yep, I'm currently taking a systems/signals course and it was incredibly illuminating how a lot of common image and sound filters -- edge detection, low and high pass filtering, equalization, etc -- boil down to the convolution of the signal with the impulse response of the filter.
Thanks for the pointers! I'm very much a noob, this is really the first formal class I've taken on the topic. Are there any books, papers, or websites that stand out as particularly useful for grasping these topics?
I've found most elucidation come out of labs and practical work.
I learned a lot about FIR filters by trying to do room audio correction on my own. That was where the latency tradeoff made itself apparent to me in a very obvious way.
Reading it in a textbook is one thing, seeing/hearing live signals pass through your own filters is another. I think audio lends itself better to experimentation. You can actually construct passive filters and validate your assumptions with live equipment and not spend a dime. You likely already have all of the required gear in your office, short of some spare inductors, capacitors, etc.
Image DSP work can be done entirely on a MacBook on an airplane, but I have personally found the added dimensionality to be less intuitive than with a time-domain signal.
