Digital Image Processing

Lect # 3

Sampling and quantization

Digital image representation
[0,0] [0,1] [0,2] [0,3] [0,4]

[1,0] [1,1] [1,2] [1,3] [1,4]

[2,0] [2,1] [2,2] [2,3] [2,4]

[3,0] [3,1] [3,2] [3,3] [3,4]

[4,0] [4,1] [4,2] [4,3] [4,4]

2
Digital Image Representation
 f (0,0) f (0,1) ... f (0, N  1) 
 f (1,0) f (1,1) ... f (1, N  1) 
f ( x, y )  
 ... ... ... ... 
 
 f ( M  1, 0) f ( M  1,1) ... f ( M  1, N  1) 

Discrete intensity interval [0, L-1], L=2k

The number b of bits required to store a M × N digitized

image is, b = M × N × k
Grayscale image as a function
Spatial and Gray-level Resolution
 Spatial resolution is the smallest discernible detail in an image;
depends upon sampling
 Spatial resolution: smallest number of discernible line pairs
per unit distance, where line pair consists of one line of width
W and its adjacent space of same width such that, the width of
a line pair is 2W.
 Gray-level resolution: smallest discernible change in gray
level
 Due to hardware considerations, the number of gray levels is
usually an integer power of 2
 An L-level digital image of size M X N has a spatial resolution
of M*N pixels and a gray-level resolution of L levels
Spatial Resolution: Different definitions

No. of discernible line pairs per unit

distance
Dots(pixels) per unit distance (dpi)
Number of pixels
Spatial resolution

128 64

256

512

Gray-levels represented with 8 bits for spatial

resolution.
1024
Sub-sampling done by deleting appropriate
number of rows and columns.

Number of gray levels allowed = 256

Spatial resolution

1024 512 256

64
128
Pixel size and sensitivity
 The number of pixels in image sensors is important for the
image quality. There is a general tendency towards higher
resolutions, because they are associated with higher
information content. Higher resolutions mean smaller pixels.
 Sensitivity of the pixels is another important feature
(characteristic) of an image sensor. Larger pixel image
sensors are said to be more sensitive than smaller pixel
sensors.
 For short exposure times and bad lighting conditions the
sensitivity is important. In this case the user should decide for
small pixels.
 If the user desires a high contrast, large pixels are to be
preferred.
Gray level resolution
 False
contouring Gray level resolution

Number of allowed gray-levels reduced => reduced number of bits required.

Number of bits required
Relation between N and k

For images with a

large amount of
detail only a few
gray levels may be
needed
Activity
An image of 2400 x 2400 pixels was
scanned at 300 dpi. Determine the
physical size of the image.

Solution: 8x8 inches

MATLAB