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Color Image Processing

Ricoh has created, developed, and deployed a host of cutting edge new image processing technologies. In the early 1990s Ricoh researchers and engineers responded to the challenge of fielding an entire digital imaging product line. Scanning, manipulating, and printing huge, high-quality document images requires sophisticated enhancement, compression, and image analysis processing algorithms and implementations.

The Color Image Processing group at Ricoh Innovations, Inc. is a strong contributor to the technical excellence of Ricoh's image processing capability. Early on, the Color Image Processing group developed the world's fastest (in software), smallest (in hardware) JPEG implementations. Ricoh's first digital camera, release in 1995, won several awards because of the video capabilities enabled by this technology.

To efficiently use the high-quality, high-resolution images create by Ricoh machines inside machines, over a networks, and in computers, the Color Image Processing group realized that it was necessary to have methods to manipulate the data in the compressed form. We developed an entire compression system and proposed it to the JPEG committee (ISO ITU international standards committee). This led to the JPEG 2000 algorithm that includes a significant amount of Ricoh's technology. We also served in several key roles on the committee including editor of Parts 1, 2, and 4.

The Color Image Processing group invented a wavelet-based enhancement for document images. Unlike classic wavelet de-noising, this technology also simultaneously sharpens the image — key for attractive text reproduction. Performed in the wavelet domain, the de-noising and sharpening functions are computationally simple.

Today, the work of the Color Image Processing group has expanded into new areas like document image analysis, classification, representation, manipulation of document image objects, tracking documents, relating paper and electronic data, and exploration of the structure of wikis, blogs, and other group-edited data.