Client dependent image processing for browser-based image document viewer for handheld client devices

• US 7,721,204 B2
• Filed: 07/29/2004
• Issued: 05/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Eschbach, Reiner, Rainero, Emil V.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Stephen S
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ludwig, Matthew J
• Application Number:
  US10/901,240
• Publication Number:
  US 20060026513A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,119 Days
• Field of Search: 715/500, 715/501.1, 715/530, 715/523, 715/273, 715/242, 715/255, 715/234, 358/1.15, 382/232, 382/276, 382/254, 709/202, 709/203
• US Class Current: 715/273
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00307 with a mobile telephone apparatus constructional features of portable telephone sets H04M1/0202; mobile radio systems H04W84/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/33307 prior to start of transmission, input or output of the picture signal only
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/33353 according to the available bandwidth used for a single communication, e.g. the number of ISDN channels used
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/33376 according to characteristics or state of one of the communicating parties, e.g. available memory capacity
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2343 involving reformatting operations of video signals for distribution or compliance with end-user requests or end-user device requirements video transcoding H04N19/40; media packet handling at the source H04L65/762
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25825 involving client display capabilities, e.g. screen resolution of a mobile phone optimising the visualisation of content during browsing in the Internet G06F16/9577; processing of terminal status or physical abilities in wireless networks H04W8/22; authentication in wireless network security H04W12/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/33321 Image or page size, e.g. A3, A4
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/33378 Type or format of data, e.g. colour or B/W, halftone or binary, computer image file or facsimile data

Abstract

Methods and systems that dynamically control and/or direct document image processing based on one or more of client device display capabilites, image formats supported by the client device, network bandwidth, document file format, document content and user hints.

Claims

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

predefining a set of relationships between zoom levels and tonal reproduction curves in one or more client dependent image processing tables;

automatically determining one or more parameters associated with at least one of a client device display and a data network for transmitting the image data from the server to the client device, based on a type and/or content of the document requested, the one or more parameters comprising an image data display zoom level requested by the client device; and

processing image data by enhancing a contrast of the data values using a tonal reproduction curve based on the one or more parameters determined, the tonal reproduction curve being selected, based on the requested zoom level, from the predefined set of relationships stored in the one or more client dependent image processing tables, said processing being performed by the server prior to transmitting the image data to the client device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining one or more parameters further comprises determining at least one of a client device display capability, a bandwidth of the data transmission network, a transmission speed of the network, and user-provided hints for displaying the image data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining one or more parameters further comprises determining the one or more parameters dynamically.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein processing image data is dynamically modified according to one or more parameters associated with at least the client device display.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the image data further comprises:

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

scaling the raster image to the requested zoom level; and

compressing the image data.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said compressing step includes processing the image data to reduce the number of the color levels.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein processing the image data further comprises performing a filtering operation of the scaled raster image to increase an image sharpness of the scaled raster image.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the processed data associated with the image between the server and at least the client display device.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein transmitting the processed data comprises transmitting the processed data via a wireless network.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the processed data associated with the image on the client device display.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein displaying the processed data comprises displaying the processed data on a handheld computing device or a mobile computing device.

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

accesses a set of relationships between zoom levels and tonal reproduction curves that is predefined in one or more client dependent image processing tables;

automatically determines one or more parameters associated with at least one of a client device display and a data network for transmitting the image data from the server to the client device, device based on a type and/or content of the document requested, the one or more parameters comprising an image data display zoom level requested by the client device; and

processes image data by enhancing a contrast of the data values using a tonal reproduction curve based on the one or more parameters determined, the tonal reproduction curve being selected, based on requested zoom level, from the predefined set of relationships stored in the one or more client dependent image processing tables, said processing being performed by the server prior to transmitting the image data to the client device.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the controller determines the one or more parameters further based on at least one of a client device display capability, a bandwidth of the data transmission network, a transmission speed of the network, and user-provided hints for displaying the image data.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the controller determines the one or more parameters dynamically.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the controller dynamically modifies image data according to one or more parameters associated with at least the client device display.

16. The system of claim 12, the controller further processing the image data by:

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

scaling the raster image to the requested zoom level; and

compressing the image data by performing color mapping to reduce the number of the color levels.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein said compressing includes processing the image data to reduce the number of the color levels.

18. The system of claim 16, the controller further processing the image data by performing a filtering operation of the scaled raster image to increase an image sharpness of the scaled raster image.

19. The system of claim 12, the controller further transmitting the processed data associated with the image between the server and at least the client display device.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein transmitting the processed data comprises transmitting the processed data via a wireless network.

21. The system of claim 12, the controller further displaying the processed data associated with the image on the client device display.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein displaying the processed data comprises displaying the processed data on a handheld computing device or a mobile computing device.

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

accessing a set of relationships between zoom levels and tonal reproduction curves that is predefined in one or more client dependent image processing tables;

automatically determining one or more parameters associated with at least one of a client device display and a data network for transmitting the image data from the server to the client device, device based on a type and/or content of the document requested, the one or more parameters comprising an image data display zoom level requested by the client device; and

processing image data by enhancing a contrast of the data values using a tonal reproduction curve based on the one or more parameters determined, the tonal reproduction curve being selected, based on the requested zoom level, from the predefined set of relationships stored in the one or more client dependent image processing tables, said processing being performed by the server prior to transmitting the image data to the client device.

24. The machine-readable medium of claim 23, wherein determining one or more parameters further comprises determining at least one of a client device display capability, a bandwidth of the data transmission network, a transmission speed of the network, and user-provided hints for displaying the image data.

25. The machine-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the processing of the image data is dynamically modified according to one or more parameters associated with at least the client device display.

26. The machine-readable medium of claim 23, wherein processing of the image data further comprises:

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

scaling the raster image to the requested zoom level; and

compressing the image data.

27. The machine-readable medium of claim 23, wherein said compressing includes processing the image data to reduce the number of the color levels.

28. The machine-readable medium of claim 23, wherein processing the image data further comprises performing a filtering operation of the scaled raster image to increase an image sharpness of the scaled raster image.