The Fourier Transform

Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier

Image Operations in Different Domains

1) Gray value (histogram) domain
- Histogram stretching, equalization, specification, etc...
2) Spatial (image) domain
- Average filter, median filter, gradient, laplacian, etc
3) Frequency (Fourier) domain

+
Original histogram

3500
3000

3 X 3 Average
3000

2500

2500

2000

2000

1500

1500

1000

1000

Noisy image
(Salt & Pepper noise) Original image f
Blurry Image

500
0

50

100

Laplacian
150

200

250

Gradient magnitude
2
f Sharpened
f x 2 f yImage

500
0

5 X 5 Average

=
Equalized histogram

3500

7 X 7 Average

50

100

150

Median

200

250

A sum of sines and cosines

=
3 sin(x)

+ 1 sin(3x)

+ 0.8 sin(5x)

+ 0.4 sin(7x)

A+B

A+B+C

A+B+C+D

Higher frequencies due

to sharp image variations
(e.g., edges, noise, etc.)

The Continuous Fourier Transform

f ( x) F(u)e

2iux

du

2iux

cos ( 2ux ) i sin( 2ux)

Complex Numbers
Imaginary
Z=(a,b)

b
|Z|

Real

i 1

Z Re( Z ) i Im(Z )
a ib
Ze

(i 2 1)

e cos i sin

(a unit vector)

Z a 2 b2

(Fourier spectrum)

tg 1 (b / a )

(phase)

Z Z * a ib Z e i (conjugate)

The 1D Basis Functions e

Re(e

2iux

) cos(2ux)

Im(e

2iux

) sin( 2ux)

2iux

cos 2ux
1

x
1/u

The wavelength is 1/u .

The frequency is u .

The Continuous Fourier Transform

1D Continuous Fourier Transform:

The Inverse
1
( F (u )) Fourier
Transform

f ( x) F(u)e

2iux

du

F (u ) f(x)e

2iux

dx ( f ( x))

The Fourier
Transform

2D Continuous Fourier Transform:

f ( x, y )

F(u, v)e

u v

F (u , v)

dudv

The Inverse Transform

f(x, y)e

x y

2i ( ux vy)

2i ( ux vy)

dxdy

The Transform

The 2D Basis Functions e

2i ( ux vy )

V
u=-2, v=2

u=-1, v=2

u=0, v=2

u=1, v=2

u=2, v=2

u=-2, v=1

u=-1, v=1

u=0, v=1

u=1, v=1

u=2, v=1

U
u=-2, v=0

u=-1, v=0

u=0, v=0

u=1, v=0

u=2, v=0

u=-2, v=-1

u=-1, v=-1

u=0, v=-1

u=1, v=-1

u=2, v=-1

u=-2, v=-2

u=-1, v=-2

u=0, v=-2

u=1, v=-2

u=2, v=-2

The wavelength is 1 / u 2 v 2 .

The direction is u/v .

Discrete Functions

f(x)

f(n) = f(x0 + nx)

f(x0+2x)

f(x0+3x)

f(x0+x)
f(x0)

x0

x0+x x0+2x x0+3x

...

N-1

The discrete function f:

{ f(0), f(1), f(2), , f(N-1) }

The Discrete Fourier Transform

1D Discrete Fourier Transform:

1
F (u )
N
f ( x)

N 1

x 0

N 1

u 0

2iux

f ( x )e

(u = 0,..., N-1)
2iux

F (u )e

(x = 0,..., N-1)

2D Discrete Fourier Transform:

1 1
F (u , v )
f ( x, y )e
N M x 0 y 0 (u = 0,..., N-1;

2i (

N 1 M 1

N 1 M 1

f ( x, y ) F (u , v )e
u 0 v 0

ux vy

)
N M

v = 0,,M-1)

2i (

ux vy

)
N M

(x = 0,..., N-1; y = 0,,M-1)

The Fourier Image

Image f

Fourier spectrum |F(u,v)|

log(1 + |F(u,v)|)

Frequency Bands
Image

Fourier Spectrum

Percentage of image power enclosed in circles (small to large) :

90%, 95%, 98%, 99%, 99.5%, 99.9%

Low pass Filtering

90%

95%

98%

99%

99.5%

99.9%

Noise Removal

Noisy image

Fourier Spectrum

Noise-cleaned image

High Pass Filtering

Original

High Pass Filtered

High Frequency Emphasis

Original

High Pass Filtered

High Frequency Emphasis

Original

Original

High Frequency Emphasis

High Frequency
Emphasis

High Frequency Emphasis

Original

High Frequency
Emphasis

High pass Filter

High Frequency Emphasis

+
Histogram Equalization

Rotation
2D Image

Fourier Spectrum

2D Image - Rotated

Fourier Spectrum

Fourier Transform -- Examples

Image
Domain

Frequency
Domain

Fourier Transform -- Examples

Image

Fourier spectrum