JP2012044513A - Image processing device, image processing system and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To specify the position of an image corresponding to an image in a certain area included in a first medium image scanned from a surface of a medium by image scanning means, on a second medium image scanned from the surface of the medium separately from the first medium image by the image scanning means.SOLUTION: A second foreground pixel specification unit 48 specifies foreground pixels in a second document image. A reference information acquisition unit 50 acquires a first mask image obtained by excluding the pixels at positions according to the foreground pixels from a reference image in a first document image. For each of plural comparison target images in a second document image, a comparison target information acquisition unit 52 acquires a second mask image obtained by excluding the pixels at positions according to the foreground pixels from the comparison target image. A deviation information generation unit 58 generates deviation information indicating the deviation of the position of one comparison target image selected based on a comparison result of the first mask image and each of the second mask images and the position of the reference image.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing system, and a program.

  Patent Document 1 below discloses an apparatus that determines the authenticity of a medium by comparing an image showing an image of the surface of the medium (for example, a paper medium) with a previously registered image.

JP 2005-038389 A

  The object of the present invention is to provide an image corresponding to an image of a certain area included in the first medium image read from the surface of the medium by the image reading means separately from the first medium image by the image reading means. Identifying a position in the second media image read from the surface of the media.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention for solving the above-described problem, an acquisition unit that acquires an image of a first area included in a first medium image read by the image reading unit from the surface of the medium, and the image reading unit includes the first reading unit. Corresponding to means for acquiring a second medium image read from the surface of the medium separately from the one medium image, and an image of the first area acquired by the acquiring means included in the second medium image An image processing apparatus including position specifying means for specifying a position of an image to be processed.

  The invention of claim 2 further includes output means for outputting deviation information indicating a deviation between the position of the first region and the position specified by the position specifying means in the invention of claim 1. It is characterized by.

  The invention of claim 3 further includes a receiving means for accepting an operation for designating the first area by the user in the invention of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the obtaining means is designated by the user. The obtained image of the first area is acquired.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any of the first to third aspects of the present invention, a specifying unit that specifies a foreground pixel that is a pixel related to a foreground included in the second medium image, and the acquisition unit First information acquisition means for acquiring first information based on an image obtained by excluding a pixel at a position corresponding to the foreground pixel specified by the specifying means from the image of the first region acquired by Second information based on each of a plurality of second regions included in the second medium image, the image of the second region being excluded from a pixel at a position corresponding to the foreground pixel specified by the specifying unit. A second information acquisition means for acquiring the first information, and a comparison means for comparing the first information and each of the second information acquired for each of the second regions, wherein the position specifying means Based on comparison results And identifies the position of one second region that are selected are.

  The invention of claim 5 further includes means for specifying a first foreground pixel which is a pixel relating to a foreground included in the first medium image in the invention of claim 4, wherein the specifying means includes the second foreground. A second foreground pixel, which is the foreground pixel related to the foreground included in the medium image, is specified, and the first information acquisition unit applies each of the first foreground pixel and the second foreground pixel from the image of the first region. The first information based on the image in which the pixel at the corresponding position is excluded is acquired, and the pixel at the position corresponding to each of the first foreground pixel and the second foreground pixel is excluded from the image of the second region. Obtaining the second information based on the obtained image.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention for solving the above problem, the image reading means acquires the image of the first region included in the first medium image read from the surface of the medium by the image reading means. Means for acquiring a second medium image read from the surface of the medium separately from the first medium image, and an image of the first area acquired by the acquiring means included in the second medium image; This is a program that causes a computer to function as position specifying means for specifying the position of a corresponding image.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention for solving the above-described problem, a first medium image obtaining unit that obtains a first medium image read from the surface of the medium by the image reading unit; A second medium image acquisition means for acquiring a second medium image read from the surface of the medium separately from the medium image; an acquisition means for acquiring an image of a first region included in the second medium image; An image processing system including position specifying means for specifying a position of an image corresponding to the image of the first area acquired by the acquiring means, which is included in a second medium image.

