Combining highlight removal and low-light image enhancement technique for HDR-like image generation

In this work, low light image enhancement is performed to generate HDR like images. Low dynamic range (LDR) image may contain low-light and highlight areas due to the limitations of the dynamic range of conventional image sensors. Low-light and highlight phenomena limit color richness and visibility of objects in an image.

 Therefore, it can cause a reduction in the quality of images and a loss in accuracy in the application of image recognition. To overcome this, high dynamic range (HDR)-like images have been developed with rich colors such as those seen by the human eye. In this study, the authors propose a method to obtain an HDR-like image from a single LDR image by removing the specular component from highlight pixels as well as strengthening the actual color. 

Next, they select low-light image enhancement via illumination map estimation as a low-light enhancement technique by showing the comparison with gamma-based expansion operator.

Keywords: Low Dynamic Range, High Dynamic Range, Image Enhancement