Segmentation evaluation and comparison: a study of various algorithms

An objective and quantitative study of several representative segmentation algorithms is presented. In this study, the measurement accuracy of object features from the segmented images is taken to judge the quality of segmentation results and to assess the performance of applied algorithms. Moreover, some synthetic images are specially generated and used in test experiments. This evaluation and comparison study reveals the behavior of those algorithms within various situations, provides their performance ranking under real-like conditions, gives some limits and/or constraints for employing those algorithms in different applications, as well as indicates several potential directions for improving their performance and initiating new developments. Since the investigated algorithms are selected from different technique groups, this study also shows that the presented approach would be valid and effective for treating a wide range of segmentation algorithms.