The multi-fractal structure of contrast changes in natural images: from sharp edges to textures

We present a formalism that leads very naturally to a hierarchical description of the different contrast structures in images, providing precise definitions of sharp edges and other texture components. Within this formalism, we achieve a decomposition of pixels of the image in sets, the fractal components of the image, such that each set only contains points characterized by a fixed stregth of the singularity of the contrast gradient in its neighborhood. A crucial role in this description of images is played by the behavior of contrast differences under changes in scale. Contrary to naive scaling ideas where the image is thought to have uniform transformation properties \cite{Fie87}, each of these fractal components has its own transformation law and scaling exponents. A conjecture on their biological relevance is also given.Comment: 41 pages, 8 figures, LaTe

The Marr Conjecture and Uniqueness of Wavelet Transforms

The inverse question of identifying a function from the nodes (zeroes) of its wavelet transform arises in a number of fields. These include whether the nodes of a heat or hypoelliptic equation solution determine its initial conditions, and in mathematical vision theory the Marr conjecture, on whether an image is mathematically determined by its edge information. We prove a general version of this conjecture by reducing it to the moment problem, using a basis dual to the Taylor monomial basis $x^\alpha$ on $\mathbb {R}^n$.Comment: 52 pages, 4 figure

Box Spline Wavelet Frames for Image Edge Analysis

We present a new box spline wavelet frame and apply it for image edge analysis. The wavelet frame is constructed using a box spline of eight directions. It is tight and has seldom been used for applications. Due to the eight different directions, it can find edges of various types in detail quite well. In addition to step edges (local discontinuities in intensity), it is able to locate Dirac edges (momentary changes of intensity) and hidden edges (local discontinuity in intensity derivatives). The method is simple and robust to noise. Many numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of this method. Quantitative and qualitative comparisons with other edge detection techniques are provided to show the advantages of this wavelet frame. Our test images include synthetic images with known ground truth and natural, medical images with rich geometric information

Wavelet analysis and scaling properties of time series

We propose a wavelet based method for the characterization of the scaling behavior of non-stationary time series. It makes use of the built-in ability of the wavelets for capturing the trends in a data set, in variable window sizes. Discrete wavelets from the Daubechies family are used to illustrate the efficacy of this procedure. After studying binomial multifractal time series with the present and earlier approaches of detrending for comparison, we analyze the time series of averaged spin density in the 2D Ising model at the critical temperature, along with several experimental data sets possessing multi-fractal behavior.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in PR

Construction of Hilbert Transform Pairs of Wavelet Bases and Gabor-like Transforms

We propose a novel method for constructing Hilbert transform (HT) pairs of wavelet bases based on a fundamental approximation-theoretic characterization of scaling functions--the B-spline factorization theorem. In particular, starting from well-localized scaling functions, we construct HT pairs of biorthogonal wavelet bases of L^2(R) by relating the corresponding wavelet filters via a discrete form of the continuous HT filter. As a concrete application of this methodology, we identify HT pairs of spline wavelets of a specific flavor, which are then combined to realize a family of complex wavelets that resemble the optimally-localized Gabor function for sufficiently large orders. Analytic wavelets, derived from the complexification of HT wavelet pairs, exhibit a one-sided spectrum. Based on the tensor-product of such analytic wavelets, and, in effect, by appropriately combining four separable biorthogonal wavelet bases of L^2(R^2), we then discuss a methodology for constructing 2D directional-selective complex wavelets. In particular, analogous to the HT correspondence between the components of the 1D counterpart, we relate the real and imaginary components of these complex wavelets using a multi-dimensional extension of the HT--the directional HT. Next, we construct a family of complex spline wavelets that resemble the directional Gabor functions proposed by Daugman. Finally, we present an efficient FFT-based filterbank algorithm for implementing the associated complex wavelet transform.Comment: 36 pages, 8 figure

Blur estimation for document images

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