Peabody Systems adapts and develops document image processing toolkits for popular UNIX platforms. Peabody Systems products are primarily UNIX versions of leading toolkits from vendors such as Pixel Translations. Rather than invent new interfaces for document image processing, Peabody Systems adapts industry standard interfaces such as PixTools to standard UNIX platforms, providing application developers with widely used, comprehensive and stable APIs that can be used on multiple operating system platforms.
Pixel Translations is a leading software tools vendor providing key image management technology to application vendors. The company was founded and is staffed by engineers with substantial experience in the scanning/OCR/image management field. Pixel's offices are in San Jose, California, from which it serves customers around the world. Pixel has recently been acquired by Cornerstone Imaging, the leading provider of display systems to the document imaging market.
The Pixtools products consist of two toolkits:
Pixel Translations supports these products on a variety of PC and workstation platforms, including Microsoft DOS, Windows and Windows NT; IBM OS/2; and Apple Macintosh. Peabody Systems supports these toolkits on popular UNIX platforms such as SCO UNIX, SunSoft Solaris SPARC and x86, IBM RS/6000 AIX and Hewlett-Packard 9000 series 700 HP-UX.
Most scanners supported are desktop scanners, including Agfa, Apple, Bell & Howell, Canon, Epson, Fujitsu, HP, Howtek, Kodak, Microtek, Nikon, Panasonic, Relisys, Ricoh, Sharp, TDC and Umax. The scanner interface definition (ISIS) is supported across DOS, Windows, Windows NT, the Macintosh and various UNIX platforms.
Pixel focuses on providing peak performance from every scanning device. Features like ScanAheadTM maintain maximum throughput even when an application temporarily can't keep up with the scanner.
Pixel Translations provides an image management library that allows applications to easily support zoom (in and out by arbitrary rational scale factors), pan (scroll all four directions), and 90 degree rotations for display and printing of binary images. The library offers a variety of anti-aliasing techniques, including true scale-to-gray. PixTools / View also supports full 24-bit color and full 8-bit gray scale. Features include complete annotation capabilities for Windows such as highlighting, line drawing, redaction and text overlay are supported.
PixTools / View provides file import, export, and conversion libraries for standard page image file types. Support includes: TIFF (uncompressed, Group 3, modified Group 3, Group 4, LZW and packbits), JPEG, PCX/DCX, PICT, GIF, BMP and PDA.
Demonstration applications for Windows (PixView), DOS, the Macintosh and UNIX are available to evaluate this exciting technology which removes dependence on hardware for high speed image display.
High speed CCITT compression/decompression and image manipulation libraries form the basis of all of the Pixel Translations products. For example, typical modern workstations can decompress or compress dense Group 4, 200 DPI, letter sized images in about 100 milliseconds or less.
PixTools' customers fall into two major categories: application software developers and imaging peripheral manufacturers.
Application software developers use the PixTools libraries and custom products for their use and redistribution to end users. These customers include both commercial application developers and in-house integrators. Included among these customers are Caere, Calera, Compulink, Digital Equipment Corp., Eastman Kodak, Expervision, FileNet, GTE Vantage / Ideas, Keyfile, Light Source, Mastercard International, Optika / Teamworks, Paperclip, Recognition / Plexus, United Parcel Service, Viewstar, Watermark, Westbrook Technologies, and Xerox.
Many imaging peripheral manufacturers use PixTools driver software and other Pixel Translations products. Some of these are: Apple, Bell & Howell, Canon, Cornerstone, Dunord, Epson, Fujitsu, Kofax, Panasonic, Ricoh, Sharp, Sigma Designs, TDC / Banctec, Umax, and Xionics.
The PixTools products are typically sold in a two-step process.
The first step is to purchase a developer's kit. Developer's kits are available for each product with discounts applying to purchases across multiple environments. The kits come with documentation, sample source code, support, and a license to use the libraries for development and internal testing of applications including them. Developer's kit prices range from $995 to $2,500.
The second step is to license the libraries for redistribution. Pixel Translations and Peabody Systems are flexible in licensing arrangements, and possible license methods are:
Per-unit license fees range from $500 to $.80 depending upon the product and volume. Other license fees depend upon license terms and restrictions. Detailed price schedules are available.
Peabody Systems
Wes Chalfant, Sales
email: wes@peabody.com
phone: (714) 639-8643
fax: (714) 639-2817
Pixel Translations
web: http://www.pixtran.com
email: sales@pixtran.com
phone: (800) 749-4310, (408) 325-3880
fax: (408) 232-9292
ISIS and PixTools are registered trademarks and ScanAhead is a trademark of Pixel Translations, Inc. (a division of Input Software).