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HP TopShot technology is a digital camera technology that serves as the scanning mechanism on a LaserJet Multifunctional Printer (MFP).
TopShot operates like a small photography studio that captures three-dimensional objects on a specially-designed platform on top of the MFP. It also functions as a document scanner to capture text and images that are on paper. TopShot can capture any object that fits on its scanning platform.
The MFP firmware processes the data from TopShot into image files that the MFP can print (copy), send to a computer directory (using the scanner driver), send to email, and send directly to the Internet using HP ePrintCenter Archived 2011-12-10 at the Wayback Machine apps, such as eStorage. The TopShot scanner driver converts the image data into various formats, including PDF, bitmap, JPEG, PNG, and TIF.
Topshot captures six exposures of the subject; three of which are captured using flashes from three different angles. Then it eliminates the distortions by aggregating the exposures and processing them into a single image.
TopShot also removes the background behind the object to make the image stand out and to eliminate the need to edit the image in a separate step. [1] The surface of the scanning platform is engineered to reduce shadows and to reflect a specific shade of white, which TopShot identifies and removes from the final image.
For documents, TopShot uses text recognition software to identify the text, clarify it, and match it to known fonts for printing. It also identifies graphics on the paper and optimizes them. Then, it aggregates the six exposures it took into a document image that appears flat, clear, and undistorted. Figure 2 shows a document captured using a smartphone camera. The image is dark, and the graphic is obscured by glare. Figure 3 shows the same document captured by TopShot in JPEG format. The text is clear, the background is white, and the image is viewable.
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TopShot fits into an environment as a digital photography device where good image quality and ease of use are important. It captures images quickly without extra steps to prepare them for use. For example, it can photograph objects for internet sales, how-to articles, or social networking.
TopShot also fits into an environment as a scanner of non-traditional documents, such as pages in books, artwork that does not always lie flat, or fragile documents. For example, TopShot can archive rare books or historical documents where the documents themselves are valuable artifacts. It captures the information in documents without touching them.
Using a digital camera in the place of a traditional scanning mechanism presents some challenges that must be overcome for an effective scanning device:
HP developed new technologies for TopShot to address these challenges.[ citation needed ]
TopShot also removes the background behind the object to make the image stand out and to eliminate the need to edit the image in a separate step. The surface of the scanning platform is engineered to reduce shadows and to reflect a specific shade of white, which TopShot identifies and removes from the final image.
Readiris Pro Software that comes with the MFP scans documents using Twain and converts the text into searchable and editable text. Figure 4 shows the same document scanned using this software. Note: the document in Figure 4 is a screenshot of the scan results.
The TopShot camera is mounted on the end of an arm that the user must lift before scanning. The arm is designed to the optimal length for precise aiming and focusing of the camera. To ensure successful image capture, the camera arm has a detent that locks it into the fully lifted position, maintaining the necessary alignment.
The TopShot camera arm looks like a handle. It looks so much like a handle that one has to resist the temptation to lift the MFP with it. Because of this, the camera arm is designed to be light enough that it feels too weak to lift the device. The panel on the device where the camera is mounted is also designed to be flexible making it even more obvious that the camera arm is not a handle. This is why HP begins most of the user documentation with a warning to resist using the camera arm as a handle. Making the camera arm lighter also costs less, which reduces the cost of the MFP.
In computer graphics and digital photography, a raster graphic represents a two-dimensional picture as a rectangular matrix or grid of pixels, viewable via a computer display, paper, or other display medium. A raster is technically characterized by the width and height of the image in pixels and by the number of bits per pixel. Raster images are stored in image files with varying dissemination, production, generation, and acquisition formats.
An MFP, multi-functional, all-in-one (AIO), or multi-function device (MFD), is an office machine which incorporates the functionality of multiple devices in one, so as to have a smaller footprint in a home or small business setting, or to provide centralized document management/distribution/production in a large-office setting. A typical MFP may act as a combination of some or all of the following devices: email, fax, photocopier, printer, scanner.
A barcode reader or barcode scanner is an optical scanner that can read printed barcodes and send the data they contain to computer. Like a flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source, a lens, and a light sensor for translating optical impulses into electrical signals. Additionally, nearly all barcode readers contain decoder circuitry that can analyse the barcode's image data provided by the sensor and send the barcode's content to the scanner's output port.
An image scanner—often abbreviated to just scanner—is a device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting or an object and converts it to a digital image. Commonly used in offices are variations of the desktop flatbed scanner where the document is placed on a glass window for scanning. Hand-held scanners, where the device is moved by hand, have evolved from text scanning "wands" to 3D scanners used for industrial design, reverse engineering, test and measurement, orthotics, gaming and other applications. Mechanically driven scanners that move the document are typically used for large-format documents, where a flatbed design would be impractical.
