JP3671654B2 - Document processing apparatus and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document processing apparatus and a recording medium, and more particularly to a document processing apparatus that performs predetermined processing on a document and then displays and outputs it to a display device, and a recording medium that records a program that causes a computer to execute such processing. About.
[0002]
[Prior art]
There is an enlarged reading device that enlarges and displays a document printed on a book or the like in order to help a low-sight person or the like read the document.
[0003]
FIG. 12 shows a configuration example of a conventional enlarged reading apparatus.
In this figure, a document (book) 1 is placed on a mounting table 2. The column 3 fixes a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display 4 to the mounting table 2. The imaging unit 5 images a predetermined area of the document 1 and supplies the obtained image signal to the CRT display 4. The adjustment knob 6 is operated, for example, when adjusting the zoom function of the imaging unit 5 or adjusting the screen color or contrast.
[0004]
In such an enlarged reading apparatus, the user manually moves the position of the document 1 to search for a portion to be read, and uses the zoom function of the imaging unit 5 to enlarge the document at a predetermined magnification. It is configured to be displayed.
[0005]
On the other hand, an enlarged reading apparatus that processes after digitizing an image signal has been proposed.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-234919 proposes an enlarged reading device that digitizes an image signal obtained from an imaging device and then performs various processes to display an original in an easy-to-read manner.
[0006]
In this invention, for example, taking advantage of the fact that the intervals of Japanese characters are constant, images are cut out in character units, subjected to image processing such as enlargement processing, color conversion processing, etc., and then recomposed one character at a time. ing. In this way, for example, an easily readable character arrangement can be realized by converting a vertically written document into a horizontally written document.
[0007]
Also, in some cases, by using a character recognition device to recognize characters and converting them into fonts before displaying them, it is possible to prevent image deterioration when characters are enlarged and to easily deform characters. Become. Furthermore, an easy-to-read document can be created by changing the number of characters in one line or displaying only necessary lines.
[0008]
As described above, conventional enlarged reading devices are roughly classified into those that process image signals in an analog manner and those that process them digitally.
The analog magnified reading device described above, which fixes the imaging device and moves the document manually, is simple in terms of mechanism, but is complicated because the document must be moved manually while reading. However, there is a problem that it is difficult to use because the image range is greatly shifted even if the document is moved a little to enlarge and copy the characters.
[0009]
That is, as shown in FIG. 13, the actual usage mode is not always within the imaging range, so the user must move the eyes while moving the eyes, and the operation is complicated. There was a problem.
[0010]
On the other hand, in an enlarged reading device that handles images as digital, the manuscript operation method is the same as in the past, but characters are cut out according to the character pitch and recombined so that it is easy for the reader to read (for example, a vertically written document) It is possible to display a document in a state where is converted into a horizontal document.
[0011]
In addition, as shown in FIG. 14, when one line does not fall within the imaging range, the upper and lower lines other than the target line displayed on the CRT are meaningless lines having no context. It was also possible not to display other than the line of interest. That is, when the original image capturing range 10 shown in FIG. 14A is normally displayed as shown in FIG. 14B, only the target line 11 is shown as shown in FIG. It was also possible to display.
[0012]
Although such an operation improves the readability of the document, there has been a problem that screen operations such as designation of the line of interest increase.
In addition, as described above, instead of displaying captured characters as they are, they are converted into corresponding character codes by image recognition, so that digital fonts with little image degradation even when characters are enlarged or deformed Therefore, it is possible to provide a document that is easy for the reader to read.
[0013]
However, since the accuracy of character recognition is not 100%, there are cases where misidentification occurs depending on the state of the document. And when such misidentification occurs, there is a problem that the meaning cannot be understood.
[0014]
As described above, according to the method of digitizing and processing an image, it is possible to easily execute a character recombination process. Therefore, the original document is subjected to various processes and read. An easy document can be provided.
[0015]
However, regarding the final display form of the document, there was no definite difference between the above-mentioned two parties.
[0016]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, some low-sighted people have a narrow viewing angle, and in some cases, only a few characters may be recognized at a time. When such a person reads a document, the conventional enlarged reading apparatus has a problem that characters may be lost on the way.
[0017]
The present invention has been made in view of such points, and an object thereof is to provide a document processing apparatus capable of displaying a document that is easy to read even for a user with a narrow viewing angle, such as a low vision person. To do.
[0018]
Another object of the present invention is to provide a recording medium recording a program for performing document processing that can display a document that is easy to read for a user with a narrow viewing angle, such as a low vision person.
