Detecting text in natural scenes with stroke width transform

Abstract

We present a novel image operator that seeks to find the value of stroke width for each image pixel, and demonstrate its use on the task of text detection in natural images. The suggested operator is local and data dependent, which makes it fast and robust enough to eliminate the need for multi-scale computation or scanning windows. Extensive testing shows that the suggested scheme outperforms the latest published algorithms. Its simplicity allows the algorithm to detect texts in many fonts and languages.