
238 A Computational Introduction to Digital Image Processing, Second Edition
9.7 Derivatives and Edges
Fundamental Definitions
Consider the image in Figure 9.15, and suppose we plot the gray values as we traverse
the image from left to right. Two types of edges are illustrated here: a ramp edge, where the
FIGURE 9.15: Edges and their profiles
gray values change slowly, and a step edge, or an ideal edge, where the gray values change
suddenly.
Suppose the function that provides the profile in Figure 9.15 is f (x); then its derivative
f
(x) can be plotted; this is shown in Figure 9.16. The derivative, as expected, returns zero
0
FIGURE 9.16: The derivative