Method and apparatus for generating an image areas using halftone processing, binary contouring, and dithering conversion techniques

摘要

A method and apparatus for separating picture image areas in facsimile machines, scanners, and other picture processing equipment, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for separating picture regions by extracting features of graphic image and characters includes a vertical contouring circuit for producing vertical contour data by combining vertical components of an original picture and binary picture data; a horizontal contouring circuit for producing horizontal contour data from horizontal components of the binary picture data; a logic combiner for combining outputs from the vertical and horizontal contouring circuits and a halftone picture; a mode discriminator for selecting between a binary picture and contouring mode; an image area separator for separating image areas with an output from the logic combiner and a halftone picture, and a counter for executing pixel counting from a halftone picture to determine the probability of the presence of a character.