Accurate subpixel edge location based on partial area effect

The estimation of edge features, such as subpixel position, orientation, curvature and change in intensity at both sides of the edge, from the computation of the gradient vector in each pixel is usually inexact, even in ideal images. In this paper, we present a new edge detector based on an edge and acquisition model derived from the partial area effect, which does not assume continuity in the image values. The main goal of this method consists in achieving a highly accurate extraction of the position, orientation, curvature and contrast of the edges, even in difficult conditions, such as noisy images, blurred edges, low contrast areas or very close contours. For this purpose, we first analyze the influence of perfectly straight or circular edges in the surrounding region, in such a way that, when these conditions are fulfilled, the features can exactly be determined. Afterward, we extend it to more realistic situations considering how adverse conditions can be tackled and presenting an iterative scheme for improving the results. We have tested this method in real as well as in sets of synthetic images with extremely difficult edges, and in both cases a highly accurate characterization has been achieved.