Dynamic waveform region enhancement

1. A method comprising:

receiving a color image comprising a plurality of color pixels;

converting the color image to a monochromatic image comprising a plurality of monochromatic pixels;

performing M erosion operations on the monochromatic image to generate an eroded monochromatic image, where M is equal to or greater than one;

performing N dilation operations on the eroded monochromatic image to generate a mask image, where N is equal to or greater than one;

identifying one or more regions of the mask image based on the mask image; and

modifying regions of the color image corresponding to the identified regions of the mask image.

2. A method according to claim 1 , where M is equal to N.

3. A method according to claim 1 , where each of the plurality of monochromatic pixels is associated with a 1-bit value.

4. A method according to claim 1 , wherein identifying one or more regions of the mask image based on the mask image comprises:

detecting edges within the mask image.

5. A method according to claim 4 , wherein identifying one or more regions of the mask image based on the mask image further comprises:

for each of the one or more regions, identifying coordinate pairs defining the edges of the region.

6. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

downscaling an input image to generate the color image.

7. A method according to claim 1 , wherein modifying regions of the color image corresponding to the identified regions of the mask image comprises:

determining whether a color pixel of the color image is within one of the one or more regions;

if it is determined that the color pixel of the color image is within one of the one or more regions, determining whether the color pixel is gray;

if it is determined that the color pixel is gray, determining whether an intensity of the color pixel is greater than a first threshold;

if it is determined that the intensity of the color pixel is greater than the first threshold, apply a gain to the color pixel; and

if it is determined that the intensity of the color pixel is not greater than the first threshold, change the color pixel to a black pixel.

8. A method according to claim 7 , wherein identifying one or more regions of the mask image based on the mask image comprises:

for each row of each of the one or more regions, identifying a coordinate pair defining a boundary of a region, and

wherein determining whether the color pixel of the color image is within one of the one or more regions comprises:

determining whether the color pixel is located between a coordinate pair defining a boundary of a region within the row of the color pixel.

9. A method according to claim 8 , wherein modifying regions of the color image corresponding to the identified regions of the mask image further comprises:

if it is determined that the color pixel is not gray, determining whether an intensity of the color pixel is greater than a second threshold;

if it is determined that the intensity of the color pixel is greater than the second threshold, changing the color pixel to a black pixel; and

if it is determined that the intensity of the color pixel is not greater than the second threshold, changing the color pixel to a gray pixel.

10. A method according to claim 7 , wherein modifying regions of the color image corresponding to the identified regions of the mask image further comprises:

if it is determined that the color pixel is not gray, determining whether an intensity of the color pixel is greater than a second threshold;

if it is determined that the intensity of the color pixel is greater than the second threshold, changing the color pixel to a black pixel; and

if it is determined that the intensity of the color pixel is not greater than the second threshold, changing the color pixel to a gray pixel.

11. A system comprising:

an image processing unit to:

receive a color image comprising a plurality of color pixels;

convert the color image to a monochromatic image comprising a plurality of monochromatic pixels;

perform M erosion operations on the monochromatic image to generate an eroded monochromatic image, where M is equal to or greater than one;

perform N dilation operations on the eroded monochromatic image to generate a mask image, where N is equal to or greater than one;

identify one or more regions of the mask image based on the mask image; and

modify regions of the color image corresponding to the identified regions of the mask image.

12. A system according to claim 11 , where M is equal to N.

13. A system according to claim 11 , where each of the plurality of monochromatic pixels is associated with a 1-bit value.

14. A system according to claim 11 , wherein identification of one or more regions of the mask image based on the mask image comprises:

detection of edges within the mask image.

15. A system according to claim 14 , wherein identification of one or more regions of the mask image based on the mask image further comprises:

for each of the one or more regions, identification of coordinate pairs defining the edges of the region.

16. A system according to claim 11 , the image processing unit further to:

downscale an input image to generate the color image.

17. A system according to claim 11 , wherein modification of regions of the color image corresponding to the identified regions of the mask image comprises:

determination of whether a color pixel of the color image is within one of the one or more regions;

if it is determined that the color pixel of the color image is within one of the one or more regions, determination of whether the color pixel is gray;

if it is determined that the color pixel is gray, determination of whether an intensity of the color pixel is greater than a first threshold;

if it is determined that the intensity of the color pixel is greater than the first threshold, application of a gain to the color pixel; and

if it is determined that the intensity of the color pixel is not greater than the first threshold, changing of the color pixel to a black pixel.

18. A system according to claim 17 , wherein identification of one or more regions of the mask image based on the mask image comprises:

for each row of each of the one or more regions, identification of a coordinate pair defining a boundary of a region, and

wherein determination of whether the color pixel of the color image is within one of the one or more regions comprises:

determination of whether the color pixel is located between a coordinate pair defining a boundary of a region within the row of the color pixel.

19. A system according to claim 18 , wherein modification of regions of the color image corresponding to the identified regions of the mask image further comprises:

if it is determined that the color pixel is not gray, determination of whether an intensity of the color pixel is greater than a second threshold;

if it is determined that the intensity of the color pixel is greater than the second threshold, changing of the color pixel to a black pixel; and

if it is determined that the intensity of the color pixel is not greater than the second threshold, changing of the color pixel to a gray pixel.

20. A system according to claim 17 , wherein modification of regions of the color image corresponding to the identified regions of the mask image further comprises:

if it is determined that the color pixel is not gray, determination of whether an intensity of the color pixel is greater than a second threshold;

if it is determined that the intensity of the color pixel is greater than the second threshold, changing of the color pixel to a black pixel; and

if it is determined that the intensity of the color pixel is not greater than the second threshold, changing of the color pixel to a gray pixel.