Optical mark recognition (OMR) collects data from people by identifying markings on a paper. OMR enables the hourly processing of hundreds or even thousands of documents. For instance, students may remember completing quizzes or surveys that required them to use a pencil to fill in bubbles on paper. A teacher or teacher's aide would fill out the form, then feed the cards into a system that grades or collects data from them.
Pixels per inch (ppi) and pixels per centimetre are measurements of the pixel density of an electronic image device, such as a computer monitor or television display, or image digitizing device such as a camera or image scanner. Horizontal and vertical density are usually the same, as most devices have square pixels, but differ on devices that have non-square pixels. Pixel density is not the same as resolution — where the former describes the amount of detail on a physical surface or device, the latter describes the amount of pixel information regardless of its scale. Considered in another way, a pixel has no inherent size or unit, but when it is printed, displayed, or scanned, then the pixel has both a physical size (dimension) and a pixel density (ppi).
An image file format is a file format for a digital image. There are many formats that can be used, such as JPEG, PNG, and GIF. Most formats up until 2022 were for storing 2D images, not 3D ones. The data stored in an image file format may be compressed or uncompressed. If the data is compressed, it may be done so using lossy compression or lossless compression. For graphic design applications, vector formats are often used. Some image file formats support transparency.
3D scanning is the process of analyzing a real-world object or environment to collect three dimensional data of its shape and possibly its appearance. The collected data can then be used to construct digital 3D models.
A microform is a scaled-down reproduction of a document, typically either photographic film or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or 1⁄25 of the original document size. For special purposes, greater optical reductions may be used.
Windows Image Acquisition is a proprietary Microsoft driver model and application programming interface (API) for Microsoft Windows Me and later Windows operating systems that enables graphics software to communicate with imaging hardware such as scanners, digital cameras, and digital video equipment. It was first introduced in 2000 as part of Windows Me, and continues to be the standard imaging device and API model through successive Windows versions. It is implemented as an on-demand service in Windows XP and later Windows operating systems.
Scanography, more commonly referred to as scanner photography, is the process of capturing digitized images of objects for the purpose of creating printable art using a flatbed "photo" scanner with a CCD array capturing device. Fine art scanography differs from traditional document scanning by using atypical objects, often three-dimensional, as well as from photography, due to the nature of the scanner's operation.
CuneiForm Cognitive OpenOCR is a freely distributed open-source OCR system developed by Russian software company Cognitive Technologies.
SilverFast is the name of a family of software for image scanning and processing, including photos, documents and slides, developed by LaserSoft Imaging.
The Ricoh 500SE digital compact camera is suitable for outdoor photography and networkability. Capability includes external information such as GPS position or barcode numbers within the image headers. External vendors sell hardware and software for workflows involving GPS positioning or barcode scanning. Most NMEA compliant bluetooth GPS receivers can be used with this camera through its built in bluetooth communication capability. The body is resistant to dust and water, making it robust for many environments.
Image translation is the machine translation of images of printed text. This is done by applying optical character recognition (OCR) technology to an image to extract any text contained in the image, and then have this text translated into a language of their choice, and the applying digital image processing on the original image to get the translated image with a new language.
HP Open Extensibility Platform (HP OXP), developed by Hewlett-Packard Co., is an enterprise software development platform that consists of three unique layers. 1) HP OXPd, the device layer, enables document workflow applications, 2) HP OXPm, the management layer, exposes functionality for management software like HP Web Jetadmin, and 3) HP OXPw, the workflow layer, embeds web services technology into software like the HP Universal Printer Driver (HP UPD). The device layer, or HP OXPd, provides a software development kit (SDK) for creating document workflow applications based on standard web service protocols. Document workflow applications are value-added software applications designed specifically to increase user productivity while interacting with multifunction printers ("MFPs").
HP ePrint was a term used by Hewlett-Packard to describe a variety of printing technologies developed for mobile computing devices, such as smartphones, tablet computers, and laptops.
Avision is a Taiwan based company founded in 1991 that designs and produces image scanners and multifunction printers. The company was established in Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park in 1991.
Optical braille recognition is technology to capture and process images of braille characters into natural language characters. It is used to convert braille documents for people who cannot read them into text, and for preservation and reproduction of the documents.
Barcode library or Barcode SDK is a software library that can be used to add barcode features to desktop, web, mobile or embedded applications. Barcode library presents sets of subroutines or objects which allow to create barcode images and put them on surfaces or recognize machine-encoded text / data from scanned or captured by camera images with embedded barcodes. The library can support two modes: generation and recognition mode, some libraries support barcode reading and writing in the same way, but some libraries support only one mode.
