Patent US6839151B1 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US6839151B1
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System and method for color copy image processing
Assignee: CSR Imaging US LP
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Filing: 2000-02-02
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Granted: 2005-01-04
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Expires: 2020-02-02
Abstract
Abstract A system and method of processing an image including black text data and non-black text data are described. The system and method use a parametric analysis for discrimination of halftones, texts, and photographs. The parametric analysis provides results that track measurable image metrics without the inherent risk of errant decision making during classification. The creation of symbolic representations is intrinsically a classification process that is subject to error. It represents a fundamental departure from fuzzy logic image segmentation. In the parametric analysis, no pattern matching, no auto-correlation, no screening parameter calculation, and no conventional edge detector (such as a high pass filter) are used.
Inventors
- 👤 Fred Andree
- 👤 Steve Pratt
- 👤 Shenbo Yu
- 👤 Craig Cook
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 13:05
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N1/00; H04N1/46; H04N1/56; H04N1/60; H04N1/6072; H04N1/40; H04N1/40062; H04N1/407; H04N1/4072; H04N1/4074
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 42
Claim 1
Independent Claim
77 words
A method of processing an image including black text data and non-black text data, the method comprising: scanning the image; converting the image from a color space to a luminance-chrominance space; detecting and removing unwanted background data from the image in the luminance-chrominance space; auto segmenting the image in the luminance-chrominance space using a plurality of detectors that operate on adjacent areas of the image to detect edges and halftones of the image; and enhancing the image.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
77 words
A method of processing an image including black text data and non-black text data, the method comprising: scanning the image; converting the image from a color space to a luminance-chrominance space; detecting and removing unwanted background data from the image in the luminance-chrominance space; auto segmenting the image in the luminance-chrominance space using a plurality of detectors that operate on adjacent areas of the image to detect edges and halftones of the image; and enhancing the image.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 1 further including extracting the black text data from the image.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 2 further including processing the black text data separately from the non-black text data.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 3 further comprising converting the non-black text data from the luminance-chrominance space back into another color space.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 3 further including combining the separately processed black text data with the non-black text data.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 1 further including scaling all data to a resolution of an output device.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the step of auto segmenting the image includes: detecting halftone and edge; and parametrically analyzing a detector output.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
48 words
The method of claim 7 wherein the step of detecting includes: detecting halftones and edges of a first frequency and a second frequency, wherein the first and second frequencies are determined based on a resolution of the image; and detecting halftones and edges of multi-angle and mixed frequencies.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
47 words
The method of claim 8 wherein the step of detecting halftones and edges of multi-angle and mixed frequencies includes: detecting a horizontal peak; detecting a vertical peak; and combining results of detecting the horizontal and vertical peaks to detect halftones and edges of multi-angle and mixed frequencies.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
48 words
The method of claim 8 wherein the step of analyzing includes: selecting one of values detected for the halftones and edges of the first frequency and the second frequency; and reflecting to the selected value a value detected for the halftones and edges of multi-angle and mixed frequencies.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 10 wherein the reflected value is used to determine whether a current pixel is in text, half tone or photographic data.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 10 wherein the step of enhancing comprises smoothing the image if the reflected value indicates that the current pixel is in half tone data.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 10 wherein the step of enhancing comprises sharpening the image if the reflected value indicates that the current pixel is in text data.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
80 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the step of detecting and removing comprises: generating a histogram from a luminance plane of the image, the histogram displaying a population of pixels at each grey level in the image; determining a threshold value for the unwanted background data of the image based on the histogram; setting a size of a linear transition legion from the threshold value; removing data at a grey level higher than the threshold value plus the transition legion.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
77 words
The method of claim 14 wherein the step of determining comprises: determining a first grey level that has a first number of pixels greater than a number of pixels attributed to background noise; determining a second grey level at which a number of pixels are less than a predetermined portion of the first number of pixels; and determining the threshold value for the unwanted background data of the image based on the first and second grey levels.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 14 wherein the size of the linear transition legion is taken into account in determining the threshold value for the unwanted background data.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of claim 14 wherein the step of removing comprises: generating a look up table (LUT) that holds pixel data for each grey level of the image; and replace the luminance plane data of the image with data in the LUT.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
109 words
A system for processing an image which includes black text data and non-black text data, the system comprising: an input device configured to scan the image; a first converter configured to convert the image from a color space into a luminance-chrominance space; a background detector configured to detect and remove unwanted background data from the image in the luminance-chrominance space; and an auto segmenter and enhancer for detecting halftones and edges and parametrically analyzing the detection of halftones and edges, wherein the auto segmenter includes a plurality of detectors that operate on adjacent areas of the image to detect halftones and edges of the image in the luminance-chrominance space.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
109 words
A system for processing an image which includes black text data and non-black text data, the system comprising: an input device configured to scan the image; a first converter configured to convert the image from a color space into a luminance-chrominance space; a background detector configured to detect and remove unwanted background data from the image in the luminance-chrominance space; and an auto segmenter and enhancer for detecting halftones and edges and parametrically analyzing the detection of halftones and edges, wherein the auto segmenter includes a plurality of detectors that operate on adjacent areas of the image to detect halftones and edges of the image in the luminance-chrominance space.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
22 words
