A Fast Hue-Preserving Histogram Equalization Method for Color Image Enhancement using a Bayesian Framework

In this paper, we introduce a new hue-preserving histogram equalization method based on the RGB color space for image enhancement. We use R-red, G-green, and B-blue 1D histograms to estimate the histogram to be equalized using a Naive Bayes rule. The histogram equalization is performed by shift hue-preserving transformations. Our method has linear time and space complexities, which complies with real-time applications requirements. A subjective assessment comparing our method and other three is performed. Experiments showed that our method is more robust than the others in the sense that neither unrealistic colors nor over-enhancement are produced.