What is enhancement

What is enhancement? According to Anil Jain, in his classic Fundamentals of Digital Image Processing, "in image enhancement, the goal is to accentuate certain image features for subsequent analysis or for image display." Thus, again we see that enhancement and analysis are two distinct processes; enhancement setting you up for a better analysis.

Anil Jain also points out that enhancement algorithms are generally "application-dependent." I might add that some are generally accepted and can be found in most image processing texts. Others, are proprietary and found only in a single program. This is an important point when choosing where and how much to spend on equipment and software - and training (you won't find Adobe's "Shadows and Highlights" in Amped FIVE, but you can replicate the results using a mix of FIVE's filters).

This came up in a conversation with a local LE agency. They have an Adobe based workflow and were looking to modernize and get more training. They've been bombarded with solicitations from the various training vendors. My advice was simple, pick your direction first. Decide on what equipment and software you will have. Then your training choices will be simpler. To be more specific, if you aren't an Ocean Systems customer and do not own an Avid Media Composer, then you'll have trouble seeing the value in the LEVA courses as they are mostly based on the offerings from Avid and Ocean. If you're sticking with Adobe, then the choices are similarly clear and plentiful.

Each software vendor offers training. If you're looking to expand to actual analysis and choose Amped Software or Cognitech, both vendors have training in their product lines wrapped in the LE context. Neither vendor is a feature at the LEVA Lab nor do their products feature into the LEVA Level 1-3 curriculum. So, if you buy from Cognitech, you're better off taking their training first and becoming proficient on your new equipment within your own context before branching out into other training venues that are not specific to your software choices.

But the bottom line, from Anil Jain, enhancement is not analysis.