Freedom Scientific has released a new update to OpenBook version 9. In addition to improved optical character recognition, or in non-technical terms, improved recognition of text, this update adds camera support for 3 video magnifiers: The ONYX Portable HD, the TOPAZ XL HD, and the TOPAZ PHD.
Once you install the update, if one of these 3 devices are connected to your computer, they will show up as camera options under the Advanced menu of OpenBook. This means that you can use them like you would a Pearl or other supported camera/scanner to take pictures of text. This also means that you can use one of these magnifiers to display a live image of what's under the camera, allowing you to use the low vision settings in OpenBook to change the formatting, color, and other parts of the live image to better suit your needs. The one limitation to scanning is that you cannot use the Multipage scanning feature, as these video magnifiers do not have the necessary technology to support this functionality.
Existing OpenBook users with the program installed can update their software by going in to the "help" menu and choosing "Check for updates". More information about this update is available on the What's New in OpenBook 9 page on Freedom Scientific's website. The changelog is posted below the jump.
Enhancements in OpenBook 9.0.1695 (February 2016) )
The following is a list of improvements made between the January 2014 release and the February 2016 update.
To download the latest release, visit the OpenBook Downloads web page
.
You can now use OpenBook to directly acquire and recognize images from an ONYX Portable HD, TOPAZ XL HD, or TOPAZ PHD video magnifier.
If an ONYX or TOPAZ is connected to your computer, it will be listed as an available camera in the Device Selection dialog box located in OpenBook s Advanced menu. Once selected, you can acquire an image of any document or object placed under the camera and recognize its text, or use OpenBook's Camera View to display a live image of what is currently happening under the camera.
In addition to acquisition, you can also use OpenBook's other low vision features such as adjusting the color and formatting of text and simultaneously viewing the recognized text along with an exact view of the image. OpenBook can also be run together with MAGic to provide even greater functionality for low vision users.
Note: When acquiring images from an ONYX or TOPAZ video magnifier, you cannot use the Multipage Automatic workflow as these cameras do not offer the motion detection feature available with the PEARL camera.
Improvements have been made to OpenBook's optical character recognition to provide greater accuracy when recognizing documents.
Source: Freedom ScientificCategory: News
Why bother? Just buy a copy of FineReader 12 for 135 bucks. It's the engine they use anyway.
You must be logged in to post comments.
