OMR, OCR, ICR and imaging – the terminology explained
OMR - Optical Mark Recognition / Optical Mark Reader
OMR can mean either Optical Mark Recognition (the process) or Optical Mark Reader (the scanner). An OMR scanner follows instructions which tell it where to find marks on a paper form and then how to process them.OMR technology is capable of capturing structured data to a high degree of accuracy. The CD230 hand-fed Optical Mark Reader is dedicated to OMR, whereas the PhotoScribe® series of imaging scanners use OMR technology and much more…
OCR - Optical Character Recognition
OCR or Optical Character Recognition allows the scanner to interpret printed text (such as the details at the bottom of a cheque) and returns the results to a computer. The DRS PhotoScribe® series scanners support OCR.ICR Intelligent Character Recognition
ICR or Intelligent Character Recognition takes this process a stage further. Hand written characters can also be successfully interpreted and captured. With ICR, intelligent rules and checks are applied to each character so that most of the data can be captured automatically. Only those characters which have not passed a ‘threshold of confidence’ will need to be checked by an operator.ICR works best with preformatted forms but DRS’ powerful software, DocXP® , can successfully ‘read’ documents without standard formatting.
Imaging
DRS PhotoScribe® series scanners also support imaging: the ability to accurately scan and capture photographs and other graphical images, in real-time.
Capable of processing high volumes of forms, the PhotoScribe® series scanners can apply multiple solutions to the same form – OMR for marking multiple choice questions, OCR for interpreting printed material, ICR to capture more complex information and imaging.