Content enhancement for e-learning lecture video using foreground/background separation

With the popular adaptation of e-learning in many universities, lectures are sometimes distributed online in the form of real-time streaming videos. In these videos, contents on the chalkboard develop into the main sources of study materials for the students. However, they are usually compressed to minimize the bitrate for on-line streaming, and the process blurs the contents on the chalkboard, making them barely readable. Thus, the usefulness of the video channel is being questioned. To improve the quality of video, we enhance the chalkboard contents of the lecture videos by using foreground/background separation and combination technique. The separation allows foreground content to be normalized and de-noised, thus enhancing the readability of the chalkboard texts. The overall technique emphasizes the chalkboard contents while preserving the integrity of the natural video frame. It thus renders the video channel as an important source of information in providing the students with a beneficial e-learning material.