Abstract: A method and device for dithering video from a decoder. The method and device provide: selecting a segment of video frames from the video; computing a noise map for the segment of the video, the noise map computed from differences among pixels selected from spatially-distributed sampling patterns in the segment; determining contours of quantization artifacts within the video frame based on the noise map and a histogram of pixel values in the video frame; computing a gradient measurement of pixel values along the contours; identifying regions along the contours of quantization artifacts to apply dithering based on the noise map and the gradient measurement; determining a dithering strength based on the noise map and the gradient measurement; and applying dithering noise to the identified regions at the determined dithering strength.

Abstract: A method for matching an image-form textual string in an image to a regular expression is disclosed. The method includes constructing a representation of the regular expression and generating a candidate string of characters from the image-form textual string. The method further includes ascertaining whether there exists a match between the image-form textual string and the regular expression, the match is deemed achieved if a probability value associated with the match is above a predetermined matching threshold.

Abstract: An equipment carrier for transporting one or more work items includes a vertical frame attached to a base frame, where the base frame has, in a preferred embodiment, an expandable portion that telescopes out from the vertical frame. The equipment carrier also includes a locking mechanism for attaching the equipment carrier to a standard dolly. The use of the equipment carrier in combination with the dolly allows for easy transport of the equipment carrier. In one embodiment, work piece arms for supporting work items are pivotally connected to the front of the vertical frame allowing them to swing into horizontal position and then fold down into a vertical position. Also attached to the vertical frame is a strut that is also pivotally connected to the front face of the vertical frame. The strut swings up to support the work piece arm when it is in the horizontal position. The equipment carrier also has components for carrying additional accessories work items needed.

Abstract: Methods for pre-processing video sequences prior to compression to provide data reduction of the video sequence. In addition, after compression of the pre-processed video sequence, the bit rate of the pre-processed and compressed video sequence will be lower than the bit rate of the video sequence after compression but without pre-processing. A temporal filtering method is provided for pre-processing of video frames of a video sequence. In the method, pixel values of successive frames are filtered when the difference in the pixel values between the successive frames are within high and low threshold values. The high and low threshold values are determined adaptively depending on the illumination level of a video frame to provide variability of filtering strength depending on the illumination levels of a video frame.

Abstract: An adaptor bushing for an injection molding apparatus comprising a manifold, a nozzle assembly and a nozzle retention device, comprises: (i) a bushing passage for fluid communication between a passage of the manifold and a nozzle passage; (ii) at least one transition region joining portions of the bushing passage; and, (iii) at least one alignment surface effective to (a) align longitudinal centerlines of the bushing passage, manifold passage and nozzle passage and (b) eliminate or reduce relative tilt of the adaptor bushing, nozzle assembly and manifold so that with the adaptor bushing clamped between the manifold and nozzle assembly, leakage of material at the interfaces of the bushing passage with the manifold passage and nozzle passage is eliminated or reduced to an acceptable level under normal operating conditions. A manifold and nozzle assembly construction comprises an adaptor bushing interposed between a manifold passage and a nozzle passage.

Abstract: A method of obtaining a correspondence between a protein and a set of instances i=1 . . . , k of mutations of the protein is disclosed.

Abstract: A method, apparatus, system, and signal-bearing medium that in an embodiment determine a degree of correlation between a speaker output signal and a microphone input signal and modulate an adaptive gain of an acoustic echo canceller based on the degree of correlation.

Abstract: A scene-aware auto-exposure control process stabilizes changes in a camera's auto-exposure settings so as to reduce lighting and color flicker during image capture operations. A metric, referred to as the Modified Adjusted Luminance (MAL) metric, is defined to remain relatively constant as long as the lighting of the scene being captured remains relatively constant. Thus, scene changes such as an object moving into, out of, or around in a scene do not significantly affect the MAL metric's value and do not, therefore, trigger an exposure adjustment. Once the MAL metric indicates a scene's lighting is stable, the camera's auto-exposure operation may be suppressed. As long as incoming frames indicate a stable lighting condition (based on the MAL metric), auto-exposure operation may remain suppressed. When incoming frames result in a substantially different MAL over a specified number of frames, auto-exposure operation may be restored.

Abstract: A method of determining document characteristics prior to processing the document in a document scanner (10) includes capturing an input image of documents in an input tray (20); transmitting the images to a processor (65); determining characteristics of the documents; and processing the document based on the characteristics.

Abstract: A document scanner (10) includes an input tray (20) for holding documents (11); an input image capture device (30) for capturing images of documents in the input tray; an image processor for determining characteristics of documents; and the documents are processed based on the characteristics.

Abstract: A mist generating apparatus (100) is provided. The apparatus (100) has a longitudinal axis (L) and comprises first and second opposing surfaces (140,142) which define a transport fluid nozzle (150) between them. The apparatus (100) also has a working fluid passage (132) having an inlet (130) connectable to a supply of working fluid, and an outlet (160) on one of the first and second surfaces (140,142). The working fluid outlet (160) communicates with the transport fluid nozzle (150). The transport fluid nozzle (150) has a nozzle inlet (151) connectable to a supply of transport fluid, a nozzle outlet (155), and a throat portion (153) intermediate the nozzle inlet (151) and nozzle outlet (155). The nozzle throat (153) has a cross sectional area which is less than that of either the nozzle inlet (151) or the nozzle outlet (155).

