title: How do I segment the connected characters in this case?
body: <p>It seems that I need some advice on segmenting connected characters (see the image below). </p>
  
  <p>As you can see, C and U, as well as 4,9 and 9 are connected and therefore when I try to draw contours they are joined into one block. Unfortunately, there are plenty of such problematic images so I think I need to find some solution. </p>
  
  <p>I have tried using different morphological transforms (erosion, dilation, opening), but that doesn't solve the problem. </p>
  
  <p>Thanks in advance for any recommendations. </p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/kqyaH.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/kqyaH.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>