JPH1049623A - Character reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To lighten the burden of correcting operation on an operator by automatically moving a character cursor for correction in a specified order and sequentially displaying image information of a character part at the cursor position as the cursor moves. SOLUTION: Outputs from a field image buffer and a recognition result buffer, character positioning information, and an indication from an input part 18 such as a keyboard are inputted to a character correction part 8, which corrects a character according to those inputs. The output of the character correction part 8 is displayed at a display part 20 which constitutes part of the optical reader under the control of a display control part 19. Here, a character data display control part 21 provided in the character correction part 8 displays character data as a recognition result stored in the recognition result buffer. Further, a cursor moving and stopping part 22 automatically moves the character cursor for correction in predetermined order and stops it for a predetermined time, and then moves the cursor to a next character.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a character reading apparatus for optically reading a character handwritten or printed on paper, converting the character into character code data, and correcting the reading result. Since the reading accuracy of characters by the optical character reading device is not perfect, the reading result includes unreadable characters (reject characters) and read characters.
Therefore, it is essential that the operator confirms and corrects the read result. In this character correction process, the rejected characters as a result of reading on the screen are changed in display color to make them stand out, or image information of the corresponding portion of the paper is displayed in the vicinity to improve the efficiency of character correction. However, the burden on the operator is still heavy,
It is desired to reduce the burden.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional character reading apparatus, when correcting a character displayed on a screen, an operator determines a character to be corrected, and moves a cursor to the character to be corrected, and inputs a character by a keyboard. Had corrected it.
Further, as a conventional character reading apparatus, when displaying image information of a corresponding portion to confirm a reading result, there is a device which displays only a portion of interest.

[0003]

However, in such a conventional character reading apparatus, it is necessary for the operator to consciously move the correction cursor using a normal keyboard. There were many. In addition, when displaying the image information for confirmation, the movement of the cursor is detected by the movement of the cursor in order to display only the portion of interest, so that the operator needs to move the cursor. As a result, there is a problem that the burden on the operator in the correction work is still large.

The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem, and automatically moves a correction character cursor in a predetermined order. The image information of the character portion at the cursor position is moved in accordance with the movement. Are sequentially displayed, thereby providing a character reading device capable of reducing the burden on the operator in the correction work.

[0005]

In order to achieve this object, the present invention is configured as shown in FIG. That is, according to the present invention, when character information obtained by performing character recognition from input data is displayed on the display unit 20 and interactively corrected according to an instruction from the input unit 18, the cursor movement stopping unit 22 corrects the character information. The character cursor automatically moves in a predetermined order, and after stopping for a predetermined time, is moved to the next character, and with the movement of the correction character cursor, the character image display control means 23 Display character images sequentially.

The character image display control means 23 may display the image information of the character in units of one character in accordance with the movement of the correction character cursor. Further, the character image display control means 23 displays the item image information including the character and the characters before and after the character in accordance with the movement of the correction character cursor in item units, and displays the character portion in the item by the image cursor. And other parts may be identified and displayed.

When automatically moving the correction character cursor in a predetermined order on the screen, the cursor movement stopping means 22 stops the cursor at an arbitrary position by the operation of the input unit by the operator. The cursor movement stopping means 22 stops the correction character cursor when it reaches a character position determined to be unreadable or a check digit mismatch item.

Further, a stop time extending means 24 is provided to extend the stop time of the corrected character cursor in accordance with the accuracy of the recognition of the character, the lower the accuracy is. In addition, the accuracy display control means 25 is provided to visually display the accuracy of the recognition of the character at the cursor position on the screen. Accuracy display control means 25
May change the color or brightness of the character on the screen, or may display the character in a predetermined area on the screen with an indicator.

Further, a candidate display control means 26 is provided to obtain a candidate row which is arranged in descending order of the difference of the degree of coincidence between the character and the standard character form for each character, and the recognition candidate character for the character at the stop position is ranked higher. Are displayed in order, and the operator selects the candidates displayed by the candidate display control unit 26 according to an instruction from the input unit by the candidate selection unit 27. The candidate display control means 26 may display the recognition candidate character for the character at the stop position from the upper position at a corrected character cursor position for a fixed time.

