This new edition of Digital Picture Processing is a revised and expanded version of the popular first edition, published in 1976. The book is now in two volumes, ...
Book Reviews The following reviews were selected from those recently pub lished in various \€€E TRANSACTIONS,Magazines, and Newsletters. They are reprinted here to make them convenientlyavailable to the many readers who otherwise might nothave ready access to them. Each review is followed by an identificationof its original source.
Engineers & Electrons-A Century of Electrical Progress-John D. Ryder and Donald C. Fink. (New York: IEEE PRESS, 1984, 272 pp., 204 illustrations, $29.95, IEEE Members 817.95 first copy only.) Reviewed by Dean6. Anderson, Consultant (retired from Rockwell Electronics Research Center, Anaheim,
a.
For the IEEE Centennial Year,Ryder and Fink have prepared a popularly oriented and richly illustrated history of the electrical and electronics engineering profession. The book is delightful reading and sometimes thought provoking. It should be of interest to technology observers, active and retired participants, and inquisitive youth. In a dozen chapters, the authors narrate the technical development of electric power, communications, radio, television, radar, semiconductors, computers (sans PCs), and “double+” education. Woven into these stories are the origins and growth of AlEE and IRE professional societies with a chapter devoted to their merger. To tell these stories with the people behind them, 160 topics were selected that span over two centuries. A concise style similar to TV news capsules is used-a la “60 Minutes.” The narrative is enriched by glimpses into personalities of some early characters among the more than 300 participants cited. The authors skillfully delineate circumstances surrounding most technical events and the resulting impact so as to be understandable by nontechnical readers-adding brief explanations when essential for appreciation, e.g., heterodyne, sidebands, holes, etc. Along with successful events cited, a few mistakes have been included whichi n retrospect, are humorous. This book is not a scholarly history like the PROCEEDINGSOF THE IEEE SpecialIssue, “Two Centuries i n Retrospect,”Sept. 1976. However,it is augmented with suggestions forfurther reading, many ofwhich haveappeared in IEEE SPECTRUM. Developments treated and participantscited are a well-rounded selection, but readers interested i n onlyquantum electronics will be disappointed. Names such as Townes and Maiman do notappear. Only a few sentences mention lasers i n context with fiber communications, opticalmemory disks, and supermarket check-out counter readers of bar codes. For a quarter century of laser developments, the reader should refer to IEEE JOURNAL OF QUANTUM ELECTRONICS Centennial Issue, vol. QE-20, June 1984. The exciting history of engineers and electrons as told by these eminent authors is highly recommended. The tale as told is a good reminder that today’s engineers are standing uponthe shoulders of giants (I. Newton, 1675) and for tomorrow, some means to expose our youth to this book should be developed by the IEEE.
Reprintedfrom / H E 1. Quantum Elecrronics, vol. QE-20, no. 10, p. 1217. Oct. 1934.
PROCEEDINGS O F THE IEEE,
VOL. 73,NO
1 , JANUARY 1985
Digital Picture Processing, 2nd. ed.-A. Rosenfeld and A.C.Kak. (New York: Academic Press, 1982, vol. 1: xiii + 435 pp., vol. 2: vii 349 pp.) Reviewed by Eric Dubois (vol. I), INRS-Telecom munications, University of Quebec, Montreal, Que.,Canada and Amar Mitiche(vol. 2), INRS-Telecommunications, University o f Quebec, Montral, Que.,Canada.
