Robust feature extraction method based on run-length compensation for degraded character recognition

Conventional features are robust for recognizing either deformed or degraded characters. Most conventional character recognition methods address either one or the other. This paper proposes a feature extraction method that is robust for both of them. Run‐length compensation is introduced for approximately extracting directional run‐lengths of strokes from degraded handwritten characters. This technique is applied to the conventional feature vector based on directional run‐lengths. Experiments for handwritten characters with additive or subtractive noise show that the proposed feature is superior to conventional ones over a wide range of the degree of noise. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Comp Jpn, 35(9): 1–9, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/scj.10643