The system of claim 18 further comprising a separator configures to detect and separate the black text from the non-black text data.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system of claim 19 further including a textual processor configured to separately process the black text data.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
23 words
The system of claim 20 further including a combiner configured to combine the separately processed black text data and the non-black text data.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of claim 18 further including a color converter configured to convert the non-black text data from the luminance-chrominance space to another color space.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
26 words
The system of claim 18 wherein the auto segmenter and enhancer includes: a plurality of halftone and edge detectors; a plurality of averagers; and a mixer.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
114 words
A system for processing an image which includes black text data and non-black text data, the system comprising: an input device configured to scan the image; a first converter configured to convert the image from a color space into a luminance-chrominance space; a background detector configured to detect and remove unwanted background data from the image; and an auto segmenter and enhancer for detecting halftones and edges and parametrically analyzing the detection of halftones and edges, wherein the auto segmenter and enhancer includes: a plurality of halftone and edge detectors; a plurality of averagers; and a mixer, wherein the plurality of averagers calculates a plurality of running averages for each edge and halftone detector.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
114 words
A system for processing an image which includes black text data and non-black text data, the system comprising: an input device configured to scan the image; a first converter configured to convert the image from a color space into a luminance-chrominance space; a background detector configured to detect and remove unwanted background data from the image; and an auto segmenter and enhancer for detecting halftones and edges and parametrically analyzing the detection of halftones and edges, wherein the auto segmenter and enhancer includes: a plurality of halftone and edge detectors; a plurality of averagers; and a mixer, wherein the plurality of averagers calculates a plurality of running averages for each edge and halftone detector.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of claim 24 wherein the mixer combines the plurality of running averages for each edge and halftone detector, thereby generating a single parameter.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
34 words
The system of claim 25 further comprising: an image enhancer having dynamic filtering which sharpens or smoothes the image data, wherein the dynamic filtering is controlled by the single parameter generated by the mixer.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
20 words
The system of claim 18 further including a multiplier to scale the data to a resolution of an output device.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
42 words
A parametric analyzer for auto-segmentation comprising: a plurality of halftone and edge detectors; a plurality of averagers, one for each halftone and edge detector, configured to calculate the running average of the output of its halftone and edge detector; and a mixer.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
42 words
A parametric analyzer for auto-segmentation comprising: a plurality of halftone and edge detectors; a plurality of averagers, one for each halftone and edge detector, configured to calculate the running average of the output of its halftone and edge detector; and a mixer.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
67 words
The parametric analyzer of claim 28 wherein the plurality of halftone and edge detectors includes: a first halftone and edge detector for detecting halftones and edges occurring at a first frequency level; a second halftone and edge detector for detecting halftones and edges occurring at a second frequency level; and a third halftone and edge detector for detecting halftones and edges occurring at multi-angle and mixed frequencies.
Claim 34
Independent Claim
57 words
A method of analyzing image data o comprising detecting halftones and edges occurring at a first frequency level; detecting halftones and edges occurring at a second frequency level; and detecting halftones and edges occurring at multi-angles and mixed frequencies; generating three different averages from each of the detected halftones and edges; and combining the three different averages.
Claim 35
Independent Claim
57 words
A method of analyzing image data o comprising detecting halftones and edges occurring at a first frequency level; detecting halftones and edges occurring at a second frequency level; and detecting halftones and edges occurring at multi-angles and mixed frequencies; generating three different averages from each of the detected halftones and edges; and combining the three different averages.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
108 words
A computer program product for processing digital image data comprising: a computer usable medium having computer readable code embodied therein and executable by a processor for causing the processor to perform the steps of: receiving image data comprised of non-textual and textual data from a scanner; converting the image data from a color space to a luminance-chrominance space; detecting and removing unwanted background data from the image data in the luminance-chrominance space; auto segmenting the image data in the luminance-chrominance space using a plurality of detectors that operate on adjacent areas of the image to detect edges and half tones of the image; and enhancing the image data.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
108 words
A computer program product for processing digital image data comprising: a computer usable medium having computer readable code embodied therein and executable by a processor for causing the processor to perform the steps of: receiving image data comprised of non-textual and textual data from a scanner; converting the image data from a color space to a luminance-chrominance space; detecting and removing unwanted background data from the image data in the luminance-chrominance space; auto segmenting the image data in the luminance-chrominance space using a plurality of detectors that operate on adjacent areas of the image to detect edges and half tones of the image; and enhancing the image data.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
31 words
The computer program product of claim 31 wherein the computer readable code further causes the processor to perform the additional step of extracting the black text data from the image data.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
33 words
The computer program product of claim 32 wherein the computer readable code further causes the processor to perform the additional step of processing the black text data separately from the non-black text data.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
36 words
The computer program product of claim 31 wherein the computer readable code further causes the processor to perform the additional step of converting the nonblack text data from the luminance-chrominance space back into another color space.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
34 words
The computer program product of claim 34 wherein the computer readable code further causes the processor to perform the additional step of combining the separately processed black text data with the non-black text data.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
28 words
The computer program product of claim 35 wherein the computer readable code further causes the processor to scaling the image data to a resolution of an output 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) | 2008-01-04 | 2008-07-05 | 2009-01-04 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2012-01-04 | 2012-07-05 | 2013-01-04 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2016-01-04 | 2016-07-05 | 2017-01-04 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |