Recursive MDL via graph cuts: Application to segmentation

Abstract

We propose a novel patch-based image representation that is useful because it (1) inherently detects regions with repetitive structure at multiple scales and (2) yields a parameterless hierarchical segmentation. We describe an image by breaking it into coherent regions where each region is well-described (easily reconstructed) by repeatedly instantiating a patch using a set of simple transformations. In other words, a good segment is one that has sufficient repetition of some pattern, and a patch is useful if it contains a pattern that is repeated in the image.