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image processing, image fltering, mathematical morphology , edge-preserving smoothing

In the paper, a novel method of edge-preserving processing of color images is proposed. It combines linear low-pass filtering with non-linear techniques, that select meaningful regions of the image, where edges should be preserved. The selection of those regions is based on non-linear processing of the linear filter residuals. The latter aims to find meaningful regions characterized by edges of high amplitude and appropriate size. To find them, two methods of morphological image processing are used: reconstruction operator and area opening. The meaningful reconstructed regions are finally combined with the low-pass filtering result to recover the original shape of edges. In addition, the method allows for controlling the contrast of the output image. The processing result depends on four parameters, the choice of which allows for adjusting the processed image to particular requirements. Results of experiments, presented also in the paper, prove that the method performs well and gives useful results.