Enhancing infrared imaging systems with temperature-dependent nonuniformity correction via single-frame and inter-frame structural similarity

Appl Opt. 2023 Sep 10;62(26):7075-7082. doi: 10.1364/AO.497228.

Abstract

Temperature-dependent nonuniformity in infrared images significantly impacts image quality, necessitating effective solutions for intensity nonuniformity. Existing variational models primarily rely on gradient prior constraints from single-frame images, resulting in limitations due to insufficient exploitation of intensity characteristics in both single-frame and inter-frame images. This paper introduces what we believe to be a novel variational model for nonuniformity correction (NUC) that leverages single-frame and inter-frame structural similarity (SISB). This approach capitalizes on the structural similarities between the corrected image, intensity bias map, and degraded image, facilitating efficient suppression of intensity nonuniformity in real-world scenarios. The proposed method diverges fundamentally from existing strategies and demonstrates superior performance in comparison with state-of-the-art correction models.