A new segment-based algorithm for stereo matching

A new segment-based algorithm for stereo matching is put forward in this paper. Firstly, the reference image is segmented by mean shift algorithm and an adaptive window matching method using histogram of orientation gradient is presented. Secondly, a set of reliable pixels is constructed by comparing the matching cost and the mutual checking consistent between the left-right initial disparity maps, which can lead to an actual disparity plane. Thirdly, the improved hierarchical clustering algorithm is applied to merge the neighboring segment regions. Angle and distance are used together to measure whether the two planes are the same or not, which will reduce the calculation complexity. Finally, we derive the plane set in each region and the final disparity map is produced. Experiments verify the advantages.