Audio and Video Enhancement in Forensics

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Introduction

Over the past decades, the use of audios and videos as evidence to solving a crime has increased exponentially. Audio and video evidence are used to provide a real-time account of a crime to an investigator to hear or watch was transpired at crime scenes (Maher, 2018). For instance, CCTVs can capture crime in progress and undercover an operation. In any examination procedure, evidence is carefully examined to ensure that it represents the crime scene accurately. For most crimes whereby high-quality audio or video is not available, forensic investigators can enhance the recordings to get finer details of what has occurred using enhancement software programs.

Video Enhancement Techniques

Video enhancement is the process of clarifying images, including CCTV systems, dashcam videos, and mobile phone recordings. Video enhancement includes file authentication, resolution and clarity improvement, image origin analysis, and videogrammetry. Techniques of enhancing a video include sharpening, video stabilization, masking, interlacing, and demultiplexing (Rani & Samson, 2019). Sharpening makes the edges of the images clear and distinct. Video stabilization reduces movement and produces a smooth playback. Masking is used to cover areas that protect the victim or witness for anonymity. Interlacing, on the other hand, is combining two television fields to produce a full-frame video. Demultiplexing technique allows for the separation of cameras to retrieve information.

Is This Realistic? Can Something Far Away Be Zoomed in And Read?

In any forensic analysis, video or image analysis is vital. A video or image can be manipulated through synthetic zooming using varying scale factors. Magnifying the footage or image enhances it and displays a result with a higher resolution. However, zooming into an image can damage the quality of the pixels. An image contains small boxes of color that together for the picture referred to as pixels (Rani & Samson, 2019). When an image is zoomed in, the pixels are expanded, and thus the quality of the image is compromised.

Can Audio Become Crystal Clear?

Audio enhancement improves speech intelligibility and the audibility of low-level sounds. Audio can be enhanced to become clear by removing unwanted hums and static noise using noise reduction software. Audio forensic experts can sometimes apply several filters to get the desired outcome. Audio recording faces the limitation of interfering sounds, noise, and distortion, challenging proper analysis. Fortunately, different sound enhancement techniques are available that bring out detailed aspects in a recorded audio file. An example is the frequency equalization technique which is used to boost or cut frequency bands (Maher, 2018). The compression technique is used to compress faint sounds and make soft audio more apparent. Utilizing these techniques will allow for faint voices to be heard more clearly.

Audio and Video Enhancement Software Programs and Application in A Forensic Setting

Amped Authenticate application is a collection of real-time filters and techniques used by investigators to examine the authenticity of digital images. Forensic investigators use Amped Authenticate software application for all image and video processing needs. Amped Authenticate can reveal the processing history of an image using its powerful tools to determine whether the image is original or has been manipulated (Amped Software, 2021). The software can be used to analyze images and determine the authenticity of the evidence being analyzed.

iZotope RX is a software program that allows for forensic audio enhancement. The software program can eliminate ambient background noise, electrically generated interference, or overload distortion. It has a hum removal module that helps remove low-frequency obstructions; this aid forensic investigators in restoring audio by eliminating noise from the recording. The software takes the raw undercover recording and uncovers the identity of the voices layer by layer to increase intelligibility.

Ocean systems dTective software program is used by a forensic team to enhance videos allowing the investigator to get detailed data from the evidence. The application also offers audio enhancement tools, which are powered by the Avid Technology video engine. The application has tools such as ClearID for photoshops and dTective video enhancement systems, each with specific functionality. The ClearID feature provides forensic analysts with clarification filters to enhance the images. The dTective suite allows for demultiplexing, masking, and enhanced resolutions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, advances in modern technology have led to the use of various digital techniques in the analysis of evidence. Forensic video and audio enhancement is the process of clarifying the digital recordings and images to be used as evidence in a court of law. Investigators leverage the video enhancement techniques available to get a closer look at the presented evidence. Audio enhancement techniques clarify audio recordings using non-destructive techniques to preserve their quality with the goal of removing unwanted noise.

Audio and video enhancement techniques have helped forensic investigators to gain more valuable information, which would have otherwise been impossible. It makes evidence more pleasing to view and clarifies finer details of the video or audio. Video and audio quality enhancement software enables one to improve the resolution and intelligibility of proof. Although technology has made video enhancing easier, it can have challenges if the digital file has undergone manipulation.

References

Amped Software. (2021). Forensic image and video processing. Web.

Maher, R. C. (2018). Introduction to forensic audio analysis: Authenticity, enhancement, and interpretation. Modern Acoustics and Signal Processing, 1–2. Web.

Rani, G. R. R., & Samson, C. (2019). A survey on image enhancement techniques. International Journal of Computational Engineering Research, 9(3).

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