Guidelines for Performance Assessment of Digital Imaging Systems Used in Highway Applications
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 131, Issue 6
Abstract
Digital imaging systems installed in automated highway evaluation vehicles are generally designed on a modular basis where system components produced by various manufacturers are assembled to customize the system and fulfill the users’ needs at minimum cost. In most such cases, manufacturers’ specifications for a given system component would not be reliable with respect to the eventual performance of that system component. On the other hand, no guidelines are available for performance assessment of imaging systems as assemblies of discrete components. As such, even the refinement of optics, software, and other electronic accessories is traditionally performed based on trial and error. This paper presents objective guidelines for performance assessment of digital imaging systems. The assessment process can be accomplished through measurement of well-defined properties of images. Standard and reliable methods that can be adopted for evaluation of the previous properties are discussed first. Then, by applying the above evaluation criteria to the imaging systems of the Florida Department of Transportation’s pavement evaluation vehicle, it is shown how the causes of subquality images can be recognized and the optimum settings achieved. These findings will enable the highway personnel involved in image interpretation to better understand the properties that define the quality of images, systematically assess the capabilities and limitations of imaging systems and help formulate rational standards for specifying imaging needs. Clear-cut criteria that can identify the spatial and tonal limitations of imaging systems would also enhance the development of accurate automatic image evaluation software. Hence, the findings will facilitate the effective implementation of imaging technology by precluding the need for refinements based on trial and error.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Askey, P. (2003). “Artifacts.” ⟨http://www.dpreview.com/learn/Glossary/Digital Imaging/Artifacts̱01.html⟩ (March 30, 2004).
Chastain, S. (2004). “Graphic software—histogram.” ⟨http://graphicssoft.about.com/library/glossary/bldefhistogram.htm⟩ (Jan. 27, 2004).
Dougan, C., Hudson, J., and Bowers, D. (2001). Florida Department of Transportation—videolog program, Connecticut Transportation Institute, Conn.
Dulis, P. (2004). “Choosing right scanner—dynamic range.” ⟨http://www.currys.com/knowledge/scanner.html⟩ (Feb. 14, 2004).
Edmund Industrial Optics. (2004). “Large grayscale target.” ⟨http://www.edmundoptics.com/onlinecatalog/displayproduct.cfm?productID=1329⟩ (March 30, 2004).
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). (1999). Electronic fingerprint transmission specification, Criminal Justice Information Services Division of FBI, Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C.
Franziska, S. R., and James, M. R. (1999). Digital imaging for photographic collections, Image Permanence Institute and Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, N.Y.
Gunaratne, M., Mraz, A., and Sokolic, I. (2003). “Study of the feasibility of video logging with pavement condition evaluation.” Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of South Florida, Tampa, Fla.
Hasler, D., and Susstrunk, S. (2002). “Colour handling in panoramic photography.” Audiovisual Communication Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Koren, N. (2003). “Understanding image sharpness part 5: Lens testing.” ⟨http://www.normankoren.com/Tutorials/MTF5.html⟩ (July 10, 2003).
Lindbloom, B. J. (2003). “XYZ to RGB.” ⟨http://www.brucelindbloom.com/⟩ (Nov. 7, 2003).
McDowell, D. (1999). “Standards update.” IS&T Rep., 14(4), 1–2.
Nill, N. R. (2001). Conversion between sine wave and square wave spatial frequency response of an imaging system, The Mitre Corporation.
Overturf, B. (2001). “Development of a photolog/PLV application for Connecticut transit.” Final Rep., Connecticut Department of Transportation in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration.
Rasband, W. (2004). “ImageJ—documentation.” ⟨http://rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/docs/index.html⟩ (Feb. 5, 2004).
Reichmann, M. (2003). “Understanding MTF—the modulation transfer function explained.” ⟨http://luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understanding-mtf.shtml⟩ (Oct. 2, 2003).
Roper Scientific. (2003). “Encyclopedia: Signal-to-noise ratio.” ⟨http://www.roperscientific.com/library̱enc̱signal.shtml⟩ (Feb. 7, 2004).
Sokolic, I., Gunaratne, M., Mraz, A., and Nazef, A. (2004). “Evaluation of pavement distress imaging systems.” Annual Transportation Research Board Meeting, Washington, D.C.
Specht, F. (2004). “Webcam astronomy.” ⟨http://astronomy.rainbow-serpent.de/howto/snṟen.htm⟩ (Jan. 12, 2004).
Stoffels, S. M. (2003). “Videologging QA—development, implementation and analysis.” Final Project Rep., Pennsylvania Dept. of Transportation, Pa.
Trudelle-Schwarz, R. (2004). “Converting color image to greyscale.” ⟨http://authors.aspalliance.com/mamanze/articles/?p=greyscale&print=y⟩ (Jan. 16, 2004).
Wang, K. C. (2000). “Design and implementation of automated system for pavement surface distress survey.” J. Infrastruct. Syst., 6(1), 24–30.
Young, I., Gerbrands, J., and Van Vliet, L. (1998). “Image processing fundamentals.” ⟨http://www.ph.tn.tudelft.nl/Courses/FIP/noframes/fip-Statisti.html⟩ (Aug. 15, 2003).
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Feb 18, 2004
Accepted: Jul 26, 2004
Published online: Jun 1, 2005
Published in print: Jun 2005
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.