Abstract
We present an efficient algorithm for fusing a pair of long- and short-exposure images that work in the JPEG domain. The algorithm uses the spatial frequency analysis provided by the discrete cosine transform within JPEG to combine the uniform regions of the long-exposure image with the detailed regions of the short-exposure image, thereby reducing noise while providing sharp details. Two additional features of the algorithm enable its implementation at low cost, and in real time, on a digital camera: the camera’s response between exposures is equalized with a look-up table implementing a parametric sigmoidal function; and image fusion is performed by selective overwriting during the JPEG file save operation. The algorithm requires no more than a single JPEG macro-block of the short-exposure image to be maintained in RAM at any one time, and needs only a single pass over both long- and short-exposure images. The performance of the algorithm is demonstrated with examples of image stabilization and high dynamic range image acquisition.
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Notes
Henceforth, JPEG refers to the 1992 image compression standard by the Joint Photographic Experts Group.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Tz-Huan Huang of the National Taiwan University and Dr. Marius Tico of the Nokia Research for providing estimates of running times and fusion results from their algorithms. We also thank D. Mao, N. Nagaraju, R. Bagadi and V. Premachandran for providing experimental image sets from various cameras.
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This work was supported in part by a Seed Grant provided by the Institute for Media Innovation (IMI).
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Kakarala, R., Hebbalaguppe, R. A method for fusing a pair of images in the JPEG domain. J Real-Time Image Proc 9, 347–357 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11554-011-0231-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11554-011-0231-8