  According to the first, sixth, and seventh aspects of the present invention, image reading of an image corresponding to an image of a certain area included in the first medium image read from the surface of the medium by the image reading means is performed. The position in the second medium image read from the surface of the medium can be specified separately from the first medium image by the means.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to detect distortion generated when an image is read by the image reading unit without using a medium (for example, a test chart) on which a pattern for specifying a position is printed. it can.

  According to the invention of claim 3, the position of the image corresponding to the image of the area designated by the user in the second medium image can be specified.

  According to the fourth and fifth aspects of the present invention, the position of the image corresponding to the image of the region in the image of the second medium can be specified more accurately than in the case where the present configuration is not provided.

It is a figure showing an example of composition of an image processing system concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the hardware constitutions of the image processing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which illustrates the function group implement | achieved with the image processing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which illustrates the 1st original picture concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure for demonstrating a 1st block area | region. It is a functional block diagram which illustrates the function group implement | achieved with the image processing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which illustrates the 2nd original picture concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the acquisition method of the comparison target image which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the production | generation method of a 1st mask image. It is a figure which shows the production | generation method of a 2nd mask image.

  Hereinafter, examples of embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[Image processing system]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an image processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the image processing system 1 includes a plurality of image processing apparatuses 2 and a database 4. The image processing apparatus 2 is, for example, a printer having a scanner function, and the database 4 is, for example, a database server. Each image processing device 2 is communicably connected to the database 4 via a network.

[Image processing device]
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the image processing apparatus 2. As shown in the figure, the image processing apparatus 2 includes a control unit 6, a main memory 8, a hard disk 10, a display unit 12, an operation input unit 14, and a network interface 16 (hereinafter referred to as a network IF 16). And the scanner 18. Although not shown here, the image processing apparatus 2 also includes an image forming unit that forms an image on a paper medium.

  The control unit 6 is a microprocessor, for example, and executes information processing according to a program stored in the main memory 8.

  The main memory 8 is a RAM, for example. The main memory 8 stores the above program. This program is read from a computer-readable information storage medium such as a flexible disk, CD-ROM, DVD (registered trademark) -ROM, magnetic tape, hard disk, MO, MD, IC card, and stored in the main memory 8. Alternatively, it may be supplied from a communication network such as the Internet and stored in the main memory 8.

  The main memory 8 also stores various data necessary for information processing.

  The hard disk 10 is a storage medium used as an auxiliary storage device, and stores various information. The contents stored in the hard disk 10 will be described later.

  The display unit 12 is a liquid crystal display provided on the side surface of the image processing apparatus 2, for example, and displays information output from the control unit 6.

  The operation input unit 14 is an interface for a user to perform an operation input, and outputs a signal indicating a user operation content to the control unit 6.

  The network IF 16 is an interface for connecting the image processing apparatus 2 to a network, and is a network interface card, for example. The network IF 16 outputs information received from the network to the control unit 6 and transmits information output from the control unit 6 to the network.

  The scanner 18 outputs a document image indicating an image of the surface of the document placed on the contact glass to the control unit 6. In the scanner 18, the user can select whether the user himself places the document on the contact glass or causes the automatic document feeder (Auto Document Feeder) to transport the document onto the contact glass. Hereinafter, a method in which the user himself places the document on the contact glass is referred to as a manual scanning method, and a method in which the automatic paper feeding device conveys the document is referred to as an automatic scanning method.

[Usage of image processing system]
The image processing system 1 is used, for example, by an engineer (hereinafter referred to as a “service man”) who performs installation, maintenance, inspection, and repair of the image processing apparatus 2. The service person registers the image on the surface of the document. Specifically, the service person performs a registration instruction operation for instructing registration of, for example, a blank document (hereinafter referred to as document A), and registers the document A with the image processing apparatus 2 for registration (for example, FIG. 1). The first image processing apparatus 2) is scanned from the left. By doing so, the service person registers the unique pattern formed on the surface of the original A by the fibers constituting the original A in the image processing system 1. For example, in the present embodiment, a pattern (hereinafter referred to as a paper fingerprint) formed on the surface of the original A by paper fibers constituting the original A is registered in the image processing system 1.

