Image fusion and its real-time processing in dual-band infrared night vision system

MWIR and LWIR are normally used in night vision system. A pseudo-color dual-band infrared image fusion algorithm is proposed in this paper based on image features in wavelet domain. After wavelet decomposed from source images, edge features are extracted from each low frequency component. The fusion rules are defined by the edge information, using local modulus maxima rule for edge pixels and its sub-band neighboring pixels, and weighted mean coefficient rule for non-edge pixels. Fusion result is mapped into pseudo-color image using special color look-up table in YUV color space. The embedded fusion system used in night vision system is designed by TI multi-media processor DM642, and the algorithm is validated on this platform. The experiments show that fusion result has good visual effect, and also has good performance on the objective evaluation and anti-noise ability.