MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Some fellows want my videos and photos to be brighter in the background and overall, so I did some digital enhancement.

This is a video after digital enhancement by VSDC Free Video Editor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8V3YoBBXlY

Edit: As I personally think the VSDC-processed video appears too bright/white, I have added a 3rd video with -25 darkening applied globally in addition to it:
https://youtu.be/9C6GEBrkd-0

This is the same video without digital enhancement (same as what I posted previously at viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1936&p=15149&hilit=frontonia#p15149):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psTgredCPTU

If I can have it my way, I would prefer an overall effect in the middle of the above two videos. But I could not achieve said middle ground. However, either video works for my eyes, with a slight preference for the enhanced one. Please tell me what you prefer/think. And feel free to download my original video/photos and modify them, if you like.

With regards to digital enhancement, I only applied, in VSDC Video Editor, "auto soft sharpening" and "auto contrast". I did try other enhancements but strongly prefer the effect presented herein. Said "other enhancements" included "auto levels" and other custom manual changes in contrast/brightness/gamma and sharpening, with different curves and values. I tried almost all options in manual contrast setting, but still could not beat the result of "auto contrast".

The original video and photos was shot with UGF filter, which is supposed to give a grey background actually. I guess not everyone likes that effect. I am ok with either way, though I do want UGF videos to be slightly brighter.

The following is still captures from the above videos. The brighter still was captured from the VSDC-processed video, while the darker still was captured from the original video without enhancement. Please let me know your thoughts. Edit: As I personally think the VSDC-processed capture appears too bright/white, I have added a 3rd still capture with -25 darkening applied globally in addition to it, said 3rd capture appeared as the first photo closest to this paragraph.

And the following shows another still photo captured from the original not-enhanced video. The first photo is the original capture without enhancement, the second photo has digital enhancements and clean-ups (which was done manually with FastStone Image Viewer and not using VSDC Video Editor). I apologize as I don't have time to make the second photo perfectly clean.

Very good and sharp image+video, also thank you for describing how you enhanced them. Keep up the good work.

I have never been a big fan of manipulating an image to achieve desired effect, but I have to say that those brightened images really "pop". You started with excellent images, I think that helps.
CE

zzffnn, excellent images, but I agree with you that "in-between" would be my choice if that were possible.

^ Thank you gents.

If anyone prefers the original video and photos, please do speak up.

Otherwise, I would assume digital enhancement is preferred by most. It is hard for myself to decide which ones are better, but if you point a gun at my head and force me to choose, I would probably choose the enhanced ones.

I do realize that my original video and photo were a little too dark though, so that bias might favor digital enhancement.

As has been said, these are high quality source images for certain. I'm surprised and impressed with the restraint demonstrated in both enhancements, especially by the maintenance of the details which don'y appear compromised by the sharpening and brightness alterations - a good combination such as those seen in your images is often akin to alchemy in my experience!
I think the brightest image is my favourite, with perhaps a small reduction in the highlights although the image's detail has really held-up well.
Overall I personally would say the enhanced versions win hands-down both in terms of aesthetic and informative qualities. Impressive for example to see the translucency and underlying details preserved for one of the thinner green filaments.

Nicely executed, and from video too.

I think you can, in video mode, set EV to +something (e.g., +0.3, or +0.7) to increase the exposure a bit so the images come up brighter. I don't know if you can also set it to higher contrast or sharpness, but you may want to check that. On my camera (E-P1) I don't have much control in video mode but later cameras I think give you more control. Your enhanced images looked good, but a bit too much in my opinion (whatever that is worth). I usually don't like the bright areas to get too close to pure white because then one loses tonal gradation. But then I'm not the best judge of image quality.
(I see that John B already replied while I was typing this-- I hope nothing in what I said contradicts what he said, and if anything does, I would certainly defer to his opinion).

Yes, I do have exposure and contrast controls in my camera. I forgot to use those when I shot that video. I should have done custom white balance on camera too, which I also forgot.

And yes, the brightest photo is slightly too bright for my eyes as well.

The last one has information from black to white, so to speak, and is very informative. You can see what is detail, and what is extraneous. There is separation between information and happenstance.

Nice work:)

Shawn

Thank you everyone.

I think with the video, I should have added some grey color back (by darkening the entire video VERY slightly) after using "auto contrast". That way, I could achieve the perfect middle ground.

In other words, I could have done it, but I had a brain fart

Edit: Again, this is up to personal preference though - my "perfect" may be dark for some fellows and they are entitled to their own legitimate preference.

As I personally think the VSDC-processed video appears too bright/white, I have edited the opening post and added a 3rd video, along with a still capture, with -25 darkening applied globally in addition to it: https://youtu.be/9C6GEBrkd-0

And here is a still capture from the above video, I hope it looks better now:

So good - that's even better! Absolutely packed with detail and wonderful complexity! You're homing-in fast with your technique here! Nice post.

Thank you, John B. You are very kind.

It is funny, when I looked at those photos with two different computer screens with different brightness levels, my preference changed around.

With a darker computer screen, I cannot decide between -25 darkening vs 0 (no darkening) - I kind of want something in the middle With a brighter computer screen, I clearly prefer the -25 darkening over no darkening.

I do the same - screens never quite tell the whole story! I often fibrillate between such enhancement choices, but then I suppose if they're that similar it doesn't really matter! At least that's what I've taught myself to do!

I always look at the histogram (except, of course, when I forget to do so) to adjust the camera's exposure. Computer monitors are usually set far too bright. You can use the following link to check (and adjust if necessary) the brightness/contrast of your monitor:
http://w4zt.com/screen/