[0019]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In the present invention, in order to solve the above-described problem, in a document processing apparatus that performs predetermined processing on a document and then outputs the display to a display device, the input means for inputting the document and the input means Storage means for storing a document, display format setting means for setting a display format for outputting the document stored in the storage means to the display device, and whether the document is vertical writing or horizontal writing Format discriminating means for discriminating whether or not the writing is horizontal writing by the format discriminating means, and an auxiliary symbol indicating a connection relation between the rows is added, and the writing is discriminated as vertical writing. In this case, auxiliary symbol adding means for adding auxiliary symbols indicating the connection relationship between the columns, and output means for outputting the document to which the auxiliary symbols are added by the auxiliary symbol adding means to the display device The Document processing apparatus characterized by obtaining.
[0020]
Here, a document is input from the input means. The storage unit stores the document input from the input unit. The display format setting means sets a display format for outputting the document stored in the storage means to the display device. The format discrimination means discriminates whether the input document is vertical writing or horizontal writing. Auxiliary symbol adding means adds an auxiliary symbol indicating the connection relationship between each line when the format discriminating means discriminates that it is horizontal writing, and when discriminating that it is vertical writing, An auxiliary symbol indicating the connection relation between columns is added. The output means outputs the document to which the auxiliary symbol is added by the auxiliary symbol adding means to the display device.
[0021]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, input means 20 inputs image data d obtained by imaging a document to be processed and digitizing it. The storage unit 21 stores the image data input from the input unit.
[0022]
The format discriminating unit 22 discriminates whether the document recorded in the original is horizontal writing or vertical writing, and supplies the discrimination result to the region image extracting unit 23 and the display format setting unit 25. . The region image extraction unit 23 extracts a region image including characters from the image data according to the discrimination result of the format discrimination unit 22.
[0023]
The image processing unit 24 performs predetermined image processing on the region image extracted by the region image extracting unit 23, thereby enlarging or deforming characters, performing contrast change processing, and the like.
[0024]
The display format setting unit 25 rearranges each region image subjected to image processing so as to have a predetermined character interval and line interval (or column interval), and creates a rearranged document.
[0025]
The auxiliary symbol adding unit 26 displays auxiliary symbols (details will be described later) indicating the connection relation between the characters and the rows (or between the columns) with respect to the rearranged document created by the display format setting unit 25. In addition, an output document is generated and supplied to the output means 27.
[0026]
The output unit 27 outputs the output document generated by adding the auxiliary symbol by the auxiliary symbol adding unit 26 to the display device 28.
The display device 28 is configured by, for example, a printer, a CRT display, and the like, and displays and outputs the document output from the output unit 27 on a print sheet, a CRT, or the like.
[0027]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration example of the display format setting means 25 shown in FIG.
In this figure, the character spacing setting means 25a sets the character spacing when the area image supplied from the image processing means 24 is arranged based on the discrimination result of the format discrimination means 22. The row / column interval setting unit 25b sets an interval between rows or columns of the area image in which the character interval is set by the character interval setting unit 25a.
[0028]
The area image rearrangement unit 25c creates a rearranged document by arranging the area images at intervals set by the character interval setting unit 25a and the row / column interval setting unit 25b, and supplies the rearrangement document to the auxiliary symbol addition unit 26 shown in FIG. Supply.
[0029]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration example of the auxiliary symbol adding means 26 shown in FIG. In this figure, the inter-character connection auxiliary symbol adding means 26a adds a symbol such as an arrow indicating the connection relation of each character to the rearranged document according to the discrimination result of the format discrimination means 22.
[0030]
The row / column connection auxiliary symbol adding unit 26b adds a symbol such as an underline indicating the connection relationship between the rows or columns to the rearranged document in accordance with the discrimination result of the format discrimination unit 22, as shown in FIG. The output means 27 is supplied.
[0031]
Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with a specific example.
Now, assume that image data obtained by digitization after a document such as that shown in FIG.
[0032]
Then, the input image data is stored in the storage means 21. The format discriminating unit 22 performs predetermined image processing on the image data stored in the storage unit 21 to determine whether the document is written horizontally or vertically. The format discriminating unit 22 does not automatically determine the format. For example, the format discriminating unit 22 discriminates the format in accordance with information input from an input device such as a keyboard (not shown). Also good.
[0033]
The area image extraction unit 23 extracts a predetermined area image from the image data stored in the storage unit 21 according to the discrimination result of the format discrimination unit 22. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which an area image is extracted in character units from the document shown in FIG. Note that the rectangle “■” shown in this figure indicates an extracted region image (an image of a region including each character).
[0034]
In the above example, the region image is extracted in units of characters, but may be extracted in units of rows or columns, or in units of paragraphs, for example. In addition, the region extraction processing is not automatically executed, but may be executed semi-automatically or the region may be set completely manually.
[0035]
The image processing unit 24 performs an image enlargement or deformation process, a contrast change process, a character inversion process, a display color change process, or the like on the area image extracted by the area image extraction unit 23, This is supplied to the display format setting means 25. In the present example, processing for enlarging a region image (an image of a region including each character) at a predetermined rate is performed.