The candidate display control means 26 displays a list of recognition candidate characters corresponding to the character at the stop position from the upper side in the vicinity of the corrected character cursor position in order from the upper side up or down or left and right. The candidate cursor may be moved every time. According to the character reading device of the present invention having such a configuration, the correction character cursor is automatically moved in a predetermined order, and the character images are sequentially displayed in accordance with this movement. The amount of keystrokes is reduced, and the work of the operator in correcting the reading result can be reduced. In addition, the lower the accuracy of the recognition of the character by the stop time extension means 24, the longer the stop time of the cursor, so that the operator has more time for judgment. Also, the accuracy display control means 25
Since the color or luminance of the character on the screen is changed, or the accuracy of recognition of the character at the cursor position is displayed in a predetermined area with the indicator, attention can be given to a character with low accuracy. Furthermore, the candidate display control means 26 displays the corrected character at the cursor position for each fixed time, or displays it in a list and moves the candidate cursor at fixed time intervals, so that character correction can be performed easily and accurately. it can.

[0011]

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an optical character reader as a character reader according to the present invention. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes an optical character reading device,
Optically reads handwritten or printed characters,
Convert to character code data. 2 is an optical character reader 1
Is a form that is optically read by
In the form 2, characters are handwritten or printed. Reference numeral 3 denotes a scanner. The scanner 3 optically scans handwritten and printed characters of the form 2 and stores image data in the frame memory 4. Reference numeral 5 denotes a field image cutout unit. The field image cutout unit 5 detects the position of a read field (item) from the image data stored in the frame memory 4 based on format information 6 given in advance. The image of the field portion is cut out and stored in the field image buffer 7.

The field image cutout section 5 cuts out a field image in response to a trigger from a character correction section 8 incorporated in the optical character reading device 1. The field image buffer 7 outputs the stored field image to the character positioning unit 9 and also outputs the field image to the character correction unit 8. The character positioning unit 9 separates the field image into characters in units of one character based on the format information 6 and the character positioning information 10 and stores the characters in the character image buffer 11. The character positioning information 10 is also output to the character correction unit 8. The character image is output from the character image buffer 11 to the character feature extraction unit 12, and the character feature extraction unit 12 extracts a feature for identification from the separated character features and stores it in the character feature buffer 13. The character feature is output from the character feature buffer 13 to the character feature matching unit 14, and the character feature matching unit 14 compares the character feature with the standard character form of the character recognition dictionary 15 stored in advance, and the degree of matching is large. From the recognition result buffer 16 in order.
However, the character feature matching unit 14 determines that the matching degree of the first candidate is smaller than the predetermined standard value 1 or that the relative distance difference from the matching degree of the second candidate is smaller than the predetermined standard value 2. In this case, an unreadable (reject) is output as the first candidate. Based on the recognition result stored in the recognition result buffer 16, the check digit (C / D) calculation unit 17 calculates a check digit for a necessary item by referring to the format information 6 and determines whether the item matches or not. As a result, a normal or check digit error is set in the recognition result buffer 16 for each item. Each output from the field image buffer 7, the recognition result buffer 16, the character positioning information 10, and the instruction from the input unit 18 such as a keyboard are input to the character correction unit 8, and the character correction unit 8 outputs a character based on these inputs. Make corrections. The output of the character correction unit 8 is displayed on the display unit 20 which forms a part of the optical reading device 1 under the control of the display control unit 19.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the character correction unit 8. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 21 denotes a character data display control unit provided in the character correction unit 8, and the character data display control unit 21 displays the character data of the recognition result stored in the recognition result buffer 16. Reference numeral 22 denotes a cursor movement stop unit serving as a cursor movement stop unit. The cursor movement stop unit 22 automatically moves the correction character cursor in a predetermined order, and stops after a predetermined time, and then stops the correction character cursor for a predetermined time. Move to character. The moving order of the cursor is, for example, ascending order of the character number in the item, ascending order of the item number in the line, and ascending order of the line number in the paper. The stop time for each character is, for example, as follows.

Stop time = constant / ｛(coincidence of first candidate)
+ [(Degree of match of first candidate) − (degree of match of second candidate)] ２ The cursor movement stopping unit 22 automatically moves the correction character cursor on the screen in a predetermined order.
The movement of the cursor is stopped at an arbitrary position by the operation of the input unit 18 by the operator. That is, in the process of automatically moving the correction character cursor in a predetermined order on the screen, if the operator determines that the reading is erroneous, the operator can stop the cursor movement from the input unit 18 such as a keyboard. it can. With this operation, the character at which the cursor was positioned at that time can be corrected.

