A Review on Image Processing and Image Segmentation.
Jiss Kuruvilla Dhanya Sukumaran Anjali Sankar
Assistant Professor, Assistant Professor,
Dept. of Computer Applications, Dept. of Computer Applications, Dept. of Computer Applications, Dept. of Computer Applications,
Sree Narayana Gurukulam Sree Narayana Gurukulam
College of Engineering College of Engineering
Kadayiruppu, Kerala,India Kadayiruppu, Kerala,India
jiss.kuruvilla@gmail.com dhanyasukumaran@hotmail.com
Abstract—A methodological study on significance of image
processing and its applications in the field of computer
vision is carried out here. During an image processing
operation the input given is an image and its output is an
enhanced high quality image as per the techniques used .
Image processing usually referred as digital image
processing, but optical and analog image processing also are
possible. Our study provides a solid introduction to image
processing along with segmentation techniques, computer
vision fundamentals and its applied applications that will be
of worth to the image processing and computer vision
research communities.
Keywords- Image restoration; Image segmentation; Face
Detection; Character Recognition; Signature Verification;
Biometrics; Automatic Target Recognition; Fuzzy C-Mean.
I. INTRODUCTION
In digital image processing, computer algorithms are
used to perform image processing. Digital image
processing has several advantages over the analog image
processing. It provides a large number of algorithms to be
used with the input data. In digital image processing we
can avoid some processing problems such as noise
creation and signal distortion at some point in signal
processing. In 2000s, fast computers became available for
signal processing and digital image processing has
become the popular form of image processing. For the
reason that, signal image processing became versatile
method, and also cheapest [1].
Image processing using analog techniques can be used
for the hard copies like printouts and photographs. Image
analysts use a range of fundamentals of interpretation
while using these visual techniques. The image processing
is not just restricted to area that has to be studied but on
knowledge of analyst. Association is another important
tool in image processing through visual techniques. So
analysts apply a mixture of personal knowledge and
collateral data to image processing.
Image processing is very strongly related to computer
vision and computer graphics. The goals of image
processing can be divided into five groups:
1. Hallucination (monitor the objects that are not
visible.)
2. Image restoration and sharpening (for creating
better image.)
Siji P Joy
Assistant Professor, Assistant Professor,
Sree Narayana Gurukulam Nirmala College Muvattupuzha,
College of Engineering Kerala,India
Kadayiruppu, Kerala,India sijiadarsh11@gmail.com
anjoos007@gmail.com
3. Image repossession (search for the image of
interest.)
4. Measurement of pattern (measures a range of
objects in an image.)
5. Image acknowledgment (differentiate the objects in
an image)[11]
II. RELATED WORK
The evils of digital image segmentation represent
great challenges for computer vision. The extensive
range of the problems of computer vision may make
good use of image segmentation. Many researchers
had created several methods to deal with the problem
of image segmentation. Zimmer et al. [12] created a
method to detect the mobility of live cells using the
active contour (snakes) method. Mukherjee et al. [14]
modified a method to handle the tracking problem
using threshold method. Coskun et al. [13] used the
inverse modelling to detect the mobility of living
cells. Recently there have been a number of
researchers has tried to create several image
segmentation algorithms as in (Krinidis et al.,
Mélange, et al., Mignotte et al.). In this paper we
managed to review and summarize the major
techniques for digital image segmentation.
III. IMAGE PROCESSING & ITS APPLICATIONS
A. Image Enhancement
Image enhancement changes the visual impact that the
image has on the interpreter in a way that improves the
information content. It sharpens image features such as
edges, boundaries, or contrast in order to make a graphic
display more helpful for display and analysis. Image
enhancement techniques are applied where subjective
excellence of images is important for individual
interpretation. Many algorithms for accomplishing
contrast enhancement have been developed and applied to
problems in image processing.
a. Contrast enhancement
b. Intensity, hue, and saturation transformations
c. Density slicing
d. Edge enhancement
e. Making digital mosaics
f. Producing synthetic stereo images
 g. Noise removal using a Wiener filter accuracy for the majority fonts are now usual. Some
h. Linear contrast adjustment marketable methods are capable of duplicating formatted
i. Median filtering output that very much look like the original scanned pane
