Video contrast enhancement through partial histogram equalization

1. A method of video contrast enhancement comprising:

setting a first pixel level threshold for an input video frame in a video sequence, the input video frame including a plurality of pixels having corresponding pixel values within a pixel value range, where the first pixel level threshold is set to one of the pixel values within the pixel value range;

when a given input-video-frame pixel's value is below the pixel level threshold, remapping that pixel according to an adaptive contrast-enhancing function;

when the given input-video-frame pixel's value is above the pixel level threshold, remapping that pixel according to a scene-stable mapping function;

detecting substantial changes in scene histogram content from one frame of the video sequence to a following frame; and

when a substantial change in scene histogram content is detected, allowing the adaptive contrast-enhancing function to change more rapidly than it is otherwise allowed to change.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

setting a second pixel level threshold for an input video frame, the second threshold higher than the first; and

when a given input-video-frame pixel's value is above the second pixel level threshold, remapping that pixel to a new level according to a second adaptive contrast-enhancing function.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein setting a first pixel level threshold comprises setting a threshold that places a selected percentage of the input video frame's pixels below the threshold.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the threshold is estimated from pixel values obtained from one or more previous input video frames.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein setting a first pixel level threshold comprises setting the threshold to a fixed level for at least the duration of a scene.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising calculating the adaptive contrast-enhancing function to remap an input histogram for pixels below the pixel level threshold to a new histogram specification.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the new histogram specification is a uniform distribution.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising tabulating the input histogram from the pixels of the input video frame.

9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising tabulating the input histogram from the pixels of one or more previous input video frames in the video sequence.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein tabulating the input histogram comprises maintaining each bin of the input histogram by exponentially time-filtering a corresponding bin as calculated for sequential frame histograms, each frame histogram representing one frame in the video sequence.

11. The method of claim 6 , wherein calculating the adaptive contrast-enhancing function is performed once for every input video frame.

12. The method of claim 6 , wherein the adaptive contrast-enhancing function has a pixel level output range different than the range of input pixel levels below the pixel level threshold.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein remapping for pixels both below and above the first pixel level threshold comprises using a pixel's value as an index to read a value from a common lookup table that combines the adaptive contrast-enhancing function and the scene-stable remapping function.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, when a substantial change in scene content is detected, allowing the scene-stable remapping function to change substantially.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the scene-stable mapping function remaps a pixel to an output level that is a linear function of that pixel's input level.

16. A video contrast enhancer comprising:

a contrast-enhancing function generator capable of accepting a target histogram specification and a set of histogram bins derived from one or more frames of a video sequence, the bins representing a histogram at least for pixel levels below a selected pixel level threshold, the function generator capable of generating a remapping function for input pixel levels below the threshold based on the target histogram specification and the set of histogram bins;

a scene-stable mapper to control the remapping function for input pixel levels above the threshold;

a histogram calculator capable of constructing a frame histogram for the input video frame;

a temporal histogram filter to supply the set of histogram bins for use by the contrast-enhancing function generator, each bin comprising an exponentially time-filtered combination of sequential frame histograms from the histogram calculator; and

a scene change detector capable of detecting scene chances based on a comparison of successive frame histograms from the histogram calculator and supplying a scene change signal when a scene change is detected in the video sequence, the temporal histogram filter applying a different time constant when the scene change signal is asserted.

17. The video contrast enhancer of claim 16 , further comprising a pixel remapper capable of accepting a pixel level from an input video frame and outputting a corresponding remapped pixel level according to the remapping function.

18. The video contrast enhancer of claim 17 , wherein the pixel remapper comprises a lookup table indexed by input pixel level, the lookup table supplying the remapped pixel level according to the remapping function.

19. The video contrast enhancer of claim 16 , wherein the bins of the frame histogram are supplied to the contrast-enhancing function generator as the set of histogram bins.

20. The video contrast enhancer of claim 16 , further comprising a threshold calculator to calculate the set threshold to correspond to a selected percentage of the pixels represented in the histogram bins.

21. The video contrast enhancer of claim 16 , wherein the scene-stable mapper controls the remapping function to at least approximate a linear function of input pixel level.

22. The video contrast enhancer of claim 16 , further comprising:

a histogram calculator capable of constructing a frame histogram for an input video frame;

a frame buffer capable of buffering an input video frame until a remapping function can be calculated for that frame; and

a pixel remapper capable of accepting a pixel level from the buffered input video frame and outputting a corresponding remapped pixel level according to the remapping function.

23. The video contrast enhancer of claim 16 , wherein the contrast-enhancing function generator is also capable of generating a remapping function for input pixel levels above a second selected pixel level threshold higher than the first threshold, based on the target histogram specification and the set of histogram bins, and wherein the scene-stable mapper controls the remapping function for input pixel levels between the two thresholds.