MATLAB: Correlation between the two images;

correlationcorrelation between the two imagesImage Processing Toolbox

I would like to replace the images by using the result of correlation was made between the two images to find the location of the object. I know to use 2d cross-correlation. and I'm driving xcorr2 command. But how? .. I thank you very much in advance for your help.

Best Answer

xcorr2 is not the best for finding the object unless you know the exact peak auto correlation value. A much more robust method is to use normxcorr2() where you simply have to look for the max. (If you look for the peak using xcorr2(), it will not necessarily lie where your template occurs in the image, it could be over any old bright part of the image). Here is a demo using normxcorr2:
clc;    % Clear the command window.
close all;  % Close all figures (except those of imtool.)
imtool close all;  % Close all imtool figures.
clear;  % Erase all existing variables (which I know Jan hates).
workspace;  % Make sure the workspace panel is showing.
format longg;
format compact;
fontSize = 20;
% Check that user has the Image Processing Toolbox installed.
hasIPT = license('test', 'image_toolbox');
if ~hasIPT
  % User does not have the toolbox installed.
  message = sprintf('Sorry, but you do not seem to have the Image Processing Toolbox.\nDo you want to try to continue anyway?');
  reply = questdlg(message, 'Toolbox missing', 'Yes', 'No', 'Yes');
  if strcmpi(reply, 'No')
    % User said No, so exit.
    return;
  end
end
% Read in a standard MATLAB color demo image.
folder = fullfile(matlabroot, '\toolbox\images\imdemos');
baseFileName = 'peppers.png';
% Get the full filename, with path prepended.
fullFileName = fullfile(folder, baseFileName);
if ~exist(fullFileName, 'file')
  % Didn't find it there.  Check the search path for it.
  fullFileName = baseFileName; % No path this time.
  if ~exist(fullFileName, 'file')
    % Still didn't find it.  Alert user.
    errorMessage = sprintf('Error: %s does not exist.', fullFileName);
    uiwait(warndlg(errorMessage));
    return;
  end
end
rgbImage = imread(fullFileName);
% Get the dimensions of the image.  numberOfColorBands should be = 3.
[rows columns numberOfColorBands] = size(rgbImage);
% Display the original color image.
subplot(2, 2, 1);
imshow(rgbImage, []);
axis on;
title('Original Color Image', 'FontSize', fontSize);
% Enlarge figure to full screen.
set(gcf, 'units','normalized','outerposition',[0 0 1 1]);
smallSubImage = imcrop(rgbImage, [192 82 60 52]);
subplot(2, 2, 2);
imshow(smallSubImage, []);
axis on;
title('Template Image to Search For', 'FontSize', fontSize);
% Search the red channel for a match.
correlationOutput = normxcorr2(smallSubImage(:,:,1), rgbImage(:,:,1));
subplot(2, 2, 3);
imshow(correlationOutput, []);
title('Correlation Output', 'FontSize', fontSize);
[maxCorrValue, maxIndex] = max(abs(correlationOutput(:)));
[ypeak, xpeak] = ind2sub(size(correlationOutput),maxIndex(1));
corr_offset = [(xpeak-size(smallSubImage,2)) (ypeak-size(smallSubImage,1))];
subplot(2, 2, 4);
imshow(rgbImage);
hold on;
rectangle('position',[corr_offset(1) corr_offset(2) 50 50],...
          'edgecolor','g','linewidth',2);
title('Template Image Found in Original Image', 'FontSize', fontSize);
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