Comparison of optical and magnetic character data for identification of character defect type
A system for determining a plurality of PCS values for a document image representing a document having at least one area of interest on a surface of the physical item for containing critical data and a background image positioned on the surface, the document suitable for positioning in a digital image recorder, the system determines from the memory a plurality of PCS threshold values having specified surface locations matching the assigned locations of the calculated PCS values and compares the PCS threshold values with the calculated PCS values to determine whether the target portions satisfy their respective PCS threshold values; wherein the degree of target portions that satisfy their PCS threshold value is indicative of the acceptability of the design of the background image when processed by the digital image recorder.
1. A method for testing a magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) character printed on a document for compliance with a character standard, the method comprising the steps of:
obtaining a location associated with the MICR character on the document;
obtaining a magnetic signal data indicative of dimensional features of the MICR character associated with the location;
obtaining optical image data indicative of the dimensional features of the MICR character associated with the location;
comparing the optical image data against a plurality of optical image templates and failing to determine a matching character of the MICR character, such that each of the plurality of optical image templates is associated with a unique character of a set of characters;
comparing the magnetic signal data against a plurality magnetic signal templates to determine the matching character of the MICR character; and
determining at least one magnetic signal defect of the dimensional features of the matching character from the magnetic signal data indicative of the failure to determine the matching character by the comparison of the optical image data;
wherein the optical image data and the magnetic signal data are obtained from corresponding readers located in the same housing.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein device for obtaining the optical image data is selected from the group consisting of: a scanner and a camera.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein a type of the at least one magnetic signal defect is selected from the group consisting of: improper signal strength the MICR character; improper number of peaks the MICR character; improper distance between peaks the MICR character; and improper width of a peak the MICR character.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein a dimensional feature defect threshold of the character standard as a magnetic standard is associated with each type of the at least one magnetic signal defect, such that said step of determining uses one or more of the dimensional feature defect thresholds to determine the magnetic signal defect.
5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the at least one magnetic signal defect is selected from the group consisting of: an extraneous magnetic signal data adjacent to the MICR character; and improper spacing between magnetic signal data of an adjacent MICR character and the magnetic signal data of the MICR character.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein a dimensional feature defect threshold of the character standard as a magnetic standard is associated with each type of the at least one magnetic signal defect, such that said step of determining uses one or more of the dimensional feature defect thresholds to determine the magnetic signal defect.
7. The method of claim 2 , wherein the magnetic signal data is obtained from a DC reader or an AC reader.
8. The method of claim 2 further comprising the step of displaying the matching character of the MICR character and displaying the at least one magnetic signal defect on a display of a user interface.
9. The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of reprinting the MICR character on a new document without the at least one magnetic signal defect, obtaining a new optical image data indicative of dimensional features of the MICR character, and comparing the new optical image data against the plurality of optical image templates to determine the matching character of the MICR character, such that each of the plurality of optical image templates is associated with the unique character of the set of characters.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the new document is a portion attached to the document.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the failing is caused by one or more defects found in the optical image data rather than the ability to uniquely identify the character from the optical image templates.
12. An apparatus for testing a magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) character printed on a document for compliance with a character standard, the apparatus comprising:
a housing;
a location module to obtain a location associated with the MICR character on the document associated with a document transport mechanism in the housing for providing relative movement between a plurality of readers and the document;
an optical reader of the plurality of readers in the housing to obtain optical image data indicative of the dimensional features of the MICR character associated with the location and to compare the optical image data against a plurality of optical image templates and failing to determine a matching character of the MICR character, such that each of the plurality of optical image templates is associated with a unique character of a set of characters;
a magnetic reader of the plurality of readers in the housing to obtain a magnetic signal data indicative of dimensional features of the MICR character associated with the location and to compare the magnetic signal data against a plurality magnetic signal templates to determine the matching character of the MICR character; and
a correlation module to determine at least one magnetic signal defect of the dimensional features of the matching character from the magnetic signal data indicative of the failure to determine the matching character by the comparison of the optical image data;
wherein the optical image data and the magnetic signal data are obtained from the corresponding readers located in the same housing.