Outline-to-bitmap character generator
US4959801A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 14, 1988 |
| Grant date | Sep 25, 1990 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 14, 2008 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T11/203
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A system and data structure for generating bitmap representations of characters and symbols from their outline representations. The outline representation is treated as being composed of a hierarchy of zones formed in both the horizontal and vertical directions. The zones are completely character-specific. Each zone defines the extent of some feature of the character. The zonal definition of the character comprises part of the information in the data structure. In generating the bitmap, the boundaries of the zones are mapped to specific pixel locations in a bitmap em-square of selected resolution and size. The available pixels are then allocated to the zones. After each level of zone has received its pixel allocation, the pixels assigned thereto are then distributed among the next lower level of zones and the process is repeated iteratively until all zones have received their pixel allocations or it is no longer possible to make allocations. To maintain relationships between features, features of characters (both within individual characters and between different characters) may be linked in the data structure so as to be defined in terms of the features of the same or other charac…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.