Abstract.
Image processing strongly relies on the quality of the input images, as images of appropriate quality can significantly decrease the development effort for image processing and computer vision algorithms. A flexible acquisition system for image enhancement, which is able to operate in real time under changing brightness conditions, is suggested. The system is based on controlling the aperture of the acquisition camera lens, which makes it useable in combination with all types of image sensors. The control scheme is based on an adaptive image quality estimator and can be used to enhance a variety of spatio-temporal properties. Those properties are either characterized by a time-varying or spatial characteristic, or both, i.e. spatio-temporal characteristics of the imaged scene. A region of interest is derived from the more abstract spatio-temporal property. We present results for aperture control adapted to regions of interest characterized by 2D and 3D spatio-temporal properties. We investigate control implemented in software and aimed towards different spatio-temporal properties. Hardware configuration and real-time acquisition capability for static and dynamic changing image contents is demonstrated, and adaptation time and improvement of image quality are measured and compared.
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Received: 30 August 2003, Accepted: 17 May 2004, Published online: 20 August 2004
This work was carried out within the K plus Competence Center ADVANCED COMPUTER VISION and was funded from the K plus program.
We thank Professor Walter Kropatsch for critical comments and fruitful discussions on the paper content and methodology.
Austrian patent granted under no. A 705/2002.
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Huber, R., Nowak, C. & Spatzek, B. Image acquisition using aperture controladapted to spatio-temporal properties. Machine Vision and Applications 15, 204–215 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00138-004-0154-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00138-004-0154-5