Image Enhancement (or Enchantment) 101

Mike Bara Explains all About Bicubic Interpolation,
but he forgot all about adding the checks!

After going through a whole detailed description of the process of bicubic interpolation with lots of informative diagrams, Michael Bara failed to produce what I call the “Hoagland Effect” on his own enhanced image. Not even close. Sure, there are a few random checkerboard elements that are to be expected even in the NASA image, but nothing like the Hoagland enhanced image displayed at the top of his page. And this is proof?

Proof that Bara forgot to add the checks!

Bara’s diagrams would also seem to me to be a bit misleading. Their implication is that one pixel was converted into four pixels (2 x 2). In fact, the ratio seems to be that one pixel is converted into an blob of about eighty one pixels (9 x 9). Check it out yourself. Since the pixels are so blurry, it is hard to determine the exact number. I would suggest that the accuracy and value of this interpolated data is of questionable reliability—at least that is the polite way of putting it. Implying that the interpolation ratio is only 1 to 4, rather than 1 to 81, is what I might call pulling a fast one. Even at that, the same process, even at a reasonable ratio, which would render a straight line smooth, would render a jagged line smooth as well.

Still, Mr. Bara hasn’t arbitrarily changed pixel values from dark to light and from light to dark, nor has he superimposed any checkerboard patterns, and I have to give him credit for that. I guess he thinks that no one will notice the difference between his enhanced image and Hoagland’s. Maybe by the time most people get through all those words, they will have forgotten.

I hope he was paid for his work. A lot.

Mr. Bara and I had communicated concerning this via e-mail earlier. He had told me how I could duplicate Mr. Hoagland’s image through very simple steps. I replied that I was unable to come close to Hoagland’s image following his instructions and to please send me more detailed instructions. I wanted to make sure about this. He never responded.

And just for the record, I did examine the raw NASA image and by adjusting the curves was able to come close to the NASA enhanced images, but not Hoagland’s

Nice try Mr. Bara. Well, almost.

Visit the page at The Enterprise Mission:
Image Enhancement 101, or, Mike Bara Explains it All.

Also visit Mike Bara’s
Lunar Anomalies Page
While there, don’t forget to visit the Moon Village and it’s quaint chalets.

They are certainly spiffier than my “Trailer Park.” Of course, I don’t “enhance” my images like that.

Back to “Hoagland ~ Is it Fraud, or Human Error? Here’s Some Evidence