Texture-based approach for text detection in images using support vector machines and continuously adaptive mean shift algorithm

Abstract

The current paper presents a novel texture-based method for detecting texts in images. A support vector machine (SVM) is used to analyze the textural properties of texts. No external texture feature extraction module is used; rather, the intensities of the raw pixels that make up the textural pattern are fed directly to the SVM, which works well even in high-dimensional spaces. Next, text regions are identified by applying a continuously adaptive mean shift algorithm (CAMSHIFT) to the results of the texture analysis. The combination of CAMSHIFT and SVMs produces both robust and efficient text detection, as time-consuming texture analyses for less relevant pixels are restricted, leaving only a small part of the input image to be texture-analyzed.