2,964 research outputs found
Focusing on out-of-focus : assessing defocus estimation algorithms for the benefit of automated image masking
Acquiring photographs as input for an image-based modelling pipeline is less trivial than often assumed. Photographs should be correctly exposed, cover the subject sufficiently from all possible angles, have the required spatial resolution, be devoid of any motion blur, exhibit accurate focus and feature an adequate depth of field. The last four characteristics all determine the " sharpness " of an image and the photogrammetric, computer vision and hybrid photogrammetric computer vision communities all assume that the object to be modelled is depicted " acceptably " sharp throughout the whole image collection. Although none of these three fields has ever properly quantified " acceptably sharp " , it is more or less standard practice to mask those image portions that appear to be unsharp due to the limited depth of field around the plane of focus (whether this means blurry object parts or completely out-of-focus backgrounds). This paper will assess how well-or ill-suited defocus estimating algorithms are for automatically masking a series of photographs, since this could speed up modelling pipelines with many hundreds or thousands of photographs. To that end, the paper uses five different real-world datasets and compares the output of three state-of-the-art edge-based defocus estimators. Afterwards, critical comments and plans for the future finalise this paper
Highlighting objects of interest in an image by integrating saliency and depth
Stereo images have been captured primarily for 3D reconstruction in the past.
However, the depth information acquired from stereo can also be used along with
saliency to highlight certain objects in a scene. This approach can be used to
make still images more interesting to look at, and highlight objects of
interest in the scene. We introduce this novel direction in this paper, and
discuss the theoretical framework behind the approach. Even though we use depth
from stereo in this work, our approach is applicable to depth data acquired
from any sensor modality. Experimental results on both indoor and outdoor
scenes demonstrate the benefits of our algorithm
Learning Wavefront Coding for Extended Depth of Field Imaging
Depth of field is an important factor of imaging systems that highly affects
the quality of the acquired spatial information. Extended depth of field (EDoF)
imaging is a challenging ill-posed problem and has been extensively addressed
in the literature. We propose a computational imaging approach for EDoF, where
we employ wavefront coding via a diffractive optical element (DOE) and we
achieve deblurring through a convolutional neural network. Thanks to the
end-to-end differentiable modeling of optical image formation and computational
post-processing, we jointly optimize the optical design, i.e., DOE, and the
deblurring through standard gradient descent methods. Based on the properties
of the underlying refractive lens and the desired EDoF range, we provide an
analytical expression for the search space of the DOE, which is instrumental in
the convergence of the end-to-end network. We achieve superior EDoF imaging
performance compared to the state of the art, where we demonstrate results with
minimal artifacts in various scenarios, including deep 3D scenes and broadband
imaging
The Application of Preconditioned Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers in Depth from Focal Stack
Post capture refocusing effect in smartphone cameras is achievable by using
focal stacks. However, the accuracy of this effect is totally dependent on the
combination of the depth layers in the stack. The accuracy of the extended
depth of field effect in this application can be improved significantly by
computing an accurate depth map which has been an open issue for decades. To
tackle this issue, in this paper, a framework is proposed based on
Preconditioned Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (PADMM) for depth
from the focal stack and synthetic defocus application. In addition to its
ability to provide high structural accuracy and occlusion handling, the
optimization function of the proposed method can, in fact, converge faster and
better than state of the art methods. The evaluation has been done on 21 sets
of focal stacks and the optimization function has been compared against 5 other
methods. Preliminary results indicate that the proposed method has a better
performance in terms of structural accuracy and optimization in comparison to
the current state of the art methods.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure
High-order myopic coronagraphic phase diversity (COFFEE) for wave-front control in high-contrast imaging systems
The estimation and compensation of quasi-static aberrations is mandatory to
reach the ultimate performance of high-contrast imaging systems. COFFEE is a
focal plane wave-front sensing method that consists in the extension of phase
diversity to high-contrast imaging systems. Based on a Bayesian approach, it
estimates the quasi-static aberrations from two focal plane images recorded
from the scientific camera itself. In this paper, we present COFFEE's extension
which allows an estimation of low and high order aberrations with nanometric
precision for any coronagraphic device. The performance is evaluated by
realistic simulations, performed in the SPHERE instrument framework. We develop
a myopic estimation that allows us to take into account an imperfect knowledge
on the used diversity phase. Lastly, we evaluate COFFEE's performance in a
compensation process, to optimize the contrast on the detector, and show it
allows one to reach the 10^-6 contrast required by SPHERE at a few resolution
elements from the star. Notably, we present a non-linear energy minimization
method which can be used to reach very high contrast levels (better than 10^-7
in a SPHERE-like context)Comment: Accepted in Optics Expres
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