Performance of Binarization Algorithms on Tamizhi Inscription Images: An Analysis

Abstract

Binarization of Tamizhi (Tamil-Brahmi) inscription images are highly challenging, as it is captured from very old stone inscriptions that exists around 3rd century BCE in India. The difficulty is due to the degradation of these inscriptions by environmental factors and human negligence over ages. Though many works have been carried out in the binarization of inscription images, very little research was performed for inscription images and no work has been reported for binarization of inscriptions inscribed on irregular medium. The findings of the analysis hold true to all writings that are carved in irregular background. This article reviews the performance of various binarization techniques on Tamizhi inscription images. Since no previous work was performed, we have applied the existing binarization algorithms on Tamizhi inscription images and analyzed the performance of these algorithms with proper reasoning. In the future, we believe that this reasoning on the results will help a new researcher to adapt or combine or devise new binarization techniques.