The cursor movement stopping unit 22 stops the correction character cursor when it reaches a character position determined to be unreadable or when it reaches a check digit mismatch item. In other words, the correction character cursor automatically moves, but when it reaches the position of an unrecognizable character that needs correction, the cursor is stopped there,
Select and enter the correct character from the candidates. The cursor is stopped because not only unrecognizable characters but also items in which the check digit mismatch is detected need correction.

Reference numeral 23 denotes a character image display control unit as character image display control means. The character image display control unit 23 sequentially displays character images as the correction character cursor moves. That is, the character image display control unit 22 sequentially displays the image information of the character portion where the cursor is positioned, in accordance with the movement of the correction character cursor. In this case, the character image display control unit 23 may display the image information of the character in units of one character with the movement of the correction character cursor, or may include the character and the characters before and after the character. The item image information may be displayed in item units, and the display of the character portion and the other portions in the item may be identified and displayed by the image cursor. That is,
The display of the character image may be in units of one character, but it is difficult to distinguish even if only one character is displayed independently. Therefore, it is desirable to be able to refer to the preceding and following images. Therefore, image display is performed in item units, and if a plurality of characters exist in an item, the gaze character can be identified not only by the image cursor but also by reverse display or the like.

Reference numeral 24 denotes a stop time extension unit as stop time extension means. The stop time extension unit 24 obtains the accuracy of recognition of each character and automatically moves the correction character cursor in a predetermined order. According to the accuracy of the character recognition, the lower the accuracy, the longer the cursor stop time. This is because the lower the accuracy of the character, the longer the stop time of the cursor is, so that the operator can make a judgment.

Reference numeral 25 denotes a certainty display control unit as certainty display control means. The certainty display control unit 25 visually displays the certainty of character recognition at the cursor position on the screen. The accuracy display control unit 25 may change the color or luminance of the character on the screen, or may display the character in a predetermined area on the screen with an indicator.

That is, the accuracy display control unit 25 obtains the accuracy of the recognition of each character, and changes the color and brightness of the character on the screen when the correction character cursor automatically moves in a predetermined order. By displaying the accuracy of the recognition of the character at the cursor position visually by displaying an indicator in a predetermined area or the like, the user is alerted to a character with low accuracy. 2
6 is a candidate display control unit as candidate display control means,
The candidate display control unit 26 obtains, for each character, candidate rows arranged in descending order of the difference in the degree of matching between the character and the standard character form, and displays recognition candidate characters for the character at the stop position in order from the top.

Reference numeral 27 denotes a candidate selection unit as candidate selection means. The candidate selection unit 27 selects a candidate displayed by the candidate display control unit 26 in accordance with an instruction from the input unit 18 by the operator. When displaying the recognition candidate character for the character at the stop position from the upper position, the candidate display control unit 26 may display the recognition candidate character at a fixed character cursor position at fixed time intervals, or may display the recognized character character from the upper position near the corrected character cursor position. A list may be displayed vertically or horizontally in order, and the candidate cursor may be moved in the list at regular intervals. That is, for character correction, recognition candidates of the character are sequentially shown, and if there is a correct answer, the operator selects the correct answer. If there is no correct answer in the candidate group, the operator inputs the correct answer from the input unit 18. The method of displaying the candidate group at this time is to display the recognition candidate characters for the character at the stop position in order from the top for a fixed period of time, one character at a time to the correction cursor position, and input by the operator. Which of the candidates is selected in accordance with the instruction from the unit 18 or the candidate recognition characters for the character at the stop position are displayed in a list from the top in the vicinity of the correction cursor, up and down or left and right. The gaze character is moved by the candidate cursor, and one of the candidates is selected according to an instruction from the input unit 18.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Here, assuming that data as shown in FIG. 6 has been obtained as a result of reading the form 2 as shown in FIG. 5, correction of this data will be described as an example. In FIG. 5, each row of the form 2 is assigned row numbers 1 to 4, and each item is assigned item numbers 1 to 4. That is, item number 1 is assigned to a product code item, item number 2 is assigned to a unit price item, item number 3 is assigned to a quantity item, and item number 4 is assigned to a price item, from left to right. Can be Also, character numbers 1 to 6 are displayed in the character display portion of item number 1, character numbers 1 to 4 are displayed in the character display portion of item number 2, and character numbers 1 to 2 are displayed in the character display portion of item number 3. Character numbers 1 to 7 are assigned to the character display portion of item number 4, respectively.

