Kwang In Kim

Text information extraction in images and video: a survey

Text data present in images and video contain useful information for automatic annotation, indexing, and structuring of images. Extraction of this information involves detection, localization, tracking, extraction, enhancement, and recognition of the text from a given image. However, variations of text due to differences in size, style, orientation, and alignment, as well as low image contrast and complex background make the problem of automatic text extraction extremely challenging. While comprehensive surveys of related problems such as face detection, document analysis, and image & video indexing can be found, the problem of text information extraction is not well surveyed. A large number of techniques have been proposed to address this problem, and the purpose of this paper is to classify and review these algorithms, discuss benchmark data and performance evaluation, and to point out promising directions for future research.

Single-Image Super-Resolution Using Sparse Regression and Natural Image Prior

This paper proposes a framework for single-image super-resolution. The underlying idea is to learn a map from input low-resolution images to target high-resolution images based on example pairs of input and output images. Kernel ridge regression (KRR) is adopted for this purpose. To reduce the time complexity of training and testing for KRR, a sparse solution is found by combining the ideas of kernel matching pursuit and gradient descent. As a regularized solution, KRR leads to a better generalization than simply storing the examples as has been done in existing example-based algorithms and results in much less noisy images. However, this may introduce blurring and ringing artifacts around major edges as sharp changes are penalized severely. A prior model of a generic image class which takes into account the discontinuity property of images is adopted to resolve this problem. Comparison with existing algorithms shows the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Face recognition using kernel principal component analysis

A kernel principal component analysis (PCA) was previously proposed as a nonlinear extension of a PCA. The basic idea is to first map the input space into a feature space via nonlinear mapping and then compute the principal components in that feature space. This article adopts the kernel PCA as a mechanism for extracting facial features. Through adopting a polynomial kernel, the principal components can be computed within the space spanned by high-order correlations of input pixels making up a facial image, thereby producing a good performance.

Texture-based approach for text detection in images using support vector machines and continuously adaptive mean shift algorithm

The current paper presents a novel texture-based method for detecting texts in images. A support vector machine (SVM) is used to analyze the textural properties of texts. No external texture feature extraction module is used, but rather the intensities of the raw pixels that make up the textural pattern are fed directly to the SVM, which works well even in high-dimensional spaces. Next, text regions are identified by applying a continuously adaptive mean shift algorithm (CAMSHIFT) to the results of the texture analysis. The combination of CAMSHIFT and SVMs produces both robust and efficient text detection, as time-consuming texture analyses for less relevant pixels are restricted, leaving only a small part of the input image to be texture-analyzed.

Support vector machines for texture classification

This paper investigates the application of support vector machines (SVMs) in texture classification. Instead of relying on an external feature extractor, the SVM receives the gray-level values of the raw pixels, as SVMs can generalize well even in high-dimensional spaces. Furthermore, it is shown that SVMs can incorporate conventional texture feature extraction methods within their own architecture, while also providing solutions to problems inherent in these methods. One-against-others decomposition is adopted to apply binary SVMs to multitexture classification, plus a neural network is used as an arbitrator to make final classifications from several one-against-others SVM outputs. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of SVMs in texture classification.

Iterative kernel principal component analysis for image modeling

In recent years, kernel principal component analysis (KPCA) has been suggested for various image processing tasks requiring an image model such as, e.g., denoising or compression. The original form of KPCA, however, can be only applied to strongly restricted image classes due to the limited number of training examples that can be processed. We therefore propose a new iterative method for performing KPCA, the kernel Hebbian algorithm, which iteratively estimates the kernel principal components with only linear order memory complexity. In our experiments, we compute models for complex image classes such as faces and natural images which require a large number of training examples. The resulting image models are tested in single-frame super-resolution and denoising applications. The KPCA model is not specifically tailored to these tasks; in fact, the same model can be used in super-resolution with variable input resolution, or denoising with unknown noise characteristics, in spite of this, both super-resolution and denoising performance are comparable to existing methods.

Learning-based approach for license plate recognition

Presents a learning-based approach for the construction of a license-plate recognition system. The system consists of three modules. They are, respectively, the car detection module, the license-plate segmentation module and the recognition module. The car detection module detects a car in a given image sequence obtained from a camera with a simple color-based approach. The segmentation module extracts the license plate in the detected car image using neural networks as filters for analyzing the color and texture properties of the license plate. The recognition module then reads the characters on the detected license plate with a support vector machine (SVM)-based character recognizer. The system has been tested with 1000 video sequences obtained from toll-gates, parking lots, etc., and has shown the following performances on average: car detection rate 100%, segmentation rate 97.5%, and character recognition rate about 97.2%.

Color Texture-Based Object Detection: An Application to License Plate Localization

This paper presents a novel color texture-based method for object detection in images. To demonstrate our technique, a vehicle license plate (LP) localization system is developed. A support vector machine (SVM) is used to analyze the color textural properties of LPs. No external feature extraction module is used, rather the color values of the raw pixels that make up the color textural pattern are fed directly to the SVM, which works well even in high-dimensional spaces. Next, LP regions are identified by applying a continuously adaptive meanshift algorithm (CAMShift) to the results of the color texture analysis. The combination of CAMShift and SVMs produces not only robust and but also efficient LP detection as time-consuming color texture analyses for less relevant pixels are restricted, leaving only a small part of the input image to be analyzed.

Example-Based Learning for Single-Image Super-Resolution

This paper proposes a framework for single-image super-resolution and JPEG artifact removal. The underlying idea is to learn a map from input low-quality images (suitably preprocessed low-resolution or JPEG encoded images) to target high-quality images based on example pairs of input and output images. To retain the complexity of the resulting learning problem at a moderate level, a patch-based approach is taken such that kernel ridge regression (KRR) scans the input image with a small window (patch) and produces a patchvalued output for each output pixel location. These constitute a set of candidate images each of which reflects different local information. An image output is then obtained as a convex combination of candidates for each pixel based on estimated confidences of candidates. To reduce the time complexity of training and testing for KRR, a sparse solution is found by combining the ideas of kernel matching pursuit and gradient descent. As a regularized solution, KRR leads to a better generalization than simply storing the examples as it has been done in existing example-based super-resolution algorithms and results in much less noisy images. However, this may introduce blurring and ringing artifacts around major edges as sharp changes are penalized severely. A prior model of a generic image class which takes into account the discontinuity property of images is adopted to resolve this problem. Comparison with existing super-resolution and JPEG artifact removal methods shows the effectiveness of the proposed method. Furthermore, the proposed method is generic in that it has the potential to be applied to many other image enhancement applications.

Sparse multiscale gaussian process regression

Most existing sparse Gaussian process (g.p.) models seek computational advantages by basing their computations on a set of m basis functions that are the covariance function of the g.p. with one of its two inputs fixed. We generalise this for the case of Gaussian covariance function, by basing our computations on m Gaussian basis functions with arbitrary diagonal covariance matrices (or length scales). For a fixed number of basis functions and any given criteria, this additional flexibility permits approximations no worse and typically better than was previously possible. We perform gradient based optimisation of the marginal likelihood, which costs O(m2n) time where n is the number of data points, and compare the method to various other sparse g.p. methods. Although we focus on g.p. regression, the central idea is applicable to all kernel based algorithms, and we also provide some results for the support vector machine (s.v.m.) and kernel ridge regression (k.r.r.). Our approach outperforms the other methods, particularly for the case of very few basis functions, i. e. a very high sparsity ratio.