Hitachi, Ltd.

U.S. Philips Corporation

Hitzchi, Ltd.

Seiji Kashioka

Takafumi Miyatake

Masakazu Ejiri

Yoshihiro Shima

Toshimitsu Hamada

Michihiro Mese

Johannes A Bernsen

Satoshi Yoshizawa

Masayoshi Kameyama

Isamu Yamazaki

Atsushi Hatakeyama

Haruo Yoda

Hitoshi Matsushima

Hiroaki Aotsu

Shigeru Shimada

Kanji Kato

Yasuo Kurosu

Yoshiki Kobayashi

Junichi Higashino

Tadashi Fukushima

Hiroshi Sakou

Takeshi Uno

Shigeru Yabuuchi

Takeshi Katoh

Yoshiyuki Okuyama

Kunio Suzuki

Takahumi Miyatake

Akiko Sugihara

Osamu Obata

Toshikazu Yasuye

Hiroshi Sakow

During filtering of an image having different regions, the operation of a filter unit is adapted in response to the detection of a boundary between these regions. To this end, one or more intermediate signal values stored in the filter unit for recursive use and derived from signal values from a first region are replaced before any signal value from the second region is filtered. The intermediate signal values are replaced by one or more signal values from the second region, or by filtered signal values derived from the signal values from the second region.

Filter device comprising a recursive filter unit, method of filtering,

In a document information system and a method for realizing such a system, document data are transferred and displayed at a high speed. In response to an operation made from a terminal apparatus, the document data which have been stored via communication apparatus into a data storage apparatus are read out, and the read document data are temporarily stored before being transmitted by employing the communication apparatus. In the terminal apparatus, the received document data are temporarily stored as display data, and additionally the display data are swapped to a secondary storage device in such a case that a total amount of the temporarily stored data exceeds a predetermined capacity. Then, the display data may be transferred from either the terminal apparatus, or the secondary storage device to a display buffer and then may be displayed in a unit of representation.

Document information system and document data transfer and display method

In detecting patterns in data arranged in a spatial field of one, two or higher dimension, a pattern contrast signal is evaluated which measures the similarity to the pattern of the data around a location in the spatial field. The pattern is subsequently detected if the pattern contrast signal is sufficiently strong. There is, however, a risk of erroneous detection when a coincidental noise configuration causes an increased pattern contrast signal. The invention provides for a method and apparatus to discriminate against such erroneous detections. For this purpose, the method observes the extent to which a would-be pattern dominates the effect on the pattern contrast signal of the distribution of data values in the surroundings of the location, this distribution being taken to be typical of noise. In one embodiment, this is done by confirming that the pattern is sufficiently strong to suppress any other would-be pattern detections in the surroundings. In another embodiment, this is done by confirming that the pattern contrast signal responds as expected in the noise free case when the spatial field is rescaled around the location before evaluating the pattern contrast signal.

Method and device for detecting patterns adapted automatically for the

Multimedia data in an object structure include entity objects and relation objects, wherein each entity object has data representing a media element as internal data, and each relation object represents a relation between the entity objects. A relation object is searched according to information specified by a search command, and a searched relation object and internal data of an entity object related thereto are displayed on the screen of a display unit as a set of display elements. To generate a digest of the multimedia data, a matching between a structure portion of a user model and a structure portion of a system model is examined. The user model is generated according to a request of the user and arranged in layers, while the system model has been previously generated. The multimedia data are arranged in layers according to the importance of respective data elements constituting the multimedia data. According to an examination result, a user model structure portion is selectively replaced by a system model structure portion, and the replaced user model is adjusted so as to display the same.

Method of presenting multimedia data in a desired form by comparing and

In a detecting patterns in data arranged in a spatial field of one, two or higher dimension, a pattern contrast signal is evaluated which measures the similarity to the pattern of the data around a location in the spatial field. The pattern is subsequently detected if the pattern contrast signal is sufficiently strong. There is, however, a risk of erroneous detection when a coincidental noise configuration causes an increased pattern contrast signal. The invention provides for a method and apparatus to discriminate against such erroneous detections. For this purpose, the method observes the extent to which a would-be pattern dominates the effect on the pattern contrast signal of the distribution of data values in the surroundings of the location, this distribution being taken to be typical of noise. In one embodiment, this is done by confirming that the pattern is sufficiently strong to suppress any other would-be pattern detections in the surroundings. In another embodiment, this is done by confirming that the pattern contrast signal responds as expected in the noise free case when the spatial field is rescaled around the location before evaluating the pattern contrast signal.

A half tone display apparatus using a display apparatus of bilevel representation in white and black is provided. The apparatus includes a unit supplied with a multilevel image such as a color image, a device for detecting edges in characters, patterns and photographic images, a unit for deriving a level difference between pixels adjacent to the edge, and a control unit for forcibly displaying a pixel of the edge portion as a white or black pixel for emphasis provided that the level difference is not larger than a predetermined threshold and for applying dither conversion to other pixels.

Apparatus for representing continuous tone and high contrast images on a

This invention provides a method and apparatus for automatically producing a standard pattern for local pattern matching. According to the present invention, local patterns equivalent in size to a standard pattern to be obtained are successively removed from the image of an object being examined to prepare standard pattern candidates. Evaluation values representing appropriateness as a standard pattern are obtained from the local patterns successively removed or the local patterns together with the image of the object being examined. The evaluation values are used in an evaluation function expressing the uniqueness of the standard pattern and in an auxiliary evaluation function as an aid to the former. The standard pattern is selected using such evaluation values.