Such a form 2 is, as shown in FIG.
The image is optically scanned and read by the scanner 3, and the image data is stored in the frame memory 4. From this image data, the field image cutout unit 5 detects the position of the read field based on the format information 6 given in advance, cuts out the image of the read field part, and stores it in the field image buffer 7. The character positioning unit 9 refers to the format information 6 and the character positioning information 10 from the field image, separates the characters into characters in units of one character, and stores the characters in the character image buffer 11. From this character image, the character feature extraction unit 12 extracts a feature for identification, and
3 is stored. The character feature matching unit 14 compares the character feature with a standard character form stored in the character recognition dictionary 15 stored in advance, and recognizes the candidate as a candidate in a recognition result buffer 16 in descending order of matching.
To be stored. In this case, when the matching degree of the first-rank candidate is smaller than a predetermined standard value 1,
Alternatively, if the relative distance difference from the degree of coincidence of the second-place candidate is smaller than the standard value 2, a reading impossible (reject) is output as the first-place candidate. Also, the check digit calculation unit 17
Calculates a check digit for a required item based on the recognition result based on the format information 6, determines a match / mismatch, and sets the result in the recognition result buffer 16. It is assumed that data as shown in FIG. 6 has been obtained in the recognition result buffer 16.

In FIG. 6, line numbers, item numbers, states,
The reading results are shown respectively. As for the state, ○ is normal, R
Indicates a reject, C indicates a check digit error, and # 1 to # 3 of the reading result indicate the first to third candidates. Also,? Indicates unreadable, and □ (square) indicates a blank. Candidates are output up to the third place, but the degree of coincidence is not described. In FIG. 6, line number 1 and item number 3 are rejected, and character number 2 of the same line number 1 and item number 3 is unreadable (?). Also, there is a check digit error in the line number 3 and the item number 1 and the reading result of the first place of the character number 3 is “6”, but the form 2 in FIG. The number 3 is “4”.

Returning to FIG. 4, the character correction process will be described. In step S1, the character correction unit 8 obtains the read result from the recognition result buffer 16 and displays the initial screen on the display unit 20. At the time of character correction, the first candidate (the most likely candidate) is displayed in the initial state.
become that way. The moving order of the correction character cursor 30 is
It is determined that progress is made in ascending order of character numbers in items, ascending order of item numbers in lines, and ascending order of line numbers in paper. Note that a specific character is represented in a format of “line number L / item number M / character number N”, which is abbreviated as “line L / item M / character N”.

Next, in step S2, the correction character cursor 30 is positioned at the first character. The correction character cursor 30 is positioned at line 1 / item 1 / character 1 as shown in FIG. That is, the box-type correction character cursor 30 starts moving from line 1 / item 1 / character 1.
Note that the stop time for each character is determined as in the following equation.

(Stop time) = constant / {(coincidence of first-place candidate) + [(coincidence of first-place candidate)-(coincidence of second-place candidate)]} Next, the end of the form 2 in step S3 It is determined whether or not the character correction has been completed. If the processing has been completed, the character correction is completed in step S4, and if not, the processing proceeds to step S5.

Next, in step S5, it is determined whether or not it is the first character in the item. If it is not the first character, the flow advances to step S6 to position the image cursor to the next character, and the first character is displayed. If there is, the item image is obtained in step S7, and the image cursor is positioned at the first character in step S8. Then, in step S9, the accuracy of the recognition of the character at the position of the corrected character cursor on the screen is displayed by an indicator. As shown in FIG. 7, an item image 31 is displayed below the correction character cursor 30, and the image cursor 32 is positioned at the first character of the item image 31. On the right side of the screen, the accuracy indicator 33 indicates the accuracy of recognition of the character at the cursor position. The display of the accuracy is not limited to the accuracy indicator 33, and the color or brightness of the character on the screen may be changed. Here, the image is displayed in item units, but is not limited to this, and may be displayed as an image 34 of one character unit below the character as shown in FIG. Further, when performing image display in item units, when a plurality of characters are present in the item, the gaze character is displayed by the image cursor 32, but is not limited thereto.
The gaze character may be highlighted.

