A Comparison of L_1 Norm and L_2 Norm Multiple Kernel SVMs in Image and Video Classification

SVM is one of the state-of-the-art techniques for image and video classification. When multiple kernels are available, the recently introduced multiple kernel SVM (MK-SVM) learns an optimal linear combination of the kernels, providing a new method for information fusion. In this paper we study how the behaviour of MK-SVM is affected by the norm used to regularise the kernel weights to be learnt. Through experiments on three image/video classification datasets as well as on synthesised data, new insights are gained as to how the choice of regularisation norm should be made, especially when MK-SVM is applied to image/video classification problems.