Multi-exposure image fusion: A patch-wise approach

We propose a patch-wise approach for multi-exposure image fusion (MEF). A key step in our approach is to decompose each color image patch into three conceptually independent components: signal strength, signal structure and mean intensity. Upon processing the three components separately based on patch strength and exposedness measures, we uniquely reconstruct a color image patch and place it back into the fused image. Unlike most pixel-wise MEF methods in the literature, the proposed algorithm does not require significant pre/postprocessing steps to improve visual quality or to reduce spatial artifacts. Moreover, the novel patch decomposition allows us to handle RGB color channels jointly and thus produces fused images with more vivid color appearances. Extensive experiments demonstrate the superiority of the proposed algorithm both qualitatively and quantitatively.