M.Sc. Theses 2010 – Part 1 - TKK

Graphic Arts in Finland 39(2010)1
M.Sc. Theses 2010 – Part 1
Aalto University, School of Science and Technology, Faculty of Information and Natural Sciences,
Department of Media Technology
P.O.Box 15500, FIN-00076 Aalto, Finland, http://media.tkk.fi
INTRODUCTION
This is a collection of abstracts of M.Sc. theses completed and approved in professorship no. 75
at the Department of Media Technology the first months of 2010. The professor's chair is the
75th professorship established at Helsinki University of Technology since it was founded in
1908. It was created in 1967 to take responsibility of education and research in graphic arts
technology. In 2010 two professors operate under the code of the professorship. Professor Eero
Hyvönen specializes in web technologies and professor Pirkko Oittinen in visual media. The
scope of the theses fot the degree of M.Sc. in engineering which they supervise is yet broader as
is evident from the abstracts.
The abstracts and keywords published below have been extracted from the theses without
editing. Some of the theses are available on-line as pdf's. Links are given when this in the case.
Ahlqvist-Lehkosuo, Liisa, "The Mapping and Development of Processes in a Media
House", M.Sc. Thesis 2010, 55+13 pages (original language: Finnish,
"Mediasuunnittelun prosessien mallintaminen ja kehittäminen").
Abstract
The development of processes can focus on just one work phase or it can cover the whole
process. In any case the mapping of the current process will be the starting point for the
development.
In this Thesis models were developed for the processes and tasks of a media house including
media planning, capacity control, traffic and trailers. Overlapping and unnecessary work
phases were identified and eliminated, the process for the media planning was simplified and
the process to control the advertising campaigns was improved.
The improvement of the process will require an optimization of the work force and other
resources, better defined responsibilities for the processes, a smooth workload for all workers,
constant performance, elimination of errors and a well running system for back-up work
force.
Splitting the whole process into subprocesses and work descriptions started the mapping of
the process. The existing overlaps were removed. Every subprocess was described in the same
format and they were divided into different categories. A complete process map of the current
process was developed.
Bottlenecks in the current processes and forces influencing the needed changes were
identified and proposals were made for further development. As a result of the development
project, a new process map was developed including work flow charts of the subprocesses. A
new organization model was also developed. .
Keywords: process, media planning, control of capacity, trafic
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Graphic Arts in Finland 39(2010)1
Haggrén-Arkoma, Elisa, "Digital Asset Management System Implementation in a
Distance Sales Company", M.Sc. Thesis 2010, 84 pages (original language: Finnish,
"Digitaalisen aineistonhallintajärjestelmän käyttöönotto etämyyntiyrityksessä").
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the effects which could be achieved when
implementing a digital asset management system in a distance sales company, especially the
effects to the processes and the process quality.
In the literature survey processes and process quality are examined. The current situation and
trends of marketing and especially direct marketing and management and lifecycle of digital
assets are studied. Digital asset management systems are introduced: what they are and what
kind of opportunities can arise to a company when implementing a digital asset management
system.
In the empirical part of the thesis the target company’s catalogue production and publishing
processes were investigated. First the employees of the marketing department were
interviewed. Based on these interviews three processes were modeled: catalogue production
process, image process and text process. After implementing the digital asset management
system the same roles were interviewed and the same processes were modeled again.
Conclusions about the impact of the implementation were drawn by comparing the old and the
new process models and the results of the interviews. The results were also compared to the
theory presented in the literature survey.
Implementing a digital asset management system was profitable since remarkable time and
cost savings were achieved in some processes and parts of the processes. The theory and the
practice did meet quite well and the process quality was improved after the implementation.
However, there are also some process parts that should be investigated for further
development.
Keywords: DAM, digital asset management, distance sales, process quality, publishing
processes
Kuhna, Mikko, "Method for Evaluating Tone Mapping Operators for Natural High
Dynamic Range Images", M.Sc. Thesis 2010, 114+39 pages.
Abstract
The thesis focused on the determination of image quality from tone mapped natural high
dynamic range images. The first aim of the study was to define a method for capturing
colorimetric high dynamic range images. The second aim was to estimate the image quality of
tone mapped images with subjective and objective methods.
A total of 55 colorimetric high dynamic range images were photographed, five of which were
selected as test images of the study. Test images were photographed based on guidelines for
good test images. Most importantly, all images contain characteristics, such as objects with
memory colors, to facilitate image quality evaluation without a reference.
