Abstract: A method for generating a stream of image data which is to be transmitted via a data channel, in particular a mobile radio channel. In this method, the images are divided into a quantity of macroblocks. In addition, the image information elements are divided into classes of information elements of the same kind. The image data of at least a portion of the classes are inserted into the stream by macroblocks. In a deviation from the proposed H.263 standard, the image data in each macroblock which have a fixed word length, in particular the DQUANT and INTRADC values, are combined into a class (ADMIN+DC-INTRA) provided for them, and are inserted consecutively into the stream with no variable-length image data being transmitted between them. A method for analyzing a stream of data is also provided.

Abstract: An information processing device of the present invention can be connected to a plurality of external devices by daisy chain format. The external device is provided with DPRAM (Dual Port RAM) and is capable of being connected not only with the information processing device, but also with another external device. DPPRM has an up-load area and an down-load area. DPRAM is able to transfer data in both directions as it is connected with the information processing device and other external devices by duplex bus. One device obtains permission to use DPRAM, writes in a specific address and generates an interrupt signal to the other device. The other device that detected the interrupt signal processes the data referring to DPRAM and transfers the data by releasing the permission to use DPRAM.

Abstract: An image compression method in which the size of a compressed low resolution version of an image is used to either estimate a compression factor for the image needed to obtain an aim compressed image size, or to estimate the size of the compressed image resulting from a predetermined compression factor. The estimate can be made with the aid of a predetermined relationship between compressed image size, image resolution and compression factor, which relationship may be a linear or linear inverse one. This relationship is preferably obtained from images of the same class as the one to be compressed. The image is then compressed using the estimated or predetermined compression factor. An apparatus using such a method is also provided.

Abstract: Collation Fourier image data (FIG. 1D) FB generated by performing the two-dimensional discrete Fourier transform (DFT) for the image data (FIG. 1C) of a collation pattern is synthesized with registration Fourier image data (FIG. 1B) generated by performing the two-dimensional DFT for the image data of a registration pattern. After amplitude suppression processing is performed for the resultant data, two-dimensional DFT is performed. A correlation peak is extracted from a correlation component area which appears in the synthesized Fourier image data (FIG. 1E) for which the two-dimensional DFT has been performed. A predetermined area including this correlation peak is then masked (FIG. 1F). The two-dimensional DFT is performed for the masked synthesized Fourier image data, and amplitude restoration processing is performed for the data. The resultant data is re-synthesized with the registration Fourier image data FA, and the two-dimensional IDFT is performed for the synthesized data.

Abstract: A hardware architecture for mathematical morphology operations such as dilation and erosion of an image signal is provided. A hardware architecture for an image dilation operation includes: a plurality of adders corresponding to the size of the structuring element for adding the image signal and a structuring element symmetrical to the image signal with respect to the origin to output the result; a plurality of stores for temporarily storing the signals output from the plural adders; a comparator for comparing data stored in the plural stores with feedback data to output the maximum data; and an outputting device for outputting the output signal of the comparator as a dilation operation value if the dilation operation with respect to all structuring elements for one image signal is completed and feeding back the output signal of the comparator as input data of the comparator if not.

Abstract: The number of scans of a printing head is controlled so that printing is completed by a smaller number of scans than the predetermined number of scans on printing regions by the first and last scans upon printing on the printing medium by the printing head. In a facsimile apparatus having the printing apparatus, additional information generated by an internal character generator of the facsimile apparatus is transferred to be printed in the first or last scan of the printing head upon outputting the received image data, so that printing is completed by a smaller number of scans than the predetermined number of scans.

Abstract: A handwritten character recognition method including the steps of acquiring coordinate information and writing pressure information relating to a handwritten character string as three-dimensional time series information, correcting the handwritten character string data through use of a warping function in order to minimize the overall degree of difference among a plurality of sets of handwritten character string data, and comparing the thus-corrected character string data with registered handwritten character string data by dynamic programming matching so as to obtain the overall degree of difference between the handwritten character string data and the corrected handwritten character string data.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an outline font. The purpose lies in supplying a transforming and rendering method in the shape where the important form of the shape, such as the thickness of the stroke, will be maintained from the basic shape, and at the same time the whole size of the shape can be fitted into a given bounding box. The present invention supplies the transformation method of a handwriting font including searching for the medial axis of a given element, obtaining contact points by using maximal inscribed circles with the medial axis and points of the medial axis as a center, and applying the information about the medial axis points and the contact points in case of a transformation of the element in the transformation method of handwriting where a given element can be optionally transformed in sizes in order to achieve the purpose. The present invention enables the transformation of the shape.

Abstract: To estimate the configuration of a figure in a captured image, a silhouette image of the figure is scanned to create a signed distance image. This image identifies the distance of each pixel in the image to the closest edge of the silhouette, and indicates whether the pixel is inside or outside of the silhouette. Multiple distance images of this type are employed to generate an eigen-points model, which provides an affine mapping from the signed distance images to the limb parameters of an authored skeleton. When a new input image is received, it is first processed to create the signed-distance image, and this image is applied to the eigen-points model to estimate limb parameters, such as the locations of various joints in the figure. From this information, each foreground pixel in the captured image can be assigned to one of the limbs.

Abstract: Disclosed is an image coding method and apparatus for preventing a coding quantity of coding data from being increased when a redundancy between image planes is low. A selector outputs either an optimum motion vector output from a motion vector detecting device or a motion vector output from a motion vector storing section to a real time image coding device for performing coding on the basis of an evaluation value output from the motion vector detecting device. If it is decided, according to the evaluation value, that a redundancy between a reference image plane and a coding object image plane is low, the motion vector is selected so that the coding quantity of the coding data can be prevented from being increased.

