Removal of specularities using color and polarization

An algorithm for separating the specular and diffuse components of reflection from images is presented. The method uses color and polarization simultaneously to obtain strong constraints on the reflection components at each image point. Polarization is used to locally determine the color of the specular component, constraining the diffuse color at a pixel to a one-dimensional linear subspace. This subspace is used to find neighboring pixels whose color is consistent with the pixel. Diffuse color information from consistent neighbors is used to determine the diffuse color of the pixel. In contrast to previous separation algorithms, the proposed method can handle highlights that have a varying diffuse component, as well as highlights that include regions with different reflectance and material properties. Experimental results obtained by applying the algorithm to complex scenes with textured objects and strong interreflections are presented