Digital imaging technologies are emerging rapidly and focusing on the detailed processing, as well as analysis, of images. This book covers the digital processing of images, and deals with formalizing numerical concepts and bit-level image processing.

The book consists of eight parts, which further comprise 51 chapters, two appendices, and an index. The appendices contain a summary of image types and source code for programs. The eight parts are: “Numbers and Alphanumerics in Digital Imaging,” “Location in Digital Imaging,” “Intensity in Digital Imaging,” “Complexity in Digital Imaging,” “1-Bit Imaging,” “4-Bit Imaging,” “8-Bit Imaging,” and “24-Bit Imaging.”

Part 1 explains numbers (set, input, and process) and alphanumerics (file and output). Part 2 provides details about the geometry of types; coordinate, object, projection, lens, and viewing; stereo projection and viewing; auto-stereo imaging; and perception of space. Part 3 emphasizes photometry, colorimetry, and perception of brightness, hue, and saturation. Part 4 provides details about complex systems, information theory, normal distribution, and complexity programming. Part 5 discusses 1-bit imaging, including program, graphic, and scanner input; location, intensity, and Fourier processes; .BMP files; display; printout; and image viewing. Parts 6, 7, and 8 describe the same topics, but for 4-bit, 8-bit, and 24-bit imaging, respectively.

This book covers more numerical aspects of digital imaging than theoretical basics. Further, the hardware specification for the processing of the images is simple; that is, the author uses the Microsoft Windows operating system, Microsoft PAINT image editor, Microsoft QuickBASIC programming language, a simple scanner, a digital camera, and a desktop printer. The references, which include several websites and links to Wikipedia webpages, are the most interesting part of the book.

The creativity of the author is reflected in the choice of the images in the book. Parkin assumes the readers to be undergraduates, graduates, postgraduates, and doctoral students working in the image processing area. The information on bit-level processing of the images will also make this book an interesting read for imaging scientists and programming engineers.