Method and apparatus for merging related image segments
First Claim
1. A method of video encoding or decoding including merging segments to form supersegments in an image, wherein said image consists of a plurality of segments that are constituent portions of the image, the method of video encoding or decoding comprising:
- identifying at least one candidate segment(s);
identifying at least one neighboring segment(s) for each candidate segment;
computing an error statistic for each pair, wherein each pair consists of a candidate segment and a corresponding neighboring segment;
determining a neighboring segment that results in a smallest error statistic for a given candidate segment;
determining whether said smallest error statistic is sufficiently small so as to be less than a threshold value so as to merit merging of the corresponding pair of segments; and
merging said corresponding pair of segments to create one supersegment if said smallest error statistic is less than the threshold value, wherein a supersegment is a new segment comprising all pixels formerly contained in one of the two segments that were merged,wherein said error statistic is computed using one or more merging parameters selected from the group consisting of a difference in mean color between the two segments, a difference in color variance between the two segments, a measure of a color gradient along a common boundary between the two segments, a length of the common boundary, a total boundary length of the candidate segment, an area of the candidate segment, and an area of the neighboring segment.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
One embodiment of the invention relates to a method of merging segments to form supersegments in an image. The image consists of a plurality of segments that are constituent portions of the image. At least one candidate segment(s) and at least one neighboring segment(s) for each candidate segment are identified. An error statistic for each pair, consisting of a candidate segment and a corresponding neighboring segment, is computed. A neighboring segment is determined that results in a smallest error statistic for a given candidate segment. A determination is also made as to whether the smallest error statistic is sufficiently small to merit merging of the corresponding pair of segments. The corresponding pair of segments is merged to create one supersegment. The supersegment is a new segment including all pixels formerly contained in one of the two segments that were merged.
27 Citations
15 Claims
-
1. A method of video encoding or decoding including merging segments to form supersegments in an image, wherein said image consists of a plurality of segments that are constituent portions of the image, the method of video encoding or decoding comprising:
-
identifying at least one candidate segment(s); identifying at least one neighboring segment(s) for each candidate segment; computing an error statistic for each pair, wherein each pair consists of a candidate segment and a corresponding neighboring segment; determining a neighboring segment that results in a smallest error statistic for a given candidate segment; determining whether said smallest error statistic is sufficiently small so as to be less than a threshold value so as to merit merging of the corresponding pair of segments; and merging said corresponding pair of segments to create one supersegment if said smallest error statistic is less than the threshold value, wherein a supersegment is a new segment comprising all pixels formerly contained in one of the two segments that were merged, wherein said error statistic is computed using one or more merging parameters selected from the group consisting of a difference in mean color between the two segments, a difference in color variance between the two segments, a measure of a color gradient along a common boundary between the two segments, a length of the common boundary, a total boundary length of the candidate segment, an area of the candidate segment, and an area of the neighboring segment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 4, 6, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
3. A method of video encoding or decoding including merging segments to form supersegments in an image, wherein said image consists of a plurality of segments that are constituent portions of the image, the method of video encoding or decoding comprising:
-
identifying at least one candidate segment(s); identifying at least one neighboring segment(s) for each candidate segment; computing an error statistic for each pair, wherein each pair consists of a candidate segment and a corresponding neighboring segment; determining a neighboring segment that results in a smallest error statistic for a given candidate segment; determining whether said smallest error statistic is sufficiently small so as to be less than a threshold value so as to merit merging of the corresponding pair of segments; and merging said corresponding pair of segments to create one supersegment if said smallest error statistic is less than the threshold value, wherein a supersegment is a new segment comprising all pixels formerly contained in one of the two segments that were merged, wherein the error statistic for a pair consisting of a candidate segment and a neighboring segment is set above the threshold value if the area of the neighboring segment is smaller than the area of the candidate segment.
-
-
5. A method of merging segments to form supersegments in an image, wherein said image consists of a plurality of segments that are constituent portions of the image, the method comprising:
-
identifying at least one candidate segment(s); identifying at least one neighboring segment(s) for each candidate segment; computing an error statistic for each pair, wherein each pair consists of a candidate segment and a corresponding neighboring segment; determining a neighboring segment that results in a smallest error statistic for a given candidate segment; determining whether said smallest error statistic is sufficiently small to merit merging of the corresponding pair of segments; merging said corresponding pair of segments to create one supersegment if said smallest error statistic is sufficiently small to merit said merging, wherein a supersegment is a new segment comprising all pixels formerly contained in one of the two segments that were merged; and using a tiebreak criterion in the case when more than one neighboring segment is sufficiently close to the minimum error statistic, said tiebreak criterion selecting the one of said neighboring segments that has smallest area.
-
-
7. A method of video encoding or decoding including merging segments to form supersegments in an image, wherein said image consists of a plurality of segments that are constituent portions of the image, the method of video encoding or decoding comprising:
-
identifying at least one candidate segment(s); identifying at least one neighboring segment(s) for each candidate segment; computing an error statistic for each pair, wherein each pair consists of a candidate segment and a corresponding neighboring segment; determining a neighboring segment that results in a smallest error statistic for a given candidate segment; determining whether said smallest error statistic is sufficiently small so as to be less than a threshold value so as to merit merging of the corresponding pair of segments; and merging said corresponding pair of segments to create one supersegment if said smallest error statistic is less than the threshold value, wherein a supersegment is a new segment comprising all pixels formerly contained in one of the two segments that were merged, wherein the error statistic E for a pair of segments is computed according to the formula E=Δ
c·
Δ
G, wherein Δ
G is a measure of the gradient along the boundary between the segments and Δ
c is a measure of the difference in mean color and color variance between the segments. - View Dependent Claims (8)
-
-
12. A method of merging segments to form supersegments in an image, wherein said image consists of a plurality of segments that are constituent portions of the image, the method comprising:
-
identifying at least one candidate segment(s); identifying at least one neighboring segment(s) for each candidate segment; computing an error statistic for each pair, wherein each pair consists of a candidate segment and a corresponding neighboring segment; determining a neighboring segment that results in a smallest error statistic for a given candidate segment; determining whether said smallest error statistic is sufficiently small to merit merging of the corresponding pair of segments; and merging said corresponding pair of segments to create one supersegment if said smallest error statistic is sufficiently small to merit said merging, wherein a supersegment is a new segment comprising all pixels formerly contained in one of the two segments that were merged, wherein said error statistic is calculated using only the pixels in the neighboring segment which lie within an extended bounded box around the candidate segment.
-
-
13. An apparatus for video encoding or decoding including means for merging segments to form supersegments in an image, wherein said image consists of a plurality of segments that are constituent portions of the image, the apparatus comprising:
- means to identify at least one candidate segment(s);
means to identify at least one neighboring segment(s) for each candidate segment;
means to compute an error statistic for each pair, wherein each pair consists of a candidate segment and a corresponding neighboring segment;
means to determine a neighboring segment that results in a smallest error statistic for a given candidate segment;
means to determine whether said smallest error statistic is sufficiently small to merit merging of the corresponding pair of segments; and
means to merge said corresponding pair of segments to create one supersegment if said smallest error statistic is sufficiently small to merit said merging, wherein a supersegment is a new segment comprising all pixels formerly contained in one of the two segments that were merged, and wherein said error statistic is computed using one or more merging parameters selected from the group consisting of a difference in mean color between the two segments, a difference in color variance between the two segments, a measure of a color gradient along a common boundary between the two segments, a length of the common boundary, a total length of a boundary of the candidate segment, an area of the candidate segment, and an area of the neighboring segment. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
- means to identify at least one candidate segment(s);
Specification