Activity speckle images obtained from box fractal formalism

•Recently we showed the possibility to apply the box fractal dimension to characterize static and dynamic speckle patterns in several situations.•In this new manuscript, we extend the use of the box fractal algorithm to screen activity images.•We show the application to segment activity images such as reading writing hidden by paper and papyrus and topography under drying paint.•Segmentation of time series of incoherent images and dynamic speckle patterns can be resolved with a single versatile descriptor.•Other BF algorithm possible applications may be found in other fields, such as ultrasound images, lateral synthetic aperture radar, etc.