Color image segmentation using clustering based on mathematical morphology

수학적 형태학에 기반한 클러스터링을 이용한 칼라영상의 영역화

In this paper, we propose a novel color image segmentation algorithm based on clustering in 3-dimensional color space employing the mathematical morphology. More specifically, since we take into account the topological properties such as the shape, connectivity and distribution of clusters in the clustering process, the number of clusters in the color cube, as well as their centers, can be easily obtained, without a priori knowledge on the input images. Intensive computer simulation has been performed and the results are discussed in this paper. The resutls of the simulation on the images in various color coordinates show that the segmentation is independent of the choice of color coordinates and the shape of clustes. Segmentation results of the vector quantizer are also presented for the comparison purpose.