High-Speed Image Registration Algorithm with Subpixel Accuracy

A new, fast and computationally efficient lateral subpixel shift registration algorithm is presented. It is limited to register images that differ by small subpixel shifts otherwise its performance degrades. This algorithm significantly improves the performance of the single-step discrete Fourier transform approach proposed by Guizar-Sicairos et al. and can be applied efficiently on large dimension images. It reduces the dimension of Fourier transform of the cross correlation matrix and reduces the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) matrix multiplications to speed up the registration process. Simulations show that our algorithm reduces computation time and memory requirements without sacricing the accuracy associated with the usual FFT approach accuracy.