A note on Lena

The issues surrounding banning the use of the standard Lena image are discussed. The original Lena image was a photograph of a Swedish woman named Lena Sjooblom, which appeared in the November, 1972 issue of Playboy Magazine. The image was later digitized and became one of many possible standard images used by the image processing (IP) research community. Some members of the IP community are unhappy with the source of the Lena image. Their argument states that engineers should not use material from any publication that can be seen as being degrading to women. The author suggests that the IP authorship be more sensitive to the feelings of those who are offended by the Lena image. In cases where another image will serve your purpose equally well, why not use that other image?