Low light image enhancement algorithm based on improved multi-objective grey wolf optimization with detail feature enhancement

This article aims to enhance low-light images by proposing a novel algorithm called MoGDF. It departs from the traditional approach of using deep learning with low-light and normal images as training data. Instead, exposure images at five different exposure scales are generated using a proposed model called EIPM, which consists of an improved Gamma function. Then it introduces a feature extraction network called FMEM, which leverages an improved PFPN structure to enhance the fusion of multi-scale information and strengthen the connection between high-level and low-level semantic information. Finally, it optimizes the fusion weights using an improved multiple-objective grey wolf optimization algorithm with comprehensive improvements in the convergence factor updating strategy, adaptive inertia weight strategy, and individual position strategy. The experiments show that the MoGDF outperforms the current state-of-the-art algorithms in terms of color restoration and detail preservation, and has significant advantages in objective and subjective evaluation metrics, with improvements of 5.69%, 2.60%, 1.11%, and 6.67% in PSNR, SSIM, NIQE, and LPIPS, respectively.(c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).