Binäärikuvat

Binäärikuvat, or binary images in English, are a type of digital image that consists of only two possible pixel values. These values are typically represented as black and white, or 0 and 1. In essence, each pixel in a binary image is either on or off, with no intermediate shades of gray or color. This simplicity makes binary images very efficient in terms of storage space.

The creation of binary images often involves a process called thresholding. In this process, a grayscale image is converted into a binary image by setting a specific threshold value. Pixels with intensity values above the threshold are assigned one value (e.g., white), while those below the threshold are assigned the other value (e.g., black). This technique is widely used in image processing for tasks such as document scanning, optical character recognition (OCR), and object segmentation.

Binary images are fundamental in computer graphics and digital signal processing. They are the basis for many algorithms that analyze or manipulate image data. For example, in pattern recognition, binary images simplify the analysis by reducing the complexity of the data. Operations like erosion, dilation, and skeletonization are commonly applied to binary images to refine shapes, remove noise, or extract structural information. Due to their minimal data requirements, they are also prevalent in areas where computational resources or transmission bandwidth are limited.