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An efficient segmentation algorithm for region-based coding is proposed. A new connected operator based on both size and contrast is presented and an efficient region merging algorithm which preserves high quality in terms of the number of regions is proposed. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm achieves a good performance in terms of the image quality and the number of regions.
(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)
Introduction: Recently, many segmentation algorithms using connected operators have been proposed for region-based image coding. Conventional morphology-based segmentation algorithms use connected operators for image simplification, hierarchical watershed algorithms for decisions in unlabelled regions and region merging algorithms for merging over-segmented regions [1 - 4]. In this Letter we propose a new connected operator and an efficient segmentation algorithm using morphological grey-scale reconstruction, which preserves high quality in terms of the number of regions. Each segmentation stage consists of Gaussian noise reduction, simplification, marker extraction and decision making.
New connected operator based on size and contrast: Existing connected operators can be categorised by the selection of a reference image, e.g. size, contrast etc. Conventional operators are efficient at removing small regions. However, size-oriented operators may remove important components that have high contrast values with a small area. Contrast-oriented operators tend to merge two large regions that have low contrast. In this Letter, we propose a scheme for generating a reference image based on both size and contrast. The proposed reference image is originally size-oriented, but high contrast regions are preserved. To remove bright components, eqn. 1 is applied:
... (1)
where I represents the original image, J the reference image, h the contrast value and e n (I) the image eroded by an n ' n structuring element.
Eqn. 1 can also be modified to remove dark components.
When conventional connected operators are applied to the low-contrast regions that monotonically increase/decrease with a...