Based on the new image compression standard, Xerox is demonstrating an innovative way to
interact with compound documents on the Web.
Although JPEG, a widely used image coding standard, worked well, a decade after its
introduction it was straining under the load of bigger, more complex files, new modes
of transmission and storage, and users demanding additional capabilities. It was time
for something new.
In fact, it was time for two new things: JPEG 2000 for different modes of image access
and Mixed Raster Content (MRC) for coding files containing pictures and text - compound
document images. Xerox scientists worked at the intersection of these two technologies
to create the first demonstration of new methods for the interactive Web display of
compound document images.
The Joint Photographic Experts Group developed JPEG 2000, a new image coding system with
state-of-the-art compression techniques as a follow-on to JPEG. The JPEG 2000 compression
standard supports different modes of accessing image data using progressive resolution and
quality - rather like the Alice's Cheshire Cat coming into focus on the branch.
Mixed Raster Content, a Xerox-developed technology, recognizes that in a compound document
image with pictures and text, the best way to compress pictures is not the best way to
compress text; and the best way to compress text is not the best way to compress
pictures. MRC handles compound images by splitting the pictures and text into different
layers, and then handling each in the way best suited to its content.
Part 6 of the JPEG 2000 standard is the Xerox-led activity that brought these two
technologies together in the JPM (JPEG 2000 Multi-Layer) file format for compound
document images. A JPM file splits a compound document image into an assortment of layered
layout objects, each of which can contain a picture, graphics, a headline, text, or even a
single paragraph. It is here that Xerox Corporation scientists are making a major
contribution to the interactive display of compound images.
"Displaying a compound document image now becomes an interactive process," said Rob
Buckley, a research fellow in the Xerox Innovation Group. "With the right software, you
can request the level of quality that is appropriate to the task at hand and the information
a user needs. Depending on where viewers click with their mouse, individual objects in the
document are resolved with different priorities. The result: the viewer controls the flow
of information and how the page downloads."
For instance, viewers using the new technology could glance at the initial simple view of
the compound image, then choose to resolve just one portion. If they found that part of
the page of interest, they could click again to see more detail or click on another section,
continuing until the entire page was downloaded. At any point in the process, however,
they could move on to the next Web page. To view a simple demonstration of this technology,
please follow this
link.
Xerox demonstrated the capabilities of JPM technology for the first time in August 2003
at the International Symposium on Optical Science and Technology in San Diego. Xerox's
approach could change the way people interact with document images viewed over the Web,
giving them more power to interactively decode and display documents. The company's
patented technologies are available royalty-free as required to implement the standard.
This is part of the company's overall effort to support the interactive access and viewing
of documents on the Web.
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