A comprehensive survey of specularity detection: state-of-the-art techniques and breakthroughs

Specularity poses significant challenges in computer vision (CV), often leading to performance degradation in various tasks. Despite its importance, the CV field lacks a comprehensive review of specularity detection techniques. This survey addresses this gap by synthesizing diverse definitions of specularity and providing a unified framework to enhance consistency. It also presents a systematic review of traditional and deep learning-based methods for detecting specularity. Comparative experiments on a standardized dataset enable in-depth evaluation of each method, highlighting their strengths and limitations. The survey further provides structured insights and guidance for selecting appropriate methods across diverse scenarios. Through this, it identifies key areas for future research, aiming to support the development of more advanced detection models. By integrating diverse methodologies and quantitative analyzes, this survey contributes to a deeper understanding of current advancements and potential innovations in specularity detection.