Patent ID: 6324300
Filing Date: 2001-11-27
Classification: G06T

Abstract:
An apparatus for defining color borders in a raster image comprising a plurality of pixels, the apparatus comprising:a system memory for storing the steps of a computer program; and a computer processor connected to the system memory for executing the steps of the computer program,wherein the computer program comprises:(a) a string indicia generator responsive to a neighborhood of cells representing pixels of the raster image, wherein the string indicia generator outputs an indicia of a surface string representing a segment of a color border passing through at least part of the neighborhood of cells; and(b) a string sequencer for generating a string sequence representing a color border of the raster image by ordering a plurality of the indicia of surface strings based on a, predetermined criteria,wherein:each cell of the neighborhood of cells represents a color of a corresponding part of the raster image;the neighborhood of cells comprises a target cell and a plurality of perimeter cells;each perimeter cell comprises a color value selected from the set consisting of Y and Z;Y indicates the color of the raster image represented by the perimeter cell is the same as the color of the raster image represented by the target cell; andZ indicates the color of the raster image represented by the perimeter cell is different than the color of the raster image represented by the target cell.