International Journal of Advanced Research Trends in Engineering and Technol ogy (IJARTET)

Vol. 1, Issue 2, October 2014

All Rights Reserved 2014 IJARTET 6

Image Contrast Enhancement Using Novel
Histogram Equalization

Ms. A.S.Senthil Kani
1
, Ms.S.Jeslin
2
, Ms.A.Getzie Prija
3
, P.Maria Jothi Jenifer
4
, S.Esther Leethiya Rani
5

Assistant Professor, Department of ECE, Francis Xavier Engineering College, Tirunelveli, India
1

PG Scholar, VLSI Design, Francis Xavier Engineering College, Tirunelveli, India
2, 3, 4, 5

Abstract: Histogram equalization is a well-known and effective technique for improving the contrast of images. The
traditional histogram equalization (HE) method usually results in extreme contrast enhancement, which causes an unnatural
look and visual artifacts of the processed image. In this project, novel histogram equalization method is proposed that is
composed of histogram separation module and an intensity transformation module. The proposed histogram separation
module has proposed prompt multiple threshold procedure and an optimum peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) calculation
to separate the histogram in small-scale detail. As the final step of the proposed process, the use of the intensity
transformation module can enhance the image with complete brightness preservation for each generated sub-histogram.

Keywords: Histogram equalization, contrast enhancement, multiple thresholds, peak signal-to-noise ratio.

I. INTRODUCTION
An image may be defined as the two-
dimensional function, f(x, y), where x and y are
spatial(plane) coordinates, f is function, and the amplitude
of f at any pair of coordinates (x, y) is called intensity
or gray level of the image at that point. When x, y,
and intensity values of f are all finite, discrete
quantities, we call the image a digital image. The field
of digital image processing refers to processing digital
images by means of digital computer. The digital image
is composed of finite number of elements, each of
which has particular location and value. These elements
are called as picture elements, image elements, pells and
pixels. Pixel is a term most widely used to denote the
elements of the digital image. Images play an important
role in human perception. Imaging machines cover almost
the entire electromagnetic spectrum, ranging from
gamma to radio waves. They can operate on images
generated by sources that humans are not accustomed to
associating with images.
II. MATERIALS AND METHODS
The HE method [1] is to re-map the gray levels of
an input image using a transformation function with the
cumulative distribution of the input image. HE attends to
and stretches the dynamic range of the image histogram to
improve the overall contrast of the original image. However,
the HE method is unsuitable for consumer electronic
applications. BBHE (Brightness Preserving Bi-Histogram
Equalization) preserves the mean brightness while the
contrast is enhanced [2],[3]. In order to overcome the
existing drawback, a Novel Histogram Equalization
Algorithm is formulated for uniform contrast enhancement,
noise tolerance and brightness preservation.
III. PROPOSED METHOD
A Novel Histogram Equalization method, involves
two important modules: a histogram separation module and
an intensity transformation module. First, the proposed
histogram separation module is a combination of prompt
multiple threshold procedure and an optimum PSNR
calculation to separate the histogram in small-scale detail.
As the final step of the proposed process, the use of the
intensity transformation module can enhance the image with
complete brightness preservation for each generated sub-
histogram. The output image of Novel Histogram
Equalization (Proposed Method) is compared with the
Histogram Equalization (Existing Method). In HE the
brightness of the original image is not preserved.Thus the
proposed method has uniform contrast and brightness and is
shown in Fig. 1.From Fig. 1. The contrast enchancement is
achieved and there is no feature loss. This histogram plot
shows the number of occurrence. The numbers of
occurrences occur between the intensity values of (10 to
200). There is no uniform distribution.
International Journal of Advanced Research Trends in Engineering and Technol ogy (IJARTET)
Vol. 1, Issue 2, October 2014




All Rights Reserved 2014 IJARTET 7


Fig. 1 Output Image














Fig. 2 Comparison of HE and NHE
From Fig.2,the output image of Novel Histogram
Equalization (Proposed Method) is compared with the
Histogram Equalization (Existing Method). In HE the
brightness of the original image is not preserved. But in the
proposed method the uniform contrast and brightness of the
original image is achieved.Table I shows MEAN,
STANDARD DEVIATION,RMSE,PSNR and AMBE value
of various input images. This table shows the range of PSNR
value which is greater than 0.1 and resultant AMBE value
which is low. It indicates that the proposed method preserve
brightness of the image without any feature loss. Histogram
modification techniques can be categorized into two main
types, global histogram modification and local histogram
modification. Global histogram modification techniques
attempt to modify the spatial histogram of an image in
order to closely match a uniform distribution via the
transform function. This is generated by using the
histogram information of the entire input image. However,
global histogram modification technique cannot adapt to
local brightness features. This causes limitations in the
amount of contrast enhancement in some parts of the image.



Fig. 3 Histogram Plot of Existing Method

Image shown in fig. 3 is the histogram plot of the Existing
Method. This histogram plot shows number of occurrence.
In this more number of occurrences occurs between the
intensity values of (75 to 175). There is no uniform
distribution. The Proposed technique (Novel histogram
equalization) attains Noise tolerance, Uniform contrast,
Brightness preservation.[4]. The aim of image enhancement
is to improve the interpretability or perception of
information in images for human viewers, or to provide
better input for other automated image processing
techniques. Compression deals with techniques for
reducing the storage required to save an image or the
bandwidth required to transmit it. It is familiar to most
user of computer in the form of image file extensions
such as the jpg file extension used in the JPEG(Joint
Photographic Expert Group).The Novel Histogram
Equalization Algorithm is formulated for uniform contrast
enhancement, noise tolerance and brightness preservation
and this is formulated by a table with comparison.