[0036]
The character interval setting means 25a of the display format setting means 25 is a character used when arranging the area image subjected to the image processing by the image processing means 24 based on the discrimination result of the format discrimination means 22 and the size of the character to be displayed. Set the interval. The row / column spacing setting unit 25b determines the row or column spacing of the area image arranged at the character spacing set by the character spacing setting unit 25a based on the discrimination result of the format discrimination unit 22 and the size of the character to be displayed. Set. The area image rearrangement unit 25c arranges the area images according to the setting contents of the character interval setting unit 25a and the row / column interval setting unit 25b.
[0037]
For example, when the character-to-character spacing is set to the length of one character, the line spacing is set to double one character, and the number of characters in one line is set to 16 characters, FIG. Each area image shown in FIG. 6 is arranged as shown in FIG. FIG. 7 actually shows the contents of the region image shown in FIG.
[0038]
If all the region images do not fit on one page, the region image rearrangement unit 25c performs processing such as a page break. Further, the setting contents of the character interval setting means 25a and the row / column interval setting means 25b may be set manually according to the preference of each user.
[0039]
By the way, the visual field recognizable by the low vision person is, for example, about the area surrounded by the ellipse in FIG. 8A (in this example, an area of about 4 characters). Generally, a low vision person estimates a row (or column) from the arrangement of characters in the field of view, and therefore, as shown in FIG. In some cases, the line of sight moves to another line while following the character.
[0040]
In order to prevent such a situation, the intercharacter connecting auxiliary symbol adding means 26a of the auxiliary symbol adding means 26, as shown in FIG. 8 (C), assists the recognition of the connection relation of each character (intercharacter connecting assistance). Add a symbol. In this example, the character is underlined as an auxiliary symbol for indicating the connection relationship of the characters (the relationship connected in the horizontal direction).
[0041]
Such auxiliary symbols include a solid line added to the center of the character as shown in FIG. 8D, a broken line added to the lower part of the character as shown in FIG. An arrow or the like arranged between characters as shown in F) can be used. In these examples, the auxiliary symbol is displayed as black, but it may not be a hindrance to reading characters, and a color other than black may be added so that the auxiliary symbol is displayed. Good. These auxiliary symbols can be added because the document is cut out in units of elements and the boundaries between rows or columns are clear.
[0042]
The document to which the inter-character connection auxiliary symbol is added is supplied to the row / column connection auxiliary symbol adding means 26b, where the row / column connection auxiliary symbol indicating the connection between the rows or columns is added. The
[0043]
That is, as shown in FIG. 9, the visual field of the low-sighted person can only capture a few characters at a time, so the distance to move from line to line is very long compared to the visual field range. For this reason, the line of sight does not move well from line to line, the line of sight does not move to the next line, or the line of sight moves to a different line. In addition, punctuation marks may be placed in the middle of a line and the paragraph may change, but it is difficult for low-sight people to read because it is not clear whether a character continues in the line direction or a line break continues on the next line. There was a case.
[0044]
Therefore, the row / column connection auxiliary symbol adding unit 26b adds a row / column connection auxiliary symbol for assisting the movement of the line of sight between rows or columns as shown in FIG. 1 is supplied to the output means 27 shown in FIG.
[0045]
For example, as shown in FIG. 11, numbers may be sequentially added to the beginning of each row (or each column) as a row / column connection auxiliary symbol.
In the above example, the row / column connection auxiliary symbol is displayed in black, but it is displayed in a color other than black so that it does not get in the way of reading characters and there is an auxiliary symbol. You may do it. Note that these supplementary symbols can be added because the document is cut out in units of elements and the boundaries between rows or columns are clear.
[0046]
The output document generated by adding the inter-character connection auxiliary symbol and the row / column connection auxiliary symbol in this way is supplied to the output means 27.
The output unit 27 outputs the supplied output document to the display device 28. As a result, the display device 28 displays and outputs the supplied output document on a recording sheet or CRT.
[0047]
According to the above embodiment, it is possible to display a document in a form that is easy to understand even for a user with a narrow field of view, such as a low vision person.
In the above embodiment, the processing for a horizontally written document has been described as an example. However, the processing for a vertically written document is the same by only changing the direction in which the area image is arranged, the character direction, and the column moving direction. Can be realized.
[0048]
In this example, black auxiliary lines and numbers are used to indicate the direction of movement of characters and the direction of movement of rows or columns. Various methods can be considered.
[0049]
Alternatively, image data may be input from a scanner or the like, and a document obtained as a result of processing may be displayed on a print or CRT display.
Further, instead of image data, a document input from a keyboard or the like, a document recorded in a recording device, or the like can be input from the input unit 20 and processed in the same manner.
