Multi-resolution enhancement of photographic images

Multi-resolution enhancement provides a powerful tool for enhancing photographic images. These images are acquired with a large dynamic range and a good signal-to-noise ratio. A problem arises in reproducing such images on a medium (CRT, paper...). There are the restrictions of the recording apparatus (number of reproducible intensity levels, color gamut, and color resolution...) as well as environmental factors (flare, light level...). Apart from these technical restrictions, there are also fundamental limitations to the capabilities of the human visual system We present a multi-resolution method that adjusts the image such that it uses the available dynamic range in a more efficient way and faint image details are visualized better, even in dark and light portions of the image. The enhancement is done in. a way that preserves the natural look of the image. The algorithm is robust enough to process photographic images in batch, without tweaking the processing parameters per image. The main message of this paper is that multi-resolution image enhancement, originally developed for radiological imaging, can be applied successfully on photographic color images.