Introduction

Image processing is a method to perform some operations on an image in order to get an

enhanced image or to extract some useful information from it. It is a type of signal processing in
which input is an image and output may be image or characteristics/features associated with that
image. Nowadays, image processing is among rapidly growing technologies. It forms core
research area within engineering and computer science disciplines too.

Image processing basically includes the following three steps:

 Importing the image via image acquisition tools;

 Analyzing and manipulating the image;
 Output in which result can be altered image or report that is based on image analysis.

There are two types of methods used for image processing namely, analogue and digital image processing.
Analogue image processing can be used for the hard copies like printouts and photographs. Image analysts use
various fundamentals of interpretation while using these visual techniques. Digital image processing
techniques which is our point of focus in this project help in manipulation of the digital images by using
computers. The three general phases that all types of data have to undergo while using digital technique are
pre-processing, enhancement, and display, information extraction.

Firstly we look at what is an image which is a two dimensional function(x,y),where x and y are
the spatial(plane) coordinates, and the amplitude of f at any pair of coordinates(x,y) is called the
intensity of the image at that level. If x,y and the amplitude values of f are finite and discrete
quantities, we called the image digital image. A digital image is compose of a finite number of
element called pixels each of which has a particular location and value. And also now looking at
images in MATLAB which is the software we use to perform all the image processing . In the
MATLAB workspace, most images are represented as two-dimensional arrays (matrices), in
which each element of the matrix corresponds to a single pixel in the displayed image. For
example, an image composed of 200 rows and 300 columns of different colored dots stored as a
200-by-300 matrix. Some images, such as RGB, require a three-dimensional array, where the
first plane in the third dimension represents the red pixel intensities, the second plane represents
the green pixel intensities, and the third plane represents the blue pixel intensities. In order to
become suitable for digital processing, an image function f(x,y) must be digitized both spatially
and in amplitude. Hence in order to create an image which is digital, we need to covert
continuous data into digital form. There are two steps in which it is done:

 Sampling
 Quantization

The sampling rate determines the spatial resolution of the digitized image, while the quantization
level determines the number of grey levels in the digitized image. A magnitude of the sampled
image is expressed as a digital value in image processing. The transition between continuous
values of the image function and its digital equivalent is called quantization.
 BACKGROUNG
In the early 1920s: One of the first applications of digital imaging was in the newspaper
industry
–The Bartlane cable picture transmission service
–An image was transferred by submarine cable between London and New York in 3 hours
–Pictures were coded for cable transfer and reconstructed at the receiving end on a telegraph
printer with half toning

Mid to late 1920s: Improvements to the Bartlane system resulted in higher quality images

–New reproduction processes based on photographic techniques

–Increased number of tones in reproduced images

1960s: Improvements in computing technology and the onset of the space race led to a surge of
work in digital image processing

1964: Computers used to improve the quality of images of the moon taken by the Ranger
7probe
–Such techniques were used in other space missions including the Apollo landings

1970s: Digital image processing begins to be used in medical applications

1979: Sir Godfrey N. Hounsfield & Prof. Allan M. Cormack share the Nobel Prize in medicine for
the invention of tomography, the technology behind Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT)
scans

1980s -Today: The use of digital image processing techniques has exploded and they are now
used for all kinds of tasks in all kinds of areas especially in this our project.
–Image enhancement/restoration
–Artistic effects
–Medical visualization
–Industrial inspection
–Law enforcement
–Human computer interfaces