A perceptual scheme for fully automatic video shot boundary detection

•A modus operandi for efficient video shot boundary detection is proposed.•We take advantage of human perceptual rules and information visualization tools.•Significant computational boost is achieved by avoiding unnecessary processing.•Performance is on par with the state-of-the-art.•We also enable ROI processing which further decreases the computational cost.

In this paper, we propose a novel and robust modus operandi for fast and accurate shot boundary detection where the whole design philosophy is based on human perceptual rules and the well-known “Information Seeking Mantra”. By adopting a top–down approach, redundant video processing is avoided and furthermore elegant shot boundary detection accuracy is obtained under significantly low computational costs. Objects within shots are detected via local image features and used for revealing visual discontinuities among shots. The proposed method can be used for detecting all types of gradual transitions as well as abrupt changes. Another important feature is that the proposed method is fully generic, which can be applied to any video content without requiring any training or tuning in advance. Furthermore, it allows a user interaction to direct the SBD process to the user's “Region of Interest” or to stop it once satisfactory results are obtained. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm achieves superior computational times compared to the state-of-art methods without sacrificing performance.