Comparing Images Using Color Coherence Vectors

Color histograms are used to compare images in many applications. Their advantages are efficiency, and insensitivity to small changes in camera viewpoint. However, color histograms lack spatial information, so images with very different appearances can have similar histograms. For example, a picture of fall foliage might contain a large number of scattered red pixels; this could have a similar color histogram to a picture with a single large red object. We describe a histogram-based method for comparing images that incorporates spatial information. We classify each pixel in a given color bucket as either coherent or incoherent, based on whether or not it is part of a large similarly-colored region. A color coherence vector (CCV) stores the number of coherent versus incoherent pixels with each color. By separating coherent pixels from incoherent pixels, CCV's provide finer distinctions than color histograms. CCV's can be computed at over 5 images per second on a standard work...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1996
• Where: MM
• Authors: Greg Pass, Ramin Zabih, Justin Miller
• Keywords: Color Histograms, Image, Incoherent Pixels, MM 1996, Multimedia