Maximum flow method for stereo correspondence
US6046763A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 26, 1997 |
| Grant date | Apr 4, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 26, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N2013/0081
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method for solving the stereo correspondence problem transforms the problem into a maximum-flow problem. Once solved, the minimum-cut associated to the maximum-flow results in a disparity surface for the entire image at once. This global approach to stereo analysis provides a more accurate and coherent depth map than the traditional line-by-line stereo method. Moreover, the optimality of the depth surface is guaranteed and can be shown to be a generalization of the dynamic programming approach that is widely used in standard stereo. Results show improved depth estimation as well as better handling of depth discontinuities. While the worst case running time is O(n.sup.3 d.sup.3), the observed average running time is O(n d.sup.1.4) for an image size of n pixels and depth resolution d.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.