System and method of determining if a surface is printed or a mobile device screen

A system for determining if a surface contains print or is a screen of a mobile device, comprising:

• an image based scanner;
• image recognition software, the image recognition software being provided with information about aspect ratios of mobile device screens, aspect ratios of mobile devices, and features associated with mobile devices;
• wherein the system is configured to capture a digital image of the surface and proximate surrounding background to the surface with the image-based scanner, and submit the digital image to the image recognition software;
• and
• wherein the system is further configured to scan the surface with the image-based scanner in the non-illumination mode based upon positive comparisons between the digital image and the information about mobile devices stored in the image recognition software.

A method of determining if a surface contains print or is a screen of a mobile device, and for scanning the surface, comprising the steps of:

• acquiring a spectral wavelength signature of the surface;
• comparing the spectral wavelength signature of the surface to RGB triple-peak emission spectra;
• scanning the surface with an image-based scanner in non-illumination mode based upon the spectral wavelength signature of the surface corresponding to the RGB triple-peak emission spectra, and
• scanning the surface with an image-based scanner in illumination mode based upon the spectral wavelength signature of the surface not corresponding to the RGB triple-peak emission spectra.