Histogram processing

What will we learn?

 What is the histogram of an image?

 How can the histogram of an image be computed?
 How much information does the histogram provide about
the image?
 What is histogram equalization and what happens to an
image whose histogram is equalized?
 How can the histogram be modified through direct
histogram specification and what happens to an image
when we do it?
 What other histogram modification techniques can be
applied to digital images and what is the result of applying
such techniques?

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
What is a histogram?

 The histogram of a monochrome image is a graphical

representation of the frequency of occurrence of each
gray level in the image.

 The data structure that stores the frequency values is a

1D array of numerical values, h, whose individual
elements store the number (or percentage) of image
pixels that correspond to each possible gray level.

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Histogram and Normalized Histogram:

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Histogram example
 Ex.: histogram for a hypothetical image containing
128×128 pixels and 8 gray levels.

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
4 Ways of Plotting Histograms in Matlab:
I = imread('cameraman.tif');
h = imhist(I);
subplot(221);
imhist(I);
subplot(222);
bar([1:10:256],h(1:10:256));
subplot(223);
stem([1:10:256],h(1:10:256),'fill');
subplot(224);
plot(h);

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
4 Ways of Plotting Histograms in Matlab:
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By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Histogram of a Low-Contrast Image:
(Examp.)

 In MATLAB: imhist

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Histogram of a High-Contrast Image:
(Examp.)

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Histogram of a Dark Image:
(Examp.)

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Histogram of a Bright Image:
(Examp.)

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Images with Their Histograms:

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Interpreting image histograms
 Histograms have become a popular tool for conveying
image statistics and helping determine certain
problems in an image.
 A histogram carries significant qualitative and
quantitative information about the corresponding
image (e.g., minimum, average, and maximum gray level
values, dominance of bright or dark pixels, etc.).
 A histogram is not enough to draw qualitative
conclusions about the overall quality of the image,
presence or absence of noise, etc.

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Interpreting image histograms
 Although a histogram provides the frequency distribution
of gray levels in an image, it tells us nothing about the
spatial distribution of the pixels whose gray levels are
represented in the histogram.
 Histograms can be used whenever a statistical
representation of the gray level distribution in an image is
desired.
 Histograms can also be used to enhance or modify the
characteristics of an image, particularly its contrast.

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Different Images With Same Histogram:
When calculating an image histogram, the actual position of the
pixels is not used. 
1. Many images have the same histogram, and
2. An image cannot be reconstructed from its histogram.

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Draw histogram of any image
 without using imhist function.
 Hints:
data=[1 3 5 7 4 8 0 1 3];
histArray =zeros(1,10);
x=0:1:9;
 Forloop to count how many times particular value appears
for n=1:length(data)
histArray(1,data(n)+1)=histArray(1,data(n)+1)+1;
% every time particular value, add 1 into to corresponding bin
end
bar(histArray)
Courtesy mathworks.

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Histogram Equalization:
o Histogram equalization is a technique by which the
gray-level distribution of an image is changed in such a
way as to obtain a uniform (flat) resulting
histogram, in which the percentage of pixels of every
gray level is the same.
o To perform histogram equalization, it is necessary to
use an auxiliary function, called transformation
function, T(r).

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Transformation Function:
o Such transformation function must satisfy two criteria:

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
CDF:

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Histogram example
 Ex.: histogram for a hypothetical image containing
128×128 pixels and 8 gray levels.

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Histogram Equalization: ( Examp.)
𝒓𝒌 𝒏𝒌 𝑷(𝒓𝒌 ) 𝒔𝒌 𝒏𝒌 𝑷(𝒔𝒌 ) 𝒓𝒌 → 𝒔𝒌
0 1120 0.068 0.0687→ 0 1120 0.068
0→0
1 3214 0.196 0.2647→ 2 3214 0.196
1→2
2 4850 0.296 0.5607→ 4 4850 0.296
2→4
3 3425 0.209 0.7697→ 5 3425 0.209
3→5
4 1995 0.122 0.8917→ 6 1995 0.122
784 + 541 0.048+
4→6
5 784 0.048 0.9397→ 7

6 541 0.033 0.9727→ 7

+ 455 = 0.033+
0.028= 5→7
7 455 0.028 1.007→ 7
1780 0.109 6→7
TOTAL 16,384 1.0 16,384 1.0
7→7
1 and 3 are missing in the 𝑠𝑘 column and hence in the o/p histogram.
By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Histogram equalization

Keeping in mind that CDF acts as a T/F function:

o Pixels with values 5/6/7 which originally
have least probabilities; and hence
corresponding portion in CDF is flat.
o Hence these 3 values are mapped to 7  Tall
corresponding Bar in the output histogram.
o Conversely, where CDF curve is steep, some
values are missing in the o/p histogram e.g.,
there is no 3 in the o/p histogram.
By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Histogram equalization

 In MATLAB: histeq

 Examp.:

I = imread('sydney_low_contrast.png');
I = im2double(I);
J = histeq(I);
figure, subplot(2,2,1), imshow(I), ...
subplot(2,2,2), imshow(J), ...
subplot(2,2,3), imhist(I), ylim('auto'),...
subplot(2,2,4), imhist(J), ylim('auto')

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Histogram equalization

 Examp.:

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Global vs. local histogram equalization
 In MATLAB: histeq and adapthisteq

 Examp.:

I = imread('coins.png');
figure, subplot(1,2,1), imshow(I), ...
subplot(1,2,2), imhist(I), ylim('auto')

J = histeq(I);
figure, subplot(1,2,1), imshow(J), ...
subplot(1,2,2), imhist(J), ylim('auto')

K = adapthisteq(I);
figure, subplot(1,2,1), imshow(K), ...
subplot(1,2,2), imhist(K), ylim('auto')

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Global vs. local histogram equalization

 Examp.:

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Direct histogram specification
STEPS:

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Direct histogram specification
Explanation of STEPS:
Step-1: 𝒓𝒌 → 𝒔𝒌 (mapping, Same as in Histogram
Equalization)

Step-2: 𝒛𝒌 → 𝒗𝒌 (Similar to Step-1)

Step-3: 𝒔𝒌 → 𝒛𝒌 (Using G values such that 𝐺(𝑧𝑘 ) is
closest to 𝑠𝑘 )
Arbitration: When 𝑠 → 𝑧 mapping is not unique, choose
the smallest value among the contenders for breaking ties.

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Direct histogram specification
Examp.:

Original Desired

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Direct histogram specification
Example 9.6:

Step-1: 𝒓𝒌 → 𝒔𝒌

This step is same as Histogram Equalization Process

and
hence
can be copied from previous Examp.

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Histogram Equalization: ( Prev. Examp.)
Step-1: 𝒓𝒌 → 𝒔𝒌
𝒓𝒌 𝒏𝒌 𝑷(𝒓𝒌 ) 𝒔𝒌 𝒏𝒌 𝑷(𝒔𝒌 )
𝒓𝒌 → 𝒔𝒌
0 1120 0.068 0.0687→ 0 1120 0.068
0→0
1 3214 0.196 0.2647→ 2 3214 0.196
1→2
2 4850 0.296 0.5607→ 4 4850 0.296

3 3425 0.209 0.7697→ 5 3425 0.209

2→4
4 1995 0.122 0.8917→ 6 1995 0.122
3→5
5 784 0.048 0.9397→ 7 784 + 541 0.048+ 4→6
5→7
+ 455 = 0.033+
0.028=
6 541 0.033 0.9727→ 7

7 455 0.028 1.007→ 7

1780 0.109 6→7
TOTAL 16,384 1.0 16,384 1.0 7→7
By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Direct histogram specification
Step-2: 𝒛𝒌 → 𝒗𝒌 (Similar to Step-1)
𝒛𝒌 𝒏𝒌 𝑷(𝒛𝒌 ) 𝒗𝒌 = 𝑮(𝒛𝒒 ) 𝒏𝒌 𝑷(𝒗𝒌 )
𝒛𝒌 → 𝒗𝒌
0 0 0.0 0.07→ 0
0→0
1 0 0.0 0.07→ 0 0 0.0 1→0
2 0 0.0 0.07→ 0
2→0
3 1638 0.1 0.17→ 1 1638 0.1

4 3277 0.2 0.37→ 2 3277 0.2

3→1
5 6554 0.4 0.77→ 5 6554 0.4
4→2
6 3277 0.2 0.97→ 6 3277 0.2
5→5
7 1638 0.1 1.007→ 7 1638 0.1 6→6
TOTAL 16,384 1.0 16,384 1.0
7→7
By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Direct histogram specification
Step-3: 𝒔𝒌 → 𝒛𝒌 [Using G values such that 𝐺(𝑧 ) is closest to 𝑠 ]
𝑘 𝑘

Step-1: 𝒓𝒌 → 𝒔𝒌 Step-2: 𝒛𝒌 → 𝒗𝒌 Step-3: 𝒔𝒌 → 𝒛𝒒

𝒓𝒌 𝒏𝒌 𝑷(𝒓𝒌 ) 𝒔𝒌 𝒏𝒌 𝑷(𝒔𝒌 ) 𝒛𝒌 𝒏𝒌 𝑷(𝒛𝒌 ) 𝒗𝒌 = 𝑮(𝒛𝒌 ) 𝒛𝒌 ෩ (𝒛𝒒 )

