INTERVAL QUALITY INDICATORS OF THE DYNAMIC RANGE COMPRESSION OF INFRARED IMAGES ON THE BASIS OF A TONE MAPPING MATRIX

Abstract

The article proposes a dynamic range compression model for infrared (IR) images based on a tone mapping matrix, the elements of which relate the brightness levels of the original image with a wide dynamic range and the brightness levels of a non-linearly transformed image with a narrow dynamic range, and also indicate, depending on the variant of formation of this matrices on: a) loss of discrimination between adjacent pixels due to compression of the dynamic range; b) the level of non-linear compression distortions; c) ambiguity of tone mapping. Based on this model, interval indicators of the quality of compression of the dynamic range of infrared images are proposed, which allow estimating the potential distinguishing power, the real loss of discrimination between adjacent pixels after transformation, the magnitude of nonlinear compression distortions, the uniformity of the use of the dynamic range, and the ambiguity of tone mapping for the selected interval of the dynamic range. The proposed indicators improve the accuracy of assessing the quality of compression of the dynamic range of IR images by expanding the system of known indicators that evaluate the contrast, entropy, statistical naturalness of the converted images, and the structural accuracy of tone mapping.