Server based image processing for client display of documents

• US 20060026511A1
• Filed: 07/29/2004
• Published: 02/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Eschbach, Reiner, Rainero, Emil V.
• Granted Patent: US 7,620,892 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/248
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2200/16 involving adaptation to the client's capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/756 adapting media to device capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/762 at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355

Abstract

Methods and systems that allow the viewing of arbitrary documents on a client display by up-loading all necessary image processing steps to the server, thereby eliminating any software downloads to, or installation on, the client device.

Claims

1. A method for processing image information associated with a document requested by a client device from a server, the image information having one or more data values and color levels, the method comprising:

providing a request to the server to provide the document image information to the client device;

determining, by the server, of a format of the requested document image information that is compatible with a client device display format; and

performing one or more server based image processing operations of the requested document image information based on the determined format.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein providing a request comprises:

selecting the document to be viewed by a user; and

requesting the server to provide a rendition of at least a part of the document image information in a browser application of the client device.

3. The method of claim 1;

wherein performing one or more server based image processing operations comprises determining one or more parameters associated with at least one of the client device, a data network to transmit the at least a part of the document image information to the browser of the client device, a requested document file format and user-provided hints.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein performing one or more server based image processing operations comprises processing image information by at least one of enhancing a contrast of the data values and reducing a number of the color levels based on the one or more parameters determined.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein determining one or more parameters comprises determining the one or more parameters dynamically, without operator intervention.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein performing one or more server based image processing operations comprises processing image information based on one or more of at least a client device make or model, client device input capabilities, client device display capabilities, type of image formats supported by the client device browser application, client device browser capabilities, an image data display zoom level requested by the client device, a bandwidth of the data transmission network, a transmission speed of the network and a type and/or content of document requested by the client device and user-provided hints for displaying the image data.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein performing one or more server based image processing operations comprises processing image information based on knowledge obtained from a current user'"'"'s session.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein performing one or more server based image processing operations comprises:

converting the requested document to a raster image using raster image processing techniques;

scaling the raster image to a zoom setting or level desired or requested by the client device; and

enhancing a contrast of the data values using tonal reproduction curves.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the at least a part of the document image information processed by the server to a browser of the client device for display.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising compressing the image data, said compressing step including processing the image data to reduce a number of the color levels.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising performing additional server based image processing operations of the requested document image information in response to at least one of user-initiated document image information quality requests and document navigation requests performed on the document image information displayed in the browser.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the user-initiated document image information quality requests comprise at least a contrast sharpening request, a color type selection request, an image invert request and a color correct request.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the document navigation requests comprise a document image page selection request, a document image panning request, a document image zoom request and a document image rotate request.

14. A system to process image information associated with a document requested by a client device from a server, the image information having one or more data values and color levels, the system comprising a controller that:

provides a request to the server to provide the document image information to the client device;

determines, using the server, a format of the requested document image information that is compatible with a client device display format; and

performs one or more server based image processing operations of the requested document image information based on the determined format.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein providing a request comprises:

selecting the document to be viewed by a user; and

requesting the server to provide a rendition of at least a part of the document image information in a browser application of the client device.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein performing one or more server based image processing operations comprises determining one or more parameters associated with at least one of the client device, a data network to transmit the at least a part of the document image information to the browser of the client device, a requested document file format and user-provided hints.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein performing one or more server based image processing operations comprises processing image information by at least one of enhancing a contrast of the data values and reducing a number of the color levels based on the one or more parameters determined.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein performing one or more server based image processing operations comprises:

converting the requested document to a raster image using raster image processing techniques;

scaling the raster image to a zoom setting or level desired or requested by the client device; and

enhancing a contrast of the data values using tonal reproduction curves.

19. A machine-readable medium that provides instructions for processing image information associated with a document requested by a client device from a server, the image information having one or more data values and color levels, the instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

providing a request to the server to provide the document image information to the client device;

determining, by the server, of a format of the requested document image information that is compatible with a client device display format; and

performing one or more server based image processing operations of the requested document image information based on the determined format.

20. The machine-readable medium of claim 19, wherein performing the one or more server based image processing operations comprises processing image information based on one or more of at least a client device make or model, client device input capabilities, client device display capabilities, type of image formats supported by the client device browser application, client device browser capabilities, an image data display zoom level requested by the client device, a bandwidth of the data transmission network, a transmission speed of the network and a type and/or content of document requested by the client device and user-provided hints for displaying the image data.