j. Unsharp mask filtering. including columns, images and other non-textual
components [6].
B. Image Restoration
Image Restoration takes a corrupt/noisy image and
estimates the clean, original image. Corruption may come
in many forms such as motion blur, noise and camera
mis-focus. The purpose of image restoration is to restore
images that have been degraded . It is similar to image
enhancement, but more objective. In cases where the
image is corrupted by noise, the best we may hope to do
is to compensate for the degradation it caused. Image
restoration is different from image enhancement. Image
enhancement is designed to give emphasis to features of
the image that make the image more pleasant to the
observer, but does not necessarily generate realistic data
from a scientific point of view. Image Enhancement
methods like stretching contrast, de-blurring by a nearest
neighbor process supplied by imaging packages do not
use priori model of the method that created the image.[3]
Figure- 1: Flowchart of OCR [11]
C. Image Compression
Image compression is an application of data F. Signature Verification
compression that helps to decrease irrelevance and A handwritten signature is one of the most employed
idleness of the image data in order to be able to store data form of secure personal authentication. Signature
in incompetent form[ 11]. The aim of image compression verification can be performed in two ways: offline
is to reduce the redundancy of the image and to store data signature verification and on-line signature verification.
in an efficient form. Image compression can be lossy or Offline systems use the scanned image of a signature.
lossless. Lossless compression is preferential for archival And the online systems use the samples that are captured
reasons and frequently for medical image processing, at the time the signature is made. Generally, the offline
technical drawings etc. signature verification system is composed of three stages:
a) Preprocessing : In this step ,a range of operations
D. Face Detection are applied to the signature image to improve the quality
Face recognition system is the most accurate among of the signature and this quality image increases the
the whole types of biometric. The final goal of researchers accuracy of the feature extraction and verification.
in this part is to enable computers to try to be like the b) Feature extraction : This process identifies and
human vision system. To attain this objective,” Strong differentiates an individual signature by applying various
and coordinated effort between the computer vision, types of features such as global features, geometric
signal processing, and psychophysics and neurosciences features and texture features.
communities is needed”[ 7] c) Verification: The incoming image signature
features are compared with genuine signature features
E. Character Recognition based on some pattern classification techniques and
Character recognition enhances the processing of makes a final decision for verification as genuine or
scanned images by allowing us to automatically identify forged signature.
and take out text content from different data fields. For
example, when we scan a form and use document imaging
software to process it, OCR allows us to transfer
information directly from the document to an electronic
database. Optical Character Recognition(OCR) is the
electronic alteration of scanned or photo images of
typewritten or printed text into computer-readable text. It
is a technique of digitizing printed manuscripts such that
they can be by electronic means edited, searched, text-to-
speech, key data extraction and text mining. Early
versions performed this automation with images of every Figure 2. General overview of Static signature verification
character. But it could function, only one font at a time. system [8]
"Intelligent" structures with a great degree of gratitude
Some of the static signature verification methods are a) Feature Extractor
Template matching techniques, Hidden Markov Models Feature extraction is the core of fingerprint
(HMMs), Support Vector Machines (SVMs), etc. technology. The captured image is enhanced and noise
is removed by using noise reduction algorithm which
G. Biometrics processes the image and determines minutiae.
Biometrics refers to metrics related to the
characteristics of human beings, such as fingerprints,
hand geometry, signatures ,retina and iris patterns, voice
waves, DNA etc.
New and emerging biometric techniques are:
1. Human scent recognition
2. EEG biometrics
3. Skin spectroscopy
4. Knuckles texture
5. Finger nail recognition [15]
Figure- 4: Example of image enhancement.
TABLE I. COMPARISON OF BIOMETRIC TECHNIQUES [15]
Most frequently used minutiae in applications
Biometrics Accuracy Cost Size of Long term Security •Points of bifurcation
template stability level •Ridge endings
Facial Low High Large Low Low
Recognition

