Realistic Film Grain Rendering

Alasdair Newson, Noura Faraj, Bruno Galerne, Julie Delon

Abstract: Film grain is the unique texture which results from the silver halide based analog photographic process. Film emulsions are made up of microscopic photo-sensitive silver grains, and the fluctuating density of these grains leads to what is known as film grain. This texture is valued by photographers and film directors for its artistic value. We present two implementations of a film grain rendering algorithm based on a physically realistic film grain model. The rendering algorithm uses a Monte Carlo simulation to determine the value of each output rendered pixel. A significant advantage of using this model is that the images can be rendered at any resolution, so that arbitrary zoom factors are possible, even to the point where the individual grains can be observed. We provide a method to choose the best implementation automatically, with respect to execution time.