OCR, or Optical Character Recognition, is a technology used in computer science to convert different types of documents—such as scanned paper documents, PDFs, or images of text—into editable and searchable data. OCR processes an image of text and extracts the letters, numbers, and symbols into a machine-readable format. The technology involves several steps: first, the image is pre-processed to improve clarity (such as removing noise or adjusting brightness). Then, OCR algorithms analyze the image to detect the shapes of characters, often using techniques like template matching or feature-based recognition. The extracted text is then converted into editable formats such as plain text, PDFs, or Word documents. Tesseract OCR is one of the most popular open-source libraries used for this purpose. It supports over 100 languages and can be integrated with various programming languages like Python and Java. OCR technology is widely used in fields such as document digitization, receipt scanning, license plate recognition, and even in assisting visually impaired individuals by reading text aloud. While modern OCR can recognize fonts and handwriting with high accuracy, challenges remain in interpreting complex layouts, noisy images, and handwriting.
What in computer science is OCR?
- The Definitive Guide to Building RAG Apps with LlamaIndex
- Natural Language Processing (NLP) Basics
- Vector Database 101: Everything You Need to Know
- Information Retrieval 101
- Accelerated Vector Search
- All learn series →
Recommended AI Learn Series
VectorDB for GenAI Apps
Zilliz Cloud is a managed vector database perfect for building GenAI applications.
Try Zilliz Cloud for FreeKeep Reading
How do you evaluate the scalability of an ETL tool?
To evaluate the scalability of an ETL tool, start by assessing its ability to handle growing data volumes and processing
How can face recognition be used in retail?
Face recognition is used in retail to enhance security, streamline operations, and improve customer experiences. It can
What is a lateral join in SQL?
A lateral join in SQL is a special type of join that allows a subquery in the FROM clause to refer to columns from the p