SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATED TEXT AND HALFTONE SEGMENTATION
First Claim
1. A method for segmenting a text region from a pictorial region within a scanned image comprising:
- scanning a document to obtain scanned image data representing the document;
generating a binary image from the scanned image data, wherein the binary image comprises a two dimensional array of pixels and where a value of the pixel corresponds to the pixel being one of an ON pixel and an OFF pixel;
identifying a connected component within the binary image, the connected component comprises a group of pixels enclosing a set of connected pixels having the same value;
determining at least two of a size label, a solidity label, and run length label for the connected component, wherein each of the size label, the solidity label, and the run length label identifies the connected component as being either a text area or a non-text area, and where the connected component corresponds to a text component if the at least two of the size label, the solidity label, and the run length label identify the connected component as being a text component; and
classifying the connected component as a text region within the scanned image when the connected component is identified as being a text component.
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Abstract
A method and system for segmenting text from non-text portions of a digital image using the size, solidity, and run length characteristics of connected components within the image data. For a connected component comprising a rectangular group of pixels enclosing a set of connected pixels having the same binary state, the size characteristic may be based on a ratio of height to width of the connected component and the total number of pixels within the connected component, the solidity characteristic may be based on a ratio of pixels within a convex hull of the set of connected pixel to a total number of pixels within the connected component, and the run length characteristic may be based on a number of transitions within the connected component.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method for segmenting a text region from a pictorial region within a scanned image comprising:
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scanning a document to obtain scanned image data representing the document; generating a binary image from the scanned image data, wherein the binary image comprises a two dimensional array of pixels and where a value of the pixel corresponds to the pixel being one of an ON pixel and an OFF pixel; identifying a connected component within the binary image, the connected component comprises a group of pixels enclosing a set of connected pixels having the same value; determining at least two of a size label, a solidity label, and run length label for the connected component, wherein each of the size label, the solidity label, and the run length label identifies the connected component as being either a text area or a non-text area, and where the connected component corresponds to a text component if the at least two of the size label, the solidity label, and the run length label identify the connected component as being a text component; and classifying the connected component as a text region within the scanned image when the connected component is identified as being a text component. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for or segmenting a text region from a pictorial region within a scanned image comprising:
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a scanner operable to scan a document and generate scanned image data representing the document; and a processor operable to generate a binary image from the scanned image data, wherein the binary image comprises a two dimensional array of pixels and where a value of the pixel corresponds to the pixel being one of an ON pixel and an OFF pixel; identify a connected component within the binary image, the connected component comprises a group of pixels enclosing a set of contiguous pixels having the same value; determine a size label, a solidity label, and run length label for the connected component, wherein each of the size label, the solidity label, and the run length label identifies the connected component as being either a text area or a non-text area, and where the connected component corresponds to a text component if the size label, the solidity label, and the run length label identify the connected component as being a text component; and identify a text region within the scanned image as an area of the scanned image that corresponds a text component. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of segmenting text from non-text portions of a digital image, comprising:
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locating a connected component within digital image data corresponding to a document having a text region and a non-text region, where the connected component comprises a group of pixels enclosing a set of connected ON pixels; identifying a size label based on a ratio of height to width of the connected component and an area of the connected component; identifying a solidity label based on a ratio of pixels within a convex hull of connected ON pixels to a total number of pixels within the connected component; identifying a run length label is based on a number of transitions within the connected component, and classifying the connected component as the text region when at least two of the size label, the solidity label, and the run length label indicated that the connected component is a text area. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification