Reliability analysis of the rank transform for stereo matching.

The rank transform is a nonparametric technique which has been recently proposed for the stereo matching problem. The motivation behind its application to this problem is its invariance to certain types of image distortion and noise, as well as its amenability to real-time implementation. This paper derives one constraint which must be satisfied for a correct match. This has been termed the rank constraint. Experimental work has shown that this constraint is capable of resolving ambiguous matches, thereby improving matching reliability. A novel matching algorithm incorporating the rank constraint has also been proposed. This modified algorithm consistently resulted in an increased percentage of correct matches, for all test imagery used. Furthermore, the rank constraint has been used to devise a method of identifying regions of an image where the rank transform, and hence matching outcome, is more susceptible to noise. Experimental results have shown that the errors predicted using this technique are consistent with the actual errors which result when images are corrupted with noise. Such a method could be used to identify matches which are likely to be incorrect and/or provide a measure of confidence in a match.