Normalizing correlator for video processing

Claim 1

A processor for generating an enhanced image of data based upon input gray scale pixel values of image data of a document background and printed information contained thereon, the gray scale pixel values having a maximum black pixel value and a maximum white pixel value, the processor comprising: means for dividing the image data into a plurality of tiles, each of said tiles representing an area of the image; means for generating a histogram of the gray scale pixel values of image data for each of said tiles of the image representing the frequency of occurrence of pixels of a particular gray scale pixel value; means for processing said histogram to determine a background level; means for processing said histogram to generate a processed histogram for each of said tiles; means for determining a black reference level in each of said tiles based upon said processed histogram; means for determining a white peak level and a print contrast ratio in each of said tiles based upon said processed historgram; means for dynamically selecting said background level and said white peak level to determine a white reference level based upon said black reference level, said print contrast ratio, said background level, and said white peak level in each of said tiles; means for calculating normalization factors based upon said black reference level and said white reference level for each of said tiles; means for normalizing each of the input gray scale pixel values of the image data associated with the appropriate normalization factors of each of said tiles based upon said normalization factors to generate normalized pixel values representative of the image data for each of said tiles, such that input gray scale pixel values blacker than said black reference level are forced to the maximum black pixel value, and input gray scale pixel values whiter than said white reference level are forced to the maximum white pixel value, and all other input gray scale pixel values are linearly scaled to a value between the maximum white pixel value and the maximum black pixel value; and means for correlating within each of said tiles said normalized pixel values representative of the image data by comparing each of said normalized pixel values and a group of normalized pixel values against a correlation curve to generate a correlated image.