  Usually, the service person scans the document A by the manual scanning method. However, when the performance of the automatic document feeder of the registration image processing apparatus 2 is good, the document A may be scanned by the automatic scanning method.

  In this way, the service person who registered the paper fingerprint of the document A performs maintenance of the customer's image processing apparatus 2 (for example, the second image processing apparatus 2 from the left in FIG. 1) at the customer's request or the like. Do. During maintenance, the service person performs a performance inspection instruction operation for instructing a performance inspection in order to inspect the current performance of the customer's image processing apparatus 2. By performing the performance inspection instruction operation, the service person causes the customer's image processing apparatus 2 to scan the document A by the automatic scanning method. As a result, the paper fingerprint of the document A registered in advance and the document image of the document A read by the customer's image processing device 2 are compared, and the current performance of the customer's image processing device 2 is determined from the comparison result. Inspected.

  The service person may not register the paper fingerprint of the document A prior to the maintenance, but may register the paper fingerprint of the document A using the customer's image processing apparatus 2 during the maintenance. However, in this case, the service person uses the manual scanning method for registering the paper fingerprint.

[Function block 1]
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a function group realized in the image processing system 1 when the service person performs a registration instruction operation on the document A. The function group shown in the figure is realized by the control unit 6 of the image processing apparatus 2 (hereinafter referred to as “first image processing apparatus”) that has received a registration instruction operation operating according to the above program. .

[First Document Image Acquisition Unit]
The first document image acquisition unit 20 acquires a first document image indicating an image of the surface of the document A read by the scanner 18 of the first image processing apparatus.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a first document image. The first document image includes a plurality of pixels. The position of each pixel is represented by the X coordinate value and Y coordinate value of that pixel.

  The first document image includes a paper fingerprint unique to document A. Further, when the document A is scanned by the automatic scanning method, the foreground pixels are included in the first document image in some cases. Here, in the present embodiment, the foreground pixel is a pixel relating to the foreground, and specifically, appears in the first document image due to foreign matters such as dust attached to the document A when the document A is transported. This pixel is related to the foreground. The part indicated by reference numeral 30 indicates the foreground. As shown in the figure, the X coordinate value and the Y coordinate value of the foreground 30 are XA and YA, respectively. Note that an image related to pixels other than the foreground pixels is a background image. The background image includes a paper fingerprint.

  The hard disk 10 stores in advance coordinates indicating the ranges of the plurality of first block areas (hereinafter referred to as coordinate ranges). FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the first block region. In the case of this embodiment, 48 first block areas are predetermined. An area surrounded by a vertical dotted line and a horizontal dotted line indicates the first block area. Each first block area is a rectangular area set to have the same size, and the coordinate range of each first block area is stored in the hard disk 10 in advance. The position of each first block area is represented by the coordinate value of the representative point of the first block area. Here, the representative point of the first block area is the lower left vertex of the first block area. For example, the X coordinate value and the Y coordinate value of the position of the first block region 31 in which the range in the X axis direction is “X3 or more and X4 or less” and the range in the Y axis direction is “Y3 or more and Y4 or less” are respectively “X3” and “Y4”.

  Hereinafter, the first block region located in the Nth column from the left and located in the Mth row from the top is referred to as a first block region (N, M).

[Registration Department]
The registration unit 22 cuts out an image of each first block area from the first document image and registers it in the database 4 in association with the position of each first block area. Hereinafter, the image of the first block region (N, M) is referred to as a first block image (N, M).

