diff --git a/bgfilter/chroma.py b/bgfilter/chroma.py
index 64d4afb..18a8827 100644
--- a/bgfilter/chroma.py
+++ b/bgfilter/chroma.py
@@ -112,22 +112,6 @@ def _background_border_cluster(
     return full, share, agree
 
 
-def detect_background_color(
-    rgb: np.ndarray, settings: ChromaSettings | None = None
-) -> tuple[float, float, float]:
-    """Detect a single flat background colour from the image border.
-
-    Returns the colour as a 0..1 RGB triple. Raises RuntimeError (via
-    :func:`_background_border_cluster`) if the border is not dominated by one flat
-    colour, so callers fail loudly rather than matting against a wrong colour.
-    Pure: reads pixels only, with no matting side effects.
-    """
-    settings = settings or ChromaSettings()
-    rgb_f, lab = convert_color_spaces(rgb)
-    mask, _, _ = _background_border_cluster(lab, settings)
-    return tuple(float(x) for x in np.median(rgb_f[mask], axis=0))
-
-
 def estimate_background_model(
     rgb: np.ndarray,
     settings: ChromaSettings,
diff --git a/bgfilter/foreground.py b/bgfilter/foreground.py
index a26f2b3..b898761 100644
--- a/bgfilter/foreground.py
+++ b/bgfilter/foreground.py
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-from dataclasses import dataclass
-
 import numpy as np
 
 from .chroma import BackgroundModel
@@ -9,27 +7,16 @@ from .deps import require_cv2
 from .settings import ForegroundSettings
 
 
-@dataclass(frozen=True)
-class ForegroundEstimate:
-    rgb: np.ndarray          # estimated foreground colour F (uint8, HxWx3)
-    background: np.ndarray   # estimated background colour B (uint8, HxWx3)
-    correction: np.ndarray   # per-pixel |F - input| magnitude, 0..1 (float32, HxW)
-
-
 def estimate_foreground_rgb(
     rgb: np.ndarray,
     alpha: np.ndarray,
     bg_confidence: np.ndarray,
     model: BackgroundModel,
     settings: ForegroundSettings,
-) -> ForegroundEstimate:
+) -> np.ndarray:
+    """Estimated foreground colour F (uint8 HxWx3) for compositing over alpha."""
     if not settings.enabled:
-        bg = np.broadcast_to(np.asarray(model.rgb_center, dtype=np.float32), rgb.shape)
-        return ForegroundEstimate(
-            rgb=rgb.copy(),
-            background=np.clip(bg * 255.0, 0, 255).astype(np.uint8),
-            correction=np.zeros(alpha.shape, dtype=np.float32),
-        )
+        return rgb.copy()
 
     method = settings.method
     if method == "ml":
@@ -48,7 +35,7 @@ def estimate_foreground_rgb(
 
 def _estimate_ml(
     rgb: np.ndarray, alpha: np.ndarray, settings: ForegroundSettings
-) -> ForegroundEstimate:
+) -> np.ndarray:
     """Multi-level closed-form foreground/background estimation (pymatting).
 
     Solves image = alpha * F + (1 - alpha) * B with spatial smoothness, so the
@@ -66,17 +53,8 @@ def _estimate_ml(
 
     image = rgb.astype(np.float64) / 255.0
     a = np.clip(alpha.astype(np.float64), 0.0, 1.0)
-    foreground, background = estimate_foreground_ml(
-        image, a, regularization=settings.ml_regularization, return_background=True
-    )
-    foreground = np.clip(foreground, 0.0, 1.0)
-    background = np.clip(background, 0.0, 1.0)
-    correction = np.linalg.norm(foreground - image, axis=2) / np.sqrt(3.0)
-    return ForegroundEstimate(
-        rgb=np.clip(foreground * 255.0, 0, 255).astype(np.uint8),
-        background=np.clip(background * 255.0, 0, 255).astype(np.uint8),
-        correction=correction.astype(np.float32),
-    )
+    foreground = estimate_foreground_ml(image, a, regularization=settings.ml_regularization)
+    return np.clip(foreground * 255.0, 0, 255).astype(np.uint8)
 
 
 def _weighted_blur(values: np.ndarray, weights: np.ndarray, radius: int) -> np.ndarray:
@@ -97,7 +75,7 @@ def _estimate_unmix(
     bg_confidence: np.ndarray,
     model: BackgroundModel,
     settings: ForegroundSettings,
-) -> ForegroundEstimate:
+) -> np.ndarray:
     """Legacy heuristic: edge-band alpha unmix plus local foreground blur."""
     rgb_f = rgb.astype(np.float32) / 255.0
     r = rgb_f[..., 0]
@@ -131,10 +109,4 @@ def _estimate_unmix(
     local_mask = base_mask * settings.local_strength * low_alpha_weight
     out = out * (1.0 - local_mask[..., None]) + local_fg * local_mask[..., None]
 
-    background = np.broadcast_to(bg, rgb_f.shape)
-    correction = np.linalg.norm(out - rgb_f, axis=2) / np.sqrt(3.0)
-    return ForegroundEstimate(
-        rgb=np.clip(out * 255.0, 0, 255).astype(np.uint8),
-        background=np.clip(background * 255.0, 0, 255).astype(np.uint8),
-        correction=correction.astype(np.float32),
-    )
+    return np.clip(out * 255.0, 0, 255).astype(np.uint8)
diff --git a/bgfilter/pipeline.py b/bgfilter/pipeline.py
index 348df37..ce27d01 100644
--- a/bgfilter/pipeline.py
+++ b/bgfilter/pipeline.py
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ def _process_rgb(rgb: np.ndarray, pipeline: MattingPipeline) -> MattingResult:
     foreground = estimate_foreground_rgb(
         rgb, alpha, bg_confidence, model, settings.foreground
     )
-    corrected_rgb, color_mask = despill(foreground.rgb, alpha, model, settings.despill)
+    corrected_rgb, color_mask = despill(foreground, alpha, model, settings.despill)
 
     metadata = {
         "alpha_source": alpha_source,