Complex diffusion on image graphs

Complex diffusion was introduced in image processing literature as a means to achieve simultaneous denoising and enhancement of scalar valued images. In this paper, we present a novel geometric framework for achieving complex diffusion on color images expressed as image graphs. In this framework, we develop a new variational formulation for achieving complex diffusion. This formulation involves a modified harmonic map functional and is quite distinct from the Polyakov action described in earlier work by Sochen et al. Our formulation provides a framework for simultaneous (feature preserving) denoising and enhancement. We present results of comparison between the complex diffusion, and Beltrami flow all in the image graph framework.