[Function block 2]
FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram illustrating a functional group realized in the image processing system 1 when a serviceman performs a performance inspection instruction operation. The function group shown in the figure is realized by the control unit 6 of the image processing apparatus 2 (hereinafter referred to as “second image processing apparatus”) having received the performance inspection instruction operation operating according to the above program. The Note that the first image processing apparatus and the second image processing apparatus may be the same.

[Second Document Image Acquisition Unit]
The second document image acquisition unit 40 acquires a second document image indicating an image read from the surface of the document A while the scanner 18 of the second image processing apparatus conveys the document A.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a second document image. Similarly to the first document image, the second document image also includes a plurality of pixels, and the position of each pixel is represented by the X coordinate value and Y coordinate value of the pixel.

  The second document image also includes a paper fingerprint unique to document A. In some cases, the foreground pixel is included in the second document image. The part indicated by reference numeral 32 indicates the foreground. As shown in the figure, the X coordinate value and the Y coordinate value of the foreground 32 are XB and YB, respectively.

  Hereinafter, the description will be continued assuming that the first document image corresponds to the first medium image and the second document image corresponds to the second medium image. However, the first document image corresponds to the second medium image, The second document image may correspond to the first medium image.

  The hard disk 10 stores a coordinate range of a plurality of second block areas corresponding to each of the first block areas. In the case of this embodiment, 48 second block areas are determined in advance. Each second block area is a rectangular area having the same size, and includes a first block area corresponding to the second block area. The second block area 33 shown in FIG. 7 is a second block area corresponding to the first block area 31, the coordinate range in the X-axis direction is “X3 or more and Xa or less”, and the coordinate range in the Y-axis direction is “ Y3 or more and Ya or less ". As can be seen from the figure, the second block area 33 includes the first block area 31. The position of each second block area is represented by the coordinate value of the representative point of the second block area. Here, the representative point of the second block area is the lower left vertex of the second block area. For example, the X coordinate value and the Y coordinate value of the position of the second block region 33 are “X3” and “Ya”, respectively.

  Hereinafter, the second block area corresponding to the first block area (N, M) is referred to as a second block area (N, M). The second block region (N, M) is also a second block region located in the Nth column from the left and located in the Mth row from the top.

[Comparison image acquisition unit]
The comparison target image acquisition unit 42 generates a comparison target image that is included in the second document image and that is to be compared.

  Specifically, the comparison target image acquisition unit 42 generates an image of each second block area (hereinafter referred to as a second block image) by sequentially cutting out the second block area from the second document image. Here, the comparison target image acquisition unit 42 first generates an image of the second block region (1, 1), and then generates an image of the next second block region in accordance with an instruction from the comparison unit 54. .

  Hereinafter, the image of the second block region (N, M) is referred to as a second block image (N, M).

  The comparison target image acquisition unit 42 generates a plurality of comparison target images from the second block image X every time the second block image is acquired.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a method for acquiring a comparison target image. The image indicated by reference numeral 70 in FIG. 8 indicates the second block image X. Here, a case where the second block image X indicated by reference numeral 70 is an image of the second block region 33 (see FIG. 7) is taken as an example. In addition, regions 72A (see FIG. 8A), 72B (see FIG. 8B), 72C (see FIG. 8C), 72D (see FIG. 8D) indicated by dotted lines And, respectively, indicate comparison target regions. Here, each comparison target area is an area included in the second block area X, and its coordinate range is stored in the hard disk 10 in advance. In addition, each comparison target area has the same size and the same shape as the first block area.

  The position of the comparison target area is represented by the coordinate value of the representative point of the comparison target area. Here, the representative point of the comparison target area is the lower left vertex of the comparison target area. For example, since the X coordinate value and the Y coordinate value of the position of the comparison target region 72A are the same as the first block region in the size and shape of the comparison target region as described above, “X3” and “Y3”, respectively. (See (A) of FIGS. 5 and 8).

