Detection and Modification of Text in a Image

• US 20080095442A1
• Filed: 11/08/2005
• Published: 04/24/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Jasinschi, Radu, Ekin, Ahmet
• Application Number:
  US11/718,916
• Publication Number:
  US 20080095442A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/187
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/62 Text, e.g. of license plates, overlay texts or captions on TV images
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/10 Character recognition

Abstract

The method of the invention comprises two steps of adapting an image: identifying a text in the image and modifying a typographical aspect of the text. The electronic device of the invention is operative to perform the method of the invention. The invention also relates to control software for making a programmable device operative to perform the method of the invention and to electronic circuitry for use in the device of the invention.

Claims

1. A method of adapting an image, the method comprising the steps of:

identifying (1) a text in the image, the text having a typographical aspect; and

modifying (3) the typographical aspect of the text.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the typographical aspect comprises font size.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the step of identifying (1) a text in the image comprises detecting horizontal text line boundaries by determining which ones of a plurality of image lines comprise a highest number of horizontal edges.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the step of identifying (1) a text in the image further comprises determining a set of pixel values only occurring between the horizontal text line boundaries and identifying pixels as text pixels if the pixels have a value from said set of pixel values.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the step of identifying (1) a text in the image further comprises determining a word boundary by performing a morphological closing operation on the identified text pixels and identifying further pixels as text pixels if the further pixels are located within the word boundary.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the step of modifying the typographical aspect of the text comprises processing (5) text pixels, which form the text, and overlaying (7) the processed pixels on the image.

7. A method as claimed in claim 6, further comprising the step of replacing (9) at least one of the text pixels with a replacement pixel, the value of the replacement pixel being based on a value of a non-text pixel.

8. A method as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that the value of the replacement pixel is based on a median color of non-text pixels in a neighborhood of the at least one text pixel.

9. A method as claimed in claim 7, further comprising the step of replacing a further text pixel in a neighborhood of the replacement pixel with a further replacement pixel, the value of the further replacement pixel being at least partly based on the replacement pixel.

10. A method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the step of modifying (3) the typographical aspect of the text comprises scrolling the text in subsequent images.

11. A method as claimed in claim 10, further comprising the step of enabling a user to define a rate at which the text will be scrolled.

13. Control software for making a programmable device operative to perform the method of claim 1.

17. Electronic circuitry for use in the electronic device of claim 1.

12. A method of enabling to adapt an image, the method comprising the steps of:

identifying (1) a text in the image, the text having a typographical aspect; and

transmitting the text with a modified typographical aspect to an electronic device which is capable of overlaying the text with the modified typographical aspect on the image.

14. An electronic device (21) comprising electronic circuitry (23), the electronic circuitry (23) functionally comprising:

an identifier (25) for identifying a text in the image, the text having a typographical aspect; and

a modifier (27) for modifying the typographical aspect of the text.

15. An electronic device comprising electronic circuitry, the electronic circuitry functionally comprising:

a receiver for receiving a text with a modified typographical aspect and an identification identifying an image; and

an overlayer for overlaying the text with the modified typographical aspect on the image.

16. An electronic device comprising electronic circuitry, the electronic circuitry functionally comprising:

an identifier for identifying a text in an image, the text having a typographical aspect; and

a transmitter for transmitting both the text with a modified typographical aspect and an identification identifying the image to an electronic device which is capable of overlaying the text with the modified typographical aspect on the image.