OPTICAL-FLOW ESTIMATION AND THE INTERACTION BETWEEN MEASUREMENT ERRORS AT ADJACENT PIXEL POSITIONS

In order to estimate both components of optical flow as well as their first spatio-temporal derivatives, it is postulated that the Optical F low Constraint Equation (OFCE) is valid in a spatio-temporal neighborh ood of pixels. So far, it has been tacitly assumed that the partial de rivatives of the gray value distribution-which are required for this a pproach at the pixel positions involved-are independent from each othe r. It is shown how dropping this assumption affects the estimation pro cedure, based on well established approaches of estimation theory. The insight gained thereby is used to develop an approach towards merging image regions based on the compatibility of optical flow estimates ob tained within the regions considered for merger.