SYDE 575Image Processing
- Units
- 0.50
- Faculty
- Engineering
- Subject
- Systems Design Engineering
When it runs
- F24
- W25
- S25
- F25
- W26
- S26
- F26
- W27
- S27
Ran in 3 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.
Beginning with a discussion of quantitative models of imaging systems, this course moves on to apply methods of linear systems theory and signal processing to image processing. Simple spatial domain techniques as well as spatial frequency domain methods, and digital filter design for image enhancement and restoration are discussed. The key methods and problems are surveyed; edge detection, image denoising, image segmentation, image enhancement, image compression, image registration, and feature detection. Applications to machine vision, remote sensing, and medical imaging will be emphasized.
Prerequisites
- Complete all of the following
- Must have completed at least 1 of the following:
- Complete 1 of the following
- Complete all of the following
- Students must be in level 3A or higher
- Enrolled in H-Biomedical Engineering
- Complete all of the following
- Students must be in level 3B or higher
- Enrolled in H-Systems Design Engineering
- Complete all of the following
- Students must be in level 4A or higher
- Enrolled in H-Mechatronics Engineering
- Enrolled in Biomechanics Option, or Mechatronics Option
- Complete all of the following
Antirequisites
None listed.
Leads to
No course lists it as a requisite.
Fall 2026 sections
| Section | Class | Enrolled | Meets |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | 4501 | 49 / 60 | TTh 10:00–11:20 |
| LAB 101 | 4502 | 49 / 60 | Th 11:30–13:20 |
| TUT 201 | 4503 | 49 / 60 | T 09:00–09:50 |
Reviewed on UW Flow
84% liked it13% easy93% useful
From 25 ratings and 8 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.
LOVED this course. Very useful for visualizing/understanding signal processing learned from other courses. Labs were easy. Midterm was very difficult, final was OK. Clausi is a great professor, extremely knowledgeable and passionate about the subject, and wants to help students learn and understand the material. This is one of the best courses I took at UW, but you get out of it what you put into it.
Aug 2025 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
My favourite technical elective! By the end of it, I had a much better intuition of convolution, Fourier analysis, and z-transforms. Definitely more of a classical image analysis course than AI/ML, but I found it incredibly rewarding. Would especially recommend if you like photography, this course gave me a greater appreciation for image editing tools.
Jul 2024 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
Lecture content is very theoretical and math-heavy. Lots of Fourier transform analysis for filter design. The labs mainly involved calling python libraries to implement concepts learned in class so they weren't bad. TAs are super helpful and friendly. Midterm and Final were both very frequency spectrum analysis focused and theoretical and I found them rather hard. But the prof genuinely wanted the best for his students which was really nice to see.
Jan 2024 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
Awesome course, Clausi is very engaging and enthusiastic. The labs are marked very easy but are very useful and its nice to see the concepts in the course being clearly applied to real life. The concepts in the course are simple but the math can get difficult - lots of Fourier transforms. The midterm average was a 55, but the final was a lot easier and combined with the labs made it possible for an average person to get a 75 with a decent amount of effort. definitely not a bird course but not insanely hard either.
Jan 2020 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
Very signals heavy. Most of the assessments involve finding the impulse response and frequency response, and convolution of two signals. The MATLAB labs are very straightforward, and simply use the MATLAB built-in functions. If you do not love signals, be very wary taking this course.
Dec 2018 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
12 posts and comments in 11 threads mention SYDE 575, December 2015 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.
