An image inpainting method for object removal based on difference degree constraint

In the inpainting method for object removal, SSD (Sum of Squared Differences) is commonly used to measure the degree of similarity between the exemplar patch and the target patch, which has a very important impact on the restoration results. Although the matching rule is relatively simple, it is likely to lead to the occurrence of mismatch error. Even worse, the error may be accumulated along with the process continues. Finally some unexpected objects may be introduced into the target region, making the result unable to meet the requirements of visual consistency. In view of these problems, we propose an inpainting method for object removal based on difference degree constraint. Firstly, we define the MSD (Mean of Squared Differences) and use it to measure the degree of differences between corresponding pixels at known positions in the target patch and the exemplar patch. Secondly, we define the SMD (Square of Mean Differences) and use it to measure the degree of differences between the pixels at known positions in the target patch and the pixels at unknown positions in the exemplar patch. Thirdly, based on MSD and SMD, we define a new matching rule and use it to find the most similar exemplar patch in the source region. Finally, we use the exemplar patch to restore the target patch. Experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively prevent the occurrence of mismatch error and improve the restoration effect.