From: lincoln@rand.org (Tom Lincoln)
Newsgroups: soc.roots
Subject: Re: Scanning and printing out scanned images and TEXT
Date: 2 Oct 92 23:44:52 GMT
Organization: RAND Corporation.

Mark Rauschkolb mark@cs.msstate.edu writes:

>There are some OCR packages that only cost about $100.  There
>are others that cost many thousands of dollars. The more
>expensive they are, the more accurate and more flexible they
>are.

>A $100 package might only be able to recognize two or three
>fonts in one or two type sizes, with an accuracy of 60-70%.

>A multi Thousand Dollar package might be able to recognize
>hundreds of fonts in dozens of sizes, even if they are
>intermixed, with an accuracy of 80-90%.

Well.. thing just ain't that bad!! AND they have improved a lot
recently, both with respect to price and performance.

TYPEREADER can be purchased as an "upgrade" to any other product
by submitting proof of purchase with $120. We got it for that
price through MAC Warehouse... and there is certainly a PC
version at the same price.

>The EXPENSIVE document scanners scan one line of text at a time
>and have their own OCR software that approaches the flexibility
>and accuracy of the higher priced OCR software-only packages.

>It is possible that by combining OCR with a spell checker and a
>grammar checker you can get better than 90% accuracy, but I
>haven't heard of anything better than 90%, with the average
>being around 75% (and yes, there are systems that do include
>spell checking and grammag checking into their OCR algorithm)

Once again.. this is not my experience over the past 3 years..
but things go right on getting better...

TYPEREADER interprets 6 point to 24 point. On printed material,
the interpretation is generally 100% no matter what the font. We
havn't tried very fancy fonts like Gothic.. but we HAVE put it
thorough its paces, just to get the wonder of it. On material
that is typewritten or faxed and of only modest quality, it may
flag a lot of letters in its checker... but only 1& - 2% need to
be changed if the font is reasonable. The checker is built in.

>This 10-30% error must be corrected by the person using a word
>processor. Not bad for a one page document, but a daunting task
>for a whole book.

The editing capability is part of the program (as it is in a
number of others) so that the corrections need not be made by a
separate word processor. Some can bring the format right along.

>SUMMARY:

>The ability to convert pictures into digital images is here and
>available. The ability to reproduce them on paper is also
>available, but still too expensive for the average person.

The HP Personal Page Scanner is $700. at the academic price.
That's $$.. but begins to come with range for some. (It is worth
noting that there are extraordinary differences between some
prices available in academic institutions and those in the
stores.) There are also very competative prices in some
storefront stores, and I am sure they ship.

For hardware not available through the University, we have been
very satisfied with PC System Designs in Pasadena CA
1-818-792-1391 .. ask for Wilson .. I'm not the bargainer..
that's my associate.. we have no interest in these folks except
as satisfied customers..

>The ability to scan TEXT into a computer and edit it in a word
>processor is also here (24 pin Dot matrix print or laser
>printed COURIER font work best) but is unable to deal with the
>wide variety of fonts and sizes.

THINGS HAVE PROGRESSED WELL BEYOND THIS!! see above

>If you only have temporary access to pictures or Documents,
>there is a good possibility that if you scan them in today, you
>will be able to use them tomorrow.  If the pictures/documents
>are yours, wait until the technology reaches a higher level.

Because prices continue to drop like a stone... this is always
good advice if you can or want to wait... but it not as
necessary as it used to be, and certainly not because of the
technology!

Tom
University = USC.. and that ain't Univ. of South Carolina!
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU