Digital Image Processing
Ch1. Introduction
Dr. Sondos Fadl
Prerequisites
– Digital Signal Processing
– Matlab or Python
Course Grading
– Midterm (10, 10 (one weak before)),
Assignments (5), 40%
– Practical (5), Final Project (10)
– Final examination 60%
Contents
This lecture will cover:
– What is a digital image?
– What is digital image processing?
– State of the art examples of digital image
processing
– Key stages in digital image processing
What is a Digital Image?
A digital image is a representation of a two-
dimensional image as a finite set of digital
values, called picture elements or pixels
What is a Digital Image? (cont…)
Pixel values typically represent gray levels,
colours, heights, opacities etc
Remember digitization implies that a digital
image is an approximation of a real scene
1 pixel
What is a Digital Image? (cont…)
Common image formats include:
– 1 sample per point (B&W or Grayscale)
– 3 samples per point (Red, Green, and Blue)
– 4 samples per point (Red, Green, Blue, and “Alpha”,
a.k.a. Opacity)
For most of this course we will focus on gray-scale
images
What is Digital Image Processing?
Digital image processing focuses on two
major tasks
– Improvement of visual information for
human interpretation
– Processing of image data for storage,
transmission and representation for
machine perception
Some argument about where image
processing ends and fields such as image
analysis and computer vision start
What is DIP? (cont…)
The continuum from image processing to
computer vision can be broken up into low-,
mid- and high-level processes
Low Level Process Mid Level Process High Level Process
Input: Image Input: Image Input: Attributes
Output: Image Output: Attributes Output: Understanding
Examples: Noise Examples: Object Examples: Scene
removal, image recognition, understanding,
sharpening segmentation autonomous navigation
In this course we will
stop here
Applications: Image Enhancement
One of the most common uses of DIP
techniques: improve quality, remove noise
etc
Applications: The Hubble Telescope
Launched in 1990 the Hubble
telescope can take images of
very distant objects
However, an incorrect mirror
made many of Hubble’s
images useless
Image processing
techniques were
used to fix this
Applications: Artistic Effects
Artistic effects are
used to make
images more
visually appealing,
to add special
effects and to make
composite images
Applications: Medicine
X-ray imaging
Applications: Medicine (cont...)
Gamma-ray imaging
Applications: Medicine (cont...)
•Radio frequencies
•Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Applications: Medicine (cont...)
Take slice from MRI scan of canine heart,
and find boundaries between types of tissue
– Image with gray levels representing tissue
density
– Use a suitable filter to highlight edges
Original MRI Image of a Dog Heart Edge Detection Image
Applications: Medicine (cont...)
Ultrasound
Applications: Medicine (cont...)
3D tomography and rendering with transparencies (1)
Applications: GIS
Geographic Information Systems
– Satellite imagery
– Terrain classification (LANDSAT)
– Meteorology (NOAA)
Applications: Industrial Inspection
Human operators are
expensive, slow and
unreliable
Make machines do the
job instead
Industrial vision systems
are used in all kinds of
industries
Can we trust them?
Applications: PCB Inspection
Printed Circuit Board (PCB) inspection
– Machine inspection is used to determine that
all components are present and that all solder
joints are acceptable
– Both conventional imaging and x-ray imaging
are used
Applications: Law Enforcement
Image processing
techniques are used
extensively by law
enforcers
– Number plate recognition
for speed
cameras/automated toll
systems
– Fingerprint recognition
– Enhancement of CCTV
images
Applications: HCI
Try to make human computer
interfaces more natural
– Face recognition
– Gesture recognition
Does anyone remember the
user interface from “Minority
Report”?
These tasks can be
extremely difficult
Key Stages in Digital Image Processing
Image Morphological
Restoration Processing
Image
Segmentation
Enhancement
Image Object
Acquisition Recognition
Representation
Problem Domain
& Description
Colour Image Image
Processing Compression
Key Stages in Digital Image Processing:
Image Aquisition
Image Morphological
Restoration Processing
Image
Segmentation
Enhancement
Image Object
Acquisition Recognition
Representation
Problem Domain
& Description
Colour Image Image
Processing Compression
Key Stages in Digital Image Processing:
Image Enhancement
Image Morphological
Restoration Processing
Image
Segmentation
Enhancement
Image Object
Acquisition Recognition
Representation
Problem Domain
& Description
Colour Image Image
Processing Compression
Key Stages in Digital Image Processing:
Image Restoration
Image Morphological
Restoration Processing
Image
Segmentation
Enhancement
Image Object
Acquisition Recognition
Representation
Problem Domain
& Description
Colour Image Image
Processing Compression
Key Stages in Digital Image Processing:
Morphological Processing
Image Morphological
Restoration Processing
Image
Segmentation
Enhancement
Image Object
Acquisition Recognition
Representation
Problem Domain
& Description
Colour Image Image
Processing Compression
Key Stages in Digital Image Processing:
Segmentation
Image Morphological
Restoration Processing
Image
Segmentation
Enhancement
Image Object
Acquisition Recognition
Representation
Problem Domain
& Description
Colour Image Image
Processing Compression
Key Stages in Digital Image Processing:
Object Recognition
Image Morphological
Restoration Processing
Image
Segmentation
Enhancement
Image Object
Acquisition Recognition
Representation
Problem Domain
& Description
Colour Image Image
Processing Compression
Key Stages in Digital Image Processing:
Representation & Description
Image Morphological
Restoration Processing
Image
Segmentation
Enhancement
Image Object
Acquisition Recognition
Representation
Problem Domain
& Description
Colour Image Image
Processing Compression
Key Stages in Digital Image Processing:
Image Compression
Image Morphological
Restoration Processing
Image
Segmentation
Enhancement
Image Object
Acquisition Recognition
Representation
Problem Domain
& Description
Colour Image Image
Processing Compression
Key Stages in Digital Image Processing:
Colour Image Processing
Image Morphological
Restoration Processing
Image
Segmentation
Enhancement
Image Object
Acquisition Recognition
Representation
Problem Domain
Colour Image Image & Description
Processing Compression
Summary
We have looked at:
– What is a digital image?
– What is digital image processing?
– State of the art examples of digital image
processing
– Key stages in digital image processing
Important: Acquire some experience with Matlab.