EP0744711A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and apparatus for image rotation
Assignee: Canon Inc
•
Filing: 1996-04-19
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2016-04-19
Abstract
Abstract When an image is to be rotated, the image is divided into blocks each having a predetermined size, and rotation of the image is realized by rotation of the respective blocks and rotation in units of blocks over the entire image. In this case, lines included in each block are moved to a predetermined region so that the lines are continuous in the order of lines. In the region in which the lines are moved as described above, predetermined digit positions in the respective lines appear at intervals of pixels for one line irrespective of the digit positions. After the respective digits are set to have a predetermined positional relationship between lines, since a logic operation is simultaneously performed for a plurality of lines, a plurality of pixels can be simultaneously moved to have a positional relationship after rotation. Also, a plurality of sets of pixels having the positional relationship after rotation can be similarly, simultaneously moved.
Inventors
- 👤 Tetsuomi Tanaka
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 15:37
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06T; G06T3/00; G06T3/60; G06T3/602
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 78
Claim 1
Independent Claim
120 words
An image processing method for dividing a bitmap image into rectangular blocks each having a predetermined size and performing rotation processing in units of blocks, comprising: the storage step of connecting a plurality of lines included in a block of interest and storing the connected lines in a region having a predetermined length; the pixel replacement step of replacing pixels included in the region in a predetermined order by performing a predetermined logic operation for the pixels stored in the region in units of the length of the region; and the control step of forming a rotated block by controlling the pixel replacement step so as to replace the order of all the pixels included in the block of interest.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method according to claim 1, further comprising: the step of replacing the blocks in the same manner as the replacement of the order of pixels in the pixel replacement step and the control step by re-arranging the blocks.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
58 words
The method according to claim 1, wherein the pixels are arranged in a raster scanning order in the bitmap image, and upon completion of the replacement of the pixels of the block of interest, the storage step to the control step are executed using a block next to the block of interest as a new block of interest.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
73 words
The method according to claim 1, wherein the pixel replacement step includes the step of parallelly replacing a positional relationships between pixels in each of sets of a plurality of pixels, which have an identical positional relationship after rotation, and repeating the replacement using sets of pixels which have been replaced to have the positional relationship after rotation as new sets until at least one line in a rotated rectangular block is formed.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method according to claim 4, wherein the pixel replacement step starts the replacement from replacing pairs of pixels as the sets of the plurality of pixels to have the positional relationship after rotation.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
50 words
The method according to claim 1, wherein the pixel replacement step includes the step of rotating the block through 90° or 270° by arranging pixels so that pixels at digits of interest of the respective lines constituting the block of interest stored in the region constitute one line after rotation.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method according to claim 1, wherein the pixel replacement step includes the step of rotating the block through 180° by replacing upper and lower digits of the respective lines constituting the block of interest stored in the region.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method according to claim 1, wherein one line of each of the rectangular blocks has a size including a pixel data amount of 8 bits.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method according to claim 8, wherein the image is a binary image and is divided into blocks each consisting of 8 pixels x 8 pixels as the rectangular blocks of the predetermined size, and a 32-bit length region is used as the region.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method according to claim 8, wherein the image is a binary image and is divided into blocks each consisting of 8 pixels x 8 pixels as the rectangular blocks of the predetermined size, and a 64-bit length region is used as the region.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method according to claim 8, wherein the image is a multi-value image and is divided into blocks each consisting of 8 lines as the rectangular blocks.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method according to claim 8, wherein the image is a multi-value image and is divided into blocks each consisting of 2 lines as the rectangular blocks.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
141 words
The method according to claim 1, wherein the storage step includes the step of storing the lines included in the block of interest in the region so that at least former and latter half lines are continuous, the pixel replacement step includes the step of performing the logic operation for the region so that a positional relationship between digits of interest of the lines included in the former half of the region and digits of interest in the lines included in the latter half of the region becomes equal to a position relationship obtained when the digits of interests of the respective lines are arranged in an order of lines, and the logic operation is repeated until at least one line in a 90°- or 270°-rotated rectangular block is formed using pairs of pixels which have the positional relationship after rotation.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
90 words
