Eastman-kodak Company

David William Dellert

Carl Joseph Tesavis

Chung-Hui Kuo

Brian B Mix

James I Hackett

Mark R Knudson

Stephen L Shaffer

Gregory R Bryniarski

David R Brent

Frank Weiner

Maja Aniela Gruszynski

Keith Alan Miller

Brian Neil Westrich

A digital printing system having a linear printhead includes corrections for cross-track position errors. A data processing system implements a method for determining a cross-track position function which includes printing a test target including a plurality of alignment marks, automatically analyzing a captured image of the printed test target to determine a measured position for each of the alignment marks, comparing the measured positions for the alignment marks to reference positions to determine measured cross-track position errors, and determining a cross-track position correction function responsive to the measured position errors. The cross-track position correction function specifies cross-track position corrections to be applied as a function of cross-track position. A corrected digital image is determined by resampling the image lines of a digital image responsive to the cross-track position correction function.

Printer with cross-track position error correction

A method for correcting cross-track position errors in a digital printing system having a linear printhead includes printing a test target including a plurality of alignment marks. A data processing system is used to automatically analyze a captured image of the printed test target to determine a measured position for each of the alignment marks. The measured positions for the alignment marks is compared to reference positions to determine measured cross-track position errors. A cross-track position correction function is determined responsive to the measured position errors, wherein the cross-track position correction function specifies cross-track position corrections to be applied as a function of cross-track position. A corrected digital image is determined by resampling the image lines of a digital image responsive to the cross-track position correction function.

Correcting cross-track errors in a linear printhead

Image descriptions described using an image description language are provided for a plurality of images. Image bitmaps are determined by processing the image descriptions, each image bitmap including an array of image pixels. The image bitmaps are stored in an array of digital storage devices, with different portions of the image bitmaps being stored in different digital storage devices, where an allocation table is used to indicate where each portion is stored. When one of the digital storage devices fails, the allocation table is analyzed to determine which portions of the image bitmaps were stored in the failed digital storage device. The lost portions are re-rendered by processing corresponding portions of the image descriptions, and the re-rendered portions are stored in the array of digital storage devices.

Stored image data failure correction

Image handling method and system incorporating coded instructions

An index imaging system includes: a scanner for scanning a plurality of photographic images to produce a corresponding plurality of digital images; a computer connected to the scanner for receiving the digital images and generating a corresponding plurality of thumbnail digital images and containing index imaging software for writing an application program for manipulating the digital images; a printer connected to the computer for receiving the thumbnail digital images and producing an index print; and a floppy disc writer connected to the computer for recording the thumbnail digital images and the application program on a floppy disc. Computer program products carrying thumbnail digital images and optionally particular application programs, are also provided.

Index imaging system

System components provide for a method of: processing an exposed photographic film at a processor-scanner station which has both a scanner and a processor at the same location, to produce one or more hardcopy images at the processor-scanner location; reading data on the film which indicates that a set of one or more of the hardcopy images, is to be communicated to a hub station, which hub station is remote from the processor-scanner station; scanning the set at the same processor-scanner location at which the film was processed, to obtain a corresponding image set signal; communicating the image set signal from the scanner to the hub station; and storing the communicated image set signal at the hub station.

An image handling method and apparatus for executing the method. The method comprises scanning at least a first resolution of a hardcopy image. A second resolution image signal of the same image which second resolution is lower than the first resolution, is communicated from a first location to a receiver at a second location remote from the first location, by a first communication method. The first resolution image signal is communicated from the first location to the receiver at the second location, by a second communication method which is physically independent of the first communication method, or following communication of the second resolution image signal, waiting until a predetermined condition independent of the communication of the second resolution image signal, then communicating the first resolution image signal from the first location to the receiver at the second location by the first communication method.

Image handling method using different image resolutions

An image handling system, and a method which can be executed on such a system comprising a plurality of processor-scanner stations remote from one another, interfaced with a hub station that is in turn interfaced with a plurality of terminal. Each processor-scanner station having at the same location: a processor which can process exposed photographic film to produce a hardcopy image set; a scanner system which can scan the hardcopy image set to obtain a corresponding image set signal; and a first communication interface for communicating the image set signal to a remote hub station. The hub station, which can be remote from each of the scanner stations, comprises: a second communication interface to receive image set signals from each of the plurality of scanner systems; a first storage to store the image set signals; a third communication interface for transmitting the image set signals to any of a plurality of terminals remote from the hub and each of the processor-scanner stations. A plurality of terminals that are remote from the hub station and each of the scanner-processor stations, and connected to communicate with the hub station.

Image handling system and method using mutually remote processor-scanner

An image handling system and method which can be executed by such a system. The system comprises: a plurality of scanner stations remote from one another, each scanner station having: a scanner system which can scan a hardcopy image set to obtain a corresponding hardcopy image set signal and which can assign an associated identification signal to the set signal which comprises a scanner location identification, wherein each scanner location identification is unique; a first communication means for communicating the image set signal and the associated scanner identification signal to a remote hub station, which comprises a second communications means to receive image set signals and their respective associated identification signals from each of the plurality of scanner systems; a first storage to store the image set signals and associated identification signals; a third communication means for transmitting the image set signals to any of a plurality of terminals which are remote from the scanner stations and the hub station and connected to the hub station.

Image handling system and method

A system for processing a bit map of pixel data signals representative of a multi-dimensional array of imagery data (e g. alpha-numeric text) for transmission over a facsimile communication channel are compressed by providing a plurality of data compression units, a respective one of which is capable of compressing data supplied to it at a compression rate that is only a fraction of the data rate. The bit map is subsampled by demultiplexing the bit map into sub-arrays of data. The sub-array data is coupled to respective sets of compression units, which executes parallel, two-dimensional compression of the demultiplexed sub-array data. Even though the data subsamples associated with successive rows of the bit map are non-consecutive, and therefore may contribute to a reduction in compression performance in the horizontal direction, because the data is text, successive data samples within each column of a sub-array are inherently more highly correlated with one another than data values that are encountered within respective rows of the original bit map. As a consequence, the two-dimensional data compression operator executed by each unit suffers no loss in output signal quality.

High speed compression of imagery data

The apparatus and method of the present invention utilizes three scaling functions for bi-tonal digitized image data such as documents. The digitized document resolution (i.e. from a digitizing scanner) may be different from the resolution of an image output device (i.e. laser printer, CRT display, fax machine, etc.). The invention takes in the scanned image data and scales the data to compensate for the resolution mismatch of the output device. Although the invention is intended for document archive applications (such as scanning documents on microfilm), the scaling can be performed on any bi-tonal image.

Growing community of inventors

Fairport, NY, United States of America

David William Dellert