Abstract
This work reviews the watershed in the graph framework of a shortest-path forest problem using a lexicographic path cost formulation. This formulation reflects the behavior of the ordered queue-based watershed algorithm. This algorithm is compared with our proposed shortest-path forest (IFT-Image Foresting Transform), concluding that the watershed is a special case of that. Recently many different watershed approaches are being used. We point out that in some cases the watershed algorithm does not keep the optimality of the shortest-path forest solution unless the IFT algorithm is used. The main difference between the algorithms is related to permanently labeling a pixel when inserting or removing it from the queue. The watershed based on the pixel dissimilarity using IFT can segment one-pixel width regions while keeping the optimality of the shortest-path forest solution.
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© 2002 Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers
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Lotufo, R., Falcao, A. (2002). The Ordered Queue and the Optimality of the Watershed Approaches. In: Goutsias, J., Vincent, L., Bloomberg, D.S. (eds) Mathematical Morphology and its Applications to Image and Signal Processing. Computational Imaging and Vision, vol 18. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47025-X_37
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47025-X_37
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
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