Selective HDR Image Contrast Adaptation via User Region Blending
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Solution Overview
Problem
High Dynamic Range (HDR) images often appear unnatural due to uniform contrast adaptation, which can alter the perception of natural backgrounds like foliage and ocean, and existing technologies lack the ability to selectively enhance only desired areas of an image.
Innovation Solution
A method that allows users to create a hybrid image by blending contrast-adapted and non-contrast-adapted versions of the same image, enabling selective enhancement of specific areas using a touchscreen interface, where users can define the adaptation area and aggressiveness of contrast adjustment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If uniform contrast adaptation is applied to the entire HDR image, then the dynamic range is improved and detail in dark areas is enhanced, but the natural appearance of the image deteriorates due to artificial-looking backgrounds
Solution Approach 1:
The image is divided into multiple regions: a user-selected region of interest where contrast adaptation is applied, and surrounding background regions where the original non-contrast-adapted pixels are retained. This segmentation allows selective enhancement of specific areas while preserving the natural appearance of backgrounds, resolving the contradiction between dynamic range improvement and natural appearance.
Solution Approach 2:
Different quality characteristics are applied to different parts of the image: contrast adaptation is applied locally to the selected region to enhance detail and dynamic range, while the background areas maintain their original natural characteristics. This local quality approach ensures that enhancement benefits are concentrated where needed without compromising overall natural appearance.
2Manufacturing precision
If contrast adaptation is applied to enhance detail in specific areas, then the image quality in those areas is improved, but control over which areas are enhanced is lost without user selection capability
Solution Approach 1:
The user directly interacts with the image interface to select which regions should receive contrast adaptation enhancement. The system provides self-service by allowing users to define their own enhancement areas through simple selection gestures, giving them precise control over which areas receive quality improvement while maintaining ease of operation through an intuitive interface.
3Productivity
If the entire image is processed with contrast adaptation, then processing completeness is improved, but processing time and computational resources are increased
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of applying contrast adaptation to the entire image, the system applies the enhancement partially only to the user-selected region of interest. This partial action approach maintains processing completeness for the important areas while significantly reducing the total processing time and computational resources required, as fewer pixels need to be processed.
Data Source
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AI summary
In photography, High Dynamic Range (HDR) technology typically consists of (1) acquiring a wide dynamic range image and (2) adapting the wide dynamic range image to fit to the display range of the device. The first part can be achieved by using a special sensor or by combining two or more images with same or different exposures, and is optional. The second part, contrast adaptation, locally adapts the tone mapping function thus effectively re-using the available range. Described is a system and method that enables a user to create a new image by selectively combining contrast adapted and non-contrast adapted versions of the same image. The new image can retain the natural quality of the well illuminated areas and enhance salient features as selected by the user.