A comparison of research and production architectures for check reading systems

We have developed research and production architectures for the automatic processing of checks. The research architecture is flexible and allows rapid prototyping of image preprocessing, document analysis, recognition, and combination algorithms. The production architecture features high throughput, scalability, robustness, high availability, and low cost. Each architecture has features that make it attractive for its particular use. Results obtained using the production architecture in a live environment are shown. The benefits and drawbacks of both architectures are discussed.