AUTOMATIC DIGITAL IMAGE BALANCING

Rodrigo Affonso de Albuquerque Nóbrega 1 , 2

José Alberto Quintanilha 1
1 Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo
Departamento de Engenharia de Transportes – Laboratório de Geoprocessamento
Av. Prof. Almeida Prado, Travessa 2. nº 83
Cidade Universitária – São Paulo – Brazil
CEP: 05508-900
Tel: +55 11 3818 5504
2 Aerocarta Engenharia de Aerolevantamentos S/A
Rua Michigan, 547 – São Paulo – Brasil
CEP: 04566-000
Tel: +55 11 5543 6466
raanobrega@ig.com.br
jaquinta@usp.br

KEY WORDS: Image Balancing, Local Image Processing, Restoration, Enhancement, Automation,
Homogenization, Correlation.

ABSTRACT

Image Balancing is a process able to minimize radiometric divergences at one or several adjacent images.
Many factors can cause this divergence and some of them can be explained like chromatic aberrations in
different aerial camera positions, hot spots, sun glint and differences in scanner quality, differing film
types or images acquired at different times. The effects above usually can be found in aerial photograph,
specially in a mosaic composition, turn visible few inconsistencies across images colors, brightness and
contrast.
For manual film process, technicians have used different illuminations to distinct regions of image
through attenuant light filters to hot spot region and high illumination to dark region, estimating how
much light change in color was needed in each part of image to create a perfect balancing. This process
was carried over from analogical photographic world to the digital one. Today, the typical image-
balancing process requires an operator to load each digital image into a computer to manually or
automatically lighten, darken, color-correct and crop each image until it satisfactorily matches adjacent
photos, balancing one or all several images together.
The necessity of image balancing in Photogrammetry now is more than visual effects. Correlation process
like Automatic DTM generation or Automatic Triangulation have better effects to balanced images than
non-balanced images. This paper purpose is show the actual state of the art as well as the main software
and hardware solutions to this problem, suggesting suitable methodology to practical works, reporting
comparative results and any development implementation methods.

1-INTRODUCTION

Actually, there are many techniques and tools for Digital Image Processing, some of them come from
actual technological revolution, substituting almost completely analogical proceedings and tools, used for
several decades. The main objective methodological reorganization, to adapt analogical techniques to
digital world, is to implement automatic procedures minimizing time and cost and maximizing
productivity for any application.
Image Process is a computer based technique which origin with photographs, photographic films and
photographic cameras appearing. As well as this photographic product, Image Processing also had
developed during the time. Otherwise Digital Image Processing applied in Orbital Remote Sensing, image
balancing techniques have arisen from Photogrammetry necessities, minimizing light exposure in hot spot
regions and increasing light in dark regions.
However efficient, analogical procedures consist into manual photographs manipulation, executing unlike
enhancement to distinct regions of aerial photo thought color filters, different illumination or local
chemical products application, demanding experienced Photogrammetry laboratory technicians.
The actual state of digital technology turn obsolete the most of high precision optical/mechanical
photogrammetric instruments that today do not stand out between main photogrammetric systems.
As well as in an analogical instrument, the mathematical concept was preserved in a Digital
Photogrammetry. The principal change involved software and hardware implementation to replace stereo-
plotters and others mechanical instruments to digital system able to produce maps, orthophotos and digital
terrain models, proposing always the automation of the process.
Image balancing, based at digital image enhancement and restoration concepts involves local image
processing to calculate statistical parameters locally, automated or manually, for radiometric image
benefit.

2-OBJECTIVES

This paper is a part of developing research project by Geoprocessing Laboratory of University of São
Paulo, suggesting specific investigation about image balancing techniques, reporting history, and the
evolution from photographic to digital process. The project involves real balanced samples produced
automatically and manually by different software solutions as well as comparative results and techniques.
Otherwise, any image balancing procedures have been tested and implemented using the MatLab® The
MathWorks, Inc.
This paper purpose is report the actual state of the art to balancing images, reviewing and compare
analogical methods, instruments, results and limitations to computer-based procedures. Furthermore,
detailed explanation about digital technique will be showed, including figures, graphics and real samples,
relating the local processing function to digital images.

