Abstract: Facsimile or other data to be reduced is scanned and segmented into blocks of isolated figures. The figures are compared to stored templates. If no match is found, the figure remains in place. If a match is found, the figure is erased, i.e., the block is reduced to white. When recognized figures have been erased, the residual image is transmitted using an efficient known two-dimensional encoding compression technique. The locations of figures are specified by inserting identifying data in the data stream at a point corresponding a point on the figure, the preferred point being the lower right-hand corner. If not a recognized template, the receiving end can extract the figure constructed from the data stream and store it in its template memory. If a figure is a recognized template, it is extracted from the receiving end's template memory using the identifying data and inserted into the reconstructed residual image.

Abstract: An apparatus and method is provided for segmenting characters generated by an optical scanner. The apparatus also identifies underscores. The underscores are then masked and subsequent processing devices are informed of the existence of said underscores. Input video raster scans representative of a portion of a line of textual material are loaded into a video buffer. The video raster scans are broken up into a plurality of sections. The horizontal histogram (number of black pixel counts) associated with each section is determined. The baseline, vertical histogram and word location for each line of data to be segmented is determined. A find character unit finds the boundaries for each character. The character is sequentially transferred from the video buffer to a character output buffer.