Editing Lenna

{{Short description|Unauthorized standard test image}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
[[File:Lenna (test image).png|thumb|Image of [[Lena Forsén]] used in many image processing experiments{{noprint inline|. ''(Click on the image to access the actual 512×512px standard test version.)''}}]]

'''Lenna''' (or '''Lena''') is a [[standard test image]] used in the field of [[digital image processing]], starting in 1973.<ref name="bbc-human-hair">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19260550|title=Playboy Centrefold Photo Shrunk to Width of Human Hair|work=BBC News Online|date=14 August 2012|access-date=15 August 2012|archive-date=5 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005184214/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19260550|url-status=live}}</ref> It is a picture of the [[Sweden|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,<ref name="Eismann"/> and many journals have deemed it inappropriate and discouraged its use, while others have banned it from publication outright.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|title=SIIMS – Instructions for Authors|url=https://epubs.siam.org/journal/siims/instructions-for-authors|access-date=2022-10-22|archive-date=22 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221022200028/https://epubs.siam.org/journal/siims/instructions-for-authors|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=A note on the Lena image|journal=Nature Nanotechnology |year=2018 |volume=13 |issue=12 |page=1087 |doi=10.1038/s41565-018-0337-2 |pmid=30523301 |bibcode=2018NatNa..13Q1087. |s2cid=54522374 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Express Journals Online Style Guide: OPTICS EXPRESS, BIOMEDICAL OPTICS EXPRESS, OPTICAL MATERIALS EXPRESS |url=https://opg.optica.org/submit/style/oestyleguide.cfm |access-date=2022-10-22 |archive-date=22 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221022200024/https://opg.optica.org/submit/style/oestyleguide.cfm |url-status=deviated }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Edwards |first=Benj |date=2024-03-29 |title=Playboy image from 1972 gets ban from IEEE computer journals |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/03/playboy-image-from-1972-gets-ban-from-ieee-computer-journals/ |access-date=2024-03-30 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us |archive-date=30 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240330165935/https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/03/playboy-image-from-1972-gets-ban-from-ieee-computer-journals/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Forsén herself has called for it to be retired, saying "It's time I retired from tech."<ref name=":5" />

The spelling "Lenna" came from the model's desire to encourage the proper pronunciation of her name. "I didn't want to be called ''Lee''na [{{IPAc-en|lang|'|l|i:|n|ə}}]," she explained.<ref name="Wired2019">{{cite magazine
 |url=https://www.wired.com/story/finding-lena-the-patron-saint-of-jpegs/
 |title=Finding Lena, the Patron Saint of JPEGS
 |last=Kinstler
 |first=Linda
 |date=January 31, 2019
 |magazine=Wired
 |access-date=March 1, 2019
 |archive-date=22 April 2020
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200422090150/https://www.wired.com/story/finding-lena-the-patron-saint-of-jpegs/
 |url-status=live
 }} IPA pronunciation of ''Lee''na inserted into the quotation in brackets for clarity. {{IPAc-en|'|l|i:|n|ə}} 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.'</ref>

== History ==
Before Lenna, the first use of a ''[[Playboy]]'' magazine image to illustrate image processing algorithms was in 1961. [[Larry Roberts (computer scientist)|Lawrence G. Roberts]] used two cropped six-bit grayscale [[Fax|facsimile scanned]] images from ''Playboy''{{'}}s July 1960 issue featuring [[Playboy Playmate|Playmate]] [[Teddi Smith]], in his master's thesis on [[Dithering|image dithering]] at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]].<ref>{{cite web
 |last=Roberts
 |first=Lawrence G.
 |date=1961
 |title=Picture Coding Using Pseudo-Random Noise
 |url=http://www.packet.cc/files/pic-code-noise.html
 |publisher=[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]
 |access-date=2017-02-03
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060926134827/http://www.packet.cc/files/pic-code-noise.html
 |archive-date=2006-09-26
 }}</ref>

