JP3124530B2 - Image formation control device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming control apparatus for forming an image by combining video data and an image signal.

2. Description of the Related Art A video printer that records an image on a recording medium based on a video signal is known. In general, such a video printer records a video image such as a VTR, TV, or LD still video on a recording paper. It is used to print on recording media such as. Other uses for such video printers include VTRs
It is also conceivable to print video data stored in such as on postcards and letters to make picture cards, new year's cards, message cards, and the like. In this case, the input of the video data is laid out as appropriate, and characters and the like are combined and printed.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Conventionally, in order to combine characters with video data as described above, an image editor having a video input and a video output must be used in addition to a video printer. That is, the video data is input to the image editor to perform a layout process, and further, an image signal such as a character to be synthesized is input to the image editor to perform image synthesis. Then, the result is output from the image editor to a video printer to execute printing. As a result, the video printer inputs and prints image data composed of (video image + character image).

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, an expensive image editing machine must be prepared in order to synthesize (video image + character image), and it is necessary to perform a complicated image editing operation. It is extremely difficult to perform such image composition processing.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional example, and displays a video based on video data and an image based on an image signal on a screen, and moves the video or the image on the screen, thereby enabling a simple operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming control apparatus which can change and display the layout of a composite image.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, an image forming control device of the present invention has the following configuration. Storage means for inputting a video signal and storing it as video data; image storage means for inputting and storing an image signal input from an image input unit; and video reading for reading out the video data stored in the storage means. Means, image reading means for reading an image signal stored in the image storage means, synthesizing means for synthesizing video data and image signals read by the video reading means and the image reading means, and synthesizing means Output means for outputting a video based on the video data and an image based on the image signal synthesized on the screen so as to be displayed on a screen; and at least one of the video and the image output and displayed by the output means Moving instruction means for instructing to move on the screen; and And having a control means for controlling the read area of the video data and the image signal by the video reading means and the image reading unit and the image reading means.

Further, the image forming control device of the present invention includes: a storage unit for inputting a video signal and storing it as video data; an image storage unit for inputting and storing an image signal input from an image input unit; Video reading means for reading the read video data, image reading means for reading the image signal stored in the image storage means, and synthesizing the video data and the image signal read by the video reading means and the image reading means. Synthesizing means, output means for outputting a video based on the video data synthesized by the synthesizing means and an image based on the image signal so as to be displayed on a screen, and the video reading means and the image reading means A readout area finger for designating each of the video data and image signal readout areas to a predetermined area. Setting means; moving instruction means for instructing at least one of the video and image output and displayed by the output means to move on the screen; and the predetermined area specified by the read area specifying means Or a control means for controlling a read area of the video data and the image signal by the video reading means and the image reading means in accordance with the movement specified by the movement instructing means.

[Operation] With the above configuration, the video data and the image signal read from the storage unit and the image storage unit are combined, and a video based on the video data and an image based on the image signal are output and displayed on the screen. Displaying, moving at least one of the video and the image displayed on the screen on the screen, and the video data and the image signal by the video reading means and the image reading means according to the movement of the moved video and image. , The layout of the composite image can be changed.

Further, according to the present invention, in addition to the above-mentioned operation, it is possible to combine and display video data and an image signal read from a predetermined area of each of the storage unit and the image storage unit.

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

[Description of Video Printer (FIG. 1)] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a video printer according to the embodiment.

The video signal input from the video input terminal 100 is converted by the decoder 101 into Y, RY, BY color signals. Each of these color signals is input to an A / D converter 102, converted into a digital signal, and stored in an image memory 105 via a memory controller 104.

On the other hand, an original image, for example, characters written on paper, is scanned by the scanner 106 and converted into a digital image signal,
It is stored in the character memory 108 via the memory controller 108. Reading of the original by the scanner 106 is performed by the control unit 1.
Scanner start switch (SS) connected to 10
W) It is started by the instruction from 109. This Skyana 106
Is completed when, for example, a predetermined number of pixels has been read (for example, when reading of a one-page document is completed). Alternatively, a scanning / stop switch (not shown) may be provided, and the reading may be terminated when the control unit 110 detects that the switch has been pressed.

