Image segmentation using a unified Markov random field model.

Markov random field model (MRF) has attracted great attention in the field of image segmentation. Its basic unit can be pixels or regions. These pixel‐based or region‐based MRF models have their own advantages and disadvantages. In order to complement advantages of each other, a unified Markov random field (UMRF) model is proposed in this paper. The strength of the UMRF model lies in two aspects. First, the proposed model combines the benefits of the pixel‐based and the region‐based MRF models by decomposing the likelihood function into the product of the pixel likelihood function and the regional likelihood function. It can make the UMRF model take both pixel information and regional information into account. Second, a new regional feature is designed for the UMRF model to describe macro texture patterns. A principled probabilistic inference is developed to integrate different types of likelihood information and the spatial constraint by iteratively updating the posterior probability of the proposed model. Segmentation results can be achieved when iteration converges. Texture, remote sensing and nature images are employed to test the effectiveness of the proposed model. Experimental results illustrate that our model can achieve higher segmentation accuracy than either the pixel‐based or region‐based MRF models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]