Abstract: A system and method for applying an endorsement to an electronic image of a bank check. A system is described that includes: an imaging system for generating an endorsement image representing an action taken relative to processing the bank check; a halftone system for converting the endorsement image into a digitally halftoned endorsement image; and a positioning system for placing the digitally halftoned endorsement image onto the electronic image of the bank check.

Abstract: A system and method for enhancing a check code line image of a captured document such as a bank check. The system includes an image capture system for capturing an electronic image of a document; a code line locator system for locating a code line region within the electronic image of the document; and a blooming system for performing a localized video saturation on the code line region.

Abstract: A system and method for determining image quality by analyzing DCT information. Included is a system for measuring image quality of a compressed image divided into a plurality of blocks, wherein each block has frequency domain components including a DC coefficient value and a plurality of AC coefficient values, the system comprising: a module for analyzing the DC coefficient values from the plurality of blocks to quantify at least one image quality measurement selected from the group consisting of: average brightness, peak brightness, and contrast; and a module for analyzing the AC coefficient values from the plurality of blocks to quantify a focus measurement.

Abstract: A scanning printer including a scanner unit having an adjustable scanning light output may be adjusted by determining a minimum response for each pixel and a maximum response for each pixel when scanning a calibration document and setting the light output to correlate to a maximum response value. The scanner unit may include a reference plate for internal and routine performance adjustments which include comparison of initial and operational response to the reference plate. Performance adjustments may be designed to account for and overcome various typical operational problems encountered with frequent use.

Abstract: An apparatus, system and process for automatically adjusting the quality of a scanned image includes a conversion module configured to produce a processed image matrix by modifying each value in a scanned image matrix using a table of values assigned to each element of the scanned image matrix. Also included is a measurement module configured to determine a quality of the processed image matrix and to store a quality history and a quality adjustment module configured to adjust the quality of the processed image matrix if the quality history shows a decrease in quality. Quality may be determined using average brightness, maximum brightness or some other quality parameter of the scanned image.

Abstract: A system and method of identifying foreground segments in a JPEG image. The method includes the steps of: selecting a block in the JPEG image; extracting a set of DCT coefficients from the block, wherein the set comprises the first N AC components of the block; computing a sum of the set of DCT coefficients; and analyzing the sum to determine if the block is part of a foreground segment.

Abstract: A system and method for detecting a streak in a JPEG image. A system is provided that includes an extraction system for extracting a DC value from each cell block in the compressed image; an identification system for identifying a peak DC value in each rank of cell blocks within the compressed image; and an analysis system for analyzing the peak DC values to determine if a streak exists in the compressed image.

Abstract: A gray scale image cleaning algorithm for improved check code line OCR. An image processing system for processing a gray scale image is provided that includes: a system for generating a first thresholded black white image from the gray scale image; a system for generating a second thresholded black white image from the gray scale image, wherein the second thresholded black white image is generated with a higher threshold value than the first thresholded black white image; and a system for logically combining the first and second thresholded black white images to generate a composite image.

Abstract: Brightness correction and image enhancement are derived to compensate for changes in captured image data by hardware scanners and the like by statistically measuring the captured data and generating or selecting a compensation quantization table to be substituted in image data encoded for compression. Three techniques of compensation usable singly or in combination are provided which may be used in combination with techniques for dynamic range reduction for extreme compression. Thus, improved images which may be enhanced in any desired manner, for example, to conform to an established image standard, may be derived from data having sufficient compression to allow economically acceptable long-term storage in high-speed access storage media even though the data captured is degraded in dynamic range, brightness and the like.

Abstract: A scaling system and method for scaling a bitonal image that has print density control. A system for scaling a bitonal image is provide that includes: a polarity detection system for detecting a polarity of the bitonal image; a pixel reduction system that generates a scaled image by reducing pixel pairs down to single scaled pixels by selectively applying either a normal or reverse set of pixel reduction rules, wherein an applied set of pixel reduction rules is determined based on a detected polarity; and a line density control system that allows the scaled image to be made lighter or darker by changing the applied set of pixel reduction rules.

