It is a collection of functions that extend the capability of the MATLAB numeric computing environment. These functions, and the expressiveness of the MATLAB language, make many image-processing operations easy to write in a compact, clear manner, thus providing an ideal software prototyping environment for the solution of image processing problem
Image Sensors:
With reference to sensing, two elements are required to acquire digital image. The first is a physical device that is sensitive to the energy radiated by the object we wish to image and second is specialized image processing hardware
Specialize Image Processing Hardware:
It consists of the digitizer just mentioned, plus hardware that performs other primitive operations such as an arithmetic logic unit, which performs arithmetic such addition and subtraction and logical operations in parallel on images
Computer:
It is a general-purpose computer and can range from a PC to a supercomputer depending on the application. In dedicated applications, sometimes specially designed computer is used to achieve a required level of performance
Software:
It consists of specialized modules that perform specific tasks a well-designed package also includes capability for the user to write code, as a minimum, utilizes the specialized module. More sophisticated software packages allow the integration of these modules.
Mass Storage:
This capability is a must in image processing applications. An image of size 1024 x1024 pixels, in which the intensity of each pixel is an 8- bit quantity requires one Megabytes of storage space if the image is not compressed. Image processing applications falls into three principal categories of storage
- Short term storage for use during processing
- On line storage for relatively fastretrieval
- Archival storage such as magnetic tapes and disks
Hardcopy Devices:
The devices for recording image include laser printers, film cameras, heat sensitive devices inkjet units and digital units such as optical and CD ROM disk. Films provide the highest possible resolution, but paper is the obvious medium of choice for written applications.
Networking:
It is almost a default function in any computer system in use today because of the large amount of data inherent in image processing applications. The key consideration in image transmission bandwidth