University of Waterloo
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
ECE 710: Special Topics in Communications and Information Theory
Topic 13 - Image Processing and Visual Communications
Fall 2009
Course website
http://www.ece.uwaterloo.ca/~z70wang/teaching/ECE710T13F09/
Instructor
Prof. Zhou Wang
EIT4147, ext. 35301, z.wang@ece.uwaterloo.ca, http://www.ece.uwaterloo.ca/~z70wang/
Schedule
Lectures: Th 2:30pm-5:20pm, EIT3141
Office hours: W 2:00pm-3:30pm or by appointment, EIT4147
Course Description
This course covers the fundamental concepts and methods, as well as state-of-the-art theories and
technologies, in the field of image processing and visual communications. Topics include
fundamental digital image and video processing methods; image analysis and understanding;
statistical image modeling and perception; and robustness, scalability and security issues in
visual communications.
Course Outline
1) Digital image and video processing
Intensity transformations for image enhancement; spatial domain linear filtering; frequency
domain linear filtering; nonlinear image filtering; image sampling and interpolation; motion and
digital video processing.
2) Image analysis and understanding
Edge detection; image segmentation; energy preserving and energy compaction; principle
component analysis and independent component analysis; sparse representations; wavelet and
multiresolution image analysis; non-linear image analysis.
3) Statistical image modeling and perception
Spatial domain image statistics; Fourier domain statistical image models; wavelet domain
statistical image models; Markov random field models; computational models of the human
visual system; perceptual image quality assessment and processing.
4) Visual communications: robustness, scalability and security
Error resilience coding and error concealment for robust visual communications; multiple
descriptive coding; scalable image and video coding and communications; security issues in
multimedia communications; image and video watermarking and data hiding.
Textbooks and References
No required textbook. Lecture notes will be posted on the course website.
Reference books and materials include:
1) Handbook of Image and Video Processing, Bovik Ed., 2nd Edition, Academic Press, 2005.
2) Digital Image Processing, Gonzalez and Woods, 2nd Edition, 2001.
3) Digital Image Processing with MATLAB, Gonzalez, Woods & Eddins, Prentice Hall, 2004.
4) Digital Video Processing, Tekalp, Prentice-Hall, 1995.
5) Digital Video Image Quality and Perceptual Coding, Wu & Rao Eds., CRC Press, 2005.
6) Modern Image Quality Assessment, Wang & Bovik, Morgan & Claypool, 2006.
7) Wang & Bovik, “Mean squared error: Love it or leave it? – A new look at signal fidelity
measures”, IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 98-177, Jan. 2009.
Projects
Every student will work on two self-selected projects:
1) A review project that surveys and comments on a specific topic;
2) A research project that attempts some new investigations in a specific direction.
The students can work on individual project or form teams of 2 to 3 students for larger projects,
but the tasks of each team member must be clearly defined, and each team member must submit
individual project reports. The projects should be submitted through online UW-ACE drop boxes.
1. Go to UW-ACE https://uwangel.uwaterloo.ca/uwangel/. Enter your Username and
Password to access your course list.
2. A link will appear under the Courses heading, showing the course(s) in which you are
registered for the current term. Choose 1099 ECE710: Topics Commun & Inform Theory.
Instructor: Zhou Wang. Open the Content tab and you will see the link to Assignment
Drop Boxes. Choose the appropriate drop box for the project report you are submitting.
3. On the screen that opens, choose 'Attachments.' In the window that opens, choose
'Browse.' Locate your assignment file and double-click on it. In the new window, you'll
see the name of your assignment file. Choose 'Upload File.' Finally, choose the 'Finished'
button.
NOTE: Plagiarism detection software (TURNITIN, which is linked to UW-ACE) will be used to
screen the project assignments. This is being done to verify that use of all material and sources in
assignments is documented.
Grading
Review project: 20 pts
Research project: 30 pts
Final exam: 50 pts
The deadlines for the submissions of project reports will be informed. Delay of submission will
result in penalty of 1 pt/day (in the final grade), up to 5 days. Project submissions 5 days after the
deadlines will not be accepted.
Academic Integrity, Grievance, Discipline, Appeals and Note for Students with Disabilities
Academic integrity: In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the
University of Waterloo community are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and
responsibility. [Check www.uwaterloo.ca/academicintegrity/ for more information.]
Grievance: A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her university
life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70,
Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4, www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/
policy70.htm. When in doubt please be certain to contact the department’s administrative
assistant who will provide further assistance.
Discipline: A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity [check
www.uwaterloo.ca/academicintegrity/] to avoid committing an academic offence, and to take
responsibility for his/her actions. A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an
offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about
“rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course instructor, academic
advisor, or the undergraduate Associate Dean. For information on categories of offences and
types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71, Student Discipline,
www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy71.htm. For typical penalties check Guidelines for
the Assessment of Penalties, www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/guidelines/penaltyguidelines.htm.
Appeals: A decision made or penalty imposed under Policy 70 (Student Petitions and
Grievances) (other than a petition) or Policy 71 (Student Discipline) may be appealed if there is a
ground. A student who believes he/she has a ground for an appeal should refer to Policy 72
(Student Appeals) www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy72.htm.
Note for students with disabilities: The Office for Persons with Disabilities (OPD), located in
Needles Hall, Room 1132, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate
accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of
the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability,
please register with the OPD at the beginning of each academic term.