This is an archived syllabus from 2019-2020

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COMP27112 Computer Graphics and Image Processing

Level 2
Credits: 10
Enrolled students: 240

Course leader: Toby Howard

Additional staff: view all staff

Additional requirements

• Students who are not from the School of Computer Science must have permission from both Computer Science and their home School to enrol.

Assessment methods

• 70% Written exam
• 5% Coursework
• 25% Practical skills assessment

Timetable

Semester	Event	Location	Day	Time	Group
Sem 2	Lecture	1.1	Mon	11:00 - 12:00	-
Sem 2	Lecture	Roscoe TH B	Tue	12:00 - 13:00	-
Sem 2 A w3+	Lab	2.25 (A+B)	Tue	10:00 - 12:00	G
Sem 2 A w3+	Lab	G23	Thu	14:00 - 16:00	H
Sem 2 A w3+	Lab	2.25 (A+B)	Fri	10:00 - 12:00	F
Sem 2 w34	Lab	2.25 (A+B)	Mon	11:00 - 13:00	F

Themes to which this unit belongs

• Visual Computing

Overview

Visual Computing brings together two fundamentally important aspects of modern computing: Computer Graphics - concerned with the synthesis of images from computer models - and Image Processing, which deals with analysis and understanding of images by computers. There are now considerable overlaps between these two, traditionally separate, fields of research and their applications.

The Visual Computing theme consists of the following course units:

• Year 2: Computer Graphics and Image Processing (10 credits)
• Year 3: Advanced Computer Graphics (10 credits)
• Year 3: Computer Vision (10 credits)

Aims

The importance of visual interfaces has never been greater. Graphical interfaces have become ubiquitous, from desk-top interaction, to games and three-dimensional virtual environments. In parallel, there has been an explosion in digital image processing and analysis. We take for granted digital photography and video, while our health services rely on digital X-ray systems, CT and MRI scanners for seeing inside our bodies. Meanwhile, the visualization of computer simulations is an essential aspect of product design and testing, genome exploration, drug design, and climate modelling. The demand for computer scientists with advanced knowledge of such areas has never been greater.

The theme will enhance your knowledge and understanding, answering such questions as:

• How are three-dimensional environments represented in a computer, and how are interactive 3D worlds created?
• How are 2D and 3D representations combined ? for example, how can we recover 3D geometry from 2D images?
• How are the basic mathematical techniques and algorithms used to build useful applications?
• How are images stored, processed and manipulated?
• How can computers interpret images captured by cameras and other recording devices?

Syllabus

Fundamentals (1 week)

2 and 3 D Coordinate systems. Vectors, matrices and basic vector/matrix operations.2 and 3 D geometric transformations (translation, rotation, scaling, affine).

3D Modelling and Illumination (5 weeks)

Knowledge/skills

The camera model. Viewing and projection.  Points, lines, B?zier curves. Polygons. Local illumination: ambient, diffuse and specular components. Interpolation: intensity (Gouraud) and normal vector (Phong). Surface detail: textures, bump mapping. Model structuring using scene graphs. Masters and instances. Inheritance of transformations and attributes.

Practical core

OpenGL (in C) laboratory exercises. Self-paced Coursework Assignments using example programs and software tools (with a small amount of experiment-driven programming).

Image Transformations (2 weeks)

Knowledge/skills

Pixels, pixel values, grey level, spatial resolution, colour representations, image transformations: point transformations (windowing, histogram equalisation, colour transformations ? colour spaces).

Practical core

C Programming, manipulating images using C, low level image processing.

Image Enhancement  (3 weeks)

Knowledge/skills

Local processes, convolution, image smoothing (local averaging, weighted averaging), size of support, Gaussian mask. Edge enhancement (unsharp masking). Edge detection (Prewitt, Sobel, Canny), Thresholding, blob detection, simple measurement (geometric features).  Rank order filters (median, max-min).

Practical core

MATLAB exercises in image processing.  Noise reduction.  General image convolution code.  Using the code to make an edge detector (Sobel, Prewitt), Combined smoothing and edge detection ? Scale.

Teaching methods

Lectures

24 hours spread over 12 weeks

Examples classes

5 hours of assessed, self-study Coursework Assignments.

Laboratories

10 hours in total, 5 2-hour sessions.

Feedback methods

Study hours

• Assessment written exam (2 hours)
• Lectures (24 hours)
• Practical classes & workshops (10 hours)

Employability skills

• Analytical skills
• Innovation/creativity
• Project management
• Problem solving

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, a student will be able to:

• Describe the principles of interactive computer graphics
• Design systems using fixed-pipeline OpenGL
• Apply the mathematics of 3D transformations and viewing
• Describe the principles of the rendering pipeline
• Describe the principles of image processing
• Implement fundamental image processing algorithms

Reading list

Additional notes

Course unit materials

Links to course unit teaching materials can be found on the School of Computer Science website for current students.