Gradient-Domain Image Reconstruction Framework with Intensity-Range and Base-Structure Constraints

This paper presents a novel unified gradient-domain image reconstruction framework with intensity-range constraint and base-structure constraint. The existing method for manipulating base structures and detailed textures are classifiable into two major approaches: i) gradient-domain and ii) layer-decomposition. To generate detail-preserving and artifact-free output images, we combine the benefits of the two approaches into the proposed framework by introducing the intensity-range constraint and the base-structure constraint. To preserve details of the input image, the proposed method takes advantage of reconstructing the output image in the gradient domain, while the output intensity is guaranteed to lie within the specified intensity range, e.g. 0-to-255, by the intensity-range constraint. In addition, the reconstructed image lies close to the base structure by the base-structure constraint, which is effective for restraining artifacts. Experimental results show that the proposed framework is effective for various applications such as tone mapping, seamless image cloning, detail enhancement, and image restoration.