Method and apparatus for scanning and digitizing optical images

A method of generating a digitized representation of an image using a dot-matrix printer adapted to include an optical scanner for opto-electrically sensing the optical intensity levels of the image comprising the steps of:

• (a) sampling the optical intensity level of pixels in a line of the image at a predetermined sampling density;
• (b) storing data for representing in dot form the varying optical intensity levels of the pixels forming the image, the data stored for each optical intensity level having a pixel space which as a one-to-one corespondence with the input pixel space, the stored data for representing two levels of optical intensity;
• (c) retrieving the stored data responsive to the sampled optical intensity levels of the image;
• (d) recording the retrieved data for each sampled pixel to provide a representation of the image in which one pixel space in the reproduced image corresponds to a sampled pixel space in the original image.

A method of generating a digitized representation of an image using a dot-matrix printer adapted to include an optical scanner for opto-electrically sensing the optical intensity levels of the image comprising the steps of:

• (a) sampling the optical intensity level of pixels in a line of the image at a predetermined sampling density;
• (b) storing data for representing in dot form the varying optical intensity levels of the pixels forming the image, the data stored for each optical intensity level having a pixel space which has a one-to-one corespondence with the input pixel space, the stored data for represeneting at least two levels of optical intensity;
• (c) retrieving the stored data responsive to the sampled optical intensity levels of the image;
• (d) recording the retrieved data for each sampled pixel to provide a representation of the image in which one pixel space in the reproduced image corresponds to a sampled pixel space in the original image.

A method of generating a digitized gray-scale representation of an image using a dot-matrix printer adapted to include an optical scanner for opto-electrically sensing the optical intensity level of the image comprising the steps of:

• (a) sampling the optical intensity level of pixels in a line of the image at a predetermined sampling density;
• (b) storing data for representing in distributed dot form the varying optical intensity levels of the pixels forming the image, the data stored for each optical intensity level having more than one pixel space;
• (c) retrieving the stored data responsive to the sampled optical intensity levels of the image;
• and
• (d) recording the retrieved data for each sampled pixel to provide a representation of the image in which more than one pixel space for containing dots in the reproduced image corresponds to each sampled pixel in the original image.

A method of generating a digitized representation of an image using a dot-matrix printer adapted to include an optical sensor for opto-electrically sensing the intensity level of the image comprising the steps of:

• (a) passing the sensor linearly across the image in continuous movement while scanning;
• (b) sampling the optical intensity level of the image at a predetermined sampling rate determined by the print strobe signal frequency;
• (c) loading the sampled data for each linear pass into a row of an n x m memory array until the memory array is filled with data;
• (d) transmitting the data in the memory array column-by-column to an external device;
• and
• (e) recording the transmitted data to provide a representation of the original image.