Graphical representation of fingerprint images

Fingerprint recognition is very important in automatic personal identification. In conventional fingerprint recognition algorithms, fingerprints are represented graphically with a simple set of minutiae and singular points, but the information in this kind of representation is not adequate for large-scale applications or where fingerprint quality is poor. A complete and compact representation of fingerprints is thus highly desirable. In this chapter, we focus on research issues in the graphical representation of fingerprints. We first introduce minutiae-based representation and provide some models for the graphical representation of orientation fields. Latterly, we deal with the generation of synthetic fingerprint images and conclude with a discussion of how to establish a complete fingerprint representation.