Abstract: An adversarial approach in detecting inappropriate text content in images. An expression from a listing of expressions may be selected. The listing of expressions may include words, phrases, or other textual content indicative of a particular type of message. Using the selected expression as a reference, the image is searched for a section that could be similar to the selected expression. The similarity between the selected expression and the section of the image may be in terms of shape. The section may be scored against the selected expression to determine how well the selected expression matches the section. The score may be used to determine whether or not the selected expression is present in the image.

Abstract: A scene-aware auto-exposure control process stabilizes changes in a camera's auto-exposure settings so as to reduce lighting and color flicker during image capture operations. A metric, referred to as the Modified Adjusted Luminance (MAL) metric, is defined to remain relatively constant as long as the lighting of the scene being captured remains relatively constant. Thus, scene changes such as an object moving into, out of, or around in a scene do not significantly affect the MAL metric's value and do not, therefore, trigger an exposure adjustment. Once the MAL metric indicates a scene's lighting is stable, the camera's auto-exposure operation may be suppressed. As long as incoming frames indicate a stable lighting condition (based on the MAL metric), auto-exposure operation may remain suppressed. When incoming frames result in a substantially different MAL over a specified number of frames, auto-exposure operation may be restored.

Abstract: A system and method for gradually changing the resolution of a video signal to avoid a large spike in the video data transmitted between an encoder and a decoder. Upon detection of a change in the quality of source video, of the quality of the encoding process, or of the channel conditions, any of which may negatively impact the rate of frame transmission from encoder to decoder, or the quality of frames transmitted, a responsive change in the resolution of the video frame may be gradually implemented. To change the resolution by increasing the effective image size, each successive frame in a sequence of frames may contain additional pixel blocks in the expansion image area at the new resolution. In an embodiment, the decoder displays the video image at the original resolution until the resolution switch has been completed.

Abstract: A video coding system and method to adjust the sharpening procedures performed during post-processing by analyzing statistics information collected during encoding and decoding. The statistics information collected may be directed to the source of the video data, the operations executed during pre-processing and encoding of the video data, the transmission of the video data from encoder to decoder, or the operations executed during decoding. The statistics information may comprise a collection of data values, calculated statistics, or instructions for the suggested post-processing adjustments. Accumulated supplemental information may be transmitted from the encoder to the decoder via an out-of-band channel, associated with the encoded video sequence transmitted on a communications channel.

Abstract: A scene-aware auto-exposure control process stabilizes changes in a camera's auto-exposure settings so as to reduce lighting and color flicker during image capture operations. A metric, referred to as the Modified Adjusted Luminance (MAL) metric, is defined to remain relatively constant as long as the lighting of the scene being captured remains relatively constant. Thus, scene changes such as an object moving into, out of, or around in a scene do not significantly affect the MAL metric's value and do not, therefore, trigger an exposure adjustment. Once the MAL metric indicates a scene's lighting is stable, the camera's auto-exposure operation may be suppressed. As long as incoming frames indicate a stable lighting condition (based on the MAL metric), auto-exposure operation may remain suppressed. When incoming frames result in a substantially different MAL over a specified number of frames, auto-exposure operation may be restored.

Abstract: An automated broker provides contextual assignment of tasks. Service providers send the broker service provisioning information indicating the services they provide, with bids for referrals. Service consumers send the broker service requests, including criteria which the broker matches against the service provisioning information. The broker selects a recommended service provider, based on the service request's criteria, the referral bids, and reviews of the candidate service providers. Service request criteria may include a service provider's reputation in the consumer's social network, geographic proximity of the service provider to the location of the task, particular skills or experience of the service provider, the service provider's availability, and price. After a predetermined number of task assignment rejections by a service provider, a human administrator is notified.

Abstract: A pure adversarial optical character recognition (OCR) approach in identifying text content in images. An image and a search term are input to a pure adversarial OCR module, which searches the image for presence of the search term. The image may be extracted from an email by an email processing engine. The OCR module may split the image into several character-blocks that each has a reasonable probability of containing a character (e.g., an ASCII character). The OCR module may form a sequence of blocks that represent a candidate match to the search term and calculate the similarity of the candidate sequence to the search term. The OCR module may be configured to output whether or not the search term is found in the image and, if applicable, the location of the search term in the image.

Abstract: A video coding and transmission system may employ techniques for adapting buffered video to network condition changes. Video data may be coded as reference data and non-reference data. According to the embodiments, non-reference frame may be detected in buffered video while awaiting transmission to a network. When network degradation is detected, one or more of the buffered non-reference frames may be dropped when network degradation is detected. Information about the dropped frames may be passed to an encoder for updating buffer parameters for future encoding. In this manner, a video coding system may provide faster responses to changing network conditions than systems without such buffer management techniques.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention provide a control system for video processes that selectively control the operation of motion stabilization processes. According to the present invention, motion sensor data indicative of motion of a mobile device may be received and processed. A determination may be made by comparing processed motion sensor data to a threshold. Based on the determination, motion stabilization may be suspended on select portions of a captured video sequence.