Abstract: A new sequential 1-D algorithm is presented in this paper. This new algorithm can be used for extracting not only 1-D edges for a certain purpose but also 2-D edges with maltipurpose applications. Because of the use of a "ground operator", which is an important component in this algorithm and also the use of 1-D method instead of 2-D, the algorithm is very simple, effective, and the performance is very fast. Besides, this algorithm also possesses the two desirable characteristics of an edge detector as suggested by Abdou et al.