Thermal Image Color Assignment for Local Contrast Enhancement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Thermal imaging displays suffer from low contrast when only a small portion of the total measurement range is being measured, leading to poor representation of regions of interest.
Innovation Solution
Assign colors to temperature ranges based on their frequency and geometric proximity to areas of interest, using a non-linear color assignment to enhance contrast in targeted geometric regions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a fixed color palette is assigned to the entire measurement range, then the color assignment is simple and uniform, but the contrast in regions of interest is poor when only a small portion of the measurement range is being measured
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the thermal image into multiple regions of interest and assigns different color palettes to different regions. This segmentation allows each region to have optimized color mapping for its specific temperature range, improving contrast locally while maintaining overall image coherence.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different color assignment strategies to different spatial regions of the thermal image based on their temperature characteristics. Regions with small temperature variations receive enhanced color differentiation, while other regions use standard mapping, creating locally optimized visual representation.
2Measurement precision
If the color palette is dynamically adjusted to the temperature range in the entire image, then the contrast is improved across the image, but the contrast for less relevant image content is increased while regions of interest suffer from low contrast
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the image into regions of interest and non-interest areas, applying different histogram adjustment strategies to each segment. This prevents uniform contrast enhancement from diluting the visual importance of critical regions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local histogram adjustment where the color distribution is optimized independently for each region of interest based on its specific temperature histogram. This ensures that contrast enhancement is concentrated where needed rather than uniformly applied.
3Measurement precision
If histogram adjustment is performed to increase contrast for frequently occurring temperature values, then the contrast for common temperature ranges is improved, but the contrast for regions of interest is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent separates the histogram adjustment process into global and local components. The global histogram provides overall contrast optimization, while local histogram adjustment for regions of interest ensures their specific temperature variations are adequately represented.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies region-specific histogram adjustment where the color mapping for each region of interest is determined by its own temperature distribution rather than the global distribution. This preserves contrast in critical areas even when their temperature values are uncommon.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method for displaying a thermal image is proposed in which each temperature range of the thermal image is assigned a color from a color palette. The colors are assigned to the temperature ranges depending on whether certain temperature distribution criteria occur within a geometric area of the thermal image.