3-METHODOLOGY

There are two specific purposes application to development of Digital Image Processing methods:
graphical information processing for human interpretation and graphical information processing for
automatic systems (Gonzales and Woods, 1993). The necessity of homogeneity in aerial photographs
occur to both purposes application, in a graphical quality of image derived products like orthophotos and
mosaics or in an automatic correlation process like triangulation, DTM or pattern recognition.
This research idealization has arisen from practical activities at photogrammetric company projects and
from Digital Image Processing academic knowledge, motivating bibliography investigation and solution,
consulting Photogrammetry software developer as well as other universities and companies experiences.

3.1-Analogical Procedure

Photogrammetry always have used high geometric and radiometric quality technology in photograph
products, though aerial films stability and aerial cameras as well as in a film processing. Analogical aerial
film process can be executed manually or automatically (single-frame contact printer and continuous-strip
contact printer respectively).
Automated procedures request mechanical systems, without many human interventions. Manual
processing, however demands human intervention, have best visual results than most of automatic
mechanic systems.

3.1.1-Single-Frame Contact Printer: Human intervention can set exclusive enhancement for each image
of roll film, promoting homogeneity in brightness and contrast for different regions of an image. During
manual aerial film processing technicians basically use chemical agents and special filters and
illumination, able to customization, for different regions of photographs. Furthermore, only experienced
technicians can know how many change in light need to fix photographic imperfections and produce
homogeneous aspect.
Single-frame contact printer usually is equipped with many separately low-wattage lamps only for black
and white contact prints. The lamps should be regulated independently, this allows the operator to
compensate for any unevenness in the negative caused by vignetting by wide-angle lens.
The principal problem is that manual process spends much time, minimizing practical productivity.

3.1.2-Continuous-Strip Contact Printer: Actually, increasing lawsuit for color images had accelerated
and transformed this procedure. Manual process, however with best results, are not so fast than
mechanical systems. The most of automate systems can adjust temperature, light, time and others linear
parameters, i.e. applied equality for all regions of image and all images of roll.
Basically, two types of continuous printers have been used by Photogrammetry, Non-Dodging Printers,
manufactured during Word War II, appropriated for large roll films because of high-speed contact
printing, but without any light homogenization and Continuous Electronic Dodging, manufactured by
LogEtronics, Inc, that can expose the roll film changing scan speed for different regions of image,
promoting light balancing for each independent image.

3.2-Digital Procedure

With the instruments revolution to digital world, new techniques have been created, using ancients
models to implement procedures suitable to produce results like or better analogical instruments. The
great gain involves time and cost. For each new-implemented model tested there are an analogical model
result to be compared and this efficiency gain usually can be explained by computer upgrade.
In a recent Photogrammetry, the first revolution involved the introduction of electronic systems, where
older stereoplotters using high precision optical and mechanical system was substituted by analytical
systems using electronic systems and partially computer resources. Actually these analytical instruments
are no more top of high technology. Today stereoplotters uses digital resources, based in a computer
system, substituting completely optical/mechanical interactions for mathematics models.
The aerial photograph already can be generated by digital cameras, but it still not so usual because the
digital photogrammetric camera technology is recent. The actual digital process need photogrammetric
scanner, responsible to analogical/digital conversion.
For any system, aerial photographs always need preprocess. Procedure like digital filters, histogram
adjusting or Look Up Table creation, are linear, i.e. the same parameters applied for all images and to
produce homogeneity for all images it have to be locally calculated and applied.
The principal objective of enhancement techniques is to process an image so that the result is more
suitable than the original image for a specific application (Gonzales and Woods, 1993). Then, we can
assume that image balancing can be classified like image enhancement technique, because balanced
images have better visual aspect and automatic correlation results than original images.
Otherwise, the same authors entitle to image restoration the process able to reconstruct and recover an
image that has been degraded some a priori knowledge of the degradation phenomenon. Thus restoration
techniques are oriented toward modeling the degradation and applying the inverse process in order to
recover the original image. Thus, image balancing can be assumed like restoration technique too.
For any classed technique, the process has to be personalized for each region of an image and for each
image of group. Statistic parameters have to be calculated and applied in a local histogram adjustment.
SCHOWENGERT, 1997 affirms that the essential idea to local processing is based at the partition of an
image in several adjacent blocks for pixel-by-pixel benefit using local parameters, called Local Range
Modification (LRM).
 Block

Block divided image (Image Tiles)

Mean 1 Mean 2 Mean 3 Mean 4
STD 1 STD 2 STD 3 STD 4 Mean and Standard Deviation calculated
for each block

Mean 6 Mean 7 Mean 8 Mean 9 Mean 10 Skip edges of image – black pixels for
STD 6 STD 7 STD 8 STD 9 STD 10 aerial images

