Design of a hybrid measure for image similarity: a statistical, algebraic, and information-theoretic approach

Image similarity or distortion assessment is fundamental to a wide range of applications throughout the field of image processing and computer vision. Many image similarity measures have been proposed to treat specific types of image distortions. Most of these measures are based on statistical approaches, such as the classic SSIM. In this paper, we present a different approach by interpolating the information theory with the statistic, because the information theory has a high capability to predict the relationship among image intensity values. Our unique hybrid approach incorporates information theory (Shannon entropy) with a statistic (SSIM), as well as a distinctive structural feature provided by edge detection (Canny). Correlative and algebraic structures have also been utilized. This approach combines the best features of Shannon entropy and a joint histogram of the two images under test, and SSIM with edge detection as a structural feature. The proposed method (ISSM) has been tested versus SSIM and FSIM under Gaussian noise, where good results have been obtained even under a wide range of PSNR. Simulation results using the IVC and TID2008 image databases show that the proposed approach outperforms the SSIM and FSIM approaches in similarity and recognition of the image.