{"id":4888,"date":"2013-06-28T04:27:23","date_gmt":"2013-06-28T12:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/?p=4888"},"modified":"2015-05-29T18:48:58","modified_gmt":"2015-05-30T02:48:58","slug":"is-a-playboy-centerfold-really-the-standard-test-image-for-image-processing-algorithms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2013\/06\/28\/is-a-playboy-centerfold-really-the-standard-test-image-for-image-processing-algorithms\/","title":{"rendered":"Is a Playboy Centerfold Really the Standard Test Image for Image Processing Algorithms?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends related to architecture and whether they are true or false. Click here<\/a> to view an archive of the magazine urban legends featured so far. <\/p>\n

MAGAZINE URBAN LEGEND<\/span><\/u>: A Playboy centerfold is the standard test image for image processing algorithms. <\/p>\n

It was in 1973 that Alexander Sawchuk, a professor at the University of Southern California’s Signal and Image Processing Institute, and a graduate student were looking for a good image to scan for a colleague’s conference paper. <\/p>\n

They wanted something glossy and they wanted something with a human face and, most of all, they wanted something that seemed a bit out of the ordinary – something that would pop a bit more than the standard test images they always used. <\/p>\n

Well, someone happened to have a copy of a recent issue of Playboy (I don’t know if it was the LATEST Playboy or not) and the men decided that, hey, why not use the centerfold?<\/p>\n

Little did they know how famous this photo would become…
\n
\nThe centerfold was of Lena S\u00f6derberg (who Playboy changed to Lenna S\u00f6derberg for some reason). The image was cut a bit before being used.<\/p>\n

Here is the image…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/center><\/p>\n

The whole “out of the ordinary” nature of the image, plus its very nice texture (depth, shading, etc.) plus, of course, the whole “it’s a Playboy centerfold” thing, made the image a bit hit. Soon, it was used basically everywhere.<\/p>\n

In fact, the Society for Imaging Science and Technology brought Ms. S\u00f6derberg out for their 50th Anniversry conference as the keynote speaker!<\/p>\n

Naturally, there are some critics of the use of the image.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, some folks feel that it is fairly sexist to use a Playboy centerfold as the main test image.<\/p>\n

On another hand, some people feel it is wrong to use a copyrighted image in such a manner (Playboy, for its part, while they normally aggressively protect their copyrights, have let them “get away” with using the image, figuring it was good publicity).<\/p>\n

Amusingly enough, according to Playboy, the issue with the S\u00f6derberg centerfold was their highest-selling issue EVER (Playboy’s popularity as a magazine peaked in the early 1970s).<\/p>\n

Can you imagine S\u00f6derberg’s reaction when asked to give a speech at the Society for Imaging Science and Technology?<\/p>\n

The legend is… <\/p>\n

STATUS<\/span><\/u>: True<\/p>\n

Feel free (heck, I implore you!) to write in with your suggestions for future installments! My e-mail address is bcronin@legendsrevealed.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends related to architecture and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the magazine urban legends featured so far. MAGAZINE URBAN LEGEND: A Playboy centerfold is the standard test image for image processing algorithms. It was in 1973 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[28,30],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7MjBq-1gQ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6460,"url":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2009\/04\/19\/magazine-urban-legends-history\/","url_meta":{"origin":4888,"position":0},"title":"Magazine Urban Legends History","date":"April 19, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Here are quick descriptions of each of the previous editions of Magazine Urban Legends Revealed. To see if they are true or false, you have to click on the link! 1. Time magazine intentionally placed \"devil horns\" on Billy Graham and\/or Bill Clinton as some sort of commentary. 2. TV\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Archives"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1389,"url":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2009\/08\/17\/magazine-legends-revealed-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":4888,"position":1},"title":"Magazine Urban Legends Revealed #1","date":"August 17, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Monday is \"Grab Bag\" day here at Entertainment Legends Revealed, with each Monday featuring a different area of the world of arts and entertainment (that is not featured on the other four days of the week, that is). They'll eventually repeat, but for now, we're still on the initial installments\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Old Format"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7718,"url":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2016\/03\/16\/did-playboy-cancel-a-nude-spread-for-phyllis-diller-because-it-was-too-sexy\/","url_meta":{"origin":4888,"position":2},"title":"Did Playboy Cancel a Nude Spread for Phyllis Diller Because it Was “Too Sexy”?","date":"March 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends related to architecture and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the magazine urban legends featured so far. MAGAZINE URBAN LEGEND: Playboy canceled a nude spread for Phyllis Diller because it was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Grab Bag Legends"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/phyllis-diller_protest-375x302.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5278,"url":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2013\/10\/31\/was-denise-crosby-fired-from-stark-trek-the-next-generation-because-she-posed-nude-in-playboy\/","url_meta":{"origin":4888,"position":3},"title":"Was Denise Crosby Fired From Star Trek: The Next Generation Because She Posed Nude in Playboy?","date":"October 31, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about TV and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the TV urban legends featured so far. TV URBAN LEGEND: Was Denise Crosby fired from Star Trek: The Next Generation because she\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "TV Legends Revealed"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5462,"url":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2013\/11\/26\/were-some-of-shel-silversteins-poems-for-where-the-sidewalk-ends-and-a-light-in-the-attic-originally-published-in-playboy\/","url_meta":{"origin":4888,"position":4},"title":"Were Some of Shel Silverstein’s Poems for Children Originally Published in Playboy?","date":"November 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends related to poetry and poets and whether they are true or false. Click here for an archive of all poetry legends featured so far. POETRY URBAN LEGEND: Some of Shel Silverstein's poems for Where the Sidewalk Ends and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Grab Bag Legends"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6272,"url":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2015\/04\/28\/was-charles-dickens-really-paid-by-the-word\/","url_meta":{"origin":4888,"position":5},"title":"Was Charles Dickens Really Paid by the Word?","date":"April 28, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about novels and novelists and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the novel urban legends featured so far. NOVEL URBAN LEGEND: Charles Dickens was paid by the word. 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