What's the fastest way to increase color image contrast with OpenCV in python (cv2)?

Question

I\'m using OpenCV to process some images, and one of the first steps I need to perform is increasing the image contrast on a color image. The fastest method I\'ve found so

Answer 1

Try this code:

import cv2

img = cv2.imread('sunset.jpg', 1)
cv2.imshow("Original image",img)

# CLAHE (Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization)
clahe = cv2.createCLAHE(clipLimit=3., tileGridSize=(8,8))

lab = cv2.cvtColor(img, cv2.COLOR_BGR2LAB)  # convert from BGR to LAB color space
l, a, b = cv2.split(lab)  # split on 3 different channels

l2 = clahe.apply(l)  # apply CLAHE to the L-channel

lab = cv2.merge((l2,a,b))  # merge channels
img2 = cv2.cvtColor(lab, cv2.COLOR_LAB2BGR)  # convert from LAB to BGR
cv2.imshow('Increased contrast', img2)
#cv2.imwrite('sunset_modified.jpg', img2)

cv2.waitKey(0)
cv2.destroyAllWindows()

Sunset before: Sunset after increased contrast: