Digital Image Processing

IMAGE ENHANCEMENT
(SPATIAL FILTERING 2)
 Contents

In this lecture we will look at more spatial filtering

techniques
 Spatial filtering refresher
 Sharpening filters
 1st derivative filters
 2nd derivative filters
 Combining filtering techniques
 Spatial Filtering Refresher
Origin x
a b c r s t
d
g
e
h
f
i
* u
x
v
y
w
z
Original Image Filter
Simple 3*3 Pixels
e 3*3 Filter
Neighbourhood
eprocessed = v*e +
r*a + s*b + t*c +
u*d + w*f +
y Image f (x, y) x*g + y*h + z*i

The above is repeated for every pixel in the

original image to generate the smoothed image
 Sharpening Spatial Filters

Previously we have looked at smoothing filters which

remove fine detail
Sharpening spatial filters seek to highlight fine detail
 Remove blurring from images
 Highlight edges
Sharpening filters are based on spatial differentiation
 Spatial Differentiation

Differentiation measures the rate of change of a

Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

function
Let’s consider a simple 1 dimensional example
Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

A
B
Spatial Differentiation
 1st Derivative

The formula for the 1st derivative of a function is as

follows:
f
 f ( x  1)  f ( x)
x
It’s just the difference between subsequent values and
measures the rate of change of the function
 1st Derivative (cont…)

5 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 7 7 7 7

0 -1 -1 -1 -1 0 0 6 -6 0 0 0 1 2 -2 -1 0 0 0 7 0 0 0
 2nd Derivative

The formula for the 2nd derivative of a function is as

follows:
 f
2
 f ( x  1)  f ( x  1)  2 f ( x)
 x
2
Simply takes into account the values both before and
after the current value
 2nd Derivative (cont…)

5 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 7 7 7 7

-1 0 0 0 0 1 0 6 -12 6 0 0 1 1 -4 1 1 0 0 7 -7 0 0
 Using Second Derivatives For Image Enhancement

The 2nd derivative is more useful for image

enhancement than the 1st derivative
 Stronger response to fine detail
 Simpler implementation
 We will come back to the 1st order derivative later on
The first sharpening filter we will look at is the
Laplacian
 Isotropic
 One of the simplest sharpening filters
 We will look at a digital implementation
 The Laplacian
The Laplacian is defined as follows:
 f  f2 2
 f  2  2
2

 x  y
where the partial 1 order derivative in the x
st

direction is defined as follows:

 f
2
 f ( x  1, y )  f ( x  1, y )  2 f ( x, y )
 x2

and in2 the y direction as follows:

 f
 f ( x, y  1)  f ( x, y  1)  2 f ( x, y )
 y
2
 The Laplacian (cont…)

So, the Laplacian can be given as follows:

 f  [ f ( x  1, y )  f ( x  1, y )
2

 f ( x, y  1)  f ( x, y  1)]
 4 f ( x, y )
We can easily build a filter based on this

0 1 0

1 -4 1

0 1 0
 The Laplacian (cont…)

Applying the Laplacian to an image we get a new

Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

image that highlights edges and other discontinuities

Original Laplacian Laplacian

Image Filtered Image Filtered Image
Scaled for Display
 But That Is Not Very Enhanced!

The result of a Laplacian filtering is not

Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

an enhanced image
We have to do more work in order to
get our final image
Subtract the Laplacian result from the
original image to generate our final
Laplacian
sharpened enhanced image Filtered Image
Scaled for Display

g ( x, y )  f ( x, y )   f
2
 Laplacian Image Enhancement
Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

- =
Original Laplacian Sharpened
Image Filtered Image Image

In the final sharpened image edges and fine detail

are much more obvious
Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

Laplacian Image Enhancement

 Simplified Image Enhancement

The entire enhancement can be combined into a single

filtering operation
g ( x, y )  f ( x, y )   f
2

 f ( x, y )  [ f ( x  1, y )  f ( x  1, y )
 f ( x, y  1)  f ( x, y  1)
 4 f ( x, y )]
 5 f ( x, y )  f ( x  1, y )  f ( x  1, y )
 f ( x, y  1)  f ( x, y  1)
 Simplified Image Enhancement (cont…)

This gives us a new filter which does the whole job for
Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

us in one step

0 -1 0

-1 5 -1

0 -1 0
Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

Simplified Image Enhancement (cont…)

 Variants On The Simple Laplacian

There are lots of slightly different versions of the

Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

Laplacian that can be used:

0 1 0 1 1 1
Simple Variant of
1 -4 1 1 -8 1
Laplacian Laplacian
0 1 0 1 1 1

-1 -1 -1

-1 9 -1

-1 -1 -1
 Simple Convolution Tool In Java

A great tool for testing out different filters

 From the book “Image Processing tools in Java”
 Available from webCT later on today
 To launch: java ConvolutionTool Moon.jpg
 1st & 2nd Derivatives

Comparing the 1st and 2nd derivatives we can conclude

the following:
 1st order derivatives generally produce thicker edges
 2nd order derivatives have a stronger response to fine detail e.g.
thin lines
 1st order derivatives have stronger response to grey level step
 2nd order derivatives produce a double response at step
changes in grey level
 Summary

In this lecture we looked at:

 Sharpening filters
 1st derivative filters
 2nd derivative filters
 Combining filtering techniques
 Combining Spatial Enhancement
Methods
Successful image enhancement is
Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

typically not achieved using a

single operation
Rather we combine a range of
techniques in order to achieve a
final result
This example will focus on
enhancing the bone scan to the
right
 Combining Spatial Enhancement
Methods (cont…)
Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

(a)
Laplacian filter of
bone scan (a)
(b)
Sharpened version of
bone scan achieved (c)
by subtracting (a)
and (b) Sobel filter of bone
scan (a) (d)
 Combining Spatial Enhancement
Methods (cont…)
Result of applying a (h)
power-law trans. to
Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)

Sharpened image (g)

which is sum of (a)
and (f) (g)
The product of (c)
and (e) which will be (f)
used as a mask
(e)

Image (d) smoothed with

a 5*5 averaging filter
 Combining Spatial Enhancement
Methods (cont…)

Compare the original and final images

Images taken from Gonzalez & Woods, Digital Image Processing (2002)