Existing methods for image contrast enhancement focus mainly on the properties of the image to be processed while excluding any consideration of the observer characteristics. In several applications, particularly in the medical imaging area, effective contrast enhancement for diagnostic purposes can be achieved by including certain basic human visual properties. Here the authors present a novel adaptive algorithm that tailors the required amount of contrast enhancement based on the local contrast of the image and the observer's Just-Noticeable-Difference (JND). This algorithm always produces adequate contrast in the output image, and results in almost no ringing artifacts even around sharp transition regions, which is often seen in images processed by conventional contrast enhancement techniques. By separating smooth and detail areas of an image and considering the dependence of noise visibility on the spatial activity of the image, the algorithm treats them differently and thus avoids excessive enhancement of noise, which is another common problem for many existing contrast enhancement techniques. The present JND-Guided Adaptive Contrast Enhancement (JGACE) technique is very general and can be applied to a variety of images. In particular, it offers considerable benefits in digital radiography applications where the objective is to increase the diagnostic utility of images. A detailed performance evaluation together with a comparison with the existing techniques is given to demonstrate the strong features of JGACE.
Efficient implementation of a neural network-based strategy for the online adaptive control of complex dynamical systems characterized by an interconnection of several subsystems (possibly nonlinear) centers on the rapidity of the convergence of the training scheme used for learning the system dynamics. For illustration, in order to achieve a satisfactory control of a multijointed robotic manipulator during the execution of high speed trajectory tracking tasks, the highly nonlinear and coupled dynamics together with the variations in the parameters necessitate a fast updating of the control actions. For facilitating this requirement, a multilayer neural network structure that includes dynamical nodes in the hidden layer is proposed, and a supervised learning scheme that employs a simple distributed updating rule is used for the online identification and decentralized adaptive control. Important characteristic features of the resulting control scheme are discussed and a quantitative evaluation of its performance in the above illustrative example is given.
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