The image data stored in the character memory 108 is output by the memory controller 107 in synchronization with the video synchronization signal, and is input to the color designation look-up table (LUT) 111. Reference numeral 112 denotes a color selection switch which outputs Y, R-Y, and B-Y corresponding to one of a plurality of colors from the color designation LUT 111 in accordance with the image data from the memory controller 107. Is entered.

Similarly, the video data from the image memory 105 is output by the memory controller 104 in synchronization with the video synchronization signal, and is input to the synthesizer 113. The synthesizer 113 corresponds to the image data from the scanner 106 (Y, R−Y, B−
If Y) has a value, that is, if any of Y, RY, BY is> 0, the image data from the color designation LUT 111 is selected. And outputs the selected video signal. As a result, the character memory 108
Is overwritten on the video signal of the image memory 105 with the color designated by the color selection switch 112. The image signal thus synthesized is converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter 114, and is displayed on the monitor 130 as an analog video signal through the encoder 115.

The synthesized image signal is also sent to the print unit 116. In the print unit 116, the color converter 117 converts the Y color difference signals (Y, RY, BY) into RGB signals,
It is converted to a CMY signal using a lookup table (LUT). The image data converted into the three primary colors of ink (CMY) in this manner is sent to the head driver 119, and the corresponding recording head 120 is driven to perform printing on a recording medium.

Reference numeral 121 denotes an image trimming movement switch for instructing video data trimming movement, and reference numeral 122 denotes a character trimming movement switch for instructing character data trimming movement.
Reference numeral 123 denotes a reset switch, and reference numeral 124 denotes a print start switch for inputting a print start to the print unit 116. 125
And 126, a moving switch which is a trimming moving switch 121.
Alternatively, corresponding to 122, video data or character data displayed on the monitor 130 can be moved left and right on the screen. Reference numeral 127 denotes an image / character fixed trimming switch, which can be used to instruct to synthesize video data and characters in a fixed pattern. 128
Is a mega driver, which can drive a paper feed mechanism of the printing unit 116, a transport mechanism of the recording head 120, and the like.

[Description of Operation (FIGS. 1 to 4)] FIGS. 2A and 2B are flowcharts showing the operation of the CPU of the control unit 110. The control program for executing this processing is stored in the ROM of the control unit 110. Is stored. It is assumed that video data is stored in the image memory 105 and character image data read from the scanner 106 is stored in the character memory 108 at the start of the execution of this process.

In step S1, it is checked whether any of the various switches connected to the control unit 110 has been pressed. If the switch has been pressed, the process proceeds to step S2 to determine the type of the switch. Here, since the trimming process will be described, it is checked whether or not a switch related to trimming is pressed.If the reset switch 123, the scanner start switch 109, the print start switch 124, or the like is pressed, the process proceeds to step S3. Execute the corresponding process.

If it is determined in step S2 that the switch is a trimming-related switch, the flow advances to step S4 to check whether the image / character fixed trimming switch (TSW) 127 has been pressed. When the TSW 127 is pressed, the process proceeds to step S5, and the memory controller 10 corresponding to the already set video data trimming area.
To 4 are output the read start address of the image memory 105 and the number of horizontal pixels to be read. The memory controller 104 outputs video data to the synthesizer 113 while counting the number of pixels to be read from the read start address. Next, similarly, in step S6, the read address of the character memory 108 and the number of pixels read out in the horizontal direction are output to the memory controller 107 of the character memory 108. Then, in step S7, these combined image data are displayed and output on the monitor 130.

The above operation will be described with reference to a case where the video data and the character image data shown in FIG.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 301 denotes image data input from the scanner 106 and stored in the character memory 108, and reference numeral 302 denotes image data input as video data and stored in the image memory 105. Reference numeral 303 denotes an image when the image data 301 and 302 are combined as they are.

