System and method for separating foreground information from background information on a document
First Claim
1. Method of separating foreground information from background information on a document where the foreground information is superimposed on the background information, the steps of the method comprising:
- dividing the document into a plurality of segments with a plurality of segments including an expected threshold value and a plurality of segments containing only background information;
generating from each said segment at least one signal representative of information within said segment;
determining at least one first frequency distribution of at least one extreme value of the intensity of said signals in a plurality of said segments, where the determined frequency distribution comprises one main mode representative of said background information;
determining a second frequency distribution of the intensity of signals from a plurality of said segments; and
jointly evaluating said first frequency distribution and said second frequency distribution to determine said threshold value.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Foreground information is separated from background information on a document where the foreground information is superimposed in an additive or subtractive manner on the background information. The document is divided into a plurality of segments and a frequency distribution of extreme values of the signal intensity in each of the segments is determined. The frequency distribution so determined exhibits one main mode (background mode) which essentially contains the background information. If an adequate foreground/background separation cannot be achieved with the first two steps, the determination of a frequency distribution of signal intensities of the whole document is effected in a third step and a sharper separation effected by a fourth step in which a joint evaluation of the two frequency distributions is determined. To determine a threshold value of a signal intensity for the background information in the document, this threshold value is derived in a fifth step, either from the flank of the background mode towards the foreground information or from one of the flanks of a further main mode opposite the background mode, preferably by a linear approximation of a point on one of the flanks of the two main modes.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. Method of separating foreground information from background information on a document where the foreground information is superimposed on the background information, the steps of the method comprising:
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dividing the document into a plurality of segments with a plurality of segments including an expected threshold value and a plurality of segments containing only background information; generating from each said segment at least one signal representative of information within said segment; determining at least one first frequency distribution of at least one extreme value of the intensity of said signals in a plurality of said segments, where the determined frequency distribution comprises one main mode representative of said background information; determining a second frequency distribution of the intensity of signals from a plurality of said segments; and jointly evaluating said first frequency distribution and said second frequency distribution to determine said threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a machine to perform method steps for separating foreground information from background information on a document where the foreground information is superimposed on the background information, said method steps comprising:
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dividing the document into a plurality of segments with a plurality of segments including an expected threshold value and a plurality of segments containing only background information; generating from each said segment at least one signal representative of information within said segment; determining at least one first frequency distribution of at least one extreme value of the intensity of said signals in a plurality of said segments, where the determined frequency distribution comprises one main mode representative of said background information; determining a second frequency distribution of the intensity of signals from a plurality of said segments; and jointly evaluating said first frequency distribution and said second frequency distribution to determine said threshold value.
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17. An article of manufacture comprising:
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a computer useable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for separating foreground information from background information on a document where the foreground information is superimposed on the background information, the computer readable program means in said article of manufacture comprising; computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect dividing the document into a plurality of segments with a plurality of segments including an expected threshold value and a plurality of segments containing only background information; computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect generating from each said segment at least one signal representative of information within said segment; computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect determining at least one first frequency distribution of at least one extreme value of the intensity of said signals in a plurality of said segments, where the determined frequency distribution comprises one main mode representative of said background information; computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect determining a second frequency distribution of the intensity of signals from a plurality of said segments; and computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect jointly evaluating said first frequency distribution and said second frequency distribution to determine said threshold value.
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Specification