Two-dimensional histogram equalization and contrast enhancement

In this paper, we propose a two-dimensional histogram equalization (2DHE) algorithm which utilizes contextual information around each pixel to enhance the contrast of an input image. The algorithm is based on the observation that the contrast in an image can be improved by increasing the grey-level differences between each pixel and its neighbouring pixels. The image equalization is achieved by assuming that for a given image, the modulus of the grey-level differences between pixels and their neighbouring pixels are equally distributed. The well-known global histogram equalization algorithm is a special case of 2DHE when contextual information is not utilized. 2DHE is easy to implement requiring only a small number of simple arithmetic operations and is thus suitable for real-time contrast enhancement applications. Experimental results show that 2DHE produces better or comparable enhanced images than several state-of-the-art algorithms. The only parameter in 2DHE which requires tuning is the size of the spatial neighbourhood support which provides the contextual information for a given dynamic range of the enhanced image. An automated parameter selection algorithm is also presented. The algorithm can be applied to a wide range of image types. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.