  Each time the second block image is acquired, the comparison target image acquisition unit 42 compares the acquired second block image X with a comparison target image 74A that is an image of the comparison target region 72A (see FIG. 8A). The comparison target image 74B (see FIG. 8B), which is the image of the comparison target region 72B, the comparison target image 74C (see FIG. 8C), which is the image of the comparison target region 72C, and the comparison target region 72D Each of the comparison target images 74D (see (D) of FIG. 12), which is an image of, is generated in order. More specifically, the comparison target image acquisition unit 42 first generates the comparison target image 74A, and then generates the next comparison target image in response to an instruction from the comparison unit 54.

  Hereinafter, the comparison target image 74A, the comparison target image 74B, the comparison target image 74C, and the comparison target image 74D may be collectively referred to as “comparison target image”.

[Reference image acquisition unit]
The reference image acquisition unit 44 acquires a reference image included in the first document image. Here, the reference image is an image serving as a reference when the performance of the image processing apparatus 2 is inspected.

  Specifically, the reference image acquisition unit 44 sequentially reads each of the first block images stored in the database 4 as a reference image. More specifically, the reference image acquisition unit 44 first reads out the first block image (1, 1) as a reference image, and then, in response to an instruction from the comparison unit 54, the next first block image (that is, the next block image). (Reference image).

[First foreground pixel specifying unit]
The first foreground pixel specifying unit 46 specifies the first foreground pixel that is the foreground pixel included in the first document image.

  In the case of the present embodiment, the first foreground pixel specifying unit 46 specifies the first foreground pixel for the acquired reference image X every time the reference image is acquired. That is, the first foreground pixel specifying unit 46 specifies the position of the first foreground pixel.

  Specifically, the first foreground pixel specifying unit 46 specifies a pixel having a pixel value (density value) equal to or higher than a preset reference value from the reference image X as the first foreground pixel. Here, the reference value is such that the ratio of the number of pixels having a pixel value equal to or greater than the reference value included in the first document image to the total number of pixels included in the first document image is equal to or less than a predetermined ratio. Is set to For example, when the reference image X is the first block image (4, 4) in the first block region 31 (see FIG. 5), the coordinate values (XA, YA) of the foreground 30 are specified as the coordinate values of the first foreground pixels. Will be.

  In the present embodiment, since the reference image is acquired from the first document image, the first foreground pixel specifying unit 46 specifies the foreground pixels included in the first document image.

[Second foreground pixel specifying unit]
The second foreground pixel specifying unit 48 specifies the second foreground pixel that is the foreground pixel included in the second document image.

  In the present embodiment, since the comparison target image is acquired from the second document image, the second foreground pixel specifying unit 48 performs the second foreground for the acquired comparison target image X each time the comparison target image is acquired. Identify the pixel. That is, the second foreground pixel specifying unit 48 specifies the position of the second foreground pixel.

  Specifically, the second foreground pixel specifying unit 48 specifies, from the comparison target image X, a pixel having a pixel value (density value) equal to or higher than a predetermined reference value as the second foreground pixel. Here, the reference value is such that the ratio of the number of pixels having a pixel value equal to or greater than the reference value included in the second document image to the total number of pixels included in the second document image is equal to or less than a predetermined ratio. Is set to For example, when the comparison target image X is a comparison target image generated from the image of the second block region 33 (see FIG. 7), the coordinate values (XB, YB) of the foreground 32 are specified as the coordinate values of the second foreground pixel. Will be.

  In the present embodiment, since the comparison target image is acquired from the second original image, the second foreground pixel specifying unit 48 specifies the foreground pixels included in the second original image.

  In the above, the comparison target image is generated from the second document image and the reference image is generated from the first document image. However, the comparison target image is generated from the first document image and the reference image is generated from the second document image. May be generated. That is, the comparison target image acquisition unit 42 may generate a comparison target image from the first document image, and the reference image acquisition unit 44 may generate a reference image from the second document image.

[Standard information acquisition unit]
The reference information acquisition unit 50 generates reference information based on the first mask image excluding the first pixel (described later) and the second pixel (described later) from the reference image acquired by the reference image acquisition unit 44. To do.

