Digital Image
Fundamentals
Introduction
• The mechanics of the human visual system
, including:
– image formation in the eye and its capabilitie
s for brightness adaptation and discrimination
Structure of the human eye
• The eye is nearly a sphere with average
diameter ~ 20mm
• Three membranes enclose the eye:
– The cornea and sclera (outer cover)
2.1 Elements of Visual Perception
• 2.1.1 Human Eye
• Retina : Cone & Rod
– Cones 6~7 mil. around fovea
• Photopic or Bright-light vision, Color Vision
– Rod : 75~150 mil. Distributed over retina
• Scoptic or dim-light vision, Non color vision
– Blind Spot : 20 degree off from fovea
– Fovea : d~1.5mm
How does the human eye work?
• Light passes through the cornea and the
pupil, is focused by the lens and its proje
cted onto the black wall of the eye, which
is called retina
• The retina is made up of several layers of
cells
• It is on the back of the of the retina wher
e images are captured, much like film in a
camera
• Two kinds of light-sensitive receptor cells
, called rods and cones, convert light int
o “messages”
• These messages are sent to the brain vi
a the optic nerve
• Each eye has what is called a blind spot
– This is where the optic nerve leaves the eye
and there are no rods and cones
– One does not usually notice the blind spot
in each eye because the left eye sees what t
he right eye misses and vice versa
• Rod cells enable us to see in dim light
• Rod cells perceive black, white and grays, but not color
• At night, it is the rod cells that enable us to see in
black, white, and shades of gray
• Cone cells do not respond to dim light but do allow
us to see colors in a lighted environment. They also
detects fine details
• There are about 125 million rods and 6 million cons
in each retina
• They help us see between 150 and 200 different
colors!
Similarities between eye and camera
EYE CAMERA
1. The lens and cornea 1. The lens focuses light
focus light onto the onto a light-sensitive
back of t he retina surfa ce called film
2. Muscles change the 2. The lens of a camera
shape of the lens to can be moved back or
focus the image forward to focus
3. The mussels in the iris images
regulate the amount of 3. The aperture, like the
light that reaches the iris, regulate the
retina amount of light that
reaches the film
Similarities between eye and camera
EYE CAMERA
4. As light enters the eye 1. Light that enters the
and passes through the camera refracts and
lens and cornea, it turns images, upside
refracts, or bends. down and backward
When the light onto the film
refracts, it turns the
image up side down
and backward o nto the
retina
Differences between camera and eye
• Main difference: An eye is a physiological computation
but a camera is a mechanical device. Eye does not work
independently and its operation correlated with brain,
whereas a camera does what let it to do
• Retina and film: Retina can automatically change its
sensitivity to light depending upon the amount of
illumination presented to it. On the other hand, camera
can never change their sensitivity automatically
• Binocular vision: an eye has a blind spot through which
all nerves leave to brain. So, normally all living beings
have two eyes. The part of image that blind spot of
one eye cannot cover will cover by the second eye.
Differences between camera eye
• Unlike eyes, cameras don’t have any blind spot and
hence need only one lens. That is most cameras
don’t have “binocular vision” which is a key
characteristic of eye.
• Automatic focusing: Eye has automatic focusing
capability which is controlled by brain. It is
neurological. Eyes can focus objects at any distance
automatically but in the case of cameras it is to be
accomplished by a photographer. So it is manual in
cameras.
Monocular vs. Binocular vision
• Human are able to see with both eyes-call this
binocular vision (both eye are in the front of the face,
and th e eyes point in same direction )
• Some animal species (most birds-their eyes are opposi
te side of the face and point in opposite direction)
have one eyed vision or monocular vision, which
means their eyes see the world separately and
produce two pictures rather than one
• BV is responsible for depth perception, is important
for athletes who must quickly and accurately judge the
distance between player, the ball, the boundary lines
and other objects
2.2 Light & Electromagnetic Spectrum
Figure 2.10 The electromagnetic spectrum. The visible spectrum is shown
zoomed to facilitate explanation (The visible light represents a very small
portion of the electromagnetic spectrum )
Digital image
An image may be defined as a two dimensional
function, f(x, y), where x and y are spatial (plane)
coordinates and the amplitude of f at any pair of
coordinates (x, y) is called the intensity or gray level of
the image at that point
When x, y, and the amplitude values of f are all
finite, discrete quantities, we call the image a digital
image
f(x,y) = i(x,y)r(x,y), illumination & reflectance
Image sampling and quantization
There are numerous ways to acquire images but our
objective to generate digital images from sensed data. To
create digital image, we need to convert the continuous
sensed data into digital form. This involves two processes:
sampling and quantization.
•The basic idea behind sampling and quantization is
illustrated in Fig. 2.16. Fig. 2.16 (a) shows a continuous
image, f(x, y), that we want to convert digital form. An
image may be continuous with respect to the x- and y-
coordinates and also in amplitude. To convert it to digital
form, we have to sample the function in both coordinates
and in amplitude.
• Digitizing the coordinate values is called sampling.
• Digitizing the amplitude values is called the quantization.
2.3 Image Sampling & Quantization
CCD vs. CMOS
CCD : Charge Coupled Device
CMOS : Complementary Metal Oxide
Semiconductor
CCD
• A CCD, or a Charged-Coupled Device, is a photosensitive
analog device that records light as a small electrical
charge in each of its pixels or cells. In essence a CCD is
an collection of CCD cells.
• The signal captured by the CCD requires additional
circuitry to convert the analog light data into a
readable digital signal.
CMOS
• A CMOS, or Complementary Metal Oxide
Semiconductor, each pixel has neighboring
transistors which locally perform the analog to
digital conversion.
CCD and CMOS inside
CCD vs CMOS
1. Create high-quality, low- 1. More susceptible to
noise noise
2. Light sensitivity is higher 2. Light sensitivity is lower
3. 100 times more power 3. Consume little power
4. Needs extra circuitry to 4. On-chip analog-to-
convert to digital signal digital conversion