New local histogram have mean and

Mean 11 Mean 12 Mean 13 Mean 14 Mean 15 standard deviation as soon as possible
STD 11 STD 12 STD 13 STD 14 STD 15 near to desired for all blocks of image

Usually, Mean Standard Deviation means

Mean 16 Mean 17 Mean 18 Mean 19 Mean 2 brightness and contrast for histogram
STD 16 STD 17 STD 18 STD 19 STD 20 analysis

Mean 21 Mean 22 Mean 23 Mean 24 Mean 25

STD 21 STD 22 STD 23 STD 24 STD 25

Edges of Image
Adapted illustrative figure Dodger ©LH Systems, LLC, March 26, 1988

Figure 1: Illustrative sample of Local Range Modification technique (LRM) according

SCHOWENGERT, 1997 and adapted at Dodger© software by LH Systems, LLC.

3.2.1-Single Image Balancing: The technique of local processing can be easily explained using one
single image first. It consists at calculus of local adaptative parameters. The concept involves basically
LRM adaptation to balancing necessities that enables differentiated adjusts for each image adjacent block.
The first step is the global parameters extraction, i.e. mean and standard deviation for each color channel.
This parameters are used to compare each independent block parameter, estimating witch regions of
original image need to be modified, in other words, if the block is darken than image mean, local and
global parameters will be help to estimate the perfect bright to this block.
Another important factor to balance images is the color channel decomposition to RGB (Red, Green and
Blue respectively). After decomposition, each RGB channel is processed independently, preserving LRM
structure. It demands three independents steps, which will need more time and memory to computer
system.
RED

ORIGINAL IMAGE
GREEN

DECOMPOSITION
BLUE

Figure 2: Color image decomposition in RGB channels, by Aerocarta S.A.

Normally dark regions occur near the edges and central region of image is more lighten. However can
occur hot spot regions near the border in water features like river, ocean or lakes or the relief can
influence drastically images aspect producing large shadow valleys.

Figure 3: Original image (left) versus balanced image (right) using LH Systems Dodger©. Rural region with
intense water presence – Sao Paulo State - Brazil, scale.1: 35000, ceded by: Aerocarta S.A

3.2.2-Multi-Images Balancing: Aerial Photogrammetry always involves several images, distributed per
flight strips according project parameters. Sometimes the project needs more than one flight at different
time to recover any geographical place. This demands difference at images aspect by different aerial film,
atmospheric conditions or sun glint. For any multi-images visualization like mosaics of photo-indexes, the
radiometric quality of these images will be compromised. Then, if the same images were balanced, the
mosaic or photo-index generated probably will have best visual aspect.
When image balancing is applied for several images together, the principle does not differ of single-
image balancing. First all images have to be decomposed to RGB channels, then the program will
calculate three independents global values for histogram stretch for each color channel, as showed at
following figure:
Block i Block ii Block iii Block iv ... IMG 1
Mean 120 119 133 127 129 118 125 131 125 138 144 138 ... 128 131 129
STD 36 39 38 33 37 29 34 39 33 36 36 36 ... 35 38 34

Block i Block ii Block iii Block iv ... IMG 2

Mean 132 117 145 143 143 139 139 129 133 145 153 147 ... 136 133 137
STD 43 31 42 38 35 31 36 32 29 44 45 39 ... 39 38 37
.
.
.

Block i Block ii Block iii Block iv ... IMG n

Mean 125 122 131 132 110 136 131 115 121 136 119 132 ... 129 119 129
STD 37 27 32 35 27 33 36 25 32 32 29 36 ... 35 26 33

Calculated Parameters
129 119 129
35 26 33
Table 1: Mean and Standard Deviation – single and multiple images sample
According to table 1, different color channel brightness and contrast between images are expresses by
mean and standard deviation. Each image histogram is used to automatically estimate ideal color channel
parameters. Most of large image balancing applications use this method to estimate the ideal RGB image
histograms to be applied to each image.
Base in these desired parameters, the program will calculate how many change in color histograms each
image need to seem with ideal image.

