Lenna Explained
Lenna (or Lena) is a standard test image used in the field of digital image processing, starting in 1973.[1] It is a picture of the Swedish model Lena Forsén, shot by photographer Dwight Hooker and cropped from the centerfold of the November 1972 issue of Playboy magazine. The image has attracted controversy in recent years because of its subject matter, and many journals have deemed it inappropriate and discouraged its use, while others have banned it from publication outright.[2] [3] [4] [5] Forsén herself has called for it to be retired, saying "It's time I retired from tech."
The spelling "Lenna" came from the model's desire to encourage the proper pronunciation of her name. "I didn't want to be called Leena [{{IPAc-en|lang|'|l|i:|n|ə}}]," she explained.[6]
History
Before Lenna, the first use of a Playboy magazine image to illustrate image processing algorithms was in 1961. Lawrence G. Roberts used two cropped six-bit grayscale facsimile scanned images from Playboys July 1960 issue featuring Playmate Teddi Smith, in his MIT master's thesis on image dithering.[7]
The Lenna image was originally intended for high resolution color image processing study. Its history was described in the May 2001 newsletter of the IEEE Professional Communication Society, in an article by Jamie Hutchinson:[8] The image's reach was limited in the 1970s and 80s, which is reflected in it initially only appearing in .org domains. But in July 1991, the image featured on the cover of Optical Engineering alongside Peppers, another popular test image.[9] This drew the attention of Playboy to the potential copyright infringement.[10] The peak of image hits on the internet was in 1995. The scan became one of the most used images in computer history.[11] The use of the photo in electronic imaging has been described as "clearly one of the most important events in [its] history".[12] The image spread to over 100 different domains, particularly .com and .edu.
In a 1999 issue of IEEE Transactions on Image Processing "Lena" was used in three separate articles,[13] and the picture continued to appear in scientific journals throughout the beginning of the 21st century.
Lenna is so widely accepted in the image processing community that Forsén was a guest at the 50th annual Conference of the Society for Imaging Science and Technology (IS&T) in 1997.[14] In 2015, Lena Forsén was also guest of honor at the banquet of IEEE ICIP 2015.[15] After delivering a speech, she chaired the best paper award ceremony.
To explain why the image became a standard in the field, David C. Munson, editor-in-chief of IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, stated that it was a good test image because of its detail, flat regions, shading, and texture. He also noted that "the Lena image is a picture of an attractive woman. It is not surprising that the (mostly male) image processing research community gravitated toward an image that they found attractive."[16]
While Playboy often cracks down on illegal uses of its material and did initially send a notice to the publisher of Optical Engineering about its unauthorized use in that publication,[10] over time it has decided to overlook the wide use of Lena. Eileen Kent, VP of new media at Playboy, said, "We decided we should exploit this, because it is a phenomenon."[17]
Criticism
The use of the image has produced controversy because Playboy is "seen (by some) as being degrading to women".[16] In a 1999 essay on reasons for the male predominance in computer science, applied mathematician Dianne P. O'Leary wrote:
A 2012 paper on compressed sensing used a photo of the model Fabio Lanzoni as a test image to draw attention to this issue.[18] [19] [20] [21]
The use of the test image at the magnet school Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County, Virginia, provoked a guest editorial by a senior in The Washington Post in 2015 about its detrimental impact on aspiring female students in computer science.[22]
In 2017, the Journal of Modern Optics published an editorial titled "On alternatives to Lenna" suggesting three images (Pirate, Cameraman, and Peppers) that "are reasonably close to Lenna in feature space".[23]
In 2018, the Nature Nanotechnology journal announced that they would no longer consider articles using the Lenna image.[24] In the same year SPIE, the publishers of Optical Engineering, also announced that they "strongly discourage" the use of the Lenna image, and would no longer consider new submissions containing the image "without convincing scientific justification for its use". They noted that aside from the copyright and ethical issues, that it was also no longer useful as a standard image: "In today's age of high-resolution digital image technology, it seems difficult to argue that a 512 × 512 image produced with a 1970s-era analog scanner is the best we have to offer as an image quality test standard".[25]
Forsén stated in the 2019 documentary film Losing Lena, "I retired from modeling a long time ago. It's time I retired from tech, too... Let's commit to losing me."[26]
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) announced that, starting April 1, 2024, it will no longer allow use of the Lena image in its publications.[27]
See also
Sources
Further reading
- Book: Gonzalez . Rafael C.. Richard E. . Woods . Digital Image Processing . 2nd . 978-0-201-18075-6 . 2002 . Prentice Hall . image used numerous times in chapter 6
External links
Notes and References
- News: Playboy Centrefold Photo Shrunk to Width of Human Hair. BBC News Online. 14 August 2012. 15 August 2012. 5 October 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121005184214/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19260550. live.
- Web site: SIIMS – Instructions for Authors. 2022-10-22. 22 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221022200028/https://epubs.siam.org/journal/siims/instructions-for-authors. live.
- A note on the Lena image. Nature Nanotechnology . 2018 . 13 . 12 . 1087 . 10.1038/s41565-018-0337-2 . 30523301 . 2018NatNa..13Q1087. . 54522374 . free .
- Web site: Express Journals Online Style Guide: OPTICS EXPRESS, BIOMEDICAL OPTICS EXPRESS, OPTICAL MATERIALS EXPRESS . 2022-10-22 . 22 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221022200024/https://opg.optica.org/submit/style/oestyleguide.cfm . deviated .
- Web site: Edwards . Benj . 2024-03-29 . Playboy image from 1972 gets ban from IEEE computer journals . 2024-03-30 . Ars Technica . en-us . 30 March 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240330165935/https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/03/playboy-image-from-1972-gets-ban-from-ieee-computer-journals/ . live .
