Automatic background removal method and system
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorDaniel R. Tretter
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and system for automatically removing noise from images. First, a current pixel is received. Next, an activity metric of the current pixel is computed by using the current pixel and a neighborhood of pixels related to the current pixel. Then, a distance metric that indicates the likelihood that the current pixel is a background pixel is computed by using the activity metric and at least one background parameter. The distance metric provides a soft thresholding framework for the background removal. The current pixel is modified based on the distance metric.
Claims20
A method for automatically removing noise comprising the steps of:
- a) receiving a current pixel;
- b) computing an activity metric of the current pixel by using the current pixel and a neighborhood of pixels related to the current pixel;
- c) computing a distance metric for indicating the likelihood that the current pixel is a background pixel by using the activity metric and at least one background parameter;
- and
- d) modifying the current pixel based on the distance metric;
- wherein the distance metric provides a soft thresholding framework.
A method of processing a document comprising the steps of:
- a) constructing a parallelepiped having boundaries in luminance and chrominance space to specify an expected background color;
- b) automatically adjusting the boundaries of the parallelepiped as a scan proceeds;
- and
- wherein the method selectively adapts the background color based on the pixel values of the document being processed.
A computer-implemented method for automatically removing background pixels comprising the steps of:
- a) receiving a current pixel;
- b) determining a probability that the current pixel is a background pixel based on a dynamic background threshold;
- c) modifying the current pixel based on the probability that the current pixel is a background pixel;
- and
- d) updating the dynamic background threshold based on the current pixel and the background threshold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.