Altogether 25 tone mapping methods were selected for evaluation. The used psychometric
method consisted of two stages. In the first stage, the tone mapping methods were reduced to
seven for to be evaluated more profoundly. In the second stage, these seven methods were
evaluated based on image naturalness and visual pleasantness with subjective tests by 28
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Graphic Arts in Finland 39(2010)1
participants. The performance of objective image quality assessment methods was also tested
with the test images.
Computationally simpler global tone mapping methods were found to perform the best,
although image content played a significant role in the results. It was also concluded that
current objective image quality assessment methods are not suited for high dynamic range
images.
Keywords: HDR, HDRI, image quality, dynamic range, camera characterization, tone
mapping, subjective evaluation
Kuittinen, Henna, "Web Solution Concept for Targeted Multichannel Marketing
Communication", M.Sc. Thesis 2010, 104+48 pages (original language: Finnish,
"Verkkopalvelukonsepti kohdennettuun monikanavaiseen markkinointiviestintään").
Abstract
The objective of the study was to identify the future improvements of the current web solution
and to describe the new web solution concept containing these improvements. The current
web solution that is the object of the study is used for designing and sending digitally printed
or emailed direct marketing messages.
In the study the present state of the web solution was first described. Then web solution
improvement needs were identified based on the theory examination and quantitative
questionnaire survey. The study question to be examined was: what kind of is the optimal web
solution to the targeted marketing communication. In the theory part the optimal web solution
features were identified based on the marketing communication trend examination.
Furthermore, features for the optimal web solution were identified based on the questionnaire
survey results. With the questionnaire survey differences of BtoB and BtoC marketers were
also studied. The concept of web solution, which takes the identified properties into
consideration, was described as a final result of the study.
The identified main improvements of the web solution were related to the availability of the
data, customer-oriented marketing, channel selection, management tools and measurements.
The final concept of the web solution contained the following main features: data warehouse,
follow-up, campaign automation, targeting, digital asset management and channels. Data
warehouse was needed to collect and analyze the customer information from multiple data
sources. Follow-up tools were needed to produce customer reports, campaign reports and
reports of the marketing results.
With the campaign automation tools the creation and management of automated campaigns
were made possible and the targeting tools were needed to implement one-to-one and trigger
marketing. The digital asset management added the tools for the centralized storing and
management of materials. To reach real multichannel marketing the channel selection of the
web solution was expanded by adding a mobile marketing and the internet marketing steering
with the printed and emailed direct marketing.
Keywords: marketing communication, direct marketing, web solution, web-to-print, targeting,
multichannel marketing
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Graphic Arts in Finland 39(2010)1
Papula, Ville "Information Quality in Service Production Process", M.Sc. Thesis
2010, 78+25 pages (original language: Finnish, "Informaation laatu
palveluntuotantoprosessissa").
Abstract
During the development of management information systems (MIS), there is a general lack of
attention paid to information quality (IQ). The management information system itself has a
significant impact on the quality of information that maintains the entire production process.
Assessment of IQ is never straightforward and in practice the methods have to be developed
on a case by case basis.
In this master’s thesis the assessment and development of IQ has been approached from the
perspective of a service production process. The study aimed to develop a method of
assessing IQ that could be applied to the case company’s service processes. The thesis was
carried out in parallel to the development project of MIS in the case company. The second
goal and contribution to the MIS development project, was to provide a theoretical basis for
the development of the new MIS and testing of its functionality considering IQ. The point of
the study was to show if the quality of information improved as the result of the development
project or not.The method developed for assessing the IQ was the result of the study of
published literature.
The method itself was based on a subjective test in which the test subjects (case company
employees) assessed the quality of information during the stage of the production process in
which they were involved. More specifically, subjects assessed the quality of information of
given parameters, e.g. completeness, accessibility, relevancy etc. The thesis also developed a
method for locating information quality problem areas in the process. The method is based on
the monitoring of the relative amount of failures in internal transactions of the information
process. The internal transaction means the transfer of a task between two stages of a process.
The transaction is considered a failure if the latter stage of a process cannot perform its task
with the information at hand. Missing information causes the process to move backwards to
get the information needed and the task completed.
The most important result of this thesis was the method for IQ assessment that was based on
the literature study and the successful exploitation of the method in the case study. From the
results of the case study it was concluded that the IQ improved in the service prosesses of the
case company. The case study produced an innovation, which resulted in an improved model
for assessing the quality of information in the service production process. The proposed model
combined the concept of information as a product and quality aspects of information.
Keywords: information quality, IQ, information, quality, service business process,
management information system
Peltola, Taina, "Rationalization of the Workflow in an Order Based Printing
House", M.Sc. Thesis 2010, 66 pages (original language: Finnish, "Tilauskirjapainon
työnkulun tehostaminen").
