A hybrid method for image colorization

In this paper, a hybrid method is proposed to colorize grayscale images. First, the input image is colorized by the fast colorization method, which is based on the technique of color blending obtained effectively from a weighted distance function computed from the luminance channel. Second, the neighborhood filter approach, which restores a pixel by taking a weighted average of the values of neighboring pixels in chrominance channels, is carried out to the obtained result to improve colorization in object boundaries. A number of examples and comparisons with the existing colorization method show that the proposed method efficiently betters the results.