Pseudo multi-exposure fusion using a single image

This paper proposes a novel pseudo multi-exposure image fusion based on a single image. Multi-exposure image fusion is a method to produce images without saturation regions, by using photos with different exposures. However, it is difficult to take photos suited for the multi-exposure image fusion when we take a photo of dynamic scenes or record a video. In addition, the multi-exposure image fusion cannot be applied to existing images with a single exposure or videos. The proposed method enables us to produce pseudo multi-exposure images from a single image. To produce multi-exposure images, the proposed method utilizes a relationship between exposure values and pixel values. The relationship is obtained by assuming that a digital camera has a linear response function. Moreover, it is shown that the use of a local contrast enhancement method allows us to produce pseudo multi-exposure images with higher quality. Most of conventional multi-exposure image fusion methods are also applicable to the pseudo multi-exposure images. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed method by comparing the proposed one with conventional ones.