Abstract
This thesis studied rationalization of the workflow in an order based printing house focusing
especially on the interfaces between sales, production management and production. The
workflow is seen in this case as an order fulfillment process, which includes activities from
receiving the order to delivery of products or services. The objective of workflow
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Graphic Arts in Finland 39(2010)1
rationalization is to discover new, more efficient work habits, to ensure that deliveries are on
time, to clarify the division of responsibilities, and to reduce quality costs.
The present state of the workflow and its improvement needs was estimated based on the
interviews, observations, and group discussions. In this study, soft systems methodology
(SSM) was used as a research method. SSM is a flexible and versatile group of methods to
consistently change, develop, and improve human activity systems.
A new enterprise resource planning system and a decrease in human resources even though
the amount of work has stayed the same, has created major challenges in workflow. The entire
workflow needs more accurate and responsible approach while multiple skills are also needed.
Handling quality issues depend too much on the supervisors of each department, which results
in significant differences between departments.
The majority of the perceived problems only required agreed, mutual procedures, which then
should also be followed. Measuring lead-times of the printing jobs is also recommended. This
Thesis includes instructions on how to measure the effects of the implemented improvements,
using mainly the existing indicators. The suitability of the methodology itself for this Thesis
was also reviewed briefly.
Keywords: development of an order fulfillment process, systems thinking, soft systems
methodology (SSM)
Sulanto, Saara, "Evaluation of a Multifaceted Image Categorization Model", M.Sc.
Thesis 2010, 71+22 pages.
Abstract
The aim of this master’s thesis was to evaluate a multifaceted image categorization model in
practical use. The study focused on how subjects categorized images using the model, what
classes were used, how often, and how consistent was the use of classes between subjects. The
subjects were also asked to provide their view on the model, and what was easy or difficult in
the categorization. The thesis presents methods from earlier image categorization and
indexing research, some of which were used in this study. The results from the previous
research were compared to the applicable parts of this study.
The categorization model was tested with 24 journalism professionals. They were given a task
to categorize 20 images using the existing multifaceted image categorization model. The
essential difference to many earlier studies was that with multifaceted categorization, the
images could be categorized into more than one relevant classes.
The main discovery was that the categorization model is useful in practical situation. It can be
applied to at least portraits, scenery and object images. Image functions were often assigned to
images, as well as themes. Descriptive main classes were used less, and they were considered
difficult. The subjects assigned categories to images rather consistently.
According to the results, the categorization model was improved and applied to a prototype
image retrieval program (Valopöytä). Finally, ten thousand images were categorized and
archived using the improved model.
Keywords: multifaceted image categorization, image categorization models, image retrieval,
image similarity
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Graphic Arts in Finland 39(2010)1
Valkonen, Valtteri, "Performance of No-Reference Quality Metrics for Measuring
Subjective Quality of Mobile Camera Video", M.Sc. Thesis 2010, 98 pages.
Abstract
In this thesis, the performance of different no-reference (NR) quality metrics in context of
natural mobile video was studied. Pre-existing and proposed metrics, based on existing ones,
were used. In order to evaluate the performance of the metrics, a subjective quality space and
dimensions for each of the three natural video contents were formed on the basis of
preexisting and available data. Individual NR metric results were compared to the formed
dimensions that the metric is designed to estimate.
The literature section of the thesis describes the basics of image quality and properties of
different quality metric types. The process of capturing digital video, as well as different
distortions introduced by the process, are explained. Finally, different NR metrics’ properties
and functionalities are explained in more detail.
The experimental part of the thesis envelopes the formation of the subjective quality spaces
and dimensions and the evaluation of the different NR metrics against these dimensions. The
resulting dimensions could be divided into three main categories: spatial, temporal and aural,
and NR metrics were tried out on each. Ultimately, an overall quality model for each content
was constructed by the means of linear regression.
The results showed that the performances of different NR metrics vary and that the video
content has an effect on the results. The Pearson correlations between the metric results and
corresponding subjective quality dimensions varied between zero and 0.98. Many of the used
NR metrics are designed for still images, so they were unable to take into account the effect of
the temporal factors of the video. Lot of the NR metrics were also aimed at estimating some
individual distortion, but other distortion types and inherent scene structures were found to
interfere the metric results. For example, block boundaries may have been interpreted as
sharpness, or detailed textures as noise by different metrics. The overall quality models,
calculated by the means of linear regression, had coefficients of determination ranging from
0.455 to 0.788. The models contained no outliers, partially because of the wide deviation of
the subjective quality data.
Keywords: HDR, HDRI, image quality, dynamic range, camera characterization, tone
mapping, subjective evaluation
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