The method according to claim 1, wherein the storage step includes the step of storing the lines included in the block of interest in the region so that at least lines are continuous, and the pixel replacement step includes the step of starting an operation, for replacing pairs of adjacent pixels in the respective lines included in the region and replacing adjacent pairs of replaced pixels, from one pixel as the pair of pixels, and repeating the operation until at least one line in a 180°-rotated rectangular block is formed.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
60 words
The method according to claim 1, further comprising the image reading step of reading the image and the discrimination step of discriminating a direction of the read image, and wherein the read image is rotated to have a desired direction in the pixel replacement step and the control step on the basis of a discrimination result in the discrimination step.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method according to claim 15, wherein the discrimination step includes the step of discriminating the direction of the image by recognizing a direction of a character included in the image.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
93 words
The method according to claim 16, wherein the discrimination step includes the feature amount calculation step of cutting out a character from the image, scanning the cut-out character in 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270° directions with respect to the reading direction, and calculating feature amounts corresponding to the respective directions, and the similarity calculation step of calculating similarities for a predetermined pattern on the basis of the feature amounts calculated in the feature amount calculation step, and a direction in which the similarity becomes maximum is determined as the direction of the image.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
71 words
The method according to claim 17, wherein the similarity calculation step includes the step of also calculating a similarity of a 2-byte size character defined by successive 1-byte size characters when the character included in the image is constituted by successive 1-byte size characters, and discriminating the direction of the image using a larger one of the similarity for the 1-byte size character and the similarity for the 2-byte size character.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
117 words
An image processing apparatus for dividing a bitmap image into rectangular blocks each having a predetermined size and performing rotation processing in units of blocks, comprising: storage means for connecting a plurality of lines included in a block of interest and storing the connected lines in a region having a predetermined length; pixel replacement means for replacing pixels included in the region in a predetermined order by performing a predetermined logic operation for the pixels stored in the region in units of the length of the region; and control means for forming a rotated block by controlling said pixel replacement means so as to replace the order of all the pixels included in the block of interest.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
36 words
The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the blocks are replaced in the same manner as the replacement of the order of pixels of said pixel replacement means and said control means by re-arranging the blocks.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
57 words
The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the pixels are arranged in a raster scanning order in the bitmap image, and upon completion of the replacement of the pixels of the block of interest, said storage means to said control means operate using a block next to the block of interest as a new block of interest.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
69 words
The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said pixel replacement means parallelly replaces a positional relationships between pixels in each of sets of a plurality of pixels, which have an identical positional relationship after rotation, and repeats the replacement using sets of pixels which have been replaced to have the positional relationship after rotation as new sets until at least one line in a rotated rectangular block is formed.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
34 words
The apparatus according to claim 22, wherein said pixel replacement means starts the replacement from replacing pairs of pixels as the sets of the plurality of pixels to have the positional relationship after rotation.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
46 words
The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said pixel replacement means rotates the block through 90° or 270° by arranging pixels so that pixels at digits of interest of the respective lines constituting the block of interest stored in the region constitute one line after rotation.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
35 words
The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said pixel replacement means rotates the block through 180° by replacing upper and lower digits of the respective lines constituting the block of interest stored in the region.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
26 words
The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein one line of each of the rectangular blocks has a size including a pixel data amount of 8 bits.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
44 words
The apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the image is a binary image and is divided into blocks each consisting of 8 pixels x 8 pixels as the rectangular blocks of the predetermined size, and a 32-bit length region is used as the region.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
44 words
The apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the image is a binary image and is divided into blocks each consisting of 8 pixels x 8 pixels as the rectangular blocks of the predetermined size, and a 64-bit length region is used as the region.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
27 words
The apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the image is a multi-value image and is divided into blocks each consisting of 8 lines as the rectangular blocks.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
27 words
The apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the image is a multi-value image and is divided into blocks each consisting of 2 lines as the rectangular blocks.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
133 words
The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said storage means stores the lines included in the block of interest in the region so that at least former and latter half lines are continuous, said pixel replacement means performs the logic operation for the region so that a positional relationship between digits of interest of the lines included in the former half of the region and digits of interest in the lines included in the latter half of the region becomes equal to a position relationship obtained when the digits of interests of the respective lines are arranged in an order of lines, and the logic operation is repeated until at least one line in a 90°- or 270°-rotated rectangular block is formed using pairs of pixels which have the positional relationship after rotation.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
82 words
The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said storage means stores the lines included in the block of interest in the region so that at least lines are continuous, and said pixel replacement means starts an operation, for replacing pairs of adjacent pixels in the respective lines included in the region and replacing adjacent pairs of replaced pixels, from one pixel as the pair of pixels, and repeats the operation until at least one line in a 180°-rotated rectangular block is formed.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
58 words
The apparatus according to claim 19, further comprising image reading means for reading the image and discrimination means for discriminating a direction of the read image, and wherein the read image is rotated to have a desired direction by said pixel replacement means and said control means on the basis of a discrimination result of said discrimination means.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
27 words
The apparatus according to claim 33, wherein said discrimination means discriminates the direction of the image by recognizing a direction of a character included in the image.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
93 words
The apparatus according to claim 34, wherein said discrimination means comprises feature amount calculation means for cutting out a character from the image, scanning the cut-out character in 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270° directions with respect to the reading direction, and calculating feature amounts corresponding to the respective directions, and similarity calculation means for calculating similarities for a predetermined pattern on the basis of the feature amounts calculated by said feature amount calculation means, and said discrimination means determines a direction in which the similarity becomes maximum as the direction of the image.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
67 words
The apparatus according to claim 35, wherein said similarity calculation means also calculates a similarity of a 2-byte size character defined by successive 1-byte size characters when the character included in the image is constituted by successive 1-byte size characters, and discriminates the direction of the image using a larger one of the similarity for the 1-byte size character and the similarity for the 2-byte size character.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
15 words
The apparatus according to claim 19, further comprising output means for outputting a rotated image.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
13 words
The apparatus according to claim 37, wherein said output means comprises a printer.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
13 words
The apparatus according to claim 37, wherein said output means comprises a display.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
133 words
A computer readable memory for storing a program for dividing a bitmap image into rectangular blocks each having a predetermined size and performing rotation processing in units of blocks, comprising: a code of the storage step of connecting a plurality of lines included in a block of interest and storing the connected lines in a region having a predetermined length; a code of the pixel replacement step of replacing pixels included in the region in a predetermined order by performing a predetermined logic operation for the pixels stored in the region in units of the length of the region; and a code of the control step of forming a rotated block by controlling the pixel replacement step so as to replace the order of all the pixels included in the block of interest.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
56 words
An image processing method comprising: the cut-out step of cutting out a character image from an image; the discrimination step of discriminating a direction of the character image cut out in the cut-out step; and the determination step of determining the direction of the image on the basis of a discrimination result in the discrimination step.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method according to claim 41, wherein the discrimination step includes the step of discriminating which one of four directions of 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270° the direction of the character image cut out in the cut-out step matches.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
71 words
An image processing method comprising: the cut-out step of cutting out a plurality of character images from an image; the calculation step of calculating similarities, in a plurality of directions, of each of the character images cut out in the cut-out step; and the determination step of determining a direction of the image as one of the plurality of directions on the basis of the similarities calculated in the calculation step.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method according to claim 43, wherein the plurality of directions are four directions of 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270°.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method according to claim 43, wherein the cut-out processing is completed when a predetermined number of character images are cut out in the cut-out step.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