Now, when the image / character fixed trimming switch (TSW) 121 is pressed by the user, the control unit 110 first controls the image memory controller 104 to control the center of the image data 302.
Trim 3/4 (the part indicated by 310). For this, first, a horizontal start address read from the image memory 105 and the number of horizontal pixels to be read are output to the image memory controller 104 in accordance with the trimming portion 310. Thus, the image memory controller 104 reads out the image data 302 while counting the number of pixels to be read from the read start address of the image memory 105. The image data read from the image memory 105 in this manner is trimmed and displayed on the left side of the screen as indicated by 304. This is an image memory
If the user monitors and does not like the trimming position because the user only monitors the read address instead of rewriting the contents of 105, the reset image 123 is pressed again to restore the state of the original image. Can be restored.

On the other hand, the character data stored in the character memory 108 is displayed on the right side of the screen by trimming 1/4 of the entire character data from the left end, as indicated by 311. This is achieved by sending the horizontal read start address at the left end of the screen, the number of horizontal pixels to be read, and the horizontal write start address to be output from the control unit 110 to the character memory controller 107. Will be

As a result, the character memory controller 107 reads out the character data corresponding to the trimming portion 311 in the same manner as in the case of the image memory 105, and sequentially outputs the data from the horizontal writing start address. As a result, a composite image as indicated by 304 in FIG. 3 can be obtained.

Next, returning to FIG. 2, the case where a switch other than the image / character fixed trimming switch is pressed will be described.

If TSW127 is not pressed in step S4,
Proceeding to S8, it is checked whether one of the moving switches 121 or 122 has been pressed. When the moving switch is pressed, the process proceeds to step S9, and it is determined whether the image trimming moving switch 121 has been pressed in step S9. When the image trimming movement switch 121 is pressed, the process proceeds to step S10. In response to the number of times, for example, the first time the image is set to the left end setting mode, the second time is set to the right end setting mode, and the third time. In the case of, set the image movement mode to the memory (RAM)
Set to This will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

On the other hand, when the character trimming movement switch 122 is depressed, the process proceeds to step S11, and various modes are set according to the number of times of depression, as in the case of the image movement mode.

In step S12, it is checked whether the directional switch, ie, the → or ← switch (125 or 126) has been pressed, and if the directional switch has been pressed, the process proceeds to step S13.
Check the RAM mode set by. In this way, the read start address of the memory controller 104 or 107 corresponding to the mode set in the RAM is increased if "→" and decreased if "←" according to the input switch. Thereby, the trimming position of the image data or the character data can be changed on the screen of the monitor 130.

This operation will be described below with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, the character memory 108 read from the scanner 106 is used.
And 402, video data input as video data and stored in the image memory 105. Reference numeral 403 denotes image data when the video data 402 and the character image data 401 are synthesized as they are.

In this state, in order to change the position of the left end of the video data 402, the image trimming movement switch 121 is pressed to enter a left end setting mode for specifying the image trimming position. By operating either the ← switch 125 or the → switch 126, the leftmost position of the trimming of the video data 402 can be determined. At this time, as described above, the image memory controller 104
The changed read start address is input, but "white (no data)" is output for the image portion (the portion corresponding to the area 411 'of the image data 404) on the left side of the read start address, and the read start address is changed. As for the right side, the contents of the image memory 105 actually read are output.
In this way, the user can set the left end of the trimming position of the video data while watching the monitor 130.

Next, the user presses the image trimming movement switch 121 again to enter a right end position setting mode for designating the image trimming position. So, as above, ←
By operating the switch 125 or the switch 126, the position of the right end of the image trimming can be determined. By determining the right and left end positions of the image trimming position in this way, the trimming range of the image data indicated by 410 in FIG. 4 can be defined. Next, the image trimming movement switch 121 is pressed again to enter a movement mode in which the trimmed image data is actually moved. And ←
By pressing the switch 125 and the switch 126, the image data can be moved to an arbitrary position on the monitor screen as indicated by 404 from the state of 403 in FIG. Also in this case, the control unit 110 counts up and down the read start address of the image memory from the ← switch 125 and → switch 126 and outputs it to the image memory controller 104, and the image memory controller 104 receives the count and outputs the read start address to the output image. The data is output to the memory 105.

