Color image segmentation by pixel classification in an adapted hybrid color space. Application to soccer image analysis

In this paper, we propose an original approach in order to improve the results of color image segmentation by pixel classification. We define a new kind of color space by selecting a set of color components which can belong to any of the different classical color spaces. Such spaces, which have neither psycho-visual nor physical color significance, are named hybrid color spaces. We propose to classify pixels represented in the hybrid color space which is specifically designed to yield the best discrimination between the pixel classes. This space, which is called the adapted hybrid color space, is built by means of a sequential supervised feature selection scheme. This procedure determines the adapted hybrid color space associated with a given family of images. Its dimension is not always equal to three, as for classical color spaces. The effectiveness of our color segmentation method is assessed in the framework of soccer image analysis. The team of each player is indentified by the colors of its soccer suit. The aim of the segmentation procedure is to extract meaningful regions representing the players and to recognize their teams.

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