OPTICAL

CHARACTER
RECOGNITION
(OCR) - Neha Gupta
Meghna Jaiswal
 What is OCR ?
 OCR (optical character recognition) is the
recognition of printed or written text
characters by a computer. This involves
photo scanning of the text character-by-
character, analysis of the scanned-in image,
and then translation of the character image
into character codes, such as ASCII,
commonly used in data processing.
Figure : Optical Character Reader
 Why we use OCR ?
 OCR is also used to process checks and credit card
slips and sort the mail.
 It is the method of scanning, coupled with the higher
speeds and more compact computing power, has led
to the concept of Image Processing.
 OCR has been used to enter data automatically into
a computer for dissemination and processing. The
earliest of systems was dedicated to high volume
variable data entry.
 To increase the accuracy of reading, that
is, to reduce rejects and substitutions
 To reduce the sensitivity of scanning to

read less-controlled input

 To eliminate the need for specially

designed fonts (characters), and

 To read handwritten characters.
Process of OCR
 Types of OCR

 MachineBased (In-line)
 PC Based
OCR Functioning with
Scanner
 Working of OCR
 The Optical scanner is a device used to read
an image, convert it into set of 0’s and 1’s
and store in the computer’s memory.
 If there is dark representation done in a figure
then it is represented by 1. If there are no
dark spots in the fig then it is represented by
0.
 It converts an image to equivalent bitmap
form.
 What are the advantages ?
 OCR advantages are that it can easily & quickly
convert printed text into an electronic & editable form.

 The data through the OCR can be read fast as

compared to other recognition device.

 Significant cost saving as no paper used.

 Reduces long term storage requirement.

 What are the Dis-
advantages
 OCR cannot ?
convert text or data
accurately, or at all sometimes, if there are
any stray marks or voids of any kind within
the scan area that are not supposed to be
there.
 OCR accuracy and capability depend

largely on quality of software & hardware

being used.
 There are several limitation when it comes

to human handwriting.
 Applications
 Banking
 Legal Industry
 Healthcare
 Education
 Finance
 Government agencies
 Education
 Business houses
 Retail industry
 Upcoming technology with
OCR
ICR (intelligent character recognition)
Used for recognizing handwritten text on paper hence
removing restriction of printed text.
BCR (bar code recognition)
Used to scan bar code of a product in order to retrieve
information like price.
OMR(Optical markup recognition)
Used for template matching and then retrieving only
the desired data like forms.
 Conclusion

 It is one of the most powerful emerging

technology.
 It is reliable and a powerful tool for data entry
system.
 As more enterprises are working on this
technology soon it will achieve 100%
accuracy thus making dream of paperless
world true..
 References
 www.wikipedia.com
 www.computerworld.com

 www.google.co.in

 Computer Fundamentals – P.K.Sinha

 Computer Fundamentals – Peter Norton

THANK YOU