SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONVERTING A GRAY-LEVEL IMAGE INTO A BINARY IMAGE

The present invention relates to an image processing method for converting a gray-level image into a binary image by using an image processing system. The gray-level image comprises a plurality of gray-level pixels arranged in a matrix format. The binary image comprises the same number of binary pixels arranged in the same manner as the gray-level image. The image processing system comprises a memory for storing programs and the gray-level and binary images, and a processor for executing the programs stored in the memory. The image processing method comprises two steps. The first step is to examine the gray-level pixels of the gray-level image so as to locate and define gray-level pixels with boundary characteristics as boundary points according to a predetermined boundary determination method, and to define gray-level pixels next to each of the boundary points as neighboring points according to a predetermined neighboring point determination method. The second step is to convert each of the boundary points and neighboring points of the gray-level image into a corresponding binary pixel according to a first pixel conversion method, and to convert each of the gray-level pixels other than the boundary points and neighboring points in the gray-level image into a corresponding binary pixel according to a second pixel conversion method to generate the binary image.