𝑷
0 1120 0.068 0.0687→ 0 1120 0.068 0 0 0.0 0.07→ 0 0 0.068

1 3214 0.196 0.2647→ 2 3214 0.196 1 0 0.0 0.07→ 0 4 0.196

2 4850 0.296 0.5607→ 4 4850 0.296 2 0 0.0 0.07→ 0 5 0.296+

0.209=
3 3425 0.209 0.7697→ 5 3425 0.209 3 1638 0.1 0.17→ 1 5 0.505

4 1995 0.122 0.8917→ 6 1995 0.122 4 3277 0.2 0.37→ 2 6 0.122

784 + 0.048+
5 784 0.048 0.9397→ 7 541 + 0.033+
5 6554 0.4 0.77→ 5 7
455 = 0.028=
6 541 0.033 0.9727→ 7 1780 0.109
6 3277 0.2 0.97→ 6 7
0.109
7 455 0.028 1.007→ 7 7 1638 0.1 1.007→ 7 7
1.0
 16,384 1.0 16,384 1.0
Direct histogram specification
Step-3: 𝒔𝒌 → 𝒛𝒌 [Using G values such that 𝐺(𝑧 ) is closest to 𝑠 ]
𝑘 𝑘

𝒔𝒌 → 𝒛𝒌
0→0
2→4
4→5
5→5
6→6
7→7
7→7
7→7
Direct histogram specification
Summary

𝒓𝒌 → 𝒔𝒌 𝒛𝒌 → 𝒗𝒌 𝒔𝒌 → 𝒛𝒌
0→0 0→0 0→0
1→2 1→0 2→4
2→4 2→0 4→5
3→5 3→1 5→5
4→6 4→2 6→6
5→7 5→5 7→7
6→7 6→6 7→7
7→7 7→7 7→7
Direct histogram specification
Summary

𝒓𝒌 → 𝒔𝒌 𝒔𝒌 → 𝒛𝒌
0→0 0→0
1→2 2→4
2→4 4→5
3→5 5→5
4→6 6→6
5→7 7→7
6→7 7→7
7→7 7→7
Direct histogram specification
Summary

𝒓𝒌 → 𝒔𝒌 → 𝒛𝒌
0→0→0
1→2→4
2→4→5
3→5→5
4→6 →6
5→7 →7
6→7 →7
7→7 →7
Direct histogram specification
Example 9.6:

Original Desired Result

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Direct histogram specification
 In MATLAB: histeq

I = imread('sydney_low_contrast.png');
 Examp.: Id = im2double(I);
figure, imhist(Id), ylim('auto'), ...
title ('Original histogram');

des_hist = uint8(zeros(1,256));
des_hist(1:128) = linspace(256,0,128);
des_hist(129:end) = linspace(0,256,128);
x_axis = 0:255;
figure, bar(x_axis, des_hist), axis tight,
...
title('Desired histogram');

hgram = im2double(des_hist);
Jd = histeq(Id,hgram);
figure, imhist(Jd), ylim('auto'), ...
title ('Resulting histogram');
By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Direct histogram specification
 Examp.:

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Direct histogram specification
 Interactive histogram matching tool (ihmdemo)

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Other histogram modification techniques
 Histogram sliding (Examp.):

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Histogram sliding
 In MATLAB: imadd and imsubtract

 Examp.:
I = imread('schonbrunn_gray_low_contrast.png');
figure, imhist(I), ylim('auto'), title ('Original histogram');

I2 = imadd(I, 50);
figure, imhist(I2), ylim('auto'), ...
title ('Sliding to the right by 50');

I3 = imsubtract(I,50);
figure, imhist(I3), ylim('auto'), ...
title ('Sliding to the left by 50');

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Other histogram modification techniques
 Histogram stretching (Examp.):

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Other histogram modification techniques
 Histogram shrinking (Examp.):

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Histogram stretching and shrinking
 In MATLAB: imadjust

%% Histogram stretching
I = imread('schonbrunn_gray_low_contrast.png');
figure, imhist(I), ylim('auto'), title ('Original histogram');
I2 = imadjust(I);
figure, imhist(I2), ylim('auto'), title ('After histogram stretching');
figure, subplot(1,2,1), imshow(I), subplot(1,2,2), imshow(I2)

%% Histogram shrinking
I = imread('schonbrunn_gray.png');
figure, imhist(I), ylim('auto'), title ('Original histogram');
Id = im2double(I);
Jd = imadjust(Id, [], [49/255 140/255]);
J = uint8(255.*Jd);
figure, imhist(J), ylim('auto'), title ('After histogram shrinking');
figure, subplot(1,2,1), imshow(I), subplot(1,2,2), imshow(J)

By Oge Marques Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.