Agent-Based Image Contrast Enhancement Algorithm

One crucial step in several image processing and computer vision applications is Image Contrast Enhancement (ICE), whose main objective is to improve the quality of the information contained in the processed images. Most of the proposed schemes attack the problem by redistributing the pixel intensit...

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Main Authors: Alberto Luque-Chang, Erik Cuevas, Angel Chavarin, Marco Perez
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2023-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10017284/
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author Alberto Luque-Chang
Erik Cuevas
Angel Chavarin
Marco Perez
author_facet Alberto Luque-Chang
Erik Cuevas
Angel Chavarin
Marco Perez
author_sort Alberto Luque-Chang
collection DOAJ
description One crucial step in several image processing and computer vision applications is Image Contrast Enhancement (ICE), whose main objective is to improve the quality of the information contained in the processed images. Most of the proposed schemes attack the problem by redistributing the pixel intensities in a histogram, leading to undesirable effects such as noise amplification, over-saturation, and lousy human perception. On the other hand, Agent-Based Models (ABM) are computational models that allow describing the behavior and interactions of autonomous agents when they operate cooperatively. These agents follow behavioral rules rather than mathematical formulations. This mechanism allows the implementation of complex behavioral patterns in agents through their interactions. This paper proposes a two-step method where pixels in the processed image are considered agents whose behavioral rules permit to enhance significatively the contrast. In our approach, the interactions among the agents are characterized by the differences in intensity values among the pixels or agents. In the first step, pixels or agents that present enough high differences in their intensity are modified to increase even more their differences. In the second step, pixels or agents that maintain a very small difference are altered to assume a homogeneous intensity value. The proposed approach has been tested considering different public datasets commonly used in the literature. Its results are also compared with those produced by other well-known ICE techniques. Evaluation of the experimental results demonstrates that the proposed approach highlights the important details of the image taking a lower computational execution time.
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spelling doaj.art-d816a4fac3ad44ac89fc73c79f9700d42023-01-24T00:00:54ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362023-01-01116060607710.1109/ACCESS.2023.323708610017284Agent-Based Image Contrast Enhancement AlgorithmAlberto Luque-Chang0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9636-4850Erik Cuevas1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0358-6049Angel Chavarin2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7915-1885Marco Perez3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6493-0408Departamento de Ingeniería Electro-Fotónica, CUCEI, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, MexicoDepartamento de Ingeniería Electro-Fotónica, CUCEI, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, MexicoDepartamento de Ingeniería Electro-Fotónica, CUCEI, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, MexicoDepartamento de Ingeniería Electro-Fotónica, CUCEI, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, MexicoOne crucial step in several image processing and computer vision applications is Image Contrast Enhancement (ICE), whose main objective is to improve the quality of the information contained in the processed images. Most of the proposed schemes attack the problem by redistributing the pixel intensities in a histogram, leading to undesirable effects such as noise amplification, over-saturation, and lousy human perception. On the other hand, Agent-Based Models (ABM) are computational models that allow describing the behavior and interactions of autonomous agents when they operate cooperatively. These agents follow behavioral rules rather than mathematical formulations. This mechanism allows the implementation of complex behavioral patterns in agents through their interactions. This paper proposes a two-step method where pixels in the processed image are considered agents whose behavioral rules permit to enhance significatively the contrast. In our approach, the interactions among the agents are characterized by the differences in intensity values among the pixels or agents. In the first step, pixels or agents that present enough high differences in their intensity are modified to increase even more their differences. In the second step, pixels or agents that maintain a very small difference are altered to assume a homogeneous intensity value. The proposed approach has been tested considering different public datasets commonly used in the literature. Its results are also compared with those produced by other well-known ICE techniques. Evaluation of the experimental results demonstrates that the proposed approach highlights the important details of the image taking a lower computational execution time.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10017284/Agent-based modelingalgorithmscomplex systemsimage contrast enhancementimage processing
spellingShingle Alberto Luque-Chang
Erik Cuevas
Angel Chavarin
Marco Perez
Agent-Based Image Contrast Enhancement Algorithm
IEEE Access
Agent-based modeling
algorithms
complex systems
image contrast enhancement
image processing
title Agent-Based Image Contrast Enhancement Algorithm
title_full Agent-Based Image Contrast Enhancement Algorithm
title_fullStr Agent-Based Image Contrast Enhancement Algorithm
title_full_unstemmed Agent-Based Image Contrast Enhancement Algorithm
title_short Agent-Based Image Contrast Enhancement Algorithm
title_sort agent based image contrast enhancement algorithm
topic Agent-based modeling
algorithms
complex systems
image contrast enhancement
image processing
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10017284/
work_keys_str_mv AT albertoluquechang agentbasedimagecontrastenhancementalgorithm
AT erikcuevas agentbasedimagecontrastenhancementalgorithm
AT angelchavarin agentbasedimagecontrastenhancementalgorithm
AT marcoperez agentbasedimagecontrastenhancementalgorithm