Digital Image Processing

Human Visual Systems

 Content
2. Fundamental of Digital Images
- Electromagetic Spectrum of Light & Image
Formation in human eyes.
- Human Visual Perception
- Spatial Frequency Resolution
- Temporal Frequency Resolution

11/01/2024 Le Thanh Ha, Dr., Lab. of HMI 2

 Light

c
 : wavelength
f
c: speed of light (2.998x108m/s)
f: frequency

11/01/2024 Le Thanh Ha, Lab of HMI 3

 Isaac Newton prism

Sunlight consists of continuous spectrum of

colors ranging from violet to red

11/01/2024 Le Thanh Ha, Lab of HMI 4

 Light and Electromagnetic
Spectrum

11/01/2024 Le Thanh Ha, Lab of HMI 5

 Light properties
Light is a particular type of EM radiation:
Can be presented by frequency or wavelength
Natural white light (include all frequencies) comes from the sun (S.
I. Newton’s glass prism)
When an object is radiated by while light:
Object absorbs some ranges of light’s frequency and reflects the others
Human eyes perceive the reflected light and assume it as the object’s color.
Eg: green objects reflect ligth with wavelengths primarily in [500,570] nm
range and absorb most of the energy at other wavelengths.

Why we still perceive scene around even thought there is no

sun?

11/01/2024 Le Thanh Ha, Lab of HMI 6

 Light properties
Light that is advoid of color is called monochromatic
light (ML).
Intensity of ML varies from black to gray, and white  gray
level, or just intensity.

Color light:
Luminance: amount of energy perceived.
Chrominance:
Frequencies of wavelight
Hue
Purity
11/01/2024 Le Thanh Ha, Lab of HMI 7
 Light properties

Frequency (hue, color)

Luminance (sum of area under the freq. curve)
Purity: (ED-EW)/ ED

11/01/2024 Lê Thanh Hà 8
 Human Visual Perception
Human perception encompasses both the
physiological and psychological aspects.
We will focus more on physiological aspects,
which are more easily quantifiable and
hence, analyzed.
Human Visual Perception
Why study visual perception?
Image processing algorithms are designed based
on how our visual system works.
In image compression, we need to know what
information is not perceptually important and can
be ignored.
In image enhancement, we need to know what
types of operations that are likely to improve an
image visually.
The Human Visual System
The human visual system consists of two
primary components – the eye and the brain,
which are connected by the optic nerve.
Eye – receiving sensor (camera, scanner).
Brain – information processing unit (computer
system).
Optic nerve – connection cable (physical wire).
 How eye looks

11/01/2024 Le Thanh Ha, Lab of HMI 12

 Thu Human Visual System

11/01/2024 Le Thanh Ha, Lab of HMI 13

The Human Visual System
This is how human visual system works:
Light energy is focused by the lens of the eye into
sensors and retina.
The sensors respond to the light by an
electrochemical reaction that sends an electrical
signal to the brain (through the optic nerve).
The brain uses the signals to create neurological
patterns that we perceive as images.
The Human Visual System
The visible light is an electromagnetic wave
with wavelength range of about 380 to 825
nanometers.
However, response above 700 nanometers is
minimal.
We cannot “see” many parts of the
electromagnetic spectrum.
The Human Visual System
The visible spectrum can be divided into
three bands:
Blue (400 to 500 nm).
Green (500 to 600 nm).
Red (600 to 700 nm).
The sensors are distributed across retina.
The Human Visual System
There are two types of sensors: rods and
cones.
Rods:
For night vision.
See only brightness (gray level) and not color.
Distributed across retina.
Medium and low level resolution.
The Human Visual System
Cones:
For daylight vision.
Sensitive to color.
Concentrated in the central region of eye.
High resolution capability (differentiate small
changes).
 The Human Visual System

11/01/2024 Le Thanh Ha, Lab of HMI 19

The Human Visual System
Blind spot:
No sensors.
Place for optic nerve.
We do not perceive it as a blind spot because the
brain fills in the missing visual information.
Why does an object should be in center field
of vision in order to perceive it in fine detail?
This is where the cones are concentrated.
The Human Visual System
Cones have higher resolution than rods
because they have individual nerves tied to
each sensor.
Rods have multiple sensors tied to each
nerve.
Rods react even in low light but see only a
single spectral band. They cannot distinguish
color.
The Human Visual System
The Human Visual System
There are three types of cones. Each
responding to different wavelengths of light
energy.
The colors that we perceive are the combined
result of the response of the three cones.
The Human Visual System
 Other species’ Visual Systems

Eagle: Best resolution (6 times than human)

Owl: Largest visual field (360o)
Ants: Ultraviolet sensing
Rattle snake: Infra red sensing
Dogs: Color blind

11/01/2024 Le Thanh Ha, Lab of HMI 25

 Spatial Frequency
Resolution
To understand the concept of spatial
frequency, we must first understand the
concept of resolution.
Resolution: the ability to separate two
adjacent pixels.
If we can see that two adjacent pixels as being
separate, then we can say that we can resolve the
two.
 Spatial Frequency
Resolution
Spatial frequency: how rapidly the signal
changes in space.
 Spatial Frequency
Resolution
If we increase the frequency, the stripes
get closer until they finally blend together.
 Spatial Frequency
Resolution
The distance between eye and image also affects the
resolution.
The further the image, the worse the resolution.

Why is this important?

The number of pixels per square inch on a display device must be large
enough for us to see an image as being realistic. Otherwise we will end
up seeing blocks of colors.
There is an optimum distance between the viewer and the display
device.
 Spatial Frequency
Resolution
Limitations of visual system in resolution are
due to both optical and neural factor.
We cannot resolve things smaller than the
individual sensor.
Lens has finite size, which limits the amount of
light it can gather.
Lens is slightly yellow (which progresses with age);
limits eye’s response to certain wavelength of
light.
 Spatial Frequency
Resolution
Spatial resolution is affected by the average
background brightness of the display.
In general, we have higher spatial resolution
at brighter levels.
The visual system has less spatial resolution
for color information that has been
decoupled from the brightness information.
 Temporal Resolution
Related to how we respond to visual
information as a function of time.
Useful when considering video and motion in
images.
Can be measured using flicker sensitivity.
Flicker sensitivity refers to our ability to
observe a flicker in a video signal displayed
on a monitor.
 Temporal Resolution
The cutoff frequency is about 50 hertz (cycles
per second).
We will not perceive any flicker for a video signal
above 50Hz.
TV uses frequency around 60Hz.
The brighter the lighting, the more sensitive
we are to changes.