The Challenge
Traditional rule-based column detection failed on historical newspapers with irregular layouts, warped scans, and complex multi-column formats, leading to poor OCR segmentation.
Our Solution
Applied 2D Fourier transforms to analyze the spatial frequency of text regions, identifying dominant columnar structures even in noisy or distorted scans. Combined with adaptive thresholding to handle varying column widths.
Technologies Used
Results & Impact
- Achieved 92% column detection accuracy on complex layouts
- Reduced OCR segmentation errors by 35%
- Enabled automated processing of previously manual column corrections