Fast Component Tree Computation for Images of Limited Levels

Component trees have many applications. We introduce a new component tree computation algorithm, applicable to 4-/8-connectivity and 6-connectivity. The algorithm consists of two steps: building level line trees using an optimized top-down algorithm, and computing components from level lines by a novel line-by-line approach. As compared with traditional component computation algorithms, the new algorithm is fast for images of limited levels. It represents components by level lines, offering boundary information which traditional algorithms do not provide.