Fast and Accurate Color Images Processing Using 3D Graphics Cards

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how the new technologies introduced in recent 3D cards can be used in color image processing and analysis. We used the latest programmability feature available in 3D cards in order to implement and to test five color image processing algorithms: local mean filtering, RGB to L∗a∗b∗ and RGB to HSV color spaces conversions, local principal component analysis and anisotropic diffusion filtering. Using a nVIDIAT M NV30 graphic processor unit (GPU) we obtained, in most cases of study, faster results than with the tested processors (CPU). We are showing that the GPU can be 10 times faster than the best CPU that we have tested in the case of per-pixel processing with mathematical complex functions and vectorial calculations.