Underwater image restoration by red channel compensation and underwater median dark channel prior

Abstract

Underwater images often show low contrast, blurring, and color distortion due to the absorption and scattering of light. In contrast to existing underwater image restoration methods, we propose an underwater image restoration method with red channel compensation and blue-green channel restoration. First, a proposed approach relies on the hue and attenuation differences between different color channels of the underwater image to estimate the background light. Then, the red channel is enhanced according to a perfect reflection assumption algorithm. Finally, a new median underwater dark channel prior (MUDCP) is proposed to precisely estimate the blue-green channel transmission map. Experimental results show that our method significantly improves contrast, removes color bias, and preserves more detail than other underwater restoration techniques.