrounds

Notice how much darker the square appears when it is

surrounded by a light gray. However, the three central squares
have
Jormaexactly
Kekalainen the same intensity.
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Example: Visual phenomenon

Gray scale
image:

Actual
intensity:

Perceived
intensity:
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Intensity resolution
• We can only resolve 26=64 or at most 27=128 intensity levels
on an ordinary computer screen.
• Based on hardware considerations, grayscale images are
usually stored with 8 bits per pixels, i.e. 28=256 intensity
levels.
• Some images are stored with more than 8 bits per pixels.
• E.g., CT images are stored with 12 bits per pixels, i.e. 212=4096
intensity levels.
• During image processing, pixels can preferably be stored with
more than 8 bits or floating point numbers.
• Color images are usually stored with 3x8 bits per pixels, 28 red
intensity levels, 28 green intensity levels and 28 blue intensity
levels giving 224 > 16 million different colors.
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Spatial resolution
• Spatial resolution is a measure
of the smallest discernible • Newspaper: 75 dpi
detail in the image. • Magazine: 133 dpi
• Two common measures: • Glossy brochures: 175 dpi
– lp/mm (line pair/mm), • Gonzalez & Woods: 2400
– dpi (dot/inch) dpi
5 discernible 6 dots
line pairs (lp) per inch, 6 dpi
per mm, 5 lp/mm

A newspaper
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Image sampling and quantization

Continuous Line A-B

image from
image

After
sampling After
quantization

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Digital image acquisition

Typically camera
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Digital image sensor

A continuous image projected Result after sampling

onto the sensor array and quantization
For a color
image, there
are 3 different
types of sensor
elements:
red, green and
blue

Sensor element

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Grayscale color map (256 colors)

Pixel value f(x,y)

Linear transformation

A D/A-converter
converts a digital
value to an To D/A-converter and
further to the screen
analog value, an
electrical voltage
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True color map Over 16

million
colors

To D/A-converter and To D/A-converter and To D/A-converter and

further to the red further to the green further to the blue
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channel of the screen. channel of the screen. channel of the screen.

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Example: Different colormaps

>> x=magic(6)
x=
35 1 6 26 19 24
3 32 7 21 23 25
31 9 2 22 27 20
8 28 33 17 10 15
30 5 34 12 14 16
4 36 29 13 18 11
>> imagesc(x)

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Electromagnetic spectrum and

colors

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Electromagnetic spectrum and

colors
• Note that the visible spectrum is a rather narrow
portion of the EM spectrum.

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Digital Image Processing

Electromagnetic Radiation
and Image Formation

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EM radiation
• Electromagnetic radiation is energy which
propagate through space as electromagnetic
waves
• The waves consist of transversal electrical and
magnetic fields that alternate with a temporal
frequency ν (Hertz) and spatial wavelength λ
(meter)

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Frequency and wavelength

• The relation between frequency and
wavelength is
c=λν
• c is the speed of light and depends on the
medium, c ≤ c0
• c0 = speed of light in vacuum ≈ 3·108 m/s

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Particles and energy

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Particles and energy

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Spectrum
• In practice, light consists of
– photons with a range of energies, or
– waves with a range of frequencies
• This mix of frequencies/wavelengths/energies is
called the spectrum of the light.
• The spectrum gives the total amount of energy
for each frequency/wavelength/energy.
• Monochromatic light consists of only one
frequency/wavelength
– Can be produced by special light sources, e.g., lasers

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Spectrum

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Color spectrum
• In 1666, Newton discovered that sunlight (white light) passing
through a glass prism split up into a color spectrum of wave
lengths in the interval 400-700nm.

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Color wavelength

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Classification of EM spectrum

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Polarization
• The electromagnetic field has a direction
– Perpendicular to the direction of motion
• The polarization of the light is defined as the
direction of the electric field.
• Natural light is a mix waves with polarization
in all possible directions: it is unpolarized
light.
• Special light sources or filters can produce
polarized light of well-defined polarization.
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Polarization
• Plane polarization
– The electric field varies only in a single plane

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Polarization
• Circular/elliptical polarization
– The electric field vector rotates
– Can be constructed as the sum of two plane polarized
waves with 90o phase shift

• Conversely: plane polarized light can be

decomposed as a sum of two circular polarized
waves that rotate in opposite directions.

