Simple median-based method for stationary background generation using background subtraction algorithms

Abstract

The estimation of the background image from a video sequence is necessary in some applications. Computing the median for each pixel over time is effective, but it fails when the background is visible for less than half of the time. In this paper, we propose a new method leveraging the segmentation performed by a background subtraction algorithm, which reduces the set of color candidates, for each pixel, before the median is applied. Our method is simple and fully generic as any background subtraction algorithm can be used. While recent background subtraction algorithms are excellent in detecting moving objects, our experiments show that the frame difference algorithm is a technique that compare advantageously to more advanced ones. Finally, we present the background images obtained on the SBI dataset, which appear to be almost perfect. The source code of our method can be downloaded at http://www.ulg.ac.be/telecom/research/sbg.