New visualization method for high dynamic range images in low dynamic range devices

Abstract

Various tone reproduction operators have been proposed to display high dynamic range images on low dynamic range (LDR) devices. The gradient domain operator is a good candidate due to its capability of reducing the dynamic range and avoiding common artifacts including halos and loss of image details. However the gradient domain operator requires high computational complexity and often introduces low-frequency artifacts such as reversal of contrast between distant image patches. In order to solve these problems we present a new gradient domain tone reproduction method which adopts an energy functional with two terms one for preserving global contrast and the other for enhancing image details. In the proposed method the LDR image is obtained by minimizing the proposed energy functional through a numerical method. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method can not only achieve the significantly reduced computational complexity but also exhibit better visual quality as compared with conventional algorithms. (C) 2011 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). [DOI: 10.1117/1.3640821]