[0050]
Further, the above processing functions can be realized by a computer. In this case, the processing contents of the functions that the document processing apparatus should have are described in a program recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. By executing this program on the computer, the above processing is realized by the computer. Is done. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include a magnetic recording device and a semiconductor memory.
[0051]
When distributing to the market, store the program in a portable recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory) or floppy disk, or store it in a computer storage device connected via a network. In addition, it can be transferred to another computer through the network. When executed by a computer, the program may be stored in a hard disk device or the like in the computer, loaded into the main memory, and executed.
[0052]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, in the present invention, a document is input from the input unit, the storage unit stores the document input from the input unit, and the display format setting unit stores the document stored in the storage unit. The display format for output to the display device is set, the format discriminating means discriminates whether the input document is vertical writing or horizontal writing, and the auxiliary symbol adding means is the format discriminating means, When discriminated as horizontal writing, an auxiliary symbol indicating the connection relationship between each row is added. When discriminating as vertical writing, an auxiliary symbol indicating the connection relationship between each column is added. However, the output means outputs the document with the auxiliary symbol added by the auxiliary symbol adding means to the display device, so that it is difficult for the user who has a narrow viewing angle and cannot easily follow the character with his eyes. Whichever character is in the row / column It is possible to provide the following for whether a possible understanding documents to.
[0053]
In particular, when a document ends in the middle of a line or when a sentence continues beyond a line, it is possible to know which direction to move next so that it is easy to read even for low-sighted people be able to.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration example of a display format setting unit shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration example of auxiliary symbol adding means shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a document read into the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a state in which an area image is extracted in units of characters from the document illustrated in FIG.
[Figure 6] When the character spacing is set to the length of one character, the line spacing is set to twice the length of one character, and the number of characters per line is set to 16 characters 6 is an arrangement example of each area image shown in FIG.
7 shows the actual contents of the area image shown in FIG.
FIGS. 8A and 8B are examples of the visual field of a low vision person, and FIGS. 8C to 8F are diagrams illustrating examples of inter-character connection auxiliary symbols.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a visual field of a low vision person.
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a row / column connection auxiliary symbol;
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing another example of row / column connection auxiliary symbols.
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a conventional enlarged reading apparatus.
13 is a diagram showing an imaging region of the enlarged reading apparatus shown in FIG.
FIG. 14A is a diagram showing an imaging area of a conventional enlarged reading apparatus, and FIG. 14B is a display example when a captured image is normally displayed; FIG. 14C shows a display example when only the target row is displayed.
[Explanation of symbols]
20 Input means 21 Storage means 22 Format discrimination means 23 Region image extraction means 24 Image processing means 25 Display format setting means 26 Auxiliary symbol adding means 27 Output means 28 Display device

Claims (5)

In a document processing apparatus that performs a predetermined process on a document and then outputs a display to a display apparatus,
An input means for inputting a document;
Storage means for storing a document input from the input means;
Display format setting means for setting a display format when outputting the document stored in the storage means to the display device;
Format discriminating means for discriminating whether the document is vertical writing or horizontal writing;
If the format discriminating means discriminates that it is horizontal writing, an auxiliary symbol indicating the connection relation between each row is added, and if it is discriminated that it is vertical writing, the connection relation between each column. Auxiliary symbol adding means for adding an auxiliary symbol indicating
An output means for outputting the document with the auxiliary symbol added by the auxiliary symbol adding means to the display device;
A document processing apparatus comprising:   2. The document processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary symbol adding unit further adds an auxiliary symbol indicating a connection relation of each character constituting the document with reference to a discrimination result of the format discriminating unit. . The input means inputs image data obtained by imaging a document on which a document to be processed is recorded,
The storage means stores the image data,
A region image extracting unit that extracts a region image including a predetermined number of characters from the image data stored in the storage unit;
2. The display format setting means, the format discrimination means, the auxiliary symbol addition means, and the output means respectively perform processing on the area image extracted by the area image extraction means. Document processing device.   2. The document processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising image processing means for performing predetermined image processing on the area image extracted by the area image extracting means. In a computer-readable recording medium that records a program for performing document processing for display output to a display device after performing predetermined processing on the document,
Computer
Input means through which the document is entered,
Storage means for storing a document input from the input means;
Display format setting means for setting a display format when outputting the document stored in the storage means to the display device;
Discrimination means for discriminating whether the document is vertical writing or horizontal writing;
If the format discriminating means discriminates that it is horizontal writing, an auxiliary symbol indicating the connection relation between each row is added, and if it is discriminated that it is vertical writing, the connection relation between each column. Auxiliary symbol adding means for adding an auxiliary symbol indicating
Output means for outputting the document with the auxiliary symbol added by the auxiliary symbol adding means to the display device;
A computer-readable recording medium storing a program that functions as a computer.

Images