Capture of stylized TV table data via OCR
First Claim
1. A method of detecting text in a television video display table, comprising:
- saving a frame of video representing an image to a memory device;
determining that the frame of video contains a table having cells containing text;
storing a working copy of the frame of video to a memory;
isolating text in the table by;
removing any table boundaries from the image;
removing any cell boundaries from the image;
determining if the image has three dimensional or shadow attributes in the table boundaries or cell boundaries and removing any three dimensional or shadow attributes identified, wherein determining if the image has three dimensional or shadow attributes in the table boundaries or cell boundaries is carried out by finding line patterns adjacent and outside table or cell boundaries that track a table or cell boundary;
where determining if a cell has three dimensional or shadow attributes is carried out by subtracting a variable rectangular band of pixels from other cell values to see what size band maximizes cancellation in order to distinguish the cell from the text area;
thereby producing text isolated against a contrasting color background; and
processing the isolated text using an optical character recognition (OCR) engine to extract the text as data.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In certain implementations consistent with the present invention, a method of detecting text in a television video display table involves saving a frame of video to a memory device; determining that the frame of video contains a table having cells containing text; storing a working copy of the frame of video to a memory; isolating text in the table by: removing any table boundaries from the image; removing any cell boundaries from the image; determining if the image has three dimensional or shadow attributes and removing any three dimensional or shadow attributes identified; thereby producing text isolated against a contrasting color background; and processing the isolated text using an optical character recognition (OCR) engine to extract the text as data. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method of detecting text in a television video display table, comprising:
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saving a frame of video representing an image to a memory device; determining that the frame of video contains a table having cells containing text; storing a working copy of the frame of video to a memory; isolating text in the table by; removing any table boundaries from the image; removing any cell boundaries from the image; determining if the image has three dimensional or shadow attributes in the table boundaries or cell boundaries and removing any three dimensional or shadow attributes identified, wherein determining if the image has three dimensional or shadow attributes in the table boundaries or cell boundaries is carried out by finding line patterns adjacent and outside table or cell boundaries that track a table or cell boundary; where determining if a cell has three dimensional or shadow attributes is carried out by subtracting a variable rectangular band of pixels from other cell values to see what size band maximizes cancellation in order to distinguish the cell from the text area; thereby producing text isolated against a contrasting color background; and processing the isolated text using an optical character recognition (OCR) engine to extract the text as data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of detecting text in a television video display table, comprising:
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saving a frame of video representing an image to a memory device; determining that the frame of video contains a table having cells containing text by detecting rectangular shapes of size adequate to contain legible text; storing a working copy of the frame of video to a memory; isolating text in the table by; removing any table boundaries from the image; removing any cell boundaries from the image by matching a display to a template in order to locate the boundaries; determining if the image has three dimensional or shadow attributes in the table boundaries or cell boundaries and removing any three dimensional or shadow attributes identified, wherein determining if the image has three dimensional or shadow attributes in the table boundaries or cell boundaries is carried out by finding line patterns adjacent and outside table or cell boundaries that track a table or cell boundary; where determining if a cell has three dimensional or shadow attributes is carried out by subtracting a variable rectangular band of pixels from other cell values to see what size band maximizes cancellation in order to distinguish the cell from the text area; thereby producing text isolated against a contrasting color background; and processing the isolated text using an optical character recognition (OCR) engine to extract the text as data to a metadata database. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of detecting text in a television video display table, comprising:
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saving a frame of video representing an image to a memory device; determining that the frame of video contains a table having cells containing text by detecting rectangular shapes of size adequate to contain legible text and then by matching a display to a template; storing a working copy of the frame of video to a memory; isolating text in the table by; removing any table boundaries from the image; removing any cell boundaries from the image by matching a display to a template in order to locate the boundaries; determining if the image has three dimensional or shadow attributes in the table boundaries or cell boundaries and removing any three dimensional or shadow attributes identified, wherein determining if the image has three dimensional or shadow attributes in the table boundaries or cell boundaries is carried out by finding line patterns adjacent and outside table or cell boundaries that track a table or cell boundary; where determining if a cell has three dimensional or shadow attributes is further carried out by subtracting a variable rectangular band of pixels from other cell values to see what size band maximizes cancellation in order to distinguish the cell from the text area; thereby producing text isolated against a contrasting color background; converting the text isolated against a contrasting color background to black text on a white background; and processing the isolated text using an optical character recognition (OCR) engine to extract the text as data to a metadata database. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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Specification