Next, in step S10, it is determined whether the character and the item are in a normal state. If the character is not in a normal state, the process proceeds to step S11. Here, since the character is in a normal state, the process proceeds to step S12.
In step S12, the stop time is calculated based on the accuracy of the character recognition. Character cursor 3 for correction as accuracy is lower
0, the stopping time of the image cursor 32 is lengthened. When the stop time has elapsed in step S13, the correction character cursor 30 is advanced to the next character in step S14, and the process returns to step S3. Since it is not the end of the form 2 in step S3 and it is not the first character in the item in step S5, step S7
Moves the image cursor 32 to the next character. When the correction character cursor 30 and the image cursor 32 move to line 1 / item 1 / character 2 in this manner, they are displayed as shown in FIG.
In FIG. 9, the correction character cursor 30 and the image cursor 32 are positioned at line 1 / item 1 / character 2.

Thereafter, the correction character cursor 30 and the image cursor 32 are sequentially advanced. When the first rejected character, line 1 / item 2 / character 2, is determined in step S10 that the character is not in a normal state, and step S11 is performed. To stop the character correction cursor 30 and the image cursor 32. As shown in FIG. 10, "?" Indicating that reading is impossible is displayed in line 1 / item 3 / character 2, and the correction character cursor 30 stops at the position where reading is impossible. An item image 31 is displayed below the character, and the image cursor 32 is positioned on the character in the item image 31.
Next, a candidate list is displayed in step S15, and in step S16, the candidate cursor is positioned as the second candidate.

As shown in FIG. 11, a candidate list 35 is displayed above the reject character, and the first to third candidate groups are displayed in the candidate list 35. Candidate cursor 36
Is positioned as the second candidate, here “4”. Next, in step S17, it is determined whether or not there is an operator's selection. The operator considers that “4” of the item image 31 matches “2” of the second candidate in the candidate list 35 from FIG. 11 and sends a predetermined signal from the input unit 18 to position the candidate cursor 36. Candidate, here "4" is selected. Thereby, the character is corrected with the candidate selected in step S18. After the correction, the process proceeds to step S14, and the correction character cursor 30 is advanced to the next character. If there is no operator selection in step S17,
In step S19, it is determined whether or not the candidate selection waiting time has elapsed. If not, the process returns to step S17, and
If it has elapsed, it is determined in step S20 whether or not it is the lowest candidate. If it is not the lowest candidate, step S2
In step S1, the candidate cursor 36 is moved to the next candidate.
Return to 7. If it is the lowest candidate, it is determined in step S22 whether the character is a reject character. Here, since the character is a reject character, the process returns to step S16, and the candidate cursor 36 is positioned as the second candidate. Thus, in the case of a rejected character, the candidate cursor 36 is moved until the operator selects it. When the data is corrected by the selected character, the correction character cursor 30 resumes moving.

When line 3 / item 1 / character 3 is reached, step S
In step 10, the item is not normal, that is, inconsistency of the check digit is detected, and in step S11, the correction character cursor 30 and the image cursor 32 stop.
This state is shown in FIG. 12, where the correction character cursor 30 stops at line 3 / item 1 / character 3 and the image cursor 32 stops at the third character “4” of the item image 31.

As with the reject character, step S15
, A candidate list 35 is displayed. In step S16, the candidate cursor 36 moves in the candidate list 35 to display a second-rank candidate. That is, as shown in FIG.
The correction character cursor 30 is positioned at “6” of the character 3, and the candidate cursor 3 is positioned at the second candidate “4” in the candidate list 35.
6 is positioned.

Next, in step S17, the operator
The second candidate "4" is also selected in the candidate list 35 with / item / character 3 and the data is corrected from "6" to "4". In the case of a check digit error, the difference between the reject character and the operation is that if the operator does nothing, step S22
Is determined to be not a rejected character, the process proceeds to step S24, and proceeds to the next character.

