Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

An optical reader is a device that converts text or pictures from paper into digital signals that may be processed in varied ways that by computers. altogether cases, the reader is taking a scan of the written text or image, and changing it to a digital file appropriate for a pc processor. The ensuing file may be then be accustomed convert the text to speech, spell check a letter, or scan a code at a sales counter for a retail sale.

Text scanners for digital process of books, letters, and pictures are wide used since the late twentieth century. A growing interest in digitally protective previous documents and manuscripts junction rectifier to libraries making archives victimization optical reader technology. several digital files ar hold on on public pc servers, and ar on the market through the web.

Voice generation from text is another use for optical reader technology. The reader code uses the scanned image of a book or letter, and creates a file that "reads" the text with a computer-generated voice. Voice browseers ar terribly helpful for the blind or vision-impaired that can't read written text. beginning within the late twentieth century, some internet sites may be voice-generated directly from an online page, with no extra scanning needed.

Another sort of optical reader was the optical maser code scanner. This scanner used a low-power shaft of light to scan a series of codes showing as black and white bars of variable dimension on retail packages and labels. A pc recognized the quantity code pictured by the bars, that may be used for characteristic associate degree item being purchased. Bar codes were additionally wide used on shipping packages, wherever automatic machines in sorting warehouses browse the codes and directed packages to their correct shipping truck or instrumentation.

Beginning within the twentieth century, associate degree optical reader was developed that might establish markings on tests, election ballots or vote cards for corporation shareholders. The reader may find black or navy blue marks created in specific circles or boxes on the cardboard or letter. These readers simplified vote or take a look at process over manually reading all the cards. Incomplete or incorrect marks and optical reader issues happened often and votes were re-counted to reduce errors, reducing the effectiveness of those systems.

An increased optical reader technology developed within the late twentieth century was the digital matrix scanner. Bar codes had limitations within the total digits that might be pictured, as a result of every digit had to own a bar of a particular dimension and size. employing a matrix or box, created from smaller black or white boxes of various sizes, allowed the data capability of a code to expand greatly. a lot of data merely needed a box of various dimensions or size, and enhancements within the readers allowed the boxes to be smaller, additionally up the number of data contained in them.

Mobile phones developed within the late twentieth century typically had associate degree integrated camera. Applications were developed that might acknowledge the codes during a digital matrix image captured by the phone camera. No scanning was required, as a result of the code used the camera image directly. Retailers at the time were chop-chop increasing use of matrix codes for linking customers to their web site, causing data requests on to the phone, among alternative uses.