Patent ID: 7298896

Claim:
An image processing device comprising: an image decoding means for decoding images recorded on a medium; a dividing image means for dividing said decoded image into multiple regions; a histogram generating means for generating a density histogram for each of said multiple regions that shows a density value distribution based on image data obtained from said image decoding means; a means for calculating for each of said multiple regions low-density-side and high-density-side peak levels and the low-density side and high-density side peak frequencies based on the generated density histogram; an image type classification means for determining the type of text and data formats printed on the original decoded image based on a magnitude relation between the low-density peak frequency and the high-density peak frequency; a threshold level generating means for generating for each of said multiple regions a threshold level based on the determined type of image; and a binarizing unit binarizing said image data based on the generated threshold level.