Unit VI

Image Formation and Display

By
Ankita Tidake

Contents

Digital Image Structure

Camera and Eye
Television Video Signals
Other Image Acquisition and Display
Brightness and Contrast Adjustments
Grayscale Transform
Wraping

Digital Image Structure

Pixel: A picture Element
A pixel is a single number between 0-255.
Grayscale: to view a visual image, the value of
each pixel is converted into a grayscale
0 is black and 255 is white
Intermediate values are shades of gray.

Spatial Domain : Images have their

information encoded in the spatial domain,
the image equivalent of the time domain.

How are images represented in a

computer?

Color Images

A Simple model of image formation

The scene is illuminated by a single source.
The scene reflects radiation towards the camera.
The camera senses it via chemicals on film.

Pinhole camera
This is the simplest device to form an image of a 3D scene
on a 2D surface.
Straight rays of light pass through a pinhole and form an
inverted image of the object on the image plane.

fX
x
Z
fY
y
Z

Camera optics
In practice, the aperture must be larger to admit more light.
Lenses are placed to in the aperture to focus the bundle of rays
from each scene point onto the corresponding point in the
image plane

 Sample spacing : The value of each pixel in the digital

image represents a small region in the continuous
image being digitized. For example, imagine that the
Venus probe takes samples every 10 meters along the
planet's surface as it orbits overhead. This defines a
square sample spacing
Sampling grid: each pixel representing a 10 meter by
10 meter area.
Sampling aperture: The region of the continuous
image that contributes to the pixel value is called the
sampling aperture.

Color Images

A Color Image

A color image: Red, Blue, Green primary colors

256 levels for each primary colors
Each pixel color stored in three bytes (24 bits) of memory
16.7 million different possible colors.
Two types of color images:
Binary Images
Use only single bit to represent each pixel
every pixel in a binary image must be one of two colors, usually black
or white.

Indexed Color Images

the data for each pixel consists of a palette index indicating which of
the colors in the palette applies to that pixel
dithering must be applied to represent the missing colors and this
degrades the image.

CAMERA AND EYES

Human Eye
A human eyeball is like a simple camera!
Sclera: outer walls, hard, like a light-tight box.
Cornea and crystalline lens (eyelens): the two
lens system.
Retina: at the back of eyeball, like the film.
Iris: like diaphragms or stop in a camera.
Pupil: camera aperture.
Eyelid: lens cover.

Sclera (The white/non-transparent tissue surrounding the cornea)

Aqueous humor and Vitreous humor

The Aqueous Humor is the clear liquid between the
cornea and the lens. It has the benefit of being fairly
homogenous and, as a result, the optical properties
are easily measured. (Le Grand, 1967)
The space that it inhabits is called the anterior
chamber.
The Vitreous Humor is the clear liquid between the
lens and the retina.
The space that it fills is called the vitreous body.

Functions?
Provides nourishment to the eyelens and cornea.
Cannot use the blood vessels:
Will block the light.
Easy for surgical transplant.
Hold the shape of the eyeball.

Focusing
The cornea and eyelens form a compound lens
system, producing a real inverted image on the
retina.
From air to cornea (n=1.376): large bending, the main
focusing.
From cornea to eyelens (n=1.406), less focusing power.
(Eyelens can develop white cloudiness when getting old:
Cataracts.)

The eye has a limited depth of field. We cannot see

things close and far at the same time.

Accommodation
The eye focusing is not done by change the distance
between the lens and retina. Rather, it is done by
changing the focal length of the eyelens! Ciliary
muscles help to change the shape of the lens:
accommodation.
Muscles relax, long focal length, see objects far way;
Muscles tense, short focal length see objects close.
Normal eyes can see 25cm to infinity, however, if the
cornea bulges too much or too little. The accommodation
does not help. (myopia or hyperopia)

The Iris
When it is full open, it is about f/2 and f/3.
This happens at low light level.
When the iris has a small opening, it can cut
down the light intensity by a factor of 20.
However, the main function of stopping down
the iris is to increase the depth of field.

Retina Structure
Light sensitive layer is made of photoreceptors: rods (120 millions) and cones (7
millions) which absorb the light.
Plexiform Layer: nerve cells that process the
signals generated by rods and cones and
relay them to the optical nerve.
Choroid: carries mayor blood vessels to
nourish the retina and absorb the light so
that it will not be reflected back (dark pupil!)

Rods and Cones

Covers an area of 5 cm2. A baseball a mile
away gives an image covering one cone.
Cones: for more precise vision, need strong
light. help to see colors. Mostly distributed
in the center of the retina (fovea).
Rods: for peripheral and night vision.
Sensitive to light. Mostly distributed away
from fovea.

Sensitivity
Cones: slow, fine grain, like color film.
Need high level of light (photopic condition, day)
High density, high resolution.

Rods: fast, coarse grain, black & white film

Low level of light (scotopic condition, at night)
No color is obvious.

Adaptation: Changing of retina sensitivity.

Singal Processing
Trace the signal through the retina:
The retina is a seven-layered structure
involved in signal transduction.
Light enters from the GCL side first, and must
penetrate all cell types before reaching the rods
and cones.
The outer segments of the rods and cones
transduce the light and send the signal through
the cell bodies of the ONL and out to their axons.

