Victor Image Processing Library How-to Tips

Gaussian Blur

Original

Gaussian blurred

To create the blur we use matrix convolution. The matrix convolution kernel coefficients are selected to approximate the Gaussian distribution along the width, length, and diagonal of the kernel.

For this example we use the 9 x 9 kernel:

         0  0  1  1  1  1  1  0  0
         0  1  2  3  3  3  2  1  0
         1  2  3  6  7  6  3  2  1
         1  3  6  9 11  9  6  3  1
         1  3  7 11 12 11  7  3  1
         1  3  6  9 11  9  6  3  1
         1  2  3  6  7  6  3  2  1
         0  1  2  3  3  3  2  1  0
         0  0  1  1  1  1  1  0  0

The Victor Library matrixconvex function can accept kernels of size 3 x 3 to up to 63 x 63.

For more information about matrix convolution see any introductory image processing text book. For details about the Gaussian blur kernel development see The Image Processing Handbook, by John C Russ, CRC Press.

Gaussian Blur - the Visual Basic Source Code

' ........... Defines and declarations ...........
' ................................................

' Image descriptor
Type imgdes
   ibuff As Long
   stx As Long
   sty As Long
   endx As Long
   endy As Long
   buffwidth As Long
   palette As Long
   colors As Long
   imgtype As Long
   bmh As Long
   hBitmap As Long
End Type

' ................................................

Declare Function matrixconvex Lib "VIC32.DLL" (ByVal ksize As Long, ByRef firstelement as byte, ByVal divsr As Long, srcimg As imgdes, resimg As imgdes) As Long

' .................. Function ........................

Public Function gaussianblur(ByRef myimage As imgdes) As Long
Dim rcode As Long
Dim kernel(0 To 80) As Byte     ' 9 x 9 kernel
Dim kernelvalues As Variant
Dim j As Integer
Dim divisor As Long

' Kernel values:
'0 0 1  1  1  1  1 0 0
'0 1 2  3  3  3  2 1 0
'1 2 3  6  7  6  3 2 1
'1 3 6  9 11  9  6 3 1
'1 3 7 11 12  11 7 3 1
'1 3 6  9 11  9  6 3 1
'1 2 3  6  7  6  3 2 1
'0 1 2  3  3  3  2 1 0
'0 0 1  1  1  1  1 0 0

kernelvalues = Array(0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 6, 3, 2, 1, 1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 9, 6, 3, 1, 1, 3, 7, 11, 12, 11, 7, 3, 1, 1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 9, 6, 3, 1, 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 6, 3, 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0)

    divisor = 0
    For j = 0 To 80
        kernel(j) = kernelvalues(j)
        divisor = divisor + kernel(j)
    Next j

    If divisor = 0 Then
        rcode = -1   ' Kernel is empty, return error code
    Else
        rcode = matrixconvex(9, kernel(0), divisor, myimage, myimage)
    End If
        
    gaussianblur = rcode

End Function

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