PREVIOUS WORK HAS SHOWN THAT IMAGE ENHANCEMENT CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED BY GREY-LEVEL REGRADING (THE MOST COMMON FORM IS CALLED HISTOGRAM EQUALIZATION). PRESENT NON- SPATIAL IMAGE REGRADING TECHNIQUES ARE IMAGE DEPENDENT. PRESENT SPATIAL TECHNIQUES ARE MORE SUCCESSFUL IN IMAGE INDEPENDENT APPLICATIONS, BUT ARE NOT SUITED TO REAL-TIME APPLICATIONS EXCEPT WITH SPECIALIZED HARDWARE. THIS PAPER PRESENTS A NEW NEAR-REAL-TIME IMAGE INDEPENDENT IMAGE ENHANCEMENT TECHNIQUE USING ADAPTIVE HISTOGRAM REGRADING (AHR). AHR HAS THE HIGH SPEED OF NON-SPATIAL TECHNIQUES AND THE IMAGE INDEPENDENCE OF SPATIAL TECHNIQUES. EQUALIZING BY LOCAL CRITERIA HELPS ELIMINATE THE LOSS OF IMAGE INFORMATION WHICH CAN OCCUR IN CONVENTIONAL METHODS. EXAMPLES ILLUSTRATE THE USE OF THE AHR TECHNIQUE.