 In the OPL photoreceptor axons contact the

dendrites of bipolar cells and horizontal
cells. Horizontal cells are interneurons
which aid in signal processing
The bipolar cells in the INL process input
from photoreceptors and horizontal cells,
and transmit the signal to their axons.

 In the IPL, bipolar axons contact ganglion

cell dendrites and amacrine cells, another
class of interneurons.
The ganglion cells of the GCL send their
axons through the OFL to the optic disk to
make up the optic nerve. They travel all the
way to the lateral geniculate nucleus.

Fovea
The fovea defines the center of the retina, and
is the region of highest visual acuity. The fovea
is directed towards whatever object you wish
to study most closely - this sentence, at the
moment. In the fovea there are almost
exclusively cones, and they are at their highest
density.

Processing Time
Latency: it takes a bit time for the cells in
retina to respond to a flash of light.
Persistence of response: the response does
not stop at the instant the flash stops.
1/25 second at low intensity, 1/50 second at high
intensity.
The persistence allows as to see moving things
clearly.

Cameras
Charge Coupled Devices (CCDs)
CCDs work by converting light into a pattern of
electronic charge in a silicon chip.
This pattern of charge is converted into a video
waveform, digitized and stored as an image file on
a computer.

CCD Analogy
A n number of buckets (Pixels) are distributed across a field (Focal
Plane of a telescope) in a square array.
The buckets are placed on top of a series of parallel conveyor belts
and collect rain fall (Photons) across the field.

The conveyor belts are initially stationary, while the rain slowly fills
then buckets (During the course of the exposure).
Once the rain stops (The camera shutter closes) the conveyor
belts start turning and transfer the buckets of rain , one by one , to
a measuring cylinder (Electronic Amplifier) at the corner of the
field (at the corner of the CCD)

CCD Analogy

RAIN (PHOTONS)

VERTICAL
CONVEYOR
BELTS
(CCD COLUMNS)

BUCKETS (PIXELS)

HORIZONTAL
CONVEYOR BELT

(SERIAL REGISTER)

MEASURING
CYLINDER
(OUTPUT
AMPLIFIER)

Exposure finished, buckets now contain samples of rain.

Conveyor belt starts turning and transfers buckets. Rain collected on the vertical conveyor
is tipped into buckets on the horizontal conveyor.

Vertical conveyor stops. Horizontal conveyor starts up and tips each bucket in turn into
the measuring cylinder .

After each bucket has been measured, the measuring cylinder

is emptied , ready for the next bucket load.

A new set of empty buckets is set up on the horizontal conveyor and the process
is repeated.

Charge Collection in a CCD.

Charge packet

pixel
boundary

pixel
boundary

incoming
photons

Photons entering the CCD create electron-hole pairs. The electrons are then attracted towards
the most positive potential in the device where they create charge packets. Each packet
corresponds to one pixel

n-type silicon
p-type silicon

Electrode Structure
SiO2 Insulating layer

Conventional Clocking 1

Surface electrodes

Insulating layer
Charge packet (photo-electrons)

Potential Energy

P-type silicon

Charge packets occupy potential minimums

N-type silicon

Potential Energy

Conventional Clocking 2

Potential Energy

Conventional Clocking 3

Potential Energy

Conventional Clocking 4

Potential Energy

Conventional Clocking 5

Potential Energy

Conventional Clocking 6

Potential Energy

Conventional Clocking 7

Potential Energy

Conventional Clocking 8

Potential Energy

Conventional Clocking 9

Charge Transfer in a CCD 1.

In the following few slides, the implementation of the conveyor belts as actual electronic
structures is explained.
The charge is moved along these conveyor belts by modulating the voltages on the electrodes
positioned on the surface of the CCD. In the following illustrations, electrodes colour coded red
are held at a positive potential, those coloured black are held at a negative potential.

1
2
3

Charge Transfer in a CCD 2.

+5V

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Time-slice shown in diagram

Charge Transfer in a CCD 3.

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Charge Transfer in a CCD 4.

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Charge Transfer in a CCD 5.

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Charge Transfer in a CCD 6.

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Charge Transfer in a CCD 7.

+5V

2
Charge packet from subsequent pixel enters
from left as first pixel exits to the right.

0V
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Charge Transfer in a CCD 8.

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Camera and Eye

You can watch the Eyes vs Camera animation
by following the link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL61MbyYsd4

TELEVISION VIDEO SIGNALS

 The horizontal and vertical synchronization (sync)

pulses mixed with the actual picture information
is called composite video.
Frame: Each second of standard video contains
30 complete images called Frames.
Frame contains 525 lines:
480-486 lines contains video information
39-45 lines are reserved
To keep television circuits synchronized with the video
signal.

Frame grabber
Usually, a CCD camera plugs into a computer board (frame
grabber).
The frame grabber digitizes the signal and stores it in its
memory (frame buffer).

Image digitization

Sampling means measuring the value of an image at a finite number

of points.
Quantization is the representation of the measured value at the
sampled point by an integer.

Other Image Acquisition and Display

Images can be acquired :
An entire frame at a time
By line scanning e.g. fax m/c, airport x-ray baggage
scanner
Point by point e.g. microwave image of Venus
Printed images are divided into two categories:
Grayscale
Halftone

a. Brightness too High

c: Contrast too high

b. Brightness too low

d: Contrast too low

Gray Scale Transformation

a. Original IR Image

b. With gray-scale transform