FTutor: An interactive guide to the fundamentals of frequency analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn image processing, the field of frequency analysis plays an important and irreplaceable role. Due to the knowledge of which frequencies correspond to which image characteristics, we can efficiently solve tasks such as smoothing, edge detection, regular pattern detection or removal, and image compression. Therefore, understanding of basic principles is of great importance for people working in fields requiring signal and image processing knowledge and skills. The key link between the standard image domain and frequency domain is provided by the well‐known Fourier transform. Even though this transform is commonly understood as a standard framework for frequency analysis, proper understanding of its fundamentals is often hindered by many people's preoccupation with complex numbers and trigonometric functions. In this paper, we introduce a novel application called FTutor. It aims to serve as an interactive guide for those who are beginning to learn about the Fourier transform and want to properly understand its principles. In particular, FTutor is designed for use by the students and teachers of image processing courses to simplify and ease the process of understanding the frequency domain. The application is freely available from http://cbia.fi.muni.cz/projects/ftutor.html together with its source code. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 25:508–520, 2017; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.21817