Color image processing and analysis are an important part of powerful present and future applications for both industrial and general use. This book is written for graduate students in computer science or electrical and computer engineering, and “contains algorithms, design criteria and architectures for processing and analysis systems.” Researchers and practitioners who deal with color image processing will appreciate this clear presentation of the field and the very up-to-date algorithms.

The book consists of four major parts. The first part, containing only chapter 1, presents color principles. All aspects related to the phenomenon of color are discussed in detail. The second part (chapters 2 through 5) deals with color image processing. These chapters cover “Filtering,” “Adaptive Image Filters,” “Color Edge Detection,” and “Color Image Enhancement and Restoration.” Chapters 6 and 7 form the third part, on image analysis. Specifically, they cover “Color Image Segmentation” and “Color Image Compression.” The last part is dedicated to some applications. The most important material here is in chapter 8, on shape and color analysis.

An appendix describes CIPAView, companion software written in Java, which is available online. The index is good, and the references (placed at the end of every chapter) are new and well selected. Readers interested in image and video compression standards from a technical point of view will need to consult other material.

This book tries to fill a gap in scientific literature by collecting state-of-the-art research in color image processing and analysis. The authors, who are valued contributors to professional journals in the field, fulfill their aim. I recommend this book to everyone interested in the current state of the art in color image processing.