Recent Methods and Applications on Image Edge Detection

Edge of image is one of the most fundamental and significant features. Edge detection is always one of the classical studying projects of computer vision and image processing field. It is the first step of image analysis and understanding. The purpose of edge detection is to discover the information about the shapes and the reflectance or transmittance in an image. It is one of the fundamental steps in image processing, image analysis, image pattern recognition, and computer vision, as well as in human vision. The correctness and reliability of its results affect directly the comprehension machine system made for objective world. This paper firstly describes the characteristics of edges, the properties of traditional detectors and the methodology of common edge detection, and then introduces four new representative edge detection methods based on wavelet transform, mathematics morphology, fuzzy and fractal geometry, and then summarized their recent research progresses and applications. Finally, this paper analyzed their advantages, disadvantages and presents some recommendations for future work.