Figure 4: Original Images Photoindex versus Balanced Images Photoindex using LH Systems Dodger©. São
Paulo State-Brazil, scale.1:35000, ceded by: Aerocarta S.A

There are some image balancing programs suitable to color parameter extraction, image-by-image,
calculating ideal parameters and estimating how many change each channel histogram will need to each
image, without process them. These parameters can be reported to posterior detailed process.
Desired histograms already can be manually inputted by operator, based in an ideal image. This method
only will produce good results if the operator already knows the corrects parameters to be used for all
images.
Look Up Table (LUT) can be used to balance images too. Some image software use LUT to index image
color information and generally, each image have an exclusive LUT. The LUT balancing consists in a
simple merge of tables to all images, but it is so dangerous process because there are no histograms
differences estimation and this modification is applied equally for all regions of image.

4-RESULTS

However this research project still open, any results already can be concluded. About algorithm
implementation, the MatLab® program does not run faster then other commercials software, but its tools
are efficient and there are many implemented basic digital image processing routines like filters, block
processing, format conversion and histogram adjust. Them can easily help the development of advanced
procedures.
The use of LRM technique implemented in MatLab® for image balance proposed have obtained good
results for single and multi-image processing, confirming the efficiency of local processing method.
Complementary study have to consider for soften visual discrepancies between processed blocks
therefore simple LRM application can enlighten seamless, damaging visual image quality. Then, any
interpolation methods have been tested according to Artero and Tommaselli, 2000 and the results can be
showed at Figure 5:

Figure 5: Original Image (left) versus Balanced Image (right) – obtained by implemented procedure
using MatLab®.

For practical viewpoint , this results satisfy the expectation because the first idea was research digital
techniques to attend only visual aspects of image for mosaic composition, but the research involved
correlation results study too. Based in a possible gain during automatic correlation process of images,
some tests have been executed using color and black-and-white aerial photographs. The correlation
process was the automatic tie point generation using HATS - Helava Automatic Triangulation System
core of SocetSet© 4.2 by LH Systems, LLC. After created the project, two subsequent automatic
triangulation was processed, first using only non-balanced images and then using balanced images. These
two steps was repeated for color and black-and-white projects executed by AEROCARTA S.A for
different places during approximately six months, using several large projects size with approximately
100 images distribute in several strips.
The general efficiency of technique results can be reported in the obtained gain that increased from 55%
to 67% for color images and from 55% for 79% for black-and-white images.

5-BIBLIOGRAPHY

American Society of Photogrammetry, 1980. Manual of Photogrammetry, Falls Church, VA, USA.
Fourth Edition pp. 305-363.

ARTERO, A. O., TOMMASELLI, A. M., 2000. Limiarização Automática de Imagens Digitais, Boletim
de Ciências Geodésicas, Curitiba, Brazil, pp 38-48.

AVERY, T. E., 1968. Interpretation of Aerial Photographs, Urbana, Illinois, EUA. Second Edition,
pp.86-97.

CORBLEY, K.P., 1996. Color Aerial Photography is Setting Lorain Country, Ohio’s Digital Ortho-Based
GIS Project Apart from Many Others, Denver, CO, USA.
http://www.eomonline.com/Comon/Arquives/April96/corbley.htm (24 May 2001)
DREW, M. S., WEI, J., LI, Z.N., 1999. Illumination-Invariant Image Retrieval and Video
Segmentation, Pattern Recognition Society – 32 pp1369-1388.
GONZALES, R. C., WOODS, R. E., 1993. Digital Image Processing, New York, USA. Chap. 4,5,7.

LATOREE, M., DIAS, A., SHIMABUKURO, Y., CARVALHO, O., 2001. A Influência dos Efeitos da
Geometria de Iluminação na Análise de Alvos de Superfície Terrestre Obtidos a Partir de Dados
AVIRIS., Congresso Brasileiro de Sensoriamento Remoto, Foz do Iguaçu – Brazil

LH - Systems, 1998. Socet Set User Manual - Image Balancing: Dodger, San Diego, USA. Chap. 36 pp.
1-10.

NOVO, E. M., 1992. Sensoriamento Remoto Princípios e Aplicações, São José dos Campos, Brazil.
Segunda Edição, pp.205-265

SCHOWENGERDT, R. A., 1997. Remote Sensing Models and Methods for Image Processing, San
Diego, CA, USA. Second Edition, pp. 202-219.

STRAND, E. J., 1999. It Takes a Wizard to Create Seamless Air Photo Mosaics. Synergetics Inc, Fort
Collins, CO, USA.
http://www/geoplace.com/gw/1999/0199/199nuts.asp (25 May 2001)

ZHAO, L., YANG, Y.H., 1999. Mosaic Image Method: A Local and Global Method, Pattern Recognition
Society - 32 pp.1421-1433.