A novel hardware-oriented image contrast enhancement algorithm is proposed in this study for intelligent autonomous vehicles. It utilizes a weighted filter and calculates the brightness values of an image based on the adjusted image. The brightness values are processed to either reduce or increase the brightness values of the points. To further improve the quality of an image, the algorithm implements a block-based pixel processing as opposed to a per image frame processing. The brightness values for each block or area in the image are used to improve the contrast of the image. This is accomplished by reducing or increasing the different brightness values of the pixel or lifting point in each block. Simulation results showed that compared with previously proposed algorithms, this work improved on the average discrete entropy by 1% and increased the average color enhancement factor by 8.5%. The proposed novel algorithm was realized using TSMC 0.18 μm CMOS cell process. The VLSI design has a total gate count of 6028 and operates with a frequency of 201 MHz and a power rating of 17.47 mW.