Embodiments described herein provide a system and method for generating a binary descriptor representing an image patch (200). The method includes determining a first specified number of features within an image patch (200), performing mean intensity difference tests for the first specified number of features, and generating a binary string of the first specified number of features for the image patch (200) based on the mean intensity difference tests. The method includes dividing the image patch (200) into a number of sub-patches (204), and, for each sub-patch (204), determining a second specified number of features within the sub-patch (204), performing mean intensity difference tests for the second specified number of features, and generating a binary string of the second specified number of features. The method also includes transforming the binary strings for the image patch (200) and the sub-patches (204) into a binary descriptor representing the image patch (200).