However, although not shown, if the correction is not performed so that the check digit matches the last character of the item, the operation stops at the last character. After the correction, the correction character cursor 30 is moved to the next character, and step S3
When the end of the form 2 is determined, the correction is completed in step S4. In the present embodiment, the correction character cursor is automatically moved in a predetermined order, and the character images are sequentially displayed in accordance with this movement. Can be reduced by the operator. In addition, the lower the accuracy of the recognition of the character by the stop time extension means 24, the longer the stop time of the cursor, so that the operator has more time for judgment. Also, the accuracy display control means 25
Since the color or brightness of the character on the screen is changed or the accuracy of recognition of the character at the cursor position is displayed in a predetermined area with an indicator, attention can be given to a character with low accuracy. In addition, the candidate display control means 26 displays the corrected character at the cursor position for a certain period of time, or displays a list to move the candidate cursor at regular time intervals, so that character correction can be performed easily and accurately. it can.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, the correction character cursor is automatically moved in a predetermined order, and the character images are sequentially displayed in accordance with this movement. , The amount of keystrokes is reduced, and the operator's work in correcting the read result can be reduced. In addition, the lower the accuracy of the character recognition, the longer the cursor stop time, so that the operator can make a decision. In addition, since the color or brightness of the character on the screen is changed, or the accuracy of recognition of the character at the cursor position is displayed in a predetermined area with the indicator, attention can be given to a character with low accuracy. Further, since the corrected character is displayed at the cursor position for each fixed time, or displayed in a list, and the candidate cursor is moved every fixed time, the character correction can be performed easily and accurately.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the optical character reading device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a character correction unit in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a correction process.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a form.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a result of reading the form shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example of a first character.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another example of image display.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example of a second character.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example of a rejected character.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display example including a candidate list of rejected characters.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a display example of a check digit error.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a display example including a check digit error candidate list.

[Explanation of Signs] 1: Optical character reading device (character reading device) 2: Form 3: Scanner 4: Frame memory 5: Field image cutout section 6: Format information 7: Field image buffer 8: Character correction section 9: Character Positioning unit 10: Character positioning information 11: Character image buffer 12: Character feature extraction unit 13: Character feature buffer 14: Character feature matching unit 15: Character recognition dictionary 16: Recognition result buffer 17: Check digit calculation unit 18: Input unit 19 : Display control unit 20: display unit 21: character data display control unit 22: cursor movement stop unit (cursor movement stop unit) 23: character image display control unit (character image display control unit) 24: stop time extension unit (stop time) Extension means) 25: Probability display control unit (Probability display control means) 27: Candidate selection unit (Candidate selection means) 30: Revision Use the text cursor 31: item image 32: image cursor 33: Accuracy Indicator 34: Image 35: candidate list 36: candidate cursor

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A character reading device for displaying character information obtained by performing character recognition from input data on a display unit and interactively correcting the character information according to an instruction from the input unit, wherein a correction character cursor is set in advance. Move in order,
A cursor movement stopping means for moving to a next character after stopping for a predetermined time; and a character image display control means for sequentially displaying a character image in accordance with the movement of the correction character cursor. Character reading device. 2. The character reading device according to claim 1, wherein the character image display control means displays the image information of the character in units of one character with the movement of the correction character cursor. Reader. 3. The character reading device according to claim 1, wherein the character image display control means stores, in accordance with the movement of the correction character cursor, item image information including the character and characters before and after the character in item units. A character reading device for displaying a character portion in an item and displaying the other portion in an item by displaying the character portion with an image cursor. 4. The character reading device according to claim 1, wherein the cursor movement stopping means automatically moves the correction character cursor in a predetermined order on a screen. A character reading device characterized by being stopped at an arbitrary position by an operation. 5. The character reading device according to claim 1, wherein the cursor movement stopping means stops the correction character cursor when a character position determined to be unreadable or a check digit mismatch item is reached. A character reading device characterized by the above-mentioned. 6. The character reading device according to claim 1, further comprising a stop time extending means for extending the stop time of the corrected character cursor as the accuracy is lower, in accordance with the accuracy of the character recognition. Reader. 7. The character reading device according to claim 6, further comprising a reliability display control means for visually displaying the recognition accuracy of the character at the cursor position on the screen. 8. The character reading device according to claim 7, wherein the accuracy display control means changes the color and brightness of the character on the screen. 9. The character reading device according to claim 7, wherein said accuracy display control means displays the information in a predetermined area on a screen with an indicator. 10. A character reading apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a candidate sequence is arranged for each character in descending order of the difference in the degree of coincidence between the character and the standard character shape, and a recognition candidate character for the character at the stop position is obtained. A character reading device, comprising: candidate display control means for displaying candidates in order from the top; and candidate selection means for selecting a candidate displayed by the candidate display control means according to an instruction from an input unit by an operator. 11. The character reading device according to claim 10, wherein said candidate display control means displays a candidate character for the character at the stop position at a corrected character cursor position for a predetermined time when displaying the candidate character from a higher position. Character reading device. 12. The character reading device according to claim 10, wherein the candidate display control means displays the candidate character for the character at the stop position from top to bottom or left and right in the vicinity of the correction character cursor position. A character reading device which displays a list and moves a candidate cursor at regular intervals within the list display.