Tone mapping for high-dynamic-range images using localized gamma correction

Abstract

© SPIE and IS & T. Tone mapping methods aim to display a high-dynamic-range image on a common 8-bit liquid crystal display by compressing the dynamic range. We propose a simple but effective tone mapping operator (TMO) by using localized gamma correction. As the TMO involves the contrast and the color saturation components, our idea is to make use of gamma correction to adjust the values of these two components locally. The local weights can be determined according to the pixel values within local regions. Such an adaption can be handled more effectively for the contrast and color saturation in dark and bright regions of an image. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the merit of the localized gamma correction scheme. The experiments reported in this paper illustrate that the proposed method can provide visually pleasing results, and it is also competitive with the other testing methods.