Retinex image enhancement based on exposure fusion

In order to study and observe images, image enhancement methods are often used to improve low quality images. The purpose of image enhancement is to make the region of interest become clearer, and to weaken or even delete the uninterested regions. In this paper, we use the retinex theory and exposure fusion to enhance the contrast of images. In the proposed method, we only manipulate the V channel of the HSV color space to maintain color consistency as far as possible. First, we estimate the local and the global incident lights respectively, and use the retinex theory to get images with local and global details. Following exposure fusion, the two images and the original image are used to generate the enhanced image. Experiments show that the proposed method can strengthen both the local and global details, and effectively reduce halo, color distortion, and noise problems. In short, the result images look quite nature. In summary, the proposed method can enhance the image quality, and make images easier to be analyzed and understood.