초록 ▼

A line image or a line signature is optically scanned to generate digital signals for storage in an image matrix. These digital signals represent black and white cells defining the line signature or line image and are initially processed by tracing the image boundary. During the tracing a “thinning”

A line image or a line signature is optically scanned to generate digital signals for storage in an image matrix. These digital signals represent black and white cells defining the line signature or line image and are initially processed by tracing the image boundary. During the tracing a “thinning”or “peeling off”operation is performed that evaluates black cells in the image matrix for conversion into white cell digital signals. This thinning or peeling off process, also identified as data compression, continues until the line signature or line image is composed of a single cell thickness. The final phase of the data compression operation includes another boundary tracing of the one cell thick image, and connecting a sequence of boundary points defining each black cell to form a string of vectors which represent the signature. The resulting vector catalog comprises a composition of data including a vector starting point and vector directions which are encoded and stored for future retrieval. When a stored line signature or line image is to be retrieved for display, the encoded vector data is recalled from storage to generate on a cathode ray tube the original vector data. This operation is known as data decompression and produces on the cathode ray tube a synthesis of the original line image or line signature. The compression and decompression operations, except thinning or peeling off, are also applicable to textured images or images having grayscale and thickness. Such textured images are first subdivided into binary images, each representing one bit of the grayscale, then the vector boundary encoding process is completed without thinning. The encoded vectors are stored for subsequent retrieval and display.

대표청구항 ▼

Apparatus for compressing a pattern of digitized input data having a multiple bit width for removal of excess information and converting into a vector pattern, comprising in combination: an image matrix for storing each value of digitized input data produced by pattern scanning. a process array with

Apparatus for compressing a pattern of digitized input data having a multiple bit width for removal of excess information and converting into a vector pattern, comprising in combination: an image matrix for storing each value of digitized input data produced by pattern scanning. a process array within said image matrix through which the digitized input data in the image matrix is shifted, means for scanning each bit of the input data in the image matrix and generating a boundary signal at a transition between a data bit of a first value and a data bit of a second value, means for tracing a boundary outlined by the stored input data during a tracing sequence in response to the boundary signal in a single bit sequence, means for changing the value of excess information bits during the tracing sequence from the first value to the second value, means responsive to each information bit of the first value after completion of the tracing sequence to generate an encoded representation of vectors having a direction based on surrounding data bits of the first and second values, and means for storing the encoded representations of the vectors in recoverable memory.