Iris Scan High High Small Medium Medium

Finger Print Medium Low Small Low Low

Finger Vein High Medium Medium High High

Voice Low Medium Small Low Low Figure- 5: Two commonly used fingerprint features
Recognition
Here minutiae Coordinate and Angle are calculated. Core
Lip Medium Medium Small Medium High is used as center of reference (0, 0).
Recognition

Fingerprint recognition is one of the most popular

biometric techniques used in automatic personal
identification and verification. Every individual has
unique fingerprints. Most fingerprint matching systems
are based on four types of fingerprint representation
schemes: gray scale image, phase image, skeleton image,
and minutiae. Due to its distinctiveness, compactness, and
compatibility with features used by human fingerprint
experts, minutiae-based representation has become the
most widely adopted fingerprint representation
scheme[16].
Figure- 6: Components of a minutiae feature
1) Advanced Minutiae Based Algorithm
b) Matcher
The fingerprint images are matched to those in the
database for either identification (one-to-many matching)
or verification (one-to-one matching).

Figure- 3: Advanced Minutiae Based Algorithm.


Figure- 7: Finger print matching[9].
H. Automatic Target Recognition
The main objective of the Automatic Target
Detection/Recognition (ATDR) is to detect, classify and
track the target objects embedded in an image produced
by laser radar, synthetic-aperture radar (SAR), or an
infrared or video camera. The first steps in the ATDR
process is to convert the signal from the sensor into a
digital image for further processing and then separate the
target from its background or surrounding area by
extracting a coarse shape or outline of the target object.
Finally, identify the object by matching the features
describing the target object [4]. Segmentation is one of
the main steps in image analysis for Detection,
recognition and identification of objects. Several
techniques and algorithms have been developed for image
segmentation process like Edge Detection Methods,
Region Splitting and Region Growing Methods,
Clustering Methods. Many algorithms and techniques are
utilized in ATR process, but no satisfactory single
approach has yet been found. We can make a high
performance ATR system by blending several approaches
together.
I. Image Traffic Monitoring
The primary job of traffic monitoring is acquisition of
traffic data and detection of incident. The application of
image processing methods for the vehicle detection is
that, from the series of video images the acquisition of
traffic data and detection of traffic incident is achieved.
The most practical application is vehicle tracking. Traffic
analysis then leads to reports of speed violations, traffic
congestions, accidents, or against the law actions of road
users. Several scientists and researchers suggested a
variety of approaches to these tasks.
IV. IMAGE SEGMENTATION
The process of partitioning an image into component
regions or objects, so as to change the representation of an
image into something that is more easier to analyze in
order to get more information in the region of interest in
an image which helps in annotation of the object scene is
referred to as image segmentation. Image segmentation is
needed in order to identify the content of the image
carefully. In this context, edge detection is a fundamental
tool for image segmentation. Several general-purpose
algorithms and techniques have been developed for image
segmentation.
Even though different segmentation techniques are at
hand, every method is not equally appropriate for a
particular type of image. Thus the algorithm suitable for
one class of image may not be suitable for another class
of images. Consequently, there is no unanimously
supported method for image segmentation for all
categories of images and as a result it remains a challenge
in image processing and computer vision[5].
Segmentation can be classified as follows:
•Region Based
•Edge Based
•Threshold
•Feature Based Clustering
A. Region Based
Region is a group of connected pixels having similar
properties. Region based segmentation is a process of
partitioning an image into region. Regions are used to
interpret images. A region may correspond to particular
object or different parts of an object. Region-based
techniques are generally better in noisy images (where
borders are difficult to detect). Fair accuracy levels are
offered in region based methods.
B. Edge Based
Image segmentation algorithms generally are based on
discontinuous intensity values and similar intensity
values. In case of discontinuous intensity values, the
approach is to partition the image based on abrupt
changes in intensity, such as edges in an image.
Segmentation based on Edge Detection refers to the
boundaries where there is an abrupt change in the
intensity or brightness value of the image. Edge detection
is the problem of primary value in image analysis. The
obtained boundary marks the edges of the desired object.
Hence by the detection of its edges, the object can be
segmented from the image. The output that is received by
applying edge detection algorithm is a binary image. Edge
based methods are interactive in nature . There are three
fundamental steps in edge detection
o Filtering & Enhancement :In order to facilitate the
detection of edges, it is essential to repress as much noise
as possible and determine changes in intensity in the
neighborhood of a point, without destroying the true
edges.
o Detection of edge points: determine which edge
pixels should be discarded as noise and which should be
retained (usually, thresholding provides the criterion used
for detection).
o Edge localization: Not all of the points in an image
are edges for a particular application. Edge localization
determine the exact location of an edge. Edge thinning
and linking are usually required in this step.[5]
 C. Threshold
Image segmentation by thresholding is a simple and
powerful technique for segmenting images having light
objects on shady background. Thresholding operation
converts a multi level image into a binary image by
choosing an appropriate threshold T and divide image
pixels into several regions and separate objects from
background. The separation of the objects from the
background is generally done by selecting a value T.
Depending on the thresholding value there are two
techniques . Local thresholding and global thresholding
[10]. When T is constant, the approach is called global
thresholding otherwise it is called local thresholding. If
the background illumination is uneven then the global
thresholding method become failed. But these uneven
illuminations are compensated in local thresholding
method by using multiple thresholds.
If the intensity of any pixel (x,y) is greater than or
equal to the threshold value, then it is considered as a part
of the object otherwise it belongs to background.
Resistance to noise is less when we adopt this method.
D. Feature Based Clustering
Clustering is the process of grouping together of
objects based on some similar properties so that each
cluster contains similar objects which are dissimilar to the
objects of other clusters. Clustering is a process which can
be performed by different algorithms using different
methods for computing or finding the cluster. The quality
of the good clustering methods produces high intra-cluster
and low inter-cluster similarities. A general approach to
image clustering involves addressing the following issues:
1. How to represent the image.
2. How to organize the data.
3. How to classify an image to a certain cluster.
The Clustering methods are classified into K mean
clustering, Fuzzy C- Means[FCM] Algorithm etc. K-
means is one of the fast, robust, simplest unsupervised
learning algorithms that solve the well known clustering
problem. The method is to classify the given data set
through a certain number of k clusters that are fixed a
priori. K-means clustering algorithms gives optimal result
when data set are dissimilar.
Fuzzy Clustering is a method which allow the objects
to belong to more than one cluster with different
membership. This is the one of the effective method for
pattern recognition. Most commonly used fuzzy
clustering algorithms is the Fuzzy C-Mean[17]. By using
FCM we can retain information of the data set. In FCM,
the data point is assigned membership to each cluster
center as a result of which data point may belong to more
than one cluster center.
TABLE II. IMAGE SEGMENTATION METHODS:
A COMPARATIVE STUDY
V. CONCLUSION
We have presented a systematic study of image
processing and its applications in this paper. We tried to
present the bedrock of image processing and
segmentation techniques. We have discussed the basics of
image processing such as image, image-analysis and
understanding, image-transforms, compression
techniques, optical character recognition (OCR) and its
applications. The segmentation method can be divided
into different type based on the constraint selected for
segmentation like pixel intensity, homogeneity,
discontinuity, cluster data, topology etc. Each approach
has pros and cons. The outcome obtained using one
segmentation approach may not be the same as compared
with other approach.
In spite of several decades of research, there is no
universally accepted image segmentation algorithm since
image segmentation is affected by lots of factors such as
type of image, color, intensity, level of noise, etc. Thus
there is no single algorithm that is applicable on all types
of images and nature of problem. Due to all above factors,
image segmentation still remains a big pending problem
in the areas of image processing.Methods that are specific
to particular applications often achieve better performance
and the selection of proper approach to a segmentation
problem can be a difficult problem. A single approach to
segment all variety of images may be practically
unfeasible. The previous knowledge on the image can
give better results and gives user the choice to choose
appropriate method to segment the image.
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