Abstract: Brightness correction and image enhancement are derived to compensate for changes in captured image data by hardware scanners and the like by statistically measuring the captured data and generating or selecting a compensation quantization table to be substituted in image data encoded for compression. Three techniques of compensation usable singly or in combination are provided which may be used in combination with techniques for dynamic range reduction for extreme compression. Thus, improved images which may be enhanced in any desired manner, for example, to conform to an established image standard, may be derived from data having sufficient compression to allow economically acceptable long-term storage in high-speed access storage media even though the data captured is degraded in dynamic range, brightness and the like.

Abstract: A system and method for determining the image resolution of a check image using MICR characters. The disclosed system includes an extracting system for extracting a magnetic ink code recognition (MICR) code line from the document image, wherein the extracting system provides coordinate values for each of a plurality of MICR characters in the MICR code line; a calculating system for calculating a set of resolution values based on the coordinate values of the MICR characters; and a statistical analysis system that calculates a representative resolution value from the set of resolution values.

Abstract: An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for detecting fraud. A first optical character recognition module optically recognizes a character imprinted with a magnetic ink on a medium using a first optical character recognition algorithm. A second optical character recognition module also optically recognizes the character using a second optical character recognition algorithm. In addition, a magnetic ink character recognition module magnetically recognizes the character using a magnetic recognition algorithm. A voting module determines if the character is potentially fraudulent based on the recognition results of the first optical character recognition module, the second optical character recognition module, and the magnetic ink character recognition module. If the character is potentially fraudulent, a results module communicates a fraud indicator.

Abstract: A system and method for determining skew of a document image. An image processing system is provided, comprising: an image segmentation system that identifies and segments a line of printed characters; and a skew processing system that determines the skew by calculating slope values for pairs of characters in the line.

Abstract: A system and method for capturing and scaling images includes a scaling engine with the ability to employ a first scaling factor in a first direction and a second scaling factor in a second direction. In addition, the preferred scaling engine manipulates the scaling process so that the scaling calculations are performed using fixed point arithmetic. The preferred scaling engine preserves isolated features such as a single white pixel in a field of black pixels and vice versa. Improved readability is achieved in one embodiment by performing the scaling process multiple times using different degrees of “padding” where padding refers to the technique of surrounding an image with a perimeter of one or more blank (white) pixel elements.

Abstract: A system and method for correcting defects in a black white image. An edge smoothing filter is disclosed that comprises: a system for selecting a block of pixels comprising one center pixel and eight exterior pixels; and an algorithm that examines the block of pixels, wherein the algorithm overwrites the value of the center pixel if: all three pixels along a first edge share a first value; and all three pixels along an opposing edge share a second value that is opposite of the first value; and the two exterior pixels residing between the first and second edge share a common value.

Abstract: A scaling system and method for compressing a bitonal image that has print density control. A system is disclosed that comprises: a pixel reduction system that generates a scaled image by reducing pixel pairs down to single scaled pixel based on a set of scaling rules; and a line density control system that allows the scaled image to be made lighter, normal or darker by changing the scaling rules.

Abstract: A compression system and method for compressing a bitonal image. A system is disclosed that comprises: a scaling system for geometrically scaling the bitonal image such that transition and isolated attributes are preserved, wherein the scaling system reduces contiguous sets of original pixels down to fewer scaled pixels; and an encoding system that encodes the scaled bitonal image using an industry standard format.

Abstract: A system and method for providing positional synchronization of characters in a multi-voting character recognition system. The system comprises a character recognition system, comprising: at least one transducer system for scanning printed character data and generating a plurality of sets of transduced character information; a position collection system for collecting positional data for characters in the plurality of sets of transduced character information; a character position synchronization system for positionally synchronizing corresponding characters from different sets of transduced character information; and a voting engine for receiving the plurality of sets of transduced character information.

Abstract: A system and method for determining image quality by analyzing DCT information. Included is a system for measuring image quality of a compressed image divided into a plurality of blocks, wherein each block has frequency domain components including a DC coefficient value and a plurality of AC coefficient values, the system comprising: a module for analyzing the DC coefficient values from the plurality of blocks to quantify at least one image quality measurement selected from the group consisting of: average brightness, peak brightness, and contrast; and a module for analyzing the AC coefficient values from the plurality of blocks to quantify a focus measurement.