Flash Programs for Understanding Image Processing

Usage

Getting started - To see one of the Flash programs:

Select one of the four main web pages:
- Monadic Operator Flash Programs here
- Dyadic Operator Flash Programs here
- Local Operator Flash Programs here
- Spatial Operator Flash Programs here
You will see a list of algorithms on the web page. Choose one of the algorithms you wish to explore.
An example image of the Flash program you have chosen will be shown. Select the 'Open the Flash program in new window' link.
The Flash program will be shown in a new browser window.

Using the Flash programs - The Flash programs should be fairly intuitive to use. The best way to explore the algorithm explained in the Flash program is to experiment with the GUI parameters and press 'apply'. If you want to learn about the actual code, click inside the code window so that the 'explanation' and 'intermediate results' windows appear, and then keep pressing the 'next' button. (A more detailed explanation of the GUI and what can be done is shown later on this web page).

Full screen mode - Perhaps the best way to use the programs is to click on the 'Open the flash program in new window' link, and then in the browser select 'View -> Full Screen' or press the 'F11' key (works for the most common browsers: Internet Explorer, Netscape and Opera) so that the whole screen is used. For Internet Explorer and Netscape, press 'F11' again to stop using the whole screen.

Zoom in/Zoom out - Usually, you will not need to 'zoom in' to a part of the Flash program, particularly if you are using full screen mode (described above). However, some of the explanation windows are a bit small, and so you may want to zoom in for those. Here is how to zoom in: when you are looking at a Flash program you can click on the right mouse button and select "Zoom in " to enlarge the view or select "Zoom out" to diminish the view. Also, while you are zoomed in you can move around by pressing the left mouse button and moving the cursor around at the same time.

Downloading the Flash programs - You are allowed to download and use any of the Flash programs for any purpose, although the copyright remains with the development team. To obtain a copy of any Flash program, one way is to move your mouse over the "Open the flash program in new window" link in the web page, then click on your right mouse button, and select the "save target as" option. The Flash file can then be saved to your hard disk.

Problems in viewing the Flash programs? - If you have a problem viewing the Flash files here are some possible solutions:

Wait for a while - the Flash programs may take a while to load, particularly if you are using a modem
Grant permission for Internet Explorer to run Flash programs - the very latest versions of Internet Explorer seem to block advanced Flash programs, you have to specifically grant permission to let them run (or simply use another browser such as Opera or Netscape)

You are free to copy and use any of the 22 Flash programs for any purpose. However, the copyright is held by the development team.

1.The GUI :

The following figures identify the various components of the program.

Component:	Functionality:	How to use:
Source part UI ( left column)
1.Source image selected area cursor	Indicate the pixels selected by users in the source image.	Click on the source picture to choose the pixels.
3.Source image combo box	Change the source image.	Press on the combo box and select a picture.
4.Pixels inside the source image select area cursor	Display the pixels inside the source image selected area cursor with either RGB value mode or Colour mode.	Press on the pixel boxes to switch either mode.
5.Selected area size combo box	Indicate the size of the source and the result selected areas.	Press on the combo box and select a size.
Control and Explanation part UI ( middle column)
6.Auto-run combo box	Disable auto-run or set the auto-run speed of the pixels changing demonstration.	Press on the combo box and select a command.
7.Show pseudo code button	Display the pseudo code with comments and explanations in a new window.	Press the button.
8.Run/Next button	Start running the demonstration of how the pixels are changed.	Press the button.
9.Stop button	Stop running the demonstration of how the pixels are changed.	Press the button.
11.Pseudo code	Display only the pseudo code of the algorithm.	Click on the area to show the 21 explanation window and the 22 intermediate results window.
17.Apply button	Apply the algorithm with the parameteres to the source image and update the result image.	Press the button.
18.Algorithm parameters	Change the input parameters in order to show different results. (Different algorithms have different sets of parameters .)	Tick the tickbox. /Scroll the slider. / Press the button.
19.Auto-update tickbox	Auto apply the algorithm and update the result image when algorithm parameters are changed.	Tick the tickbox to enable auto-update.
Result part UI ( right column)
10.Pixels inside the result image select area cursor	Indicate the pixels selected by users in the result image.	Click on the result picture to choose the pixels .
14.Result image selected area cursor	Display the pixels inside the result image selected area cursor with either RGB value mode or Colour mode.	Press on the pixel boxes to switch either mode.
15.Disable tips checkbox	Disable to show the tips.	Tick the tickbox.
16.About button	Display the program information in a window.	Click the icon.
Pop up windows
21. Explanation window	Display some graphics and texts to explain the pseudo code.	Click on the pseudo code pane.
22. Intermediate Results window	Display the values of the variables in the pseudo code.	Click on the pseudo code pane.

2. How to use the program :

To use the program, follow the basic steps in each stage below:

Stage 1	Goal: To let users have an idea about how an image is changed by applying the algorithm.
	Procedure:	Used component(s)	Disabled components
step 1	Select a source image.	3	---------------
step 2	Change the algorithm parameters.	18
step 3	Apply the algorithm.	17

Stage 2	Goal: To let users understand how the pixels in an image are processed by applying the algorithm.
	Procedure: (Precaution: Applied the algorithm [Finished stage1])	Used component(s)	Disabled components
step 1	Set the size of the selected area.	5	------------------
step 2	Set the auto-run function.	6
step 3	Click on the Pseudo Code to show the 21 explanation window and the 22 intermediate results window.	11
step 4	Run the demonstration.	8 (continue to click if it is not auto-running)	3, 5, 17, 18, 19

last updated : 25/04/2006 18:30