                 D.I.P PROGRAM

This program intended to be an introduction to Digital Image
Processing (DIP).

Digital image processing and image analysis have changed into
tools of frequent use in many diverse activities such as: 
robotics, biomedicine, geology, material sciences, management of
natural resources, art and so on; where the users of digital
image processes are not necessarily experts in the area.  Thus,
a training need emerges in the field of image processing for a
number of professional groups that traditionally have not had
close relations with this type of material.

The Transeuropean Association for Training in Image Analysis
(TATIANA) based in the University of Oviedo (Spain), is an asso-
ciation dedicated towards the training and further education of
students and personnel in subjects related to and including image
analysis.  TATIANA was established in September 1992 under the
COMETT scheme, with the intention of developing a network of
cooperation between universities, companies and European
organisations all with an interest in these fields of advanced
technology.  

Under the UETP TATIANA program and with the aim of providing the
necessary training in image processing and analysis it was
decided to write a user-interactive computer program which would
facilitate the teaching of the fundamentals of digital image
processing (DIP) and allow familiarisation with the principal
tasks of image processing.

The task of writing the program has been carried out by foreign
students funded through grants in the Image Processing Service
at the University of Oviedo, under the supervision and guidance
of the Service personnel.

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE.

One of the major advantages of our package is that it can be run
independently from normal image processing hardware such as frame
grabbers and external monitors.  It is therefore possible to run
this software on a relatively small personal computer.  

The following equipment is required :

   i.   An IBM Compatible PC ( 286 or above )
   ii.  VGA Card and monitor
   iii. 640 Kb

The algorithm of the functions used are written and set out
according to the theories contained in 'Digital Image Processing'
by  Gonzalez & Wintz  and 'Computer-Assisted Microscopy' by Russ
.

THE DIGITAL IMAGE PROCESSING (DIP) PROGRAM.

The demonstration model displays a general outline of DIP and
illustrates some theories and algorithms of:  

-      Image Enhancing
-      Morphological Functions
-      Image Identification
-      Quantification

In the first part of the program there is an explanation of the
algorithms where the student can learn the theory of image pro-
cessing functions. In the second part (the true program) the
student can use the functions with images and see the results.
  
File format.

The images are stored as .RIC files consisting of 256x256 bytes,
without any header.  In theory this means that there are 256
colours.  However, in order to keep the program compatible with
smaller hardware the program reduces these 256 colours to a range
of 16.  

Program.

The file dip.zip includes the dip.exe program, some example images (.ric), 
and other files necesary to run the program. Use pkunzip to descompress it.

**************************************************************************************
* ATTENTION !  The perimeter function creates one small file for each measured region *
* remember to delete them when you exit the program.                                  *
***************************************************************************************
