Revisiting guided image filter based stereo matching and scanline optimization for improved disparity estimation

In this paper the scanline optimization used for stereo matching, is revisited. In order to improve the performance of this semi-global technique, a new criterion to check depth discontinuity, is introduced. This criterion is defined according to the mean-shift-based image segmentation result. Additionally, this work proposes the employment of a pixel dissimilarity metric for the computation of the cost term, which is then provided to the guided image filter approach to estimate the initial cost volume. The algorithm is tested on the four images of the online Middlebury stereo evaluation benchmark. Moreover, it is tested on 27 additional Middlebury stereo pairs for assessing thoroughly its performance. The extended comparison verifies the efficiency of this work.