  In the case of this embodiment, the reference information acquisition unit 50 obtains the first mask image obtained by excluding the first pixel and the second pixel from the acquired reference image X every time the reference image is acquired. Generate as reference information.

[Comparison target information acquisition unit]
Further, the comparison target information acquisition unit 52 generates comparison target information based on a second mask image in which the first pixel and the second pixel are excluded from the comparison target image acquired by the comparison target image acquisition unit 42.

  In the case of this embodiment, the comparison target information acquisition unit 52 excludes the first pixel and the second pixel from the acquired comparison target image X every time the comparison target image is acquired. Is generated as the comparison object information.

  Here, the first pixel is a pixel at a position corresponding to the position indicated by the coordinate values (Xα, Yα) of the first foreground pixel specified by the first foreground pixel specifying unit 46, for example, the reference image X and This is a pixel at a position that is “Xα−Xβ” away from the left end of the comparison target image X to the right and “Yα−Yβ” away from the upper end of the reference image X and the comparison target image X. Here, “Xβ” is the X coordinate value of the left end of the reference image X, and “Yβ” is the Y coordinate value of the upper end of the reference image X. For example, when the reference image X is the first block image (4, 4) of the first block region 31 (see FIG. 5), the X coordinate value “XA” and the Y coordinate value “YA” of the foreground 30 are “Xα”, respectively. ”And“ Yα ”, and the X coordinate value“ X3 ”at the left end of the reference image X and the Y coordinate value“ Y3 ”at the upper end of the reference image X correspond to“ Xβ ”and“ Yβ ”, respectively. Therefore, the pixels at positions “XA-X3” away from the left end to the right and “YA-Y3” away from the upper end are the first pixel column.

  The second pixel is a pixel at a position corresponding to the position indicated by the coordinate values (Xγ, Yγ) of the second foreground pixel specified by the second foreground pixel specifying unit 48, for example, the reference image X and the comparison This is a pixel at a position that is “Xγ−Xδ” away from the left end of the target image X to the right, and “Yγ−Yδ” away from the upper end of the reference image X and the comparison target image X. Here, “Xγ” is the X coordinate value of the left end of the comparison target image X, and “Yγ” is the Y coordinate value of the upper end of the comparison target image X. For example, when the comparison target image X is the comparison target image 74A (see FIG. 8A), the X coordinate value “XB” and the Y coordinate value “YB” (see FIG. 7) of the foreground 32 are “Xα”, respectively. Also, the X coordinate value “X3” at the left end of the comparison target image X and the Y coordinate value “Y3” at the upper end of the reference image X correspond to “Xβ” and “Yβ”, respectively. Therefore, the pixel at a position that is “XB-X3” apart from the left end to the right and “YB-Y3” away from the top end is the second pixel column.

  FIG. 9A is a diagram illustrating a method for generating a first mask image, and FIG. 9B is a diagram illustrating a method for generating a second mask image. Here, the image indicated by reference numeral 76 indicates the reference image X, and the image indicated by reference numeral 78 indicates the comparison target image X. Here, the reference image X indicated by reference numeral 76 is the first block image (4, 4) of the first block region 31 (see FIG. 5), and the comparison target image X indicated by reference numeral 78 is the comparison target image. The case of 74A (see FIG. 8A) is taken as an example.

  In this case, as shown in FIG. 9A, the first pixel 80 at a position away from the reference image X indicated by reference numeral 76 from the left end to the right by “XA-X3” and from the top to the bottom by “YA-Y3”; The second pixel 82 at a position away from the left end by “XB-X3” and from the upper end by “YB-Y3” is excluded, and the first mask image 84 is generated as reference information. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 9B, the pixel array 80 and the second pixel 82 are excluded from the comparison target image X indicated by reference numeral 78, and the second mask image 86 is generated as the verification target information.

