On the accuracy of edge detectors in number plate extraction

Abstract

Edge detection as a pre-processing stage is a fundamental and important aspect of the number plate extraction system. This is due to the fact that the identification of a particular vehicle is achievable using the number plate because each number plate is unique to a vehicle. As such, the characters of a number plate system that differ in lines and shapes can be extracted using the principle of edge detection. This paper presents a method of number plate extraction using edge detection technique. Edges in number plates are identified with changes in the intensity of pixel values. Therefore, these edges are identified using a single based pixel or collection of pixel-based approach. The efficiency of these approaches of edge detection algorithms in number plate extraction in both noisy and clean environment are experimented. Experimental results are achieved in MATLAB 2017b using the Pratt Figure of Merit (PFOM) as a performance metric.