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This new edition of Digital Picture Processing is a revised and expanded version of the popular first edition, published in 1976. The book is now in two volumes, the contents of which are only loosely dependent. The first volume presents introductory fundamentals and image processing techniques such as coding, restoration, and reconstruction. The second volume is dedicated to image analysis techniques. The introduction is included in both volumes, t o make each self-contained. VOLUME 1
Contents; Chapter 1: Introduction. Chapter 2: Mathematical Preliminaries. Chapter 3: Visual perception. Chapter 4: Digitization. Chapter 5: Compression. Chapter 6: Enhancement. Chapter 7: Restoration. Chapter 8: Reconstruction. Chapters 1 through 7 are revised and expanded versions of the corresponding chapters in the first edition, while Chapter 8, on reconstruction, is new. The volume is essentially limited to the processing of still imagery, as opposed to time-varying television-type imagery. Chapter 2 covers the basics of linear processing of pictures and random field models. Most of the development is for images that are continuous functions of space. The processing of discrete space functions (i.e., sampled images) is limited to block processing using a vector space approach, while the well-known theory of digital signal processing and two-dimensional digital filtering is not mentioned. The section on random fields is particularly welcome, although again a presentation reflecting thediscrete space nature of digital pictures would be more appropriate. Some of the material on Markov models for images included in later chapters could also have been presented here. Chapter 3, presenting a number of properties of the human visual system applicable to imageprocessing, is essentially unchanged from the first edition. This chapter is very descriptive, giving no quantitative representation of light (i.e., photometry) or of specific properties of the human visual system that can serve to develop a mathematicalmodel of visual perception. Such models will be essential i n the optimization of algorithms for the processing of images destined for human viewing. Chapter 4, on digitization, discusses the issues of sampling and quantization of pictures. This chapter is also essentially unchanged from the first edition. The topic of nonorthogonal sampling lattices i s included. This topic has received considerable attention recently, althoughit is of more significance formoving images.The important topic of subjectively optimal quantization of pictures, as described for example by Kretz (F. Kretz, ”Subjectively optimal quantization of pictures,” /€€E Trans. Commun., vol. COM-23, pp. 1288-1292, Nov. 1975) is a notable omission from this chapter. Chapter 5 discussescompression, otherwise known as source coding. There has been new material included on transform coding, especially relating to the Karhunen-LoPve transform and the discrete cosine transform, and the concept of bit allocation is now treated. New sections on block truncation coding (a kind of adaptivequantization) and error-free compression have also been
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added. Absent from this chapter is any discussion of coding with respect to a visual fidelity criterion. Chapters 6 and 7 deal with image enhancement and restoration, respectively. Image enhancement is largely a process of image restoration when there is little specific knowledge about the de6 contains a welcome addition on gradation process.Chapter analysis ofillumination effects, although this material on image formation should probablybe placed much earlier in the book. This chapter contains many photos illustrating the techniques, although they are often too small for the reader to properly evaluate the results. Many of the sections in Chapter 7 have been substantially enlarged, and much new material has been included, including the maximum a posteriori method and the maximum entropy method. However, there is little discussion of the relative advantages and disadvantages of the various methods, especially in terms of performance versus complexity. Chapter 8 is completely new, presenting the theory of image reconstruction from projections. A detailed description of the techniques of reconstruction from parallel projections and fan projections, as well as algebraic reconstruction techniques, are given. Computational considerations and the effects of noise and aliasing are treated.
VOLUME 2
Contents: Chapter 1: Introduction. Chapter 9: Matching. Chapter 10: Segmentation, Chapter 11: Representation. Chapter 12: Description. The second volume includes a new chapter on matching and expanded chapters on segmentation,representation, and descrip tion. But the relatively new topic of dynamicscene analysis has not been treated (although it is briefly mentioned in an Appendix in Chapter 9). The cause for this omission is certainly the fact that it is very difficult to keep pace with the rapidly growing field of image processing. Chapter 9 is on matching and covers imaging geometry, registration,geometric transformations, and match measurements. Although this chapter contains much new material, it does not meet expectations. Image formation has not been discussed in length, and adequate referencing for further reading has not been provided. Thevery convenient homogeneous coordinate representation has notbeenmentioned in the discussion on coordinate transformations. Moreover, imaging transformations have been described usingthepinholeprojectionmodelwith center of projectioninfrontof the camera. Although equivalent, the central projection model, modified not to invert images, would be more appreciated since it is a much more popular model among the image processing community. Segmentation is treated in Chapter IO, which is by far the largest chapter. This is normal, considering the scope of the subject. Most aspects of image segmentation are thoroughly discussed, and many good examples are given. What seems to be missing i s a taxonomy that would provide an overall understanding of the segmentation process independently of particular segmentation schemes; a useful addition would be a general discussion on how assumptions about images can influence the choice of segmentation techniques. Chapter 11 i s on representation and describes in detail various representation schemes, conversion between representations, and geometricproperty measurements.Curve and border representation are discussed in length (should shape analysis be treated as a subject apart?). Chapter 12 is on picture description, which deals with the specificationof properties of parts of pictures and relationships betweenthe parts. This chapter provides a clear discussion on various image properties such as moments, properties of projections and transforms, and statistical and textural properties. It also deals with image models, emphasis being put on syntactic modelI ng. Either volume in this second edition can serve as a textbook for a specialty course in image processing. A limited number of exercises are included throughout the text; this is not a serious drawback since many image processing courses tend to be project oriented. Overall, the book is characterized by its clarity and style of exposition, as well as by its careful choice and balanced treatment of
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topics,Itshould prove to be an excellent reference manual i n theoretical and practical image processing. Reprinted from /€E€ Trans. InformationTheory, vol. IT-30, no. 4. pp. 694-695.July1%.