- Finding Lena, the Patron Saint of JPEGS . Kinstler . Linda . January 31, 2019 . Wired . March 1, 2019 . 22 April 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200422090150/https://www.wired.com/story/finding-lena-the-patron-saint-of-jpegs/ . live . IPA pronunciation of Leena inserted into the quotation in brackets for clarity. is a common English pronunciation of the name Lena. The quotation reads, "At her suggestion, the editors [of Playboy] spelled her first name with an extra 'n,' to encourage proper pronunciation. 'I didn't want to be called Leena," she explained.'
- Web site: Roberts . Lawrence G. . 1961 . Picture Coding Using Pseudo-Random Noise . . 2017-02-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060926134827/http://www.packet.cc/files/pic-code-noise.html . 2006-09-26 .
- Hutchison . Jamie . 2001 . Culture, Communication, and an Information Age Madonna . IEEE Professional Communication Society Newsletter . 45 . 3 . 1, 5–7 . 21 January 2019 . 18 April 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190418221033/http://www.lenna.org/pcs_mirror/may_june01.pdf . live .
- Web site: Pudding. The. Can Data Die? Tracking the Lenna Image. 2022-02-02. The Pudding. en. 2 November 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211102161154/https://pudding.cool/2021/10/lenna/. live.
- Brian J. . Thompson . 1992 . Editorial: Copyright Problems . . 31 . 1 . 5 . 10.1117/12.60707 . 1992OptEn..31....5T . free .
- Web site: 1997. The Search for Lena: Discovering one Playmate's role in the history of the Internet. https://web.archive.org/web/19970704201816/http://www.playboy.com/news/lena/lena.html. July 4, 1997. December 20, 2012. Playboy Newsdesk. Playboy.
- Web site: Zax . David . 16 August 2012 . A Playboy Model and Nanoscale Printing . 24 September 2013 . . 24 September 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150924140908/http://www.technologyreview.com/view/428928/a-playboy-model-and-nanoscale-printing/ . live .
- Web site: O'Leary . Dianne P. . June 25, 1999 . But the instructor's attitude can't make the female student fail, can it? . Accessibility of Computer Science: A Reflection for Faculty Members . University of Maryland, Department of Computer Science . October 26, 2013 . 5 November 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151105072752/https://www.cs.umd.edu/users/oleary/faculty/node8.html . live .
- Web site: Rosenberg . Chuck . November 3, 2001 . The Lenna Story: Imaging Experts Meet Lenna in Person . . 2017-02-03 . 29 September 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180929001758/http://www.lenna.org/lenna_visit.html . live .
- Web site: 2015 . ICIP 2015 Banquet & Awards Ceremony . . 11 March 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160112201031/http://icip2015.org/banquet.html . 12 January 2016 .
- Munson . David C. Jr. . 1996 . A Note on Lena . . 5 . 1 . 3 . 10.1109/TIP.1996.8100841 . 1996ITIP....5....3M . 2017-02-03 . free . 12 April 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230412224205/http://www.lenna.org/editor.html . live .
- Brown . Janelle . May 20, 1997 . Playmate Meets Geeks Who Made Her a Net Star . . 2017-02-03 . 22 July 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230722102912/https://www.wired.com/1997/05/playmate-meets-geeks-who-made-her-a-net-star/ . live .
- Needell . Deanna . Ward . Rachel . February 29, 2012 . Stable image reconstruction using total variation minimization . 1202.6429 . cs.CV.
- Web site: Carron . Igor . March 9, 2012 . I can't believe it's not Lena . Nuit Blanche . 2017-02-03 . 10 March 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170310221124/http://nuit-blanche.blogspot.it/2012/03/i-cant-believe-its-not-lena.html . live .
- Web site: May 2, 2013 . Every Picture Tells A Story . . 2017-02-03 . 14 April 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150414001858/http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/news/every-picture-tells-a-story/ . live .
- Web site: Matthews . Richard . May 12, 2015 . How Fabio and Playboy helped invent the internet: The bizarre photos used in research papers revealed . . 2017-02-03 . 4 February 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170204170452/http://theconversation.com/the-playboy-centrefold-at-the-centre-of-computer-science-41457 . live .
- News: Maddie . Zug . 24 April 2015 . A centerfold does not belong in the classroom . . 7 July 2015 . 13 May 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190513152313/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-playboy-centerfold-does-not-belong-in-tj-classrooms/2015/04/24/76e87fa4-e47a-11e4-81ea-0649268f729e_story.html . live .
- 2017. On alternatives to Lenna. Journal of Modern Optics. 64. 12. 1119–1120. 10.1080/09500340.2016.1270881. 2017JMOp...64.1119.. free.
- 2018. A note on the Lena image. Nature Nanotechnology . 13. 12. 1087. 10.1038/s41565-018-0337-2. 30523301. 2018NatNa..13Q1087.. 1748-3395. free.
- Eismann . Michael T. . Michael Eismann . 2018 . Farewell, Lena . . en . 57 . 12 . 120101 . 2018OptEn..57l0101E . 10.1117/1.OE.57.12.120101 . free.
- News: Kayla . Kibbe . How a Nude 'Playboy' Photo Became a Fixture in the Tech World . Inside Hook . San Francisco Chronicle . 2019-12-03 . 3 November 2021 . 24 December 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191224184828/https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/How-a-Nude-Playboy-Photo-Became-a-Fixture-14878319.php . live .
- https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/mar/31/tech-publisher-bans-playboy-centrefold-test-image-from-its-journals "Trade body urges removal of Playboy centrefold test image from members’ journals", The Guardian, March 31, 2024