Contrast vs noise effects on image quality

Ofer Hadar; N. Corse; Stanley R. Rotman; Norman S. Kopeika

doi:10.1117/12.259737

21 November 1996 Contrast vs noise effects on image quality

Ofer Hadar, N. Corse, Stanley R. Rotman, Norman S. Kopeika

Proceedings Volume 2829, Airborne Reconnaissance XX; (1996) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.259737
Event: SPIE's 1996 International Symposium on Optical Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation, 1996, Denver, CO, United States

Abstract

Low noise images are contract-limited, and image restoration techniques can improve resolution significantly. However, as noise level increases, resolution improvements via image processing become more limited because image restoration increases noise. This research attempts to construct a reliable quantitative means of characterizing the perceptual difference between target and background. A method is suggested for evaluating the extent to which it is possible to discriminate an object which has merged with its surroundings, in noise-limited and contrast limited images, i.e., how hard it would be for an observer to recognize the object against various backgrounds as a function of noise level. The suggested model will be a first order model to begin with, using a regular bar-chart with additive uncorrelated Gaussian noise degraded by standard atmospheric blurring filters. The second phase will comprise a model dealing with higher-order images. This computational model relates the detectability or distinctness of the object to measurable parameters. It also must characterize human perceptual response, i.e. the model must develop metrics which are highly correlated to the ease or difficulty which the human observer experiences in discerning the target from its background. This requirement can be fulfilled only by conducting psychophysical experiments quantitatively comparing the perceptual evaluations of the observers with the results of the mathematical model.

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Ofer Hadar, N. Corse, Stanley R. Rotman, and Norman S. Kopeika "Contrast vs noise effects on image quality", Proc. SPIE 2829, Airborne Reconnaissance XX, (21 November 1996); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.259737

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