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imquantize

Quantize image using specified quantization levels and output values

Description

example

quant_A = imquantize(A,levels) quantizes image A using specified quantization values contained in the N-element vector levels. The quantized image quant_A is the same size as A and contains N+1 discrete integer values in the range 1 to N+1. The integer values are determined by the following criteria:

  • If A(k)levels(1), then quant_A(k) = 1.

  • If levels(m–1) < A(k)levels(m), then quant_A(k) = m.

  • If A(k) > levels(N), then quant_A(k) = N+1.

example

quant_A = imquantize(A,levels,values) specifies the quantization value assigned to pixels.

  • If A(k)levels(1), then quant_A(k) = values(1).

  • If levels(m–1) < A(k)levels(m), then quant_A(k) = values(m).

  • If A(k) > levels(N), then quant_A(k) = values(N+1).

example

[quant_A,index] = imquantize(___) returns an array index such that:

quant_A = values(index)

Examples

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Read an image, convert it to grayscale, and display the result.

I = imread("foggysf2.jpg");
I = rgb2gray(I);
imshow(I)
title("Grayscale Image")

Calculate two threshold levels.

thresh = multithresh(I,2);

Segment the image into three levels using the imquantize function.

labels = imquantize(I,thresh);

Convert the segmented image into a color image using the label2rgb function, and display the image.

labelsRGB = label2rgb(labels);
imshow(labelsRGB)
title("Segmented Image")

Read and display an RGB image.

I = imread("peppers.png");
imshow(I) 
title("RGB Image");

Generate thresholds for seven levels from the entire RGB image.

threshRGB = multithresh(I,7);

Generate thresholds for each plane of the RGB image.

threshForPlanes = zeros(3,7);			

for i = 1:3
    threshForPlanes(i,:) = multithresh(I(:,:,i),7);
end

Process the entire image with the set of threshold values computed from entire image.

value = [0 threshRGB(2:end) 255]; 
quantRGB = imquantize(I, threshRGB, value);

Process each RGB plane separately using the threshold vector computed from the given plane. Quantize each RGB plane using threshold vector generated for that plane.

quantPlane = zeros(size(I));

for i = 1:3
    value = [0 threshForPlanes(i,2:end) 255]; 
    quantPlane(:,:,i) = imquantize(I(:,:,i),threshForPlanes(i,:),value);
end

quantPlane = uint8(quantPlane);

Display both posterized images and note the visual differences in the two thresholding schemes.

montage({quantRGB,quantPlane}) 
title("Full RGB Image Quantization vs. Plane-by-Plane Quantization")

To compare the results, calculate the number of unique RGB pixel vectors in each output image. Note that the plane-by-plane thresholding scheme yields about 23% more colors than the full RGB image scheme.

dim = size(quantRGB);
quantRGBmx3 = reshape(quantRGB,prod(dim(1:2)),3);
quantPlanemx3 = reshape(quantPlane,prod(dim(1:2)),3);

colorsRGB = unique(quantRGBmx3,"rows");
disp("Unique colors in RGB image: "+length(colorsRGB));
Unique colors in RGB image: 188
colorsPlane = unique(quantPlanemx3,"rows");
disp("Unique colors in plane-by-plane image: "+length(colorsPlane));
Unique colors in plane-by-plane image: 231

Reduce the number of discrete levels in an image from 256 to 8. This example uses two different methods for assigning values to each of the eight output levels.

Read image and display it.

I = imread('coins.png');
imshow(I) 
axis off
title('Grayscale Image')

Split the image into eight levels by obtaining seven thresholds from the multithresh function.

thresh = multithresh(I,7);

Construct the valuesMax vector such that the maximum value in each quantization interval is assigned to the eight levels of the output image.

valuesMax = [thresh max(I(:))]
valuesMax = 1x8 uint8 row vector

    65    88   119   149   169   189   215   255

[quant8_I_max, index] = imquantize(I,thresh,valuesMax);

Similarly, construct the valuesMin vector such that the minimum value in each quantization interval is assigned to the eight levels of the output image. Instead of calling imquantize again with the vector valuesMin, use the output argument index to assign those values to the output image.

valuesMin = [min(I(:)) thresh]
valuesMin = 1x8 uint8 row vector

    23    65    88   119   149   169   189   215

quant8_I_min = valuesMin(index);

Display both eight-level output images side by side.

imshowpair(quant8_I_min,quant8_I_max,'montage') 
title('Minimum Interval Value           Maximum Interval Value')

Input Arguments

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Input image, specified as a numeric array of any dimension.

Quantization levels, specified as a numeric vector of length N. Values of the discrete quantization levels must be in monotonically increasing order.

Quantization values, specified as a numeric vector of length N+1.

Output Arguments

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Quantized image, returned as a numeric array of the same size as A. If input argument values is specified, then quant_A is the same data type as values. Otherwise, quant_A is of data type double.

Mapping array, returned as a numeric array of the same size as input image A. The array contains integer indices that access values to create the output image: quant_A = values(index). If you do not specify the input argument values, then index = quant_A.

Data Types: double

Extended Capabilities

GPU Code Generation
Generate CUDA® code for NVIDIA® GPUs using GPU Coder™.

Version History

Introduced in R2012b

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