  The reference information acquisition unit 50 may generate reference information based on the first mask image generated in this way. For example, the reference information acquisition unit 50 may generate a feature vector of the first mask image as reference information. Further, the comparison target information acquisition unit 52 may generate the comparison target information based on the second mask image generated in this way. For example, the comparison target information acquisition unit 52 may generate a feature vector of the second mask image as the comparison target information.

[Comparison part]
The comparison unit 54 compares the reference information acquired by the reference information acquisition unit 50 with the comparison target information acquired by the comparison target information acquisition unit 52. In the case of this embodiment, the first mask image and the second mask image are compared.

  Specifically, the comparison unit 54 calculates a correlation value indicating the degree of similarity between the first mask image and the second mask image according to the following mathematical formula.

Here, F is the first mask image, G is the second mask image, f _i is the pixel value of each pixel of the first mask image, and N is the first mask image (second mask image). , G _i is the pixel value of each pixel of the second mask image, f _ave is the average value of the individual pixel values of the first mask image, and g _ave is the value of the second mask image. It is an average value of individual pixel values.

  In the case of this embodiment, the comparison unit 54 instructs the comparison target image acquisition unit 42 to acquire the next comparison target image every time the correlation value is calculated.

  In the case of the present embodiment, the comparison unit 54 acquires the next first block image (that is, the next reference image) every time the correlation value is calculated L (here, L = 4) times. And instructing the comparison target image acquisition unit 42 to acquire the next second block image. Here, “L” is the number of comparison target images generated from one second block image.

  Thus, each time the reference image and the second block image are acquired, each of the acquired first mask image of the reference image X and the comparison target images 74A to 74C generated from the acquired second block image X. A correlation value with the second mask image is calculated.

[Selection part]
The selection unit 56 selects the comparison target region based on the comparison result (that is, the correlation value) between the first mask image of the reference image X and the second mask images of the comparison target images 74A, 74B, 74C, and 74D. One of 72A, 72B, 72C, 72D is selected. In the case of the present embodiment, the selection unit 56 selects a comparison target region (hereinafter referred to as “comparison target region MAX”) including the comparison target image when the maximum correlation value is obtained, and also compares the comparison target region. The position of MAX is specified. The image of the comparison target area MAX is an image corresponding to the reference image X.

[Displacement information generator]
Then, the shift information generation unit 58 generates and outputs shift information indicating the shift between the position of the comparison target area MAX and the position of the first block area X including the reference image X. In the case of the present embodiment, the deviation information generation unit 58 calculates a direction vector D from the position of the first block area X to the position of the comparison target area MAX. For example, when the first block area X is the first block area 31 (see FIG. 5) and the comparison target area MAX is the comparison target area 72A (see FIG. 8A), the first block area 31 And the position of the comparison target area 72A are the same, the magnitude of the direction vector D is “0”.

  The deviation information generated in this way is used for performance inspection of the automatic paper feeder of the second image processing apparatus. For example, the deviation information is used for measurement of alignment characteristics (for example, skew characteristics, linearity, parallelism, registration) of the automatic paper feeder. Note that a warning message may be output when the magnitude of the deviation indicated by the deviation information (direction vector D) is greater than or equal to a reference value.

  The embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.

  For example, when the service person registers the paper fingerprint of the document A by the manual scanning method, the document A is not transported by the automatic paper feeder, so that the dust on the surface of the document A during transportation by the automatic paper feeder The situation that adheres will not occur. In view of such a case, the first foreground pixel specifying unit 46 may be omitted. In this case, an image obtained by excluding only the second pixel from the reference image corresponds to the first mask image, and an image obtained by excluding only the second pixel from the comparison target image corresponds to the second mask image.

  In the above, the embodiment in which the document A is a blank sheet has been described, but the document A may not be a blank sheet. For example, the document A may be a document on which characters and images (hereinafter referred to as “characters”) are printed. In this case, the portion related to the characters and the like included in the first document image and the second document image also corresponds to the “foreground”.

