System to effect digital encoding of an image
AssigneeMassachusetts Institute of Technology
InventorDonald R. Knudson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system wherein an image such as, for example, unscreened artwork is divided into sub-images each of which is digitized and is then represented by the digital code of a pattern that closely matches the sub-image. Thereafter, the image is reconstructed by reproducing the pattern equivalents of the sub-images to form a composite image.
Claims15
A method of representing an image, that comprises:
- scanning the image as a series of sub-images in uniform block form wherein block dimensions are the order of 1/100-inch, digitizing the same, comparing a digital representation of the same with digital representations of a set of reference blocks to select a reference block that most nearly matches the sub-image, and reproducing said image from the digital representations of the selected reference blocks.
A method of representing an image, that comprises:
- scanning the image as a series of sub-images to digitize the same and provide a digitized representation of the sub-image;
- comparing the digitized representation of each sub-image with digital representations of a set of reference patterns that differ from one another to identify a pattern of the set of reference patterns that most nearly matches the sub-image, each sub-image being in the form of a block whose outline dimensions are the order of 1/100-inch and each block being identified and located in terms of its spatial position within the image as a whole, each pattern of the set being assigned a unique code identification;
- and transmitting the code identification of each identified pattern in a predetermined order to a local location or a remote location and reconstructing the image at said location as a series of sub-images, each sub-image thus reconstructed being the pattern most nearly resembling the sub-image originally scanned.
Apparatus for representing and reproducing an image, of arbitrary shape that comprises, in combination:
- means for scanning the image as a series of sub-images to digitize the same and for providing a digital representation of the sub-image, each sub-image being a block whose dimensions are the order of 1/100-inch;
- means for comparing the digital representation of the sub-image with digital representations of a predetermined set of patterns to identify a pattern of the set that most nearly matches the digital representation of the sub-image and hence most nearly matches the sub-image, each pattern of the set having a code identification;
- and means that receives the code identification representation of the pattern most nearly resembling each sub-image and that reconstructs the original image as a series of sub-images on the basis of the code indentifications of a group of the patterns, each sub-image thus reconstructed being the pattern most nearly resembling the sub-image originally scanned.
A system wherein an image of arbitrary shape is reproduced as a series of patterns much smaller than the original image tht comprises, in combination:
- scanning means that scans the image as a series of sub-images and digitizes the same to provide a binary representation of each sub-image, each sub-image being a fixed-size block whose outline dimensions are the order of 1/100-inch;
- comparing means tht compares the digital representation of each sub-image on a point-by-point basis with digital representations of a predetermined limited set of patterns to identify a pattern of the limited set that most nearly matches the digital representation of the sub-image and hence most nearly matches the sub-image;
- identifying the selected reference pattern by a digital code;
- and reconstructing means that reconstructs the original image as a composite comprising a plurality of said patterns on the basis of said code.
A system wherein an image of arbitrary shape is reproduced as a series of patterns much smaller than the original image that comprises, in combination:
- means that digitizes the image as a series of sub-images and provides a binary representation of each sub-image, each sub-image being a fixed-size block whose outline dimensions are much smaller than the original image;
- comparing means that compares the digital representation of each sub-image with digital representations of a predetermined limited set of patterns to identify a pattern of the limited set that most nearly matches the digital representation of the sub-image and hence most nearly matches the sub-image;
- and reconstructing means that reconstructs the original image as a composite comprising a plurality of said patterns.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.