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Coherence
• The phase of the light waves can either be
– random: incoherent light (natural light)
– in a systematic relation: coherent light
• Coherent light is related to monochromatic
light sources
• Compare a red LED and a red laser
– Both produce light within a narrow range
– The LED light is incoherent
– The laser light is coherent

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Radiation energy
• Light radiation has energy
– Each photon has a particular energy related to its
frequency (E = h ν)
– The number of photons of a particular frequency
gives the amount of energy for this frequency
– Described by the spectrum
– Unit: Joule (J=Ws =Watt second)
– Is usually not measured directly.

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Radiation power
• The power of the radiation, i.e., the energy
per unit time, is the radiant flux
– Since the energy depends on the frequency, so
does the radiant flux
– Unit: Watt (W=J/s= Joule per second)
– Is usually not measured directly.

Note: Radiant flux is one of radiometric quantities. Radiometry is a set of techniques

for measuring electromagnetic radiation, including visible light. Radiometric
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techniques in optics characterize theDigital Image Processing
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Radiant flux density

• The radiant flux per unit area is the flux density
– Since the flux depends on the frequency, so does the flux
density
– Unit: Watt per square meter As the energy propagates
through a area during a
– Can be measured directly!
specific time interval

• Irradiance is the radiant flux received by a surface per unit

area
• Excitance or emittance (old term): flux density emitted from a
surface

Note: Irradiance is often called "intensity" in branches of physics other than

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radiometry, but in radiometry this usage leads to confusion with radiant intensity.

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Radiant intensity
• For point sources, or distant sources of small
extent, the flux density can also be measured per
unit solid angle

• The radiant intensity is the radiant flux per unit

solid angle
– Unit: W/sr= Watt per steradian

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Basic principle
• Preservation of energy ⇒ A constant light
source must produce the same amount of
energy through a solid angle regardless of
distance to the source
– The radiant intensity is constant
– The radiant flux density decreases with the square
of the distance to the source

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Radiometric chain

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Interaction between light and

matter
• Most types of light-matter interactions can be
represented by
n = the material’s refractive index
α = the material’s absorption coefficient
• Both parameters depend on λ.
• More complex interactions include
polarization effects or non-linear effects.

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Light incident upon a surface

• When light meets a surface
– Some part of it is transmitted through the new
media
• Possibly with another speed and direction
– Some part of it is absorbed by the new media
• Usually: the light energy is transformed to heat
– Some part of it is reflected
• All these effects are different for different
wavelengths!
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Basic principle
• Based on preservation of energy:
E0 = E1 + E2 + E3

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Refraction
• The light that is transmitted into the new
medium is refracted due to the change in light
speed
• Snell’s law of refraction:

Snell's law states that the ratio of the sines of the

angles of incidence and refraction is equivalent to
the ratio of phase velocities in the two media, or
equivalent to the reciprocal of the ratio of the
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indices of refraction:

Absorption
• Absorption implies attenuation of transmitted
or reflected light
• Materials get their colors as a result of
different amount of absorption for different
wavelengths
– E.g., A red object attenuates wavelengths in the
red band less than in other bands.

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Absorption
• The absorption of light in matter depends on the
length that the light travels through the material

• a = attenuation of the light (0 ≤ a ≤ 1)

• α = the material’s absorption coefficient
• x = length that the light travels in the material

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Absorption spectrum
• The spectrum of the reflected/transmitted
light is given by

• s1 = incident spectrum
• s2 = reflected/transmitted spectrum
• a = absorption spectrum ( 0 ≤ a(ν) ≤ 1)

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Reflection
• Highly dependent on the surface type

• A real surface is often a mix between the two

cases
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Emission
• Almost independent of its interaction with
incident light:
– Any object, even one that is not considered a light
source, emits electromagnetic radiation
• Primarily in the IR-band, based on its
temperature.

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Scattering
• All mediums (except vacuum) scatter light
– E.g., air, water, glass etc.
• We can think of the medium as consisting of
small particles and with some probability they
reflect the light
– In any possible direction
– Different probability for different directions
– Weak effect and roughly proportional to λ-4
– In general, the probability depends also on the
distribution of particle sizes

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Scattering
• Scattering means that the
light ray does not travel
along a straight line
through the medium
– There is a probability that a
certain photon exits the
medium in another
direction than it entered.
• Examples:
– The sky is blue because of
scattering of the sun light
– A strong laser beam
becomes visible in air

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