Method for regenerating the background of digital images of a video stream

1. A method of regenerating the background of a digital image of a video stream produced by a fixed camera and including a plurality of time-sequential frames, with each one including a respective unit image, the method comprising:

setting an initial background image in a memory;

cutting the unit images of the video stream into blocks b(i, j, t) of at least one pixel;

cutting the background image into corresponding blocks Bo(i, j, t) having the same size and the same coordinates (i, j) as those of the unit images;

selecting at least one block b(i, j, t), b(i, j, t−a), Bo(i, j, t−a), and Bo(i, j, t); and

calculating the space correlation thereof, wherein the space correlation comprises calculating

1) the space correlation (Corr_spat_mes_b, Corr_spat_mes_b_Bo) between a given block b(i, j, t) of the frame image, at a time (t), and

1a) at least one block Bo(i±x*δi, j±y*δj, t) of the background image close to said block Bo(i, j, t), at a time (t), or

1b) at least one block Bo(i±x*δi, j±y*δj, t−a) of the background image close to said block Bo(i, j, t−a), at another time (t−a), or

2) the space correlation (Corr_spat_mes_Bo, Corr_spat_mes_Bo_b) between a given block Bo(i, j, t) of the background image, at a time (t), and

2a) at least one block Bo(i±x*δi, j±y*δj, t) of the background image close to said block Bo(i, j, t), at a time (t), or

2b) at least one block Bo(i±x*δi, j±y*δj, t−a) of the background image close to said block Bo(i, j, t−a), at another time (t−a), or

2c) at least one block b(i±x*δi, j±y*δj, t) of the frame image close to said block b(i, j, t), at a time (t),

where (i±δi, j±δj) are the coordinates of a block adjacent to a block having the coordinates (i, j) and x and y are integers; and

calculating the time correlation (Corr_temp_mes_b) between a given block b(i, j, t) of an image at a time (t) and the same block b(i, j, t−a) of an image or of several images at a preceding time (t−a); or

calculating the time correlation (Corr_temp_mes_Bo) between a given block Bo(i, j, t) of an image at a time (t) and the same block Bo(i, j, t−a) of an image or of several images at a preceding time (t−a); and

updating the background image according to the space correlation and the time correlation;

wherein the space correlation coupled to a measure of the time correlation is measured (sum 1 ) on at least two frames, where the weight of the space correlation is weighted by a parameter λ depending on time λ(t), so that

Sum1=Corr_temp_mes — b ( i,j,t )+λ( t )*Corr_spat_mes — b — Bo ( i:i±x*δi,j:j±y*δj,t:t );

wherein the space correlation coupled to a measure of the time correlation is measured (sum 2 ) on at least two frames, where the weight of the space correlation is weighted by a parameter λ depending on time λ(t), so that

Sum2=Corr_temp_mes — Bo ( i,j,t )+λ( t )*Corr_spat_mes — Bo ( i:i±x*δi,j:j±y*δj,t−a:t ); and

wherein the value of the block Bo(i, j, t) is updated by selecting the minimum value of both values (Sum 1 , Sum 2 );

in which

δ represents a change,

Corr_spat_mes_b_Bo (i:i±x*δi, j:j±y*δj, t:t) is the sum of the space correlations between block b(i,j,t) at a time (t) and at least one block Bo(i±x*δi, j±δj,t) of the background image at the same time (t),

Corr_spat_mes_Bo (i:i±x*δi, j:j±y*δj, t−a:t) is the sum of the space correlation between block Bo(i, j, t−a) of the background image at a time (t−a) and at least a block Bo(i±x*δi, j±δj, t) of the background image at a time (t), with {x,y}ε{1; 2; . . . ; Δ} 2 .

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the updating of the background image further comprises substituting the block b(i, j, t), b(i, j, t−a), Bo(i, j, t−a) or Bo(i, j, t) for the block Bo(i, j, t) by selecting among these the one having the minimum space correlation.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the space correlation is calculated by measuring the sum of the absolute differences (SAD) between the blocks considered.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the space correlation between a given block (b(i, j, t), Bo(i, j, t)) and a set of blocks (b(i±x*δi, j±y*δj, t), Bo(i±x*δi, j±y*δj, t)), with {x, y}ε{1; 2; . . . ; Δ} 2 is set along specific directions, with the minimum value of the sums of the absolute differences (SAD) along each one of these specific directions being retained as a measure of the space correlation.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein each frame of blocks b(i, j) or background image of blocks (Bo(i, j) is scanned at least in a first and in a second direction, so that a first series of correlation computations is performed in the first direction; and a second series of correlation computations is performed in the second direction.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the size of the blocks b(i, j) or Bo(i, j) in the first direction is different from that of the blocks b(i, j) or Bo(i, j) in the second direction.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

computing the sum of measures of stationarity for the set of the blocks b(i, j, t) of a frame at a time (t);

comparing the sum of the measures of stationarity with a first threshold (T 1 ), and

if the sum is under the first threshold (T 1 ), then taking the frame into account for the space correlation computations.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

comparing the sum of the measures of stationarity with a second threshold (T 2 ); and

if the sum is above the second threshold (T 2 ), then not taking the frame into account for the space correlation computations.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

calculating the speed of convergence of the background image;

comparing the calculated speed with a threshold; and

stopping the scanning of the blocks Bo(i, j) of the background image if the speed is under the threshold.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the space correlation consists in further computing the space correlation (Corr_spat_mes_b, Corr_spat_mes_b_Bo) between a given block b(i, j, t) of the frame image at a time (t) and at least one block b(i±x*δi, j±y*δj, t) of the frame image close to said block b(i, j, t), at a time (t).

11. A system comprising a processor and a machine-readable media including program code instructions operative to cause the processor to execute the steps of the method of claim 1 .