Abstract: A method for improving endoscope images of, in part, fluorescent tissue regions which are illuminated with background light, which images are recorded by a color video camera wherein the color pixels from the endoscope images are transformed from the color space of the video camera (3) into a color space in which a straight line which passes through the color space region of the fluorescent light and the color space region of the background light runs parallel to a coordinate axis describing the fluorescent component of the pixels, and in that, in this color space, the fluorescent component of the pixels is changed by a non-linear characteristic which at least in regions increases the fluorescent contrast, namely the difference between higher fluorescent values and lower fluorescent values, and in that, finally, the pixels are transformed into a color space suitable for imaging.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method improving the images in an image processing unit (5) receiving images from an electronic color video camera (3) of a medical endoscope (1) and then transmitting them to an image display unit (7), and to an endoscope operating on the basis of the said method, where first the pixels of the color components (RGB) are individually mapped into a color space (HSL) wherein the color saturation (S) is independent of the other components (H, L), thereupon the saturation component (S) of each pixel to be mapped is converted by means of a nonlinear mapping function (11) which amplifies the color saturation differential between an upper zone (b->1) and a lower zone (0-b) of the color saturation, lastly the pixels being remapped into an (RGB) color space suitable for image display.