  Further, for example, the service person may designate a desired first block area by performing a designation operation for designating the first block area. For example, the service person performs a designation operation and inputs a desired position of the first block area. Then, the reference image acquisition unit 44 reads the reference image associated with the input position, and the comparison target image acquisition unit 42 starts from the second block region corresponding to the first block region specified by the serviceman. What is necessary is just to acquire a 2 block image and acquire a comparison object image from the said 2nd block image.

  Further, for example, both the first document image and the second document image may be images read from the surface of the document A by the manual scanning method.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image processing system, 2 Image processing apparatus, 4 Database, 6 Control part, 8 Main memory, 10 Hard disk, 12 Display part, 14 Operation input part, 16 Network interface, 18 Scanner, 20 1st original image acquisition part, 22 Registration , 30, 32 Foreground, 31 First block area, 33 Second block area, 40 Second document image acquisition unit, 42 Comparison target image acquisition unit, 44 Reference image acquisition unit, 46 First foreground pixel specifying unit, 48 2 foreground pixel identification unit, 50 reference information acquisition unit, 52 comparison target information acquisition unit, 54 comparison unit, 56 selection unit, 58 shift information generation unit, 70 second block image, 72A, 72B, 72C, 72D comparison target region, 74A, 74B, 74C, 74D, 78 comparison target image, 76 reference image, 80 first pixel, 82 second pixel, 4 the first mask image, 86 the second mask image.

Claims (7)

An acquisition means for acquiring an image of a first region included in the first medium image read by the image reading means from the surface of the medium;
Means for acquiring a second medium image read from the surface of the medium separately from the first medium image by the image reading means;
Position specifying means for specifying the position of the image corresponding to the image of the first area acquired by the acquiring means, which is included in the second medium image;
An image processing apparatus. An output unit that outputs deviation information indicating a deviation between the position of the first region and the position specified by the position specifying unit;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1. A receiving unit that receives an operation for designating the first area by a user;
The acquisition means includes
Obtaining an image of the first region specified by the user;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: Specifying means for specifying a foreground pixel that is a pixel related to a foreground included in the second medium image;
First information acquisition means for acquiring first information based on an image obtained by excluding a pixel at a position corresponding to the foreground pixel specified by the specification means from the image of the first region acquired by the acquisition means; ,
For each of a plurality of second regions included in the second medium image, an image obtained by excluding a pixel at a position corresponding to the foreground pixel specified by the specifying unit from the image of the second region. 2nd information acquisition means which acquires 2 information,
A comparison means for comparing the first information with each of the second information acquired for each second region;
The position specifying means includes
Identifying the position of one second region selected based on the comparison result of the comparison means;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: Means for identifying a first foreground pixel that is a pixel associated with a foreground included in the first medium image;
The specifying means is:
Identifying a second foreground pixel that is the foreground pixel relating to the foreground included in the second medium image;
The first information acquisition means includes
Obtaining the first information based on an image obtained by excluding a pixel at a position corresponding to each of the first foreground pixel and the second foreground pixel from the image of the first region;
Obtaining the second information based on an image obtained by excluding pixels at positions corresponding to the first foreground pixels and the second foreground pixels from the image of the second region,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 4. Acquisition means for acquiring an image of a first region included in a first medium image read by the image reading means from the surface of the medium;
Means for acquiring a second medium image read from the surface of the medium separately from the first medium image by the image reading means; and the first acquired by the acquiring means included in the second medium image Position specifying means for specifying the position of an image corresponding to an image in one region;
As a program that allows the computer to function. First medium image acquisition means for acquiring a first medium image read by the image reading means from the surface of the medium;
Second medium image acquisition means for acquiring a second medium image read from the surface of the medium by the image reading means separately from the first medium image;
Obtaining means for obtaining an image of a first region included in the second medium image;
Position specifying means for specifying the position of the image corresponding to the image of the first area acquired by the acquiring means, which is included in the second medium image;
An image processing system comprising:

Images