Statistical region merging

Statistical region merging (SRM) is an algorithm used for image segmentation.[1][2] The algorithm is used to evaluate the values within a regional span and grouped together based on the merging criteria, resulting in a smaller list. Some useful examples are creating a group of generations within a population, or in image processing, grouping a number of neighboring pixels based on their shades that fall within a particular threshold (Qualification Criteria).

For example, with 10 values of x (1.7, 1.8, 1.9, 3.2, 4.9, 5.1, 5.3, 5.6, 9, 10) within a range of 0 < x < 10, there can be a statistical region-merging algorithm that defines a merging criteria that can be applied to merge the given values into a smaller number of values.

For the given values, if the merging criterion is merely a threshold check which states that the distance of the selected values should be within 0.3 range and an average should be applied, then the result of the above values of x will be:

(1.7 + 1.8 + 1.9) / 3 = 5.4 / 3 = 1.8
3.2 = 3.2 / 1 = 3.2
4.9 = 4.9 / 1 = 4.9
(5.1 + 5.2 + 5.3) / 3 = 15.6 / 3 = 5.2
5.6 = 5.6 / 1 = 5.6
9 = 9 / 1 = 9
10 = 10 / 1 = 10

Thus, the resultant set will be 1.8, 3.2, 4.9, 5.2, 5.6, 9, 10. Note the result on SRM varies, based on the order in which the values are evaluated by the algorithm.

A major use of SRM is in image processing where higher number color palettes in an image are converted into lower number palettes by merging the similar colors' palettes together. The merging criteria include allowed color ranges, minimum size of a region, maximum size of a region, allowed number of platelets, etc.

There are several implementations available of SRM for color image segmentation: Java,[3] Matlab,[4] Python,[5] and a demo applet.[3]

SRM has been used in many image applications, like ClickRemoval[6] and Volume Catcher.[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Nielsen, Frank; Nock, Richard (2003). "On region merging: The statistical soundness of fast sorting, with applications". 2003 IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, 2003. Proceedings. Vol. 2. IEEE. pp. II:19–26. doi:10.1109/CVPR.2003.1211447. ISBN 0-7695-1900-8.
  2. ^ Nock, Richard; Frank Nielsen (November 2004). "Statistical Region Merging" (PDF). IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence. 26 (11): 1452–1458. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.1.1930. doi:10.1109/tpami.2004.110. PMID 15521493. S2CID 595377. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  3. ^ a b Nielsen, Frank; Richard Nock (May 2006). "Statistical Region Merging in Java: SRMj". Laboratoire d'Informatique de l'École polytechnique. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  4. ^ Boltz, Sylvain. "Image segmentation using statistical region merging". Matlab Central. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  5. ^ Schwander, Olivier (2012). "Python-SRM — Statistical Region Merging in Python". Laboratoire d'Informatique de l'École polytechnique. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  6. ^ Nielsen, Frank; Richard Nock (November 2005). "ClickRemoval: Interactive Pinpoint Image Object Removal" (PDF). MM'05: 315–318. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  7. ^ Owada, Shigeru; Frank Nielsen; Takeo Igarashi (2005). "Volume catcher". Proceedings of the 2005 symposium on Interactive 3D graphics and games (PDF). pp. 111–116. doi:10.1145/1053427.1053445. ISBN 978-1595930132. S2CID 16040481. Retrieved 19 October 2013.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)