Books in the Synthesis Lectures on Computer Graphics and Animation series

Information theory (IT) tools, widely used in scientific fields such as engineering, physics, genetics, neuroscience, and many others, are also emerging as useful transversal tools in computer graphics. In this book, we present the basic concepts of IT and how they have been applied to the graphics areas of radiosity, adaptive ray-tracing, shape descriptors, viewpoint selection and saliency, scientific visualization, and geometry simplification. Some of the approaches presented, such as the viewpoint techniques, are now the state of the art in visualization. Almost all of the techniques presented in this book have been previously published in peer-reviewed conference proceedings or international journals. Here, we have stressed their common aspects and presented them in an unified way, so the reader can clearly see which problems IT tools can help solve, which specific tools to use, and how to apply them. A basic level of knowledge in computer graphics is required but basic concepts in IT are presented. The intended audiences are both students and practitioners of the fields above and related areas in computer graphics. In addition, IT practitioners will learn about these applications. Table of Contents: Information Theory Basics / Scene Complexity and Refinement Criteria for Radiosity / Shape Descriptors / Refinement Criteria for Ray-Tracing / Viewpoint Selection and Mesh Saliency / View Selection in Scientific Visualization / Viewpoint-based Geometry Simplification

Tiling theory is an elegant branch of mathematics that has applications in several areas of computer science. The most immediate application area is graphics, where tiling theory has been used in the contexts of texture generation, sampling theory, remeshing, and of course the generation of decorative patterns. The combination of a solid theoretical base (complete with tantalizing open problems), practical algorithmic techniques, and exciting applications make tiling theory a worthwhile area of study for practitioners and students in computer science. This synthesis lecture introduces the mathematical and algorithmic foundations of tiling theory to a computer graphics audience. The goal is primarily to introduce concepts and terminology, clear up common misconceptions, and state and apply important results. The book also describes some of the algorithms and data structures that allow several aspects of tiling theory to be used in practice. Table of Contents: Introduction / Tiling Basics / Symmetry / Tilings by Polygons / Isohedral Tilings / Nonperiodic and Aperiodic Tilings / Survey

As new displays and cameras offer enhanced color capabilities, there is a need to extend the precision of digital content. High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging encodes images and video with higher than normal 8 bit-per-color-channel precision, enabling representation of the complete color gamut and the full visible range of luminance.However, to realize transition from the traditional toHDRimaging, it is necessary to develop imaging algorithms that work with the high-precision data. Tomake such algorithms effective and feasible in practice, it is necessary to take advantage of the limitations of the human visual system by aligning the data shortcomings to those of the human eye, thus limiting storage and processing precision. Therefore, human visual perception is the key component of the solutions we discuss in this book. This book presents a complete pipeline forHDR image and video processing fromacquisition, through compression and quality evaluation, to display. At the HDR image and video acquisition stage specialized HDR sensors or multi-exposure techniques suitable for traditional cameras are discussed. Then, we present a practical solution for pixel values calibration in terms of photometric or radiometric quantities, which are required in some technically oriented applications. Also, we cover the problem of efficient image and video compression and encoding either for storage or transmission purposes, including the aspect of backward compatibility with existing formats. Finally, we review existing HDR display technologies and the associated problems of image contrast and brightness adjustment. For this purpose tone mapping is employed to accommodate HDR content to LDR devices. Conversely, the so-called inverse tone mapping is required to upgrade LDR content for displaying on HDR devices. We overview HDR-enabled image and video quality metrics, which are needed to verify algorithms at all stages of the pipeline. Additionally, we cover successful examples of the HDR technology applications, in particular, in computer graphics and computer vision. The goal of this book is to present all discussed components of the HDR pipeline with the main focus on video. For some pipeline stages HDR video solutions are either not well established or do not exist at all, in which case we describe techniques for single HDR images. In such cases we attempt to select the techniques, which can be extended into temporal domain. Whenever needed, relevant background information on human perception is given, which enables better understanding of the design choices behind the discussed algorithms and HDR equipment. Table of Contents: Introduction / Representation of an HDR Image / HDR Image and Video Acquisition / HDR Image Quality / HDR Image, Video, and Texture Compression / Tone Reproduction / HDR Display Devices / LDR2HDR: Recovering Dynamic Range in Legacy Content / HDRI in Computer Graphics / Software