An image histogram is a type of

histogram A histogram is an approximate representation of the distribution of numerical data. The term was first introduced by Karl Pearson. To construct a histogram, the first step is to " bin" (or "bucket") the range of values—that is, divide the ent ...

that acts as a

graphical representation Graphic communication as the name suggests is communication using graphic elements. These elements include symbols such as glyphs and icons, images such as drawings and photographs, and can include the passive contributions of substrate, colour ...

of the tonal distribution in a

digital image A digital image is an image composed of picture elements, also known as ''pixels'', each with ''finite'', '' discrete quantities'' of numeric representation for its intensity or gray level that is an output from its two-dimensional functions ...

. It plots the number of

pixels In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the sm ...

for each tonal value. By looking at the histogram for a specific image a viewer will be able to judge the entire tonal distribution at a glance. Image histograms are present on many modern services. Photographers can use them as an aid to show the distribution of tones captured, and whether image detail has been lost to blown-out highlights or blacked-out shadows. This is less useful when using a

raw image format A camera raw image file contains unprocessed or minimally processed data from the image sensor of either a digital camera, a motion picture film scanner, or other image scanner. Raw files are named so because they are not yet processed and the ...

, as the

dynamic range Dynamic range (abbreviated DR, DNR, or DYR) is the ratio between the largest and smallest values that a certain quantity can assume. It is often used in the context of signals, like sound and light. It is measured either as a ratio or as a base-1 ...

of the displayed image may only be an approximation to that in the raw file. The

horizontal axis A Cartesian coordinate system (, ) in a plane is a coordinate system that specifies each point uniquely by a pair of numerical coordinates, which are the signed distances to the point from two fixed perpendicular oriented lines, measured in ...

of the

graph Graph may refer to: Mathematics *Graph (discrete mathematics), a structure made of vertices and edges **Graph theory, the study of such graphs and their properties *Graph (topology), a topological space resembling a graph in the sense of discre ...

represents the tonal variations, while the

vertical axis A Cartesian coordinate system (, ) in a plane (geometry), plane is a coordinate system that specifies each point (geometry), point uniquely by a pair of number, numerical coordinates, which are the positive and negative numbers, signed distance ...

represents the total number of pixels in that particular tone. The left side of the horizontal axis represents the dark areas, the middle represents mid-tone values and the right hand side represents light areas. The vertical axis represents the size of the area (total number of pixels) that is captured in each one of these zones. Thus, the histogram for a very dark image will have most of its data points on the left side and center of the graph. Conversely, the histogram for a very bright image with few dark areas and/or shadows will have most of its data points on the right side and center of the graph.

Image manipulation and histograms

Image editors typically create a histogram of the image being edited. The histogram plots the number of pixels in the image (vertical axis) with a particular brightness or tonal value (horizontal axis). Algorithms in the digital editor allow the user to visually adjust the brightness value of each pixel and to dynamically display the results as adjustments are made. Histogram equalization is a popular example of these algorithms. Improvements in picture brightness and contrast can thus be obtained. In the field of

computer vision Computer vision is an interdisciplinary scientific field that deals with how computers can gain high-level understanding from digital images or videos. From the perspective of engineering, it seeks to understand and automate tasks that the hum ...

, image histograms can be useful tools for thresholding. Because the information contained in the graph is a representation of pixel distribution as a function of tonal variation, image histograms can be analyzed for peaks and/or valleys. This threshold value can then be used for

edge detection Edge detection includes a variety of mathematical methods that aim at identifying edges, curves in a digital image at which the image brightness changes sharply or, more formally, has discontinuities. The same problem of finding discontinuitie ...

image segmentation In digital image processing and computer vision, image segmentation is the process of partitioning a digital image into multiple image segments, also known as image regions or image objects ( sets of pixels). The goal of segmentation is to simpl ...

, and co-occurrence matrices.

References

External links

CAMERA HISTOGRAMS: TONES & CONTRAST
at cambridgeincolour.com Image processing Feature detection (computer vision) {{photo-stub

Image manipulation and histograms

See also

References

External links