Fast and accurate computation of polar harmonic Fourier moments for image description

Continuous orthogonal moments are widely used in various image techniques due to their simplicity and good rotational invariance and stability. In recent years, numerous excellent continuous orthogonal moments have been developed, among which polar harmonic Fourier moments (PHFMs) exhibit strong image description capabilities. However, the numerical integration error is large in the calculation, which seriously affects the calculation accuracy, especially in higher-order calculation. In this paper, a continuous orthogonal moments-fast and accurate PHFM (FAPHFM) is proposed. It utilizes the polar pixel tiling technique to reduce numerical errors in the computation; this method particularly improves the accuracy of higher-order moments of traditional PHFMs. However, as accuracy increases, calculation complexity also increases. To address this issue, an eight-way symmetric/anti-symmetric calculation of the angular and radial functions was performed using the symmetry and anti-symmetry of traditional PHFMs, and clustering of pixels was performed as a way to improve the computational speed. The experimental results show that FAPHFMs perform better in image reconstruction (including noise), with higher computational accuracy, lower time complexity, and better image description ability.