Evaluation anisotropy in stochastic texture images using wavelet transforms for characterizing printing, coating and paper structure

A novel method for evaluating the anisotropy of the deterministic features in a stochastic 2D data is introduced. The ability of the wavelet transform for the identification of the abrupt discontinuities could be used to characterize the boundary of the deterministic area in a 2D stochastic data, such as flocs in paper structure. The one-dimensional wavelet transform with a small-scale range in MD and CD could quantify the amount of the edge in both directions, depending on the intensity of each floc. The flocs that are aligned in the MD direction result in a higher value of local wavelet energy in the CD direction. Therefore, the ratio of the total wavelet energy in CD and MD directions can be used as a new anisotropy index. This index is a measure of the floc-orientation and can provide an excellent tool to obtain the orientation distribution and the major oriented angle of flocs. Various simulated images and real stochastic data such as local gloss variation of printed image and formation image, have been tested and the results show this analysis method is very reliable to measure the anisotropy of the deterministic features.