TABLE I
MEAN, STANDARD DEVIATION,RMSE,PSNR and AMBE VALUE
OF VARIOUS INPUT IMAGES
The proposed histogram separation module has
proposed prompt multiple thresholding procedure and an
optimum peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) calculation to
separate the histogram in small-scale. Thus, the final step of
the proposed process, the use of the intensity transformation
module can enhance the image with complete brightness
preservation for each generated sub-histogram. From Fig. 4,

Input Image


Histogram
equalization



Novel
Histogram
Equalization

Input
Image
Mean
Value
Standard
Deviation
RMSE
Value
PSNR
Value
AMBE
Value
Pout
Image
110.3 23.1810 6.7624 31.528 0.1214
Lena
Image
115.9 29.9554 6.6083 31.729 0.01
International Journal of Advanced Research Trends in Engineering and Technol ogy (IJARTET)
Vol. 1, Issue 2, October 2014




All Rights Reserved 2014 IJARTET 8

Histogram plot shows the number of occurrences. In this the
number of occurrences is distributed uniformly that is the
occurrences between the intensity values of (0 to 250).

Fig. 4 Histogram Plot of Proposed Method
IV. CONCLUSION
Thus, a Novel Histogram Equalization method is to
enhance the contrast of an image. By using the Histogram
Separation module the sub histograms were generated.
These sub histograms were equalized by the intensity
transformation module to achieve an accurate contrast
enhancement. The results revealed that the novel Histogram
Equalization method generated very high quality
enhancement images. This method has uniform contrast,
noise tolerance, brightness preservation, convenient
implementation. It is used in consumer electronics
application such as TV to provide high contrast without any
loss.
REFERENCES
[1] Chien-Hui Yeh, Shih-Chia Huang, Image contrast
enhancement for preserving mean brightness without
losing image features, in Engg. Appl. Of Art.
Int.,2013, pp.14871492.
[2] Abdullah-Al-Wadud.M , Chae.O, Dewan .M.A.A ,
Kabir.M.H, A Dynamic histogram qualization for
image contrast enhancement, IEEE Trans. 2007,
pp. 593600.
[3] Arici.T, Dikbas.S, Altunbasak.Y A histogram
modification frame work and its application for
image contrast enhancement,IEEE Trans 2009, pp.
19211935.
[4] Arora.S., Acharya. J, Verma. A, Panigrahi. P.K,
Multilevel thresholding for image segmentation
through a fast statistical Recursive algorithm,
Pattern Recognit.2008,pp. 119125.
[5] Beghdadi. A, Negrate. A.L, Contrast enhancement
technique based on local detection of edges,
Comput. Vis. Graph.1989, pp.162-174.
[6] Chen.Z.Y, Abidi.B.R, Page.D.L, Abidi.M.A,
Graylevel grouping (GLG): an automatic method for
optimized image contrast enhancement-part. ii: the
variations, IEEE Trans.2006a pp. 2303-2314.
[7] Chen.Z.Y, Abidi.B.R, Page.D.L, Abidi.M.A,
Graylevel grouping (GLG): an automatic method for
optimized image contrast enhancement- part. i: the
basic method, IEEE Trans.2006b, pp. 2290-2302.


BIOGRAPHY

Ms. A.S Senthil Kani is presently working as
an Assistant Professor, Department of
Electronics and Communication Engineering,
Francis Xavier Engineering College,
Tirunelveli.She completed her B.E
Electronics and Communication Engineering
from Kamaraj College of Engineering and Technology,
Virudunagar in the year 2006 and M.E in Communication
Systems From Mepco Schlenk Engineering College,
Sivakasi. She has 6 years experience in teaching as Assistant
Professor in various colleges.
Ms.S.Jeslin is presently studying M.E second
year VLSI Design engineering in Francis
Xavier Engineering College, Tirunelveli. She
has completed her B.E Electronics and
Communication Engineering from Francis
Xavier Engineering College, Tirunelveli in the year
2013.Her fields of interest are Memory Design, System on
Chip and VLSI Design techniques.

Ms A.Getzie Prija is presently studying
M.E. second year VLSI Design Engineering
in Francis Xavier Engineering College,
Tirunelveli. She has completed her B.E
Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering
from Kamaraj College of Engineering College, Tirunelveli
in the year 2013.Her fields of interest are Memory Design,
System on Chip and VLSI Design techniques.
Ms.P.Maria Jothi Jenifer is presently studying M.E.
second year VLSI Design Engineering in Francis Xavier
Engineering College, Tirunelveli. She has completed her
B.E Electronics and Communication Engineering from
International Journal of Advanced Research Trends in Engineering and Technol ogy (IJARTET)
Vol. 1, Issue 2, October 2014




All Rights Reserved 2014 IJARTET 9

Dr.Sivanthi Adithanar College of Engineering,
Thoothukudi. Her fields of interest are Memory Design,
System on Chip and VLSI Design techniques.
Ms.S.Esther Leethiya Rani is presently studying
M.E. second year VLSI Design Engineering in Francis
Xavier Engineering College, Tirunelveli. She has completed
her B.E Electronics and Communication Engineering from
DMI College of Engineering, Nagercoil. Her fields of
interest are Memory Design, System on Chip and VLSI
Design techniques.