Perceptual models and the filtering of high-contrast achromatic images

A model based on research in the psychophysics of vision is developed for use in the design of image processing filters in order to quantify the results of image processing as perceived by a human observer. An alternate formulation of the classical frequency-domain filter design problem with both space and frequency-domain specifications is developed. New experimental results concerning the masking effect in the vicinity of edges are reported, and a structure of a model for detection of distortion in complex images is proposed. The ability of the model to predict the visibility of one-dimensional patterns in the vicinity of edges is tested. A distortion measure based on the model is introduced, and practical filter-design criteria are developed. Both FIR linear phase filters and IIR filters are used to demonstrate the applicability of the methods.