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:<ref name=JH>{{cite journal
 |last=Hutchison
 |first=Jamie
 |date=2001
 |title=Culture, Communication, and an Information Age Madonna
 |url=http://www.lenna.org/pcs_mirror/may_june01.pdf
 |journal=IEEE Professional Communication Society Newsletter
 |volume=45
 |number=3
 |pages=1, 5–7
 |access-date=21 January 2019
 |archive-date=18 April 2019
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418221033/http://www.lenna.org/pcs_mirror/may_june01.pdf
 |url-status=live
 }}</ref>
{{blockquote|Alexander Sawchuk estimates that it was in June or July of 1973 when he, then an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the [[University of Southern California]] Signal and Image Processing Institute (SIPI), along with a graduate student and the SIPI lab manager, was hurriedly searching the lab for a good image to scan for a colleague's conference paper. They got tired of their stock of usual test images, dull stuff dating back to television standards work in the early 1960s. They wanted something glossy to ensure good output dynamic range, and they wanted a human face. Just then, somebody happened to walk in with a recent issue of ''Playboy''.

The engineers tore away the top third of the centerfold so they could wrap it around the drum of their Muirhead [[wirephoto]] scanner, which they had outfitted with analog-to-digital converters (one each for the red, green, and blue channels) and a [[HP 2100|Hewlett Packard 2100]] minicomputer. The Muirhead had a fixed resolution of 100 lines per inch and the engineers wanted a 512×512 image, so they limited the scan to the top 5.12 inches of the picture, effectively cropping it at the subject's shoulders.}}
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 (journal)|Optical Engineering]]'' alongside Peppers, another popular test image.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Pudding|first=The|title=Can Data Die? Tracking the Lenna Image|url=https://pudding.cool/2021/10/lenna|access-date=2022-02-02|website=The Pudding|language=en|archive-date=2 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102161154/https://pudding.cool/2021/10/lenna/|url-status=live}}</ref> This drew the attention of ''Playboy'' to the potential copyright infringement.<ref name=Thompson>{{cite journal |first=Brian J. |last=Thompson |date=1992 |title=Editorial: Copyright Problems |journal=[[Optical Engineering (journal)|Optical Engineering]] |volume=31 |number=1 |page=5 |doi=10.1117/12.60707 |bibcode=1992OptEn..31....5T |doi-access=free }}</ref> The peak of image hits on the internet was in 1995.<ref name=":0" /> The scan became one of the most used images in computer history.<ref name="PBN07">
{{cite web|date=1997|title=The Search for Lena: Discovering one Playmate's role in the history of the Internet|url=http://www.playboy.com/news/lena/lena.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970704201816/http://www.playboy.com/news/lena/lena.html|archive-date=July 4, 1997|access-date=December 20, 2012|work=Playboy Newsdesk|publisher=[[Playboy]]}}</ref> The use of the photo in electronic imaging has been described as "clearly one of the most important events in [its] history".<ref name="technologyreview zax 2012">{{cite web |last=Zax |first=David |date=16 August 2012 |title=A Playboy Model and Nanoscale Printing |url=http://www.technologyreview.com/view/428928/a-playboy-model-and-nanoscale-printing/ |access-date=24 September 2013 |work=[[MIT Technology Review]] |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924140908/http://www.technologyreview.com/view/428928/a-playboy-model-and-nanoscale-printing/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The image spread to over 100 different domains, particularly [[.com]] and [[.edu]].<ref name=":0" />

In a 1999 issue of ''[[IEEE Transactions on Image Processing]]'' "Lena" was used in three separate articles,<ref name="oleary">{{cite web
 |last=O'Leary
 |first=Dianne P.
 |date=June 25, 1999
 |title=But the instructor's attitude can't make the female student fail, can it?
 |url=http://www.cs.umd.edu/users/oleary/faculty/node8.html
 |work=Accessibility of Computer Science: A Reflection for Faculty Members
 |publisher=[[University of Maryland]], Department of Computer Science
 |access-date=October 26, 2013
 |archive-date=5 November 2015
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151105072752/https://www.cs.umd.edu/users/oleary/faculty/node8.html
 |url-status=live
 }}</ref> and the picture continued to appear in scientific journals throughout the beginning of the 21st century.<ref name="JH" />

