Piecewise linear perceptual quantizer as a non-uniform histogram equalization adjustment for contrast enhancement of tone mapped HDR images

Ba Chien Thai, Anissa Mokraoui, Basarab Matei

Abstract: This paper proposes a High Dynamic Range (HDR) image Tone Mapping (TM) approach converting HDR images into Low Dynamic Range (LDR) images so as the tone mapped HDR images ensure good visual quality on LDR display devices in accordance with the observers' assessment. The proposed algorithm adjusts the logarithm luminance distribution of the HDR image according to a perceptual quantizer with respect to the Human Visual System (HVS) using a piecewise linear function. The parameters's approximation are induced by L M -norms (ℓ 1 , ℓ 2 , ℓ ∞ ) and the performance of the proposed algorithm is discussed. Simulation results provide good results, both in terms of visual quality and TMQI metric, compared to existing competitive TM approaches.