[comp.fonts] Non-Latin OCR

djb@wjh12.harvard.edu (David J. Birnbaum) (01/11/90)

In article <1990Jan11.040933.23748@uncecs.edu> ruslan@uncecs.edu
(Robin C. LaPasha) writes:

>	Software:
>		PC:
>			SPOT (Flagstaff Engineering)
>			CAT
>			Recognita [plus](SzKI)
>			Datacopy
>			OCR Plus (Xerox)
>			(something by) (Calera Recognition Systems)
>			[in development: Textpert]
>			Kurzweil program...?
>		Mac:
>			Accutext (Xerox)
>			Textpert
>			OmniPage

I have been using SPOT regularly for about a year and find it very
satisfactory (although not error-free) for Cyrillic.  Datacopy, like
Kurzweil, is a division of Xerox.  Datacopy makes OCR Plus.  I used
this product for a couple of months and then gave up on it; it is
hardwired for some Latin alphabet "look-alike" checking that can not
be disabled and that severely limits its flexibility for non-Latin
alphabets.  I found their technical support and customer relations
policies unacceptable.  This was over a year ago and both the soft-
ware and personnel may have improved.  Calera (formerly Palantir)
makes TrueScan (a hardware expansion board with software), which is
not trainable.  Caere makes OmniPage (for MS-DOS; I don't know about
MacIntosh), which is also not trainable.  Textpert, by CTA, is in
beta testing for MS-DOS; it has been available for the MacIntosh for
a while.

I will post a note when my article on non-Latin OCR appears in the
Bits & Bytes Review.  It will cover only trainable programs for MS-
DOS, which is a fairly limited list.

--David

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David J. Birnbaum         djb@wjh12.harvard.edu [Internet]
                          djb@harvunxw.bitnet   [Bitnet]
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