Image analysis – Histogram processing
Patent
1996-02-07
1999-08-03
Coles, Edward L.
Image analysis
Histogram processing
382171, 382173, 382162, 358522, G03F 308
Patent
active
059335246
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a method for the segmentation of digital color images on the basis of color histograms. Interest in color image processing has grown substantially in recent years. This fact reflects the desire to render color useful as an additional source of information and is supported by substantially increased computing power and new knowledge in the field of reflection models (Shafer, S. A. Optical phenomena in computer Vision, Proceedings of the CSCSI-84, Canadian Society for Computational Studies of Intelligence, London, Ontario, Canada, May 1984), (Nayar, S. K., Ikeuchi, K., und Kanada, T. Surface Reflection: Physical and Geometrical Perspectives, PAMI 13,7 (July 1991), 611-634). The so-called color histogram is an important tool which is used in many fields of color image processing. The literature contains descriptions of various applications of color histograms for color image segmentation (Celenk, M. A., Color Clustering Technique for Image Segmentation, Computer Vision, Graphics and Image Processing 52 (1990), 145-170) for color object recognition (Swain, M. J. and Ballard, D. H., Color Indexing. International Journal of Computer Vision 7 (1991), 11-32) and for three-dimensional reconstruction (Sato, Y. and Ikeuchi, K., "Temporal-Color Space Analysis", Carnegie-Mellon-University, Technical Report No. CMU-CS-92-207, November 1992). Only the principal components of the object histograms are investigated in these known works; various important items of information relating to the color histograms such as highlights, but also disturbing influences such as camera noise and overdriving are lost. The known forms of the applications of color histograms for object segmentation are therefore frequently not flexible enough to take account of different reflective properties and lighting conditions in the presence of diverse objects.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to specify a method for the segmentation of digital color images which is more flexible than the known methods, particularly with regard to a correct description of the most varied reflective properties of diverse objects.
This object is achieved according to the invention by means of a method for the segmentation of digital color images with the aid of an electronic data processing system wherein at least one digitized color histogram which describes the characteristic color properties of the at least one imaged object is used for determining whether a pixel of a color image which is to be decomposed into object segments belongs to a specific object segment or not. A check is carried out to determine whether there is assigned to the color value of said pixel a value of the digitized color histogram belonging to this object which indicates the association of said pixel with said specific object segment. In the method according to the invention, colored objects are represented by digitized color histograms, and are used for the segmentation of digital color images. In this case, the binary values of the color histograms correspond to a decision as to whether a pixel can or cannot belong to a given object segment. Model-based parameterizations of these color histograms are preferred for the efficient execution of the segmentation. They permit, in particular, adaptation of the color histograms to temporarily varying lighting conditions with acceptable expense. This embodiment is shown in FIG. 1.
In the method according to the invention for the segmentation of digital color images, at least one digitized color histogram which describes the characteristic color properties of at least one imaged object is used for the purpose of determining whether a pixel of a color image which is to be decomposed into object segments belongs to a specific object segment or not, it being checked whether there is assigned to the color value of this pixel a value of the digitized color histogram belonging to this object which indicates the association of this pixel with this object segment. In a preferr
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Ahmad Subutai
Schuster Rolf
Coles Edward L.
Lee Cheukfan
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
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