An Introduction to theAnalysis and Processing of Signals-Paul A.
Lynn. (London, UK: Macmillan, 1982; Indianapolis, IN: Howard W. Sams & Co., 1983.) Reviewed by M . Hashem Sherif. This book, which is in its second edition, is intended to be an elementary treatment of signal analysis and signal processing. After a brief introductory chapter, the usual topics on Fourier series, and Fourier and Laplace transforms are presented. Chapter 4, the heart of the work, deals with sampled data techniques; it introduces the discrete Fourier, the fast Fourier, and the 2-transforms. Elements of probability theory needed for analyzing random signals are highlighted i n chapter 5. Measures of signal similarities, such as the cross-correlation and cross-spectral density functions, followin chapter 6. After presenting the main ideas of linear system theory in chapter 7, the book proceeds in chapter 8 to the subject of signal reconstructionfrom discrete samplesandsignal truncation.In chapter 9, the author considerssome properties of linear filters, both analog and digital. Selected copies in signal recovery, detection, prediction, and Wiener and Kalman filtering are briefly presented i n the final and tenth chapter. Throughout the text, the author has provided insightful remarks based on physical interpretations. For example, the author’s observations concerning the frequency spectrum of a single pulse (p. 32), the Fourier transform of the unit step (pp. 42-43), and the shape of the autocorrelation function (p, 91) are quite informative. The Z-transform is nicely derived from the Laplace transform and several examples are provided to illustrate effects of pole-zero locations on the response of a linear system to discrete inputs. A major shortcoming of this textbook is the order inwhich subjects are treated. The divisionofthe material on sampling techniques between chapters 4 and 8 is rather inappropriate because, while effects of sampling on the frequency spectrum are considered as early as p. 61, aliasing is not mentioned until p. 163. In addition, the discrete Fourier transform defined on p. 60 is not the one used in the fast Fourier transform on p. 63; nevertheless this discrepancy is not clearly explained. Similarly, while both the continuous and discrete Fourier transforms are presented, there is no hint as to the relation linking them. The definition of the autocorrelation given on p. 85 depends on an implicit assumption of ergodicity, though such assumption is not stated and ergodicity itself is introduced much later on p. 93. In the same vein, properties of the estimated autocorrelation function are discussed without clarifying the method of estimation. Finally, moving-average filters are defined in a restrictive fashion (p. 197) which is not compatible with the increasingly popular Box-Jenkinsapproach to time series analysis. The scope of the book is also not very well defined. Were the text intended for thenonspecialist, many of the details in chapter 9 on filter design could have been avoided. In contrast, the same amountof material is insufficient for students of electrical engineering. Is it really possible to write a “concise” and “readable introduction”to signal processing “suitable for the second and final years of degree courses in electrical and electronics engineering,andforother courses which deal with the analysis and processing of signals,records and data of all types ( . . .and) for courses of postgraduate standard?” This is exactly the purpose the author delineated in his preface. Unfortunately, the resulting mixtureoftopics does not give proper emphasis on the more important concepts. In summary, I would hesitate in recommending this text for classroom use or as a self-teaching aid for working engineers. However, an instructorwould most probably benefitfrom many useful ideas scattered within the text in preparing an introductory course in signal processing. Reprinted from
/€€€ Communications Mag., vol. 22,
no. 8, p. 58, Aug.
1984.
PROCEEDINGSO F THEIEEE, VOL. 73, NO. 1, JANUARY1965
