System and method to manipulate an image

1. A method, comprising:

determining, with an image reader, congruent lines of activity in a digital image;

rotating, with the image reader, the digital image based on the determined congruent lines of activity;

searching, with the image reader, the rotated digital image for nominally straight edges;

characterizing, with the image reader, the nominally straight edges in terms of length and/or direction;

establishing, with the image reader, a first group of edges as a function of their proximity to the digital image's center;

establishing, with the image reader, a second group of edges as a function of their proximity to other remaining edges; and

transmuting, with the image reader, a rectangle bounding the first group of edges and the second group of edges into a rectified image;

wherein the rectified image is an image that is cropped by discarding portions of the rotated digital image outside of the rectangle.

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising searching the rotated digital image in high resolution and low resolution.

3. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

determining a predominant orientation of the nominally straight edges; and

discarding edges that are not nominally parallel or perpendicular to the determined predominate orientation.

4. The method of claim 1 , comprising rotating the digital image using a transformation matrix.

5. The method of claim 1 , comprising capturing the digital image, with the image reader, and automatically searching the digital image for nominally straight edges.

6. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

capturing, with the image reader, the digital image in high resolution and low resolution at the same time; and

searching, with the image reader, the digital image in high resolution and low resolution.

7. A method, comprising:

searching, with an image reader, a digital image at a high resolution for nominally straight edges;

searching, with the image reader, the digital image at a low resolution for nominally straight edges;

characterizing, with the image reader, the nominally straight edges in terms of length and/or direction;

determining, with the image reader, a predominant orientation of the nominally straight edges;

discarding, with the image reader, edges that are not nominally parallel or perpendicular to the determined predominate orientation;

establishing, with the image reader, a first group of edges as a function of their proximity to the digital image's center;

establishing, with the image reader, a second group of edges as a function of their proximity to other remaining edges;

transmuting, with the image reader, a rectangle bounding the first group of edges and the second group of edges into a rectified image, wherein the rectified image is an image that is cropped by discarding portions of the digital image outside of the rectangle;

determining, with the image reader, congruent lines of activity in the rectified image; and

rotating, with the image reader, the rectified image based on the determined congruent lines of activity.

8. The method of claim 7 , comprising rotating the rectified image using a transformation matrix.

9. The method of claim 7 , comprising capturing, with the image reader, the digital image and automatically searching the digital image at a low resolution for nominally straight edges.

10. The method of claim 7 , comprising capturing, with the image reader, the digital image in high resolution and low resolution at the same time.

11. A device comprising;

an image sensor for outputting signals representative of an image in a field of view; and

a processor communicatively connected to the image sensor;

wherein the device is configured for:

determining congruent lines of activity in an image;

searching the image for nominally straight edges;

characterizing the nominally straight edges in terms of length and/or direction;

establishing a first group of edges as a function of their proximity to the image's center;

establishing a second group of edges as a function of their proximity to other remaining edges;

transmuting a rectangle bounding the first group of edges and the second group of edges into a rectified image; and

wherein the rectified image is an image that is cropped by discarding portions of the image outside of the rectangle.

12. The device of claim 11 , wherein the device is configured for searching the image in high resolution and low resolution.

13. The device of claim 11 , wherein the device is configured for;

determining a predominant orientation of the nominally straight edges; and

discarding edges that are not nominally parallel or perpendicular to the determined predominate orientation.

14. The device of claim 11 , wherein the device is configured for rotating the image based on the determined congruent lines of activity.

15. The device of claim 11 , wherein the device is configured for capturing the image and automatically searching the image for nominally straight edges.

16. The device of claim 11 , wherein the device is configured for:

capturing the image in high resolution and low resolution at the same time; and

searching the image in high resolution and low resolution.

17. The device of claim 11 wherein the device is configured for:

searching the image at a high resolution for nominally straight edges:

searching the image at a low resolution for nominally straight edges;

determining a predominant orientation of the nominally straight edges; and

discarding edges that are not nominally parallel or perpendicular to the determined predominate orientation.

18. The device of claim 17 , wherein the device is configured for rotating the image based on the determined congruent lines of activity.

19. The device of claim 17 , wherein the device is configured for capturing the image and automatically searching the image at a low resolution for nominally straight edges.

20. The device of claim 17 , wherein the device is configured for capturing the digital image in high resolution and low resolution at the same time.