Abstract: The method determines how transformations in a piecewise-polynomial image model affect the model's fidelity. Up to third order two-dimensional polynomials are supported. The fidelity measure is the total squared error between model predictions and pixel values. The transformations supported are merging two domains, adding a single pixel or a group of pixels to a domain, removing a single pixel or a group of pixels from a domain, and altering the intensity value of a sample or group of samples from a surface over a domain. Details are disclosed for applying the method to 256 level images up to 640.times.480 pixels in size. Also disclosed is a procedure for efficiently performing coordinate transformations on two-dimensional moment vectors that extends the method to arbitrarily sized images. A disclosed procedure for efficiently converting a domain's moment vector to a least squares polynomial coefficient vector and automatically zeroing unsupported coefficients makes the method useful for freeform domains.

Abstract: A peripheral communications terminal and interfacing method whereby host terminal intercommunication can proceed when the communications terminal is off-line without requiring host driver interface modification. This communications terminal incorporates a communications enabling unit that selectably uses DTR signaling or similar handshaking to notify the host whether data can be received. This communications enabling unit is set to either a first "busy" mode indicating that receipt of streaming data is not possible when the processor of the communications terminal, which possesses at least a printing function, cannot further process data, or a second "override" mode which allows receipt of incoming data to continue even when the processor cannot process data.

Abstract: Pattern encoding is carried out by 1) substituting an index data of a registered pattern for a position data in a library with respect to an index data peculiar to each of the extracted patterns, 2) taking a difference between an off-set position data of the extracted pattern and an off-set position data of the registered pattern whereby an off-set position difference data is provided, and 3) encoding the position data and the off-set position difference data and providing an encoded data. A pattern extracting unit obtains the extracted patterns from image data. An accumulating/checking unit accumulates the extracted patterns as accumulated patterns, assigns indexes specific to the accumulated patterns, and checks each extracted pattern by comparison with the accumulated patterns. When an accumulated pattern is found to match the extracted pattern, the accumulating/checking unit provides a position data within a library instead of the index data, and also provides the off-set position difference data.

Abstract: A method for encoding mode signals of a target block of M.times.N pixels having a binary value `0` or `255` is provided. If the target block is determined as neither "all.sub.-- 0" nor "all.sub.-- 255", either a frame-based coding or a field-based coding is selected to generate a coding mode signal, wherein the frame-based coding represents the target block is encoded on an M.times.N pixels basis and the field-based coding represents the target block is encoded on an M/2.times.N pixels basis, and a base mode of the target block based on the "all.sub.-- 0", "all.sub.-- 255" and/or the coding mode signal. If the frame-based coding is selected, a frame mode is generated.

Abstract: A method is described for printing a colorant controlled neutral black object in a bitmap-based digital color printing system. The method is useful in systems where the black colorant is not sufficiently opaque to hide non-neutral combinations of non-black colorants mixed into the black color. Black colors in a color printing system can be composed either of black colorant only or of black plus non-black colorants such as cyan, magenta, and yellow. If the non-black colorants are not mixed in nearly equal quantities, they will add hue to the black color. A sufficiently opaque black colorant can hide this objectionable non-black hue. However, in cases where the black colorant is not opaque enough, it is important to use equal or nearly equal combinations of cyan, magenta, and yellow so that little net hue will be introduced into the black color. Equally important in some printing systems is the ability to control the amount of total colorant used in forming a process black color.

Abstract: A method and apparatus optimizes the process of locating an image of a part by exploiting at least one set of regular co-linear features in the image of the part. A selected one of the at least one set of regular co-linear features is used to quickly correlate a set of image points and a set of model points which are likely to correspond to each other. A one to one correspondence of a subset of model points to a subset of image points yields a single possible location for the part in the image, which location can be quickly and reliably checked for correctness, and if incorrect, a next possible set to set correspondence can be tested until the correct location is found.

Abstract: An image processing apparatus includes a feature data extracting circuit for detecting feature data indicative of density characteristics of a document based on image signals inputted from an input terminal, a density correction table selecting circuit composed of a neural circuit network which is learned beforehand so as to recognize image characteristics based on the feature data, and a density correcting circuit for selecting a density correction table in accordance with image characteristics based on a selection signal from the density correction table selecting circuit so that the density of image signals is corrected based on the density correction table. As a result, characteristics of the document are extracted, so that the density of the image signals can be corrected based thereon.

Abstract: An optical character recognition system recognizes character images in a document image comprised of character areas and non-character areas. The system includes a step of obtaining multi-value image data representing the document image, the multi-value image data having a first resolution and comprising plural pixels each having a pixel density value. The system binarizes the multi-value image data to produce binary image data having a second resolution for the document image, the second resolution being greater than the first resolution. The target pixel in the multi-value image data is binarized based on pixels adjacent to the target pixel.

Abstract: A printing system for printing an image of a photographic film having an identification code onto a photosensitive material comprises a first reading device for reading the identification code; a second reading device for reading image information on the photographic film; a first inputting device for inputting a first correction data for the image information read by the second reading device; a second inputting device for inputting a second correction data for the image information read by the second reading device; a third reading device for reading the identification code from the photographic film; a printing device for printing the image of the photographic film onto the photosensitive material; and a control device for controlling the printing device on the basis of the correction data corresponding to the identification code read by the third reading device.

Abstract: An improved interpolation method in which a threshold value used for determining a pixel value of a pixel generated by interpolation according to a context (state value of adjacent pixels). In the interpolation method, the ambiguity between the interpolation value and the threshold value is removed by using the context (state value of the reference pixels around the interpolated pixel), thereby reducing the blocking and smoothing phenomena in the restored binary image.