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.<ref name="chuck">{{cite web
 |last=Rosenberg
 |first=Chuck
 |date=November 3, 2001
 |title=The Lenna Story: Imaging Experts Meet Lenna in Person
 |url=http://www.lenna.org/lenna_visit.html
 |publisher=[[Carnegie Mellon University]]
 |access-date=2017-02-03
 |archive-date=29 September 2018
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929001758/http://www.lenna.org/lenna_visit.html
 |url-status=live
 }}</ref> In 2015, Lena Forsén was also guest of honor at the banquet of IEEE ICIP 2015.<ref>{{cite web
 |date=2015
 |title=ICIP 2015 Banquet & Awards Ceremony
 |url=http://www.icip2015.org/banquet.html
 |publisher=[[International Conference on Image Processing]]
 |access-date=11 March 2016
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112201031/http://icip2015.org/banquet.html
 |archive-date=12 January 2016
 
 }}</ref> 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 ''[[Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers|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."<ref name=Munson>{{cite journal
 |last=Munson
 |first=David C. Jr.
 |date=1996
 |title=A Note on Lena
 |url=http://www.lenna.org/editor.html
 |journal=[[IEEE Transactions on Image Processing]]
 |volume=5
 |number=1
 |page=3
 |doi=10.1109/TIP.1996.8100841
 |bibcode=1996ITIP....5....3M
 |access-date=2017-02-03
 |doi-access=free
 |archive-date=12 April 2023
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412224205/http://www.lenna.org/editor.html
 |url-status=live
 }}</ref>

While ''Playboy'' often cracks down on illegal uses of its material and did initially send a notice to the publisher of ''[[Optical Engineering (journal)|Optical Engineering]]'' about its unauthorized use in that publication,<ref name=Thompson/> 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."<ref name="Wired97">{{cite magazine
 |last=Brown
 |first=Janelle
 |date=May 20, 1997
 |title=Playmate Meets Geeks Who Made Her a Net Star
 |url=https://www.wired.com/1997/05/playmate-meets-geeks-who-made-her-a-net-star/
 |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]
 |access-date=2017-02-03
 |archive-date=22 July 2023
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230722102912/https://www.wired.com/1997/05/playmate-meets-geeks-who-made-her-a-net-star/
 |url-status=live
 }}</ref>

== Criticism ==
The use of the image has produced controversy because ''Playboy'' is "seen (by some) as being degrading to women".<ref name=Munson/> In a 1999 essay on reasons for the male predominance in computer science, applied mathematician [[Dianne P. O'Leary]] wrote:
{{blockquote|Suggestive pictures used in lectures on image processing ... convey the message that the lecturer caters to the males only. For example, it is amazing that the "Lena" pin-up image is still used as an example in courses and published as a test image in journals today.<ref name="oleary"/>}}

A 2012 paper on compressed sensing used a photo of the model [[Fabio Lanzoni]] as a test image to draw attention to this issue.<ref name="Needell">
{{cite arXiv
 |last1=Needell |first1=Deanna
 |last2=Ward |first2=Rachel
 |date=February 29, 2012
 |title=Stable image reconstruction using total variation minimization
 |eprint=1202.6429
 |class=cs.CV
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |last=Carron
 |first=Igor
 |date=March 9, 2012
 |title=I can't believe it's not Lena
 |url=http://nuit-blanche.blogspot.it/2012/03/i-cant-believe-its-not-lena.html
 |work=Nuit Blanche
 |access-date=2017-02-03
 |archive-date=10 March 2017
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170310221124/http://nuit-blanche.blogspot.it/2012/03/i-cant-believe-its-not-lena.html
 |url-status=live
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |date=May 2, 2013
 |title=Every Picture Tells A Story
 |url=http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/news/every-picture-tells-a-story/
 |publisher=[[Claremont McKenna College]]
 |access-date=2017-02-03
 |archive-date=14 April 2015
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414001858/http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/news/every-picture-tells-a-story/
 |url-status=live
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |last=Matthews
 |first=Richard
 |date=May 12, 2015
 |title=How Fabio and Playboy helped invent the internet: The bizarre photos used in research papers revealed
 |url=http://theconversation.com/the-playboy-centrefold-at-the-centre-of-computer-science-41457
 |work=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]]
 |access-date=2017-02-03
 |archive-date=4 February 2017
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204170452/http://theconversation.com/the-playboy-centrefold-at-the-centre-of-computer-science-41457
 |url-status=live
 }}</ref>

