In this paper, we present a new method to deal with specular highlights
in correspondence search. The proposed method is essentially based on
the specular-free two-band image that we introduce to deal with specular reflection.
For given input images, specular-free two-band images are generated using
simple pixel-wise computations in real-time. Specular-free two-band images are
then used to compute per-pixel raw matching costs. By using the specular-free
two-band images instead of input images, reliable raw matching costs that are
independent of the specularities of image pixels are obtained. As a result, we can
find correct correspondences even in the presence of specular highlights. Experimental
results show that the proposed method successfully produces accurate
disparity maps for stereo images with specular highlights.