54 words
The method according to claim 43, further comprising the updating step of forming a new character image by combining the plurality of cut-out image, and updating the similarity obtained in the calculation step on the basis of a similarity of the new updated image when the similarity is improved by the new character image.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
79 words
The method according to claim 46, wherein the updating step includes the step of forming a 2-byte size character image by combining 1-byte size character images when the 1-byte size character images successively appear, and updating the similarity obtained in the calculation step on the basis of a similarity obtained based on the 2-byte size character image when the similarity based on the 2-byte size character image is higher than the similarity obtained based on the 1-byte character image.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method according to claim 47, wherein the updating step includes the step of combining 1-byte size character images to obtain a 2-byte character image when the 1-byte size character images have similarities smaller than a predetermined value.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
65 words
The method according to claim 43, wherein the calculation step includes the step of calculating similarities in units of directions in correspondence with character images which are determined to be 2-byte size characters, and the determination step includes the step of determining the direction of the image on the basis of sum totals of the similarities in units of directions calculated in the calculation step.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method according to claim 43, further comprising the control step of controlling the cut-out step to additionally cut out character images when the number of characters used in direction discrimination in the calculation step is smaller than a predetermined value, and repetitively executing the calculation step and the determination step.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
60 words
The method according to claim 43, further comprising the control step of controlling the cut-out step to cut out character images from another character region when a difference between similarities in the first and second places of the similarities calculated in the calculation step is smaller than a predetermined value, and repetitively executing the calculation step and the determination step.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
56 words
The method according to claim 43, further comprising the control step of controlling the cut-out step to cut out character images from another character region when a similarity in the first place of the similarities calculated in the calculation step is smaller than a predetermined value, and repetitively executing the calculation step and the determination step.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method according to claim 43, wherein when an image includes a figure or table region, a character region in the figure or table region is assigned low priority upon cutting out character images in the cut-out step.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method according to claim 43, wherein the plurality of directions include two directions of 0° and 180°.
Claim 55
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method according to claim 43, further comprising the output step of rotating the image as needed on the basis of the direction of the image determined in the determination step and outputting the image.
Claim 56
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method according to claim 43, further comprising the output step of rotating the image as needed on the basis of the direction of the image determined in the determination step and outputting the image.
Claim 57
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method according to claim 43, wherein the calculation step includes the step of calculating similarities corresponding to the plurality of directions by calculating similarities while changing a scanning direction of a cut-out character image.
Claim 58
Dependent Claim
97 words
The method according to claim 43, wherein the calculation step includes the step of dividing a cut-out character image into a predetermined number of blocks, counting direction components of the image in units of blocks by performing scanning in a predetermined direction, storing count values corresponding to the direction components in units of blocks as feature data, calculating feature data in directions other than the predetermined direction by replacing the count values in units of blocks and in units of direction components, and calculating similarities on the basis of the obtained feature data in the respective directions.
Claim 59
Dependent Claim
52 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: cut-out means for cutting out a character image from an image; discrimination means discriminating a direction of the character image cut out by said cut-out means; and determination means for determining the direction of the image on the basis of a discrimination result of said discrimination means.
Claim 60
Dependent Claim
35 words
The apparatus according to claim 59, wherein said discrimination means discriminates which one of four directions of 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270° the direction of the character image cut out by said cut-out means matches.
Claim 61
Dependent Claim
68 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: cut-out means for cutting out a plurality of character images from an image; calculation means for calculating similarities, in a plurality of directions, of each of the character images cut out by said cut-out means; and determination means for determining a direction of the image as one of the plurality of directions on the basis of the similarities calculated by said calculation means.
Claim 62
Dependent Claim
20 words
The apparatus according to claim 61, wherein the plurality of directions are four directions of 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270°.
Claim 63
Dependent Claim
26 words
The apparatus according to claim 61, wherein the cut-out processing is completed when a predetermined number of character images are cut out by said cut-out means.
