Technology
Xemtec’s core products are based on a unique OCR-technology. Where traditional OCR methods scan patterns into pixels that require a powerful external microprocessor for analysis and translation into characters, Xemtec’s technology is able to recognize characters directly within the front-end chip, called Opto-ASIC. The recognition process results in a far smaller data output stream from the chip, which is of course not only more efficient and less power-hungry, but also results in greatly reduced system costs compared to traditional architectures.
Unlike traditional CCD and CMOS imagers, the Opto-ASIC processes the captured image into an edge map representing local changes in intensity and their associated directions. Edges are reliably detected even at low contrasts and under non-uniform illumination conditions. To complete character recognition process, different methods can be applied on a large variety of hardware platforms, from low-cost, low-power 8-bit MCU’s to high-speed, high-performance MCU’s.
This result of these character analysis methods and recognition algorithms is by far the most robust and cost-effective OCR solution currently available.
Recently, Xemtec was granted a European Patent (EP 1596164) for its flagship product, the Comet Optical Meter Reader/Logger.
