What is blur?

Blur: An Overview

Blur, in the context of photography and image processing, refers to the smearing or reduction of distinct details in an image. It can be either an unwanted artifact or a deliberate artistic effect.

Causes of Blur:

• Motion Blur: Occurs when the subject or the camera moves during the exposure time.
• Defocus Blur: Happens when the subject is not within the lens's focal plane.
• Gaussian Blur: A type of image blurring filter that uses a Gaussian function.
• Atmospheric Blur: Caused by atmospheric conditions like haze or turbulence.

Applications of Blur:

• Artistic Effects: Creating a soft, dreamy, or ethereal feel in images.
• Noise Reduction: Smoothing out random variations in image brightness or color.
• Privacy: Obscuring faces or license plates in images.
• Image Processing: As a preprocessing step in various computer vision tasks.

Techniques to Reduce Blur:

• Using a faster shutter speed to minimize Motion Blur.
• Using a smaller aperture (higher f-number) to increase depth of field and reduce Defocus Blur.
• Using image stabilization (IS) or vibration reduction (VR) technology in cameras and lenses.
• Employing deblurring algorithms in post-processing.