Next, the user can perform trimming movement of characters. The procedure is exactly the same as that for the image data in the image memory 105, and the character trimming movement switch 122 and ←
The switch 125 and the switch 126 define the trimming area of the character image data 401 as indicated by 411, and can move to the position indicated by 411 '. As a result, in FIG.
As indicated by 404, it is possible to combine the video data 402 arbitrarily trimmed at an arbitrary position on the screen with the character image data 401.

In the above embodiment, the case where the trimming movement is performed only in the horizontal direction has been described.
Movement can be performed in a similar manner.

In this embodiment, the image data input from the scanner is described as character data. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it goes without saying that image data such as a photograph may be used.

According to the present embodiment as described above, a video image from a video input and an image from a scanner input can be easily combined without using an expensive device such as an image editing machine.
It is possible to synthesize the layout according to the user's preference by a simple operation.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, a video based on video data and an image based on an image signal are displayed on a screen, and the video and the image are moved on the screen, thereby simplifying the processing. There is an effect that the layout of the composite image can be changed and displayed by a simple operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a video printer according to an embodiment, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing control processing of a control unit of the video printer according to the embodiment, and FIGS. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an image combining process in the printer. In the figure, 101: decoder, 102: A / D converter, 104: image memory controller, 105: image memory, 106: scanner, 107: memory controller, 108: character memory, 110 ... Control unit, 111: color designation look-up table, 112: color selection switch, 113: synthesizer, 114: D
/ A converter, 115 ... Encoder, 116 ... Print section, 119 ... Head driver, 120 ... Recording head, 121
…… Image move switch, 122 …… Character move switch, 12
5, 126... Moving direction switch, 127... Image / character fixed trimming switch, 130... Monitor.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI H04N 5/76 G06F 15/66 450 (56) References JP-A-61-91690 (JP, A) JP-A-62-203489 ( JP, A) JP-A-63-290079 (JP, A) JP-A-64-869 (JP, A) JP-A-61-175860 (JP, A) Jpn.

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A storage means for inputting a video signal and storing it as video data, an image storage means for inputting and storing an image signal input from an image input unit, and storing the video data stored in the storage means Video reading means for reading, image reading means for reading an image signal stored in the image storage means, synthesizing means for synthesizing video data and image signals read by the video reading means and the image reading means, Output means for outputting a video based on the video data synthesized by the synthesizing means and an image based on the image signal so as to be displayed on a screen, and output of the video and the image output and displayed by the output means. A movement instructing means for instructing at least one of the movements on the screen, and a movement instructed by the movement instructing means A control unit for controlling a read area of the video data and the image signal by the video reading unit and the image reading unit. 2. A storage means for inputting a video signal and storing it as video data, an image storage means for inputting and storing an image signal input from an image input unit, and storing the video data stored in the storage means. Video reading means for reading, image reading means for reading an image signal stored in the image storage means, synthesizing means for synthesizing video data and image signals read by the video reading means and the image reading means, Output means for outputting an image based on the video data and an image based on the image signal synthesized by the synthesizing means so as to be displayed on a screen; and the video data and image signal by the video reading means and the image reading means. Read-out area designating means for designating each of the read-out areas as a predetermined area; A movement instructing unit that instructs to move at least one of the video and the image output and displayed on the screen on the screen, and according to the predetermined area specified by the reading area specifying unit, or An image forming control device, comprising: control means for controlling a read area of the video data and the image signal by the video reading means and the image reading means in accordance with the movement instructed by the movement instructing means. 3. The image forming control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising printing means for performing printing based on the video data and the image signal synthesized by said synthesizing means.