Target Detection and Classification Improvements using Contrast Enhanced 16-bit Infrared Videos

In our earlier target detection and classification papers, we used 8-bit infrared videos in the Defense Systems Information Analysis Center(DSIAC) video dataset. In this paper, we focus on how we can improve the target detection and classification results using 16-bit videos. One problem with the 16-bit videos is that some image frames have very low contrast. Two methods were explored to improve upon previous detection and classification results. The first method used to improve contrast was effectively the same as the baseline 8-bit video data but using the 16-bit raw data rather than the 8-bit data taken from the avi files. The second method used was a second order histogram matching algorithm that preserves the 16-bit nature of the videos while providing normalization and contrast enhancement. Results showed the second order histogram matching algorithm improved the target detection using You Only Look Once (YOLO) and classificationusing Residual Network (ResNet) performance. The average precision (AP) metric in YOLO was improved by 8%. This is quite significant. The overall accuracy (OA) of ResNet has been improved by 12%. This is also very significant.