Claim 64
Dependent Claim
53 words
The apparatus according to claim 61, further comprising updating means for forming a new character image by combining the plurality of cut-out images, and updating the similarities obtained by said calculation means on the basis of a similarity of the new updated image when the similarity is improved by the new character image.
Claim 65
Dependent Claim
75 words
The apparatus according to claim 64, wherein said updating means forms a 2-byte size character image by combining 1-byte size character images when the 1-byte size character images successively appear, and updates the similarity obtained by said calculation means on the basis of a similarity obtained based on the 2-byte size character image when the similarity based on the 2-byte size character image is higher than the similarity obtained based on the 1-byte character image.
Claim 66
Dependent Claim
35 words
The apparatus according to claim 65, wherein said updating means combines 1-byte size character images to obtain a 2-byte size character image when the 1-byte size character images have similarities smaller than a predetermined value.
Claim 67
Dependent Claim
57 words
The apparatus according to claim 61, wherein said calculation means calculates similarities in units of directions in correspondence with character images which are determined to be 2-byte size characters, and said determination means determines the direction of the image on the basis of sum totals of the similarities in units of directions calculated by said calculation means.
Claim 68
Dependent Claim
50 words
The apparatus according to claim 61, further comprising control means for controlling said cut-out means to additionally cut out character images when the number of characters used in direction discrimination of said calculation means is smaller than a predetermined value, and repetitively operating said calculation means and said determination means.
Claim 69
Dependent Claim
59 words
The apparatus according to claim 61, further comprising control means for controlling said cut-out means to cut out character images from another character region when a difference between similarities in the first and second places of the similarities calculated by said calculation means is smaller than a predetermined value, and repetitively operating said calculation means and said determination means.
Claim 70
Dependent Claim
55 words
The apparatus according to claim 61, further comprising control means for controlling said cut-out means to cut out character images from another character region when a similarity in the first place of the similarities calculated by said calculation means is smaller than a predetermined value, and repetitively operating said calculation means and said determination means.
Claim 71
Dependent Claim
38 words
The apparatus according to claim 61, wherein when an image includes a figure or table region, a character region in the figure or table region is assigned low priority upon cutting out character images by said cut-out means.
Claim 72
Dependent Claim
18 words
The apparatus according to claim 61, wherein the plurality of directions include two directions of 0° and 180°.
Claim 73
Dependent Claim
34 words
The apparatus according to claim 61, further comprising output means for rotating the image as needed on the basis of the direction of the image determined by said determination means and outputting the image.
Claim 74
Dependent Claim
34 words
The apparatus according to claim 61, further comprising output means for rotating the image as needed on the basis of the direction of the image determined by said determination means and outputting the image.
Claim 75
Dependent Claim
31 words
The apparatus according to claim 61, wherein said calculation means calculates similarities corresponding to the plurality of directions by calculating similarities while changing a scanning direction of a cut-out character image.
Claim 76
Dependent Claim
93 words
The apparatus according to claim 61, wherein said calculation means divides a cut-out character image into a predetermined number of blocks, counts direction components of the image in units of blocks by performing scanning in a predetermined direction, stores count values corresponding to the direction components in units of blocks as feature data, calculates feature data in directions other than the predetermined direction by replacing the count values in units of blocks and in units of direction components, and calculates similarities on the basis of the obtained feature data in the respective directions.
Claim 77
Dependent Claim
72 words
A computer readable memory for storing a program of image processing, comprising: a code of the cut-out step of cutting out a character image from an image; a code of the discrimination step of discriminating a direction of the character image cut out in the cut-out step; and a code of the determination step of determining the direction of the image on the basis of a discrimination result in the discrimination step.
Claim 78
Dependent Claim
87 words
A computer readable memory for storing a program of image processing, comprising: a code of the cut-out step of cutting out a plurality of character images from an image; a code of the calculation step of calculating similarities, in a plurality of directions, of each of the character images cut out in the cut-out step; and a code of the determination step of determining a direction of the image as one of the plurality of directions on the basis of the similarities calculated in the calculation step.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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