An example embodiment may involve obtaining an a×b pixel macro-cell from an input image. Pixels in the a×b pixel macro-cell may have respective pixel values and may be associated with respective tags. It may be determined whether at least e of the respective tags indicate that their associated pixels represent edges in the input image. Based on this determination, either a first encoding or a second encoding of the a×b pixel macro-cell may be selected. The first encoding may weigh pixels that represent edges in the input image heavier than pixels that do not represent edges in the input image, and the second encoding might not consider whether pixels represent edges. The selected encoding may be performed and written to a computer-readable output medium.

An example embodiment may involve obtaining an a×b pixel macro-cell from an input image. Pixels in the a×b pixel macro-cell may have respective pixel values and may be associated with respective tags. It may be determined whether at least e of the respective tags indicate that their associated pixels represent edges in the input image. Based on this determination, either a first encoding or a second encoding of the a×b pixel macro-cell may be selected. The first encoding may weigh pixels that represent edges in the input image heavier than pixels that do not represent edges in the input image, and the second encoding might not consider whether pixels represent edges. The selected encoding may be performed and written to a computer-readable output medium.

A color image processing device uses a dither pattern of blocks, each including a plurality of dots representing the gradations of each pixel of an image in a prescribed region. The dither pattern includes a plurality of dot groups stacked, each dot group including dots arranged in a direction where a printing element moves relative to a recording medium, and the beginning of each group is set off by one or more dots in the movement direction, and a halftone image including the pixels is recorded, using variations in density, with the growth order going either from the first dot of the uppermost row of the dither pattern to the last dot of the lowermost row, or from the first dot of the lowermost row to the last dot of the uppermost row.

A color image processing device uses a dither pattern of blocks, each including a plurality of dots representing the gradations of each pixel of an image in a prescribed region. The dither pattern includes a plurality of dot groups stacked, each dot group including dots arranged in a direction where a printing element moves relative to a recording medium, and the beginning of each group is set off by one or more dots in the movement direction, and a halftone image including the pixels is recorded, using variations in density, with the growth order going either from the first dot of the uppermost row of the dither pattern to the last dot of the lowermost row, or from the first dot of the lowermost row to the last dot of the uppermost row.

Systems, apparatuses, and methods for performing computation-efficient encoding of video or image frames are disclosed. An encoder partitions a video or image frame into a plurality of sub-frame blocks. For each sub-frame block, the encoder selects a subset of the original pixel values based on one or more criteria. In a first mode, the encoder selects the corners of the sub-frame block. Then, the encoder generates encoding vectors to represent the pixels in between pairs of the selected subset of pixel values. The encoder includes the original pixel values of the selected subset in the encoded block that represents the original sub-frame block. The encoder also includes the encoding vectors in the encoded block, wherein the encoding vectors are calculated based on the color parameter differences between each pair of the selected subset of pixel values. The encoder also includes metadata specifying the encoding mode in the encoded block.

The present disclosure relates to a signal transmission device, a signal transmission method, and a program that are capable of reducing the influence of a quantization error. A quantization error notification unit notifies the stage after a bit precision constraint region of a quantization error generated in a quantization processing unit that performs a quantization process on a signal to be transmitted via the bit precision constraint region that is a region where a bit precision constraint occurs. A quantization error reception unit receives the quantization error, and supplies the quantization error to an inverse quantization processing unit that performs an inverse quantization process on the signal transmitted via the bit precision constraint region. The present technology can be applied to an image signal transmission device that transmits image signals, for example.

The present disclosure relates to a signal transmission device, a signal transmission method, and a program that are capable of reducing the influence of a quantization error. A quantization error notification unit notifies the stage after a bit precision constraint region of a quantization error generated in a quantization processing unit that performs a quantization process on a signal to be transmitted via the bit precision constraint region that is a region where a bit precision constraint occurs. A quantization error reception unit receives the quantization error, and supplies the quantization error to an inverse quantization processing unit that performs an inverse quantization process on the signal transmitted via the bit precision constraint region. The present technology can be applied to an image signal transmission device that transmits image signals, for example.

Block compression schemes used for image compression are susceptible to generating image blocks having redundant bit sets (i.e. a redundant bit combination), where one of the bit sets in the block is not meaningfully different from the other bit set in the block. As a result, one of the bit sets will be meaningless to a decompression scheme used to decompress the image and thus will not contribute to improving a quality of the decompressed image. The present disclosure provides a technique to exploit redundant bit combinations in a compressed representation of an image, including to exploit more than just the simple case of bit sets that are identical. Exploiting a redundant bit combination will allow an otherwise meaningless bit set to be used for some other discriminating purpose, which can allow for a higher image quality after decompression.

Techniques for converting mechanical markings on hardcopy textual content into digital annotations in a digital document file. In accordance with some embodiments, the techniques include identifying at least one block of text in a digital (scanned) image of a hardcopy document, and identifying at least one mechanical marking in the digital image of the hardcopy document. The mechanical marking, such as an underline, strike-through, highlight or circle, covers or lies adjacent to the corresponding block of text. An annotated digital document file is generated from the digital image of the hardcopy document. The annotated digital document file includes computer-executable instructions representing the original text of the hardcopy document and at least one annotation corresponding to the mechanical marking in the hardcopy document.

Techniques for converting mechanical markings on hardcopy textual content into digital annotations in a digital document file. In accordance with some embodiments, the techniques include identifying at least one block of text in a digital (scanned) image of a hardcopy document, and identifying at least one mechanical marking in the digital image of the hardcopy document. The mechanical marking, such as an underline, strike-through, highlight or circle, covers or lies adjacent to the corresponding block of text. An annotated digital document file is generated from the digital image of the hardcopy document. The annotated digital document file includes computer-executable instructions representing the original text of the hardcopy document and at least one annotation corresponding to the mechanical marking in the hardcopy document.