Method of scaling a graphic character

• US 20060119624A1
• Filed: 12/07/2005
• Published: 06/08/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dynamic Data Technologies LLC
• Original Assignee: Micronas Gmbh (TDK Corporation)
• Inventors: Langenkamp, Ulrich, Wendel, Dirk, Hahn, Marko
• Granted Patent: US 7,532,216 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/660
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/40 Scaling of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. expanding or contracting

Abstract

A graphic character that has a character matrix with a number of character units that are indivisible at least in either a horizontal direction or a vertical direction is scaled by dividing the character matrix into one first and at least one second character segment, each comprising at least one of the character units. The first character segment is symmetrically scaled using a first scaling factor and the second character segment is scaled using a second scaling factor different from the first scaling factor.

Claims

1. A method of scaling a graphic character which has a character matrix with a number of character units that are indivisible at least in a horizontal direction or a vertical direction, the method comprising:

dividing the character matrix into a first and at least one second character segment, each comprising at least one of the character units;

symmetrically scaling the first character segment using a first scaling factor; and

scaling the at least one second character segment using a second scaling factor different from the first scaling factor.

2. The method of claim 1, where

in a symmetrical scaling of the first character segment by a first scaling factor greater than one, the character units of the first segment are displayed repeatedly adjacently according to the value of the first scaling factor;

and

in a symmetrical scaling of the first character segment by a first scaling factor smaller than one, the first character segment is divided into at least two subsegments, each having the same number of character units, while the same number of character units is deleted from each character segment at the same respective positions of the subsegment.

3. The method of claim 1, where the first scaling factor is greater than one and is an integer.

4. The method of claim 1, where the first scaling factor is the reciprocal value of an integer.

5. The method of claim 2, where the character matrix has an information segment containing character information and a blank segment containing no character information, and is divided such that the first character segment comprises the information segment and the at least one second character segment comprises the blank segment.

6. The method of claim 5, where the at least one second character segment is selected such that it consists of one character unit.

7. The method of claim 2, where the character matrix is divided into one first character segment and two second character segments, the first character segment being located between the second character segments.

8. The method of claim 7, where the second character segments are selected such that they each comprise exactly one character unit.

9. The method of claim 7, where the second character segments are scaled using different second scaling factors.

10. The method of claim 1, where the scaling comprises a filtering of the scaled character matrix.

11. The method of claim 1, where the character units are lines of the character matrix.

12. The method of claim 1, where the character units are columns of the character matrix.

13. The method of claim 1, where the character matrix comprises lines and columns, and wherein the lines and/or columns are scaled.

14. The method of claim 1, where the second scaling factor is an integer.

15. The method of claim 1, where the second scaling factor is a non-integer.

16. The method of claim 1, where the graphic character is a teletext character having a character matrix of 12 columns by 10 lines.