US6594385B2
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Image compression of background and text tiles
Assignee: Hewlett Packard Development Co LP
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Filing: 1998-10-27
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Granted: 2003-07-15
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Expires: 2018-10-27
Abstract
Abstract A compression apparatus for compressing a digital image is disclosed and includes a decomposer, a transform encoder unit and a merge plane compressor. The digital image is converted by the compression apparatus into a set of tiles suitable for transform encoding. Each tile from the set is then compressed by converting the tile into a “merge plane data string” and an associated “transform encoded data string”. The merge plane data string describes only the spatial locations of the background pixels in the tile. The transform encoded data describes the tile in the frequency domain but without the spatial frequencies associated with the background pixels. One important use of the present invention is to compress digital images prior to transmitting the digital image to a printer for printing.
Inventors
- 👤 Randall E. Grohs
- 👤 Brent M. Bradburn
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 11:12
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N1/00; H04N1/41
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 17
Claim 1
Independent Claim
118 words
A computing system, comprising: (a) a computer enabled to convert a binary tile into a set of data that includes lossy compressed data and lossless compressed data; and (b) a printer, connected to the computer, enabled to reconstruct the binary tile from the set of data; and wherein the binary tile includes pixels having a background value and one other value; wherein the lossy compressed data describes a monotone tile comprised of pixels having the one other value; wherein the lossless compressed data indicates the spatial location of each background pixel and the spatial location of each one other value pixel in the binary tile; and wherein the set of data does not indicate the background pixel value.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
118 words
A computing system, comprising: (a) a computer enabled to convert a binary tile into a set of data that includes lossy compressed data and lossless compressed data; and (b) a printer, connected to the computer, enabled to reconstruct the binary tile from the set of data; and wherein the binary tile includes pixels having a background value and one other value; wherein the lossy compressed data describes a monotone tile comprised of pixels having the one other value; wherein the lossless compressed data indicates the spatial location of each background pixel and the spatial location of each one other value pixel in the binary tile; and wherein the set of data does not indicate the background pixel value.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
22 words
The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the background value corresponds to white and the one other value corresponds to black.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
24 words
The computing system of claim 1 , wherein only the lossy compressed data portion of the set of data describes the one other value.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
43 words
The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the printer is enabled to reconstruct the binary tile from the set of data, in part, by generating a pixel having a default value at each background pixel location indicated by the lossless compressed data.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
95 words
The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the printer is enabled to reconstruct the background pixels by generating a pixel having a default value at each background pixel location indicated by the lossless compressed data; and wherein the printer is enabled to process the lossy compressed data to identify the value of the monotone tile pixels; and wherein the printer is enabled to reconstruct the one other value pixels by generating a pixel, having the value of the monotone tile pixels, at each one other value pixel location indicated by the lossless compressed data.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
13 words
The computing system of claim 5 , wherein the default value is white.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
19 words
The computing system of claim 6 , wherein the printer is further enabled to print the reconstructed binary tile.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
123 words
A method, comprising: (a) decomposing a digital image into a set of tiles; (b) identifying, from the set of tiles, a binary tile that includes pixels having a background value and one other value; (c) converting the binary tile into a set of data that includes lossy compressed data and lossless compressed data; (d) transmitting the set of data to a printer capable of reconstructing the binary tile from the set of data; and wherein the lossy compressed data describes a monotone tile of pixels each having the one other value; wherein the lossless compressed data indicates the spatial location of each background pixel in the binary tile; and wherein the set of data does not indicate the value of the background pixels.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
123 words
A method, comprising: (a) decomposing a digital image into a set of tiles; (b) identifying, from the set of tiles, a binary tile that includes pixels having a background value and one other value; (c) converting the binary tile into a set of data that includes lossy compressed data and lossless compressed data; (d) transmitting the set of data to a printer capable of reconstructing the binary tile from the set of data; and wherein the lossy compressed data describes a monotone tile of pixels each having the one other value; wherein the lossless compressed data indicates the spatial location of each background pixel in the binary tile; and wherein the set of data does not indicate the value of the background pixels.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method of claim 8 , further comprising: (e) identifying, by the printer, the location of each background pixel in the binary tile from the lossless compressed data; and (f) generating a pixel having a default value at each pixel location identified at step (e).
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method of claim 9 , further comprising: (g) identifying, by the printer, the value of the monotone tile pixels from the lossy compressed data; (h) generating a pixel having the value identified at step (g) at each pixel location in the binary tile not identified at step (e).
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
97 words
A computer, comprising: (a) means for converting a binary tile consisting of white and black pixels into a set of data that includes lossy compressed data and lossless compressed data; (b) means for transmitting the set of data to a second device capable of reconstructing the binary tile from the lossy and lossless compressed data; and wherein the lossy compressed data describes a monotone tile consisting of black pixels; and wherein the lossless compressed data indicates the spatial location of each white pixel; wherein the set of data does not Indicate that the white pixels are white.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
97 words
A computer, comprising: (a) means for converting a binary tile consisting of white and black pixels into a set of data that includes lossy compressed data and lossless compressed data; (b) means for transmitting the set of data to a second device capable of reconstructing the binary tile from the lossy and lossless compressed data; and wherein the lossy compressed data describes a monotone tile consisting of black pixels; and wherein the lossless compressed data indicates the spatial location of each white pixel; wherein the set of data does not Indicate that the white pixels are white.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
15 words
The computer of claim 11 , wherein the lossy compressed data is JPEG compressed data.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
22 words
The computer of claim 11 , wherein the lossy compressed date represents the monotone tile after being converted to the frequency domain.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
14 words
The computer of claim 11 , wherein the second device is a printing device.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2006-07-14 | 2007-01-13 | 2007-07-15 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2010-07-14 | 2011-01-13 | 2011-07-15 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2014-07-14 | 2015-01-13 | 2015-07-15 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |