Abstract: A system and methods for controlling print quality of a printed product of a printer, which may comprise an image acquisition unit for acquiring an electronic test image of printing on the printed product after printing by the printer, an image processor for comparing the test image of the printing with a prototype image of desired printing and determining a match between the printing on the test image and the printing on the prototype image, and means for generating an alarm representative of a print quality problem when the match between the printing on the test image and the printing on the prototype image does not satisfy a predetermined condition. The printed product is not required to include any reference marks.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for estimating drug effectiveness from a drug diffusion sample are provided. The drug diffusion sample includes a plate having a medium containing a test organism and a plurality of antibiotic disks positioned on the plate in a medium. An inhibition zone surrounds each of the antibiotic disks after a prescribed incubation period. The drug diffusion sample is illuminated, and an image of the drug diffusion sample is acquired with a video camera. The image is analyzed by determining the locations of the antibiotic disks, determining the average brightness and the brightness variance of the image in a region surrounding each of the antibiotic disks, and estimating the radius of the inhibition zone surrounding each of the antibiotic disks from the average brightness and the brightness variance. The radius of the inhibition zone is indicative of drug effectiveness.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for estimating drug effectiveness from a drug diffusion sample are provided. The drug diffusion sample includes a plate having a medium containing a test organism and a plurality of antibiotic disks positioned on the plate in a medium. An inhibition zone surrounds each of the antibiotic disks after a prescribed incubation period. The drug diffusion sample is illuminated, and an image of the drug diffusion sample is acquired with a video camera. The image is analyzed by determining the locations of the antibiotic disks, determining the average brightness and the brightness variance of the image in a region surrounding each of the antibiotic disks, and estimating the radius of the inhibition zone surrounding each of the antibiotic disks from the average brightness and the brightness variance. The radius of the inhibition zone is indicative of drug effectiveness.

Abstract: Continuous tone images, represented by original data files are compressed by (1) transforming by a lapped orthogonal transform the original file of data to generate a transform file of coefficients, (2) quantizing the transform coefficients, and (3) coding the quantized values to generate a compressed data file, the lapped orthogonal transform being arranged to compute all transform coefficients by means only of bit shifts, negations, and adds. In another aspect, the quantization and coding are performed on groups of transformed coefficients.

Abstract: Periodic components of a data signal are generated from a periodic original signal in a manner to cause the periodic components to represent not only the data but also information about characteristics of the original signal; subsequently both the data and the information about the original signal characteristics are derived from the periodic components. The periodic components of a data signal are generated at frequencies within a frequency band and in a manner such that the components precisely define a fixed frequency outside the spectral band.

Abstract: A system and method enhances a first pictorial representation of an image within a first frequency band so as to provide an enhanced pictorial representation of the image. The system and method uses information contained within at least one other registered pictorial representation of the image within a second frequency band and having a better resolution than the first pictorial representation of the image. In accordance with the operation of the system and carrying out the steps of method of the present invention, the other pictorial representation is modified, preferably by effectively blurring the representation to the resolution of the first pictorial representation such that local correlation information between the resulting modified pictorial representation and the first pictorial representation are determined and used to generate the enhanced version of the first pictorial representation.