Flat Median 1.4

• Flat Median is a median-like effect which have some advantages over the "regular" median filter:
• you can control level of Flatness. At low level of flatness the result would look like a regular blur, while at high level the result would look more contrasty.
• it is "isotropic" just like gaussian blur.
• additionally, you can apply the effect on horizontal or vertical directions.

• Changelog:
• version 1.1: New setting , "dry". Basically, it gives more weight to the center pixel while computing the median-like value. This can help to get a more subtle effect.
• version 1.2: This version prevent the aliasing that appears when increasing flatten setting to big values.
• version 1.3: Allow to use less Ram.
• version 1.4: Let the user choose if he wants to use less RAM, with the "Lessen bit precision" option.

Example 1: Here we used these settings: radius=3, flatten=95, dry=34. The big flatten setting gives a painted feeling, while the dry setting helps to not distort too much original picture.

Before	After

Example 2: With a radius of 2.5, we respectively applied a "flatten" setting of 80 then -80. Notice that the yellow spot of the berry are better eliminated with a high flatten setting.

Original Image	Very Flat	Blurry

Example 3: Here a simple comparison between a "flat median" and a "regular" one.

Original Image	Flat Median	Regular Median

Example 4: Here a "flat median" applied on the horizontal direction only.

Before	After

Remark: I've been experimenting a lot, about possible ways to estimate median without sorting datas. The plugin "Flat Median" represents the result I was able to reach.

See also: Noise Shampoo.

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