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.<ref name=":4">{{cite news
 |first=Maddie
 |last=Zug
 |date=24 April 2015
 |title=A centerfold does not belong in the classroom
 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-playboy-centerfold-does-not-belong-in-tj-classrooms/2015/04/24/76e87fa4-e47a-11e4-81ea-0649268f729e_story.html
 |newspaper=[[Washington Post]]
 |access-date=7 July 2015
 |archive-date=13 May 2019
 |archive-url=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
 |url-status=live
 }}</ref>

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".<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|date=2017|title=On alternatives to Lenna|journal=Journal of Modern Optics|volume=64|issue=12|pages=1119–1120|doi=10.1080/09500340.2016.1270881|bibcode=2017JMOp...64.1119.|doi-access=free}}</ref>

In 2018, the ''[[Nature Nanotechnology]]'' journal announced that they would no longer consider articles using the Lenna image.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|date=2018|title=A note on the Lena image|journal=Nature Nanotechnology |volume=13|issue=12|page=1087|doi=10.1038/s41565-018-0337-2|pmid=30523301|bibcode=2018NatNa..13Q1087.|issn=1748-3395|doi-access=free}}</ref> In the same year [[SPIE]], the publishers of ''[[Optical Engineering (journal)|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".<ref name="Eismann">
{{Cite journal |last=Eismann |first=Michael T. |author-link=Michael Eismann |date=2018 |title=Farewell, Lena |journal=[[Optical Engineering (journal)|Optical Engineering]] |language=en |volume=57 |issue=12 |page=120101 |bibcode=2018OptEn..57l0101E |doi=10.1117/1.OE.57.12.120101 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

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."<ref name=":5">{{cite news |first=Kayla |last=Kibbe |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/How-a-Nude-Playboy-Photo-Became-a-Fixture-14878319.php |title=How a Nude 'Playboy' Photo Became a Fixture in the Tech World |work=Inside Hook |via=San Francisco Chronicle |date=2019-12-03 |access-date=3 November 2021 |archive-date=24 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224184828/https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/How-a-Nude-Playboy-Photo-Became-a-Fixture-14878319.php |url-status=live }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hern |first=Alex |last2= |first2= |date=2024-03-31 |title=Institute bans use of Playboy test image in engineering journals |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/mar/31/tech-publisher-bans-playboy-centrefold-test-image-from-its-journals |access-date=2025-05-10 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Carole Hersee]]
* [[China Girl (filmmaking)]]
* [[Lorem ipsum]]
* [[Shirley cards]]
* [[Stanford bunny]]
* [[Suzanne (3D model)]]
* ''[[Textures: A Photographic Album for Artists and Designers]]''
* [[Utah teapot]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite web|last=Mayer|first=Gregory|title=the waterloo image repository|url=http://links.uwaterloo.ca/Repository.html|year=2009|publisher=[[University of Waterloo|uwaterloo.ca]]|access-date=2013-12-31|archive-date=22 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230722102921/https://links.uwaterloo.ca/Repository.html|url-status=live}}
* {{cite web|url=http://sipi.usc.edu/database/database.php?volume=misc&image=12#top|title=The USC-SIPI Image Database|publisher=[[USC Viterbi School of Engineering|Viterbi School of Engineering]]|date=1981<!-- between 1977 and 1981, check the misc archive -->|quote=cksum misc/4.2.04.tiff 4014024639|access-date=2013-12-31|archive-date=1 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101043745/https://sipi.usc.edu/database/database.php?volume=misc&image=12#top|url-status=live}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last1=Gonzalez |first1=Rafael C.|first2=Richard E. |last2=Woods |title=Digital Image Processing |edition=2nd |isbn=978-0-201-18075-6 |date=2002 |publisher=Prentice Hall }}{{snd}} image used numerous times in chapter 6

== External links ==
* [http://www.ee.cityu.edu.hk/~lmpo/lenna/Lenna97.html Lenna 97: A Complete Story of Lenna]
* [http://www.lenna.org/ The Lenna Story]{{snd}} the original story of Lenna and an un-cropped scan of the original ''Playboy'' photograph

{{Standard test item}}

[[Category:1970s photographs]]
[[Category:1972 in art]]
[[Category:1972 works]]
[[Category:Color photographs]]
[[Category:Image processing]]
[[Category:Playboy]]
[[Category:Test items]]
[[Category:Obscenity controversies in photography]]