The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 11, 2007
Filed:
Mar. 14, 2006
Donald J. Munsil, Kirkland, WA (US);
Glenn F. Evans, Kirkland, WA (US);
Stacey L. Spears, Sammamish, WA (US);
Donald J. Munsil, Kirkland, WA (US);
Glenn F. Evans, Kirkland, WA (US);
Stacey L. Spears, Sammamish, WA (US);
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
Strategies are set forth herein for quantizing and dithering original image information to produce quantized image information. According to one exemplary implementation, the strategies involve: quantizing a sum that combines an original value taken from the original image information, a noise value, and an error term, to produce a quantized value; and calculating an error term for a subsequent quantizing operation by computing a difference between the quantized value and the original value. By virtue of his process, the strategies essentially add noise information to the quantization process, not the original image information, which results in quantized image information having reduced artifacts. The strategies can be used in conjunction with the Floyd-Steinberg error dispersion algorithm. According to another feature, the noise value is computed using a random number generator having a long repeat period, which further reduces artifacts.