Image enhancement algorithm combining histogram equalization and bilateral filtering

Abstract

In the process of image acquisition, transmission, and storage, the image quality is often degraded due to a variety of unfavorable factors, resulting in information loss, which poses certain difficulties for subsequent image processing and analysis. How to enhance the visibility of image details and maintain the naturalness of the image is one of the important challenges in image processing. In response to this challenge, an image enhancement algorithm is proposed based on the advantages of histogram equalization and bilateral filtering. This algorithm organically integrates histogram equalization and bilateral filtering, aiming to improve image quality while reducing noise in the image. Specifically, the study first utilizes an improved histogram equalization strategy to preprocess the image and then applies a bilateral filter for further optimization. The experimental results showed that the optimized histogram equalization could effectively improve the global contrast of the image and avoid excessive enhancement and gray phenomenon of the image. Moreover, its peak signal-to-noise ratio could reach 0.71. However, bilateral filters showed significant advantages in processing complex data sets, and the peak signal-to-noise ratio could reach 0.95. It illustrated that the optimal research method has obvious advantages in improving image quality and reducing noise. The new enhancement strategy not only significantly improves the global contrast of the image but also preserves the naturalness of the image, providing important technical support for image analysis, machine vision, and artificial intelligence applications.