Spring 2024
Course Selection for AI/ML + imaging 7 points, 6 comments
u/jawyau: “… ECE 457A ECE 457B SYDE 522 MSCI/MSE 446 SYDE 575 SYDE 572 ECE 495 CS 488 CS 484 I ideally want a lighter term but I also understand that some of the good courses are difficult so I'm willing to put in the effort if it's really worth it in the long run. …”
Winter 2024
Interesting ML course from Engineering Department from Math Student 7 points, 8 comments
u/Novel_Brain9700: “… ECE 417: Image Processing or SYDE 575: Image Processing 6. ECE 457B: Fundamentals of Computational Intelligence (Winter) 7. ECE 457C: Reinforcement Learning (Spring) 8. ECE 495: Autonomous Vehicle (Winter) 9. …”
u/suiyui: “… reinforcement learning, fuzzy logic) that you typically don't see in undergrad ECE 457C and SYDE 575 are supposedly very difficult I highly recommend SYDE 599 (Special topics in Deep Learning) as it's the best of all worlds in terms of scope and scale. …”
Spring 2022
A GUIDE ON HOW TO PLAN AN OPTION 29 points, 15 comments
u/1000Ditto: “Hey all, here's an example (by yours truly) of how to plan an option. as someone who has been trying to get many options in but having a hard time, might as well write down my process so others can kind of benefit from it. …”
Winter 2022
What is the hardest course you took in waterloo 29 points, 66 comments
u/Loobound: “SYDE 575”
Spring 2021
CS 484 is it worth it? 1 point, 7 comments
“CS 484 Computational Vision I read a couple of posts saying it is teaching stuff focusing mainly on optimization for older computers? I wonder if it is still worth it to take it now? …”
u/jack-was-in-the-box: “It is a pretty decent course with interesting projects, and it gives you a basic idea of fundamental computer vision knowledge, which is the foundation for the state-of-art CV. …”
u/jack-was-in-the-box: “Im in Engineering, so I took equivalent SYDE 575 - image processing. I took CS480 instead for my AI option. I audited CS484. From what I heard from all my friends took it, it is a decent course and ranked 100% for useful on uwflow. …”
Spring 2020
Anyone here take CS 473? 3 points, 8 comments
“I'm a first year student and I'm planning my course selection for my CS degree. I am really into bioinformatics and neuroimaging in specific. …”
u/advmath: “The topics of CS 473 have significant crossover with SYDE 575: Image Processing, which is still offered every fall. It should not be difficult to override into that course as a CS student, as engineering tends to be liberal with overrides. …”
Winter 2019
systems vs softeng 3 points, 3 comments
“currently unsure of what to do. i feel like i'll have a better chance getting into systems but I like programming and designing stuff. Are you able to take software electives in systems? …”
u/jassmall: “Are you interested at all in the design side of the SYDE curriculum (check out the descriptions for SYDE 161, 162, and 361 to get an idea of what that means)? …”
Fall 2018
ECE 417 vs SYDE 372 3 points, 3 comments
“Trying to decide between ECE 417 and SYDE 372 as a TE next semester. Not sure of my interests yet, but interested in both courses. Does one course provide more practical skills than the other?”
u/dennybang4292: “I haven't taken ECE 417 (will take next term), but SYDE 372 was very enjoyable. Although it wasn't easy, the prof (Alex Wong) is truly passionate about the course and I feel like I learned a lot in …”
u/dennybang4292: “… So he is pretty much the best in this area I haven’t taken SYDE 575 (which is the equivalent of ECE 417) but my friends have told me its a bit easier than 372”
Fall 2017
Any way to disable UWCourseLinker from posting? 16 points, 26 comments
“posting a reply to my comment I find the bot annoying.”
u/Jackhofmann: “… SYDE 283 SYDE 286 SYDE 292 SYDE 292L SYDE 401 SYDE 411 SYDE 461 SYDE 533 SYDE 543 SYDE 553 SYDE 575 SYDE 631 SYDE 677 SYDE 682 SYDE 740 SYDE 750 SYDE 770 SYDE 780 TAX 600 TAX 614 TAX 616 TAX 619 TAX 620 TN 700 TOUR 603 TPM 1X000 TS 600 TS 610 TS 637 TS 652 TS 677 TS 678 TS 679 …”
Winter 2016
Any good substitutes to vision courses CS484/473? 3 points, 3 comments
“These two are not offered anymore since all relevant professors have switched their research focus. Any good substitutes?”
u/retsoptidder: “ece 413 - digital signal & image processing syde 372 - introduction to pattern recognition syde 575 - image processing amath 391 - from fourier to wavelets cs 486 - introduction to artificial intelligence stat 441 - statistical learning - classification stat 442 - data …”
Fall 2015
computer vision at waterloo ? 14 points, 9 comments
“so cs 484 is gone and also cs473 will be gone after winter also.. i think it is sad that there will be no computer vision at waterloo. it is so important for creating interesting programs. …”
u/annihilatron: “engineering professors still offer digital image processing courses. You might want to get in touch with some of the professors at the VIP labs and/or look into courses offered by SYDE (iirc) I'm not …”
u/bondj007: “Just an update for those interested, the course code has changed from SYDE 475 to SYDE 575 (no idea why, though). …”
Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026
- Undergraduate Calendar, 2026–27The official entry
- Requirements for Fall 2026Waterloo’s requisite checker
- Schedule of Classes, Fall 2026Instructors, rooms, live seats
- Quest Class SearchWhere you enrol
- Course outlinesSyllabi from past terms (UW login)
- UW FlowStudent ratings and reviews
- WClassesPast sections back to 2004, and who taught them