Method for producing a standard pattern for pattern matching

A high speed, multi-function and expandable image processing LSI (image signal processor) for realizing a gray level image processing technique is disclosed. The architecture of the image signal processor can process a gray level image having 256 tones at a video rate (256.times.256 image, 6 MHz, non-interlace), allows expansion of a partial operation area (kernel) and can carry out various partial neighborhood operations. The image signal processor is a partial parallel type image processing LSI which carries out a parallel operation by using the same number of processor elements as that of input pixel data used to produce one output pixel of data.

Image signal processor

An automatic assembly system wherein parts supplied from a feeder are held by a holder and are automatically mounted onto predetermined positions of a circuit board; comprising a first image pickup device which images at least a portion of said circuit board, a second image pickup device which images at least a portion of the part held by the holder means, a signal processor which processes an output of said first image pickup device to detect a deviation of said circuit board from a reference position and which also processes an output of said second image pickup device to detect a magnitude of deviation between said part and the predetermined position of said circuit board, and a positioning device which operates under control of said signal processor so as to adjust said predetermined position of said circuit board to a position opposing to said part and also to move said part toward said circuit board.

Automatic assembly system

A method of determining an optimum threshold for obtaining a binary image signal for use in a pattern recognition system is disclosed in which a pattern of a predetermined shape which exists at one or a plurality of positions on a surface of an object to be imaged is previously stored as a reference pattern. A threshold for obtaining a binary signal is changed stepwise. A video signal is converted into the binary signal on the basis of each value of threshold to obtain a binary image. A plurality of partial patterns which are different in position on the binary image to each other, are successively cut out of the binary image to be compared with the reference pattern. The overall degree of coincidence between the plural partial patterns and the reference pattern is calculated, and a value of threshold at which the overall degree of coincidence is highest, is selected from various values of threshold.

Method of determining an optimum threshold for obtaining binary image

In an image transformation method in an image display apparatus for displaying a digital image derived by transforming an original digital image, each of intensities of second picture elements including at least three points on the original digital image surrounding a first point on the original digital image, corresponding to coordinates of a first picture element on a transformed digital image is weighted by a value related to a length of at least one of two sides of a polygon which apexes are the second picture element opposing to its own second picture element and the first point, the two sides surrounding the first point, and the intensity of the first picture element is determined based on the calculated intensities of the second picture elements.

Method of image transformation in a display device

A position detecting method is disclosed wherein the position of an object is detected by the use of pattern information which are taken from an observational region on the object contained within a whole region. Positional information of at least one of standard pattern is extracted from a pattern of the whole region are stored in advance; positional information of the standard pattern are extracted from the pattern taken from the observational region on the object; and the positional information of the standard pattern in the whole region and the observational region are compared, to decide which part of the whole region the observational region is and to detect the position of the object.

Method and device for detecting the position of an object

Herein disclosed is a pattern defect inspecting method which is characterized: in that an image is picked up from an article having a preset pattern thereby to extract the data of the pattern to be inspected while shifting the article with respect to the standard position preset in a picking-up picture image; in that a parameter indicating the defective degree of the pattern to be inspected is determined on the basis of the aforementioned data extracted and the dictionary data stored in advance; in that the parameter indicating the minimum defective degree is extracted from among those determined for such plural patterns to be inspected as are extracted from the vicinity of the standard position; and in that the parameter extracted is compared with a preset threshold value thereby to determine the propriety of the pattern.

Method and device for inspecting the defect of a pattern represented on

A pattern position detecting system includes an image pickup device to pick up the image of an object which includes a target pattern which is to be detected. On the basis of the output of the pickup device, local patterns of the image surface are successively cut out and positional coordinates of the local patterns are successively generated to indicate the typical positions of each of these local patterns. The respective local patterns are then compared with a standard pattern having the same feature as that of the target pattern and the degree of coincidence therebetween is detected. The different degrees of coincidence of the local patterns in the vicinity of a particular local pattern are then compared so as to successively sample the local pattern whose degrees of coincidence become a maximum, and the positional coordinates and degrees of coincidence of the respective local patterns whose degrees of coincidence become a maximum are then stored. The positional coordinates fulfilling the positional relationship inherent to the target pattern from among the positional coordinates finally selected are then sampled and the sampled positional coordinates are identified as indicating a position of the target pattern.

Pattern position detecting system

An apparatus for detecting the position of an object. The apparatus has an optical device for magnifying or enlarging a plurality of portions on the object, a photoelectric converter adapted for converting the enlarged portion image into electric signals, a plurality of thresholding circuits adapted for changing analogue signals from the respective photoelectric converter into binary signals with a threshold value determined by a signal level given by a first signal holding circuit, a circuit for calculating the threshold value from the analogue signals, a circuit for detecting the approximate position of a specific pattern in the enlarged portion images through a coarse sampling of the binary signals. A circuit for detecting the exact position of the specific pattern through measuring the area of a specific brightness in a plurality of regions in the enlarged portion images, by a fine sampling of the binary signals, and a controller for controlling the operations of respective circuits.

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Hachioji, Japan

Seiji Kashioka