I would like to suggest a method using the LAB color space.
LAB color space expresses color variations across three channels. One channel for brightness and two channels for color:
- L-channel: representing lightness in the image
- a-channel: representing change in color between red and green
- b-channel: representing change in color between yellow and blue
In the following I perform adaptive histogram equalization on the L-channel and convert the resulting image back to BGR color space. This enhances the brightness while also limiting contrast sensitivity. I have done the following using OpenCV 3.0.0 and python:
Code:
import cv2
import numpy as np
img = cv2.imread('flower.jpg', 1)
# converting to LAB color space
lab= cv2.cvtColor(img, cv2.COLOR_BGR2LAB)
l_channel, a, b = cv2.split(lab)
# Applying CLAHE to L-channel
# feel free to try different values for the limit and grid size:
clahe = cv2.createCLAHE(clipLimit=2.0, tileGridSize=(8,8))
cl = clahe.apply(l_channel)
# merge the CLAHE enhanced L-channel with the a and b channel
limg = cv2.merge((cl,a,b))
# Converting image from LAB Color model to BGR color spcae
enhanced_img = cv2.cvtColor(limg, cv2.COLOR_LAB2BGR)
# Stacking the original image with the enhanced image
result = np.hstack((img, enhanced_img))
cv2.imshow('Result', result)
Result:
The enhanced image is on the right
You can run the code as it is.
To know what CLAHE (Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization) is about, refer this Wikipedia page