Color edge detection using vector order statistics

A method is proposed whereby a color image is treated as a vector field and the edge information carried directly by the vectors is exploited. A class of color edge detectors is defined as the minimum over the magnitudes of linear combinations of the sorted vector samples. From this class, a specific edge detector is obtained and its performance characteristics studied. Results of a quantitative evaluation and comparison to other color edge detectors, using Pratt's (1991) figure of merit and an artificially generated test image, are presented. Edge detection results obtained for real color images demonstrate the efficiency of the detector.