JPH0354382B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to an image input device that obtains an image pattern by optically taking in an image on a form and photoelectrically converting it.

[Prior art]

A conventional image input device optically scans an image on a form, converts reflected light from the form into an electrical signal, and converts this electrical signal into an image pattern by binarizing it at a single slice level. This image pattern is displayed on a display device, checked by an operator, and then stored in a storage device or an external device or output. This device has the disadvantage that only images that match the slice level are clear.

There are also devices that have means to vary the amplitude of the electrical signal output from the photoelectric conversion section and the slice level of the binarization circuit, but in such devices, the form is conveyed several times and the Since this method selects the optimum signal amplitude or slice level for binarization, it has the disadvantage that the operation is complicated.

[Purpose of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide an image input device having a function of easily selecting the image quality of an input image.

[Summary of the invention]

The feature of this invention is that a photoelectric conversion signal obtained by optically scanning a form is binarized and stored at a large number of slice levels, and these binarized image patterns can be displayed and compared. It is to make it.

[Embodiments of the invention]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image input device in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an analog signal waveform of a photoelectrically converted image. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between a signal obtained by converting an analog signal into a multivalued digital signal and the slice level. Figure 4 shows 2 slices at multiple slice levels.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the timing at which a digitized signal is taken into a storage device. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an image pattern taken into the storage device. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example in which image patterns captured at a plurality of slice levels are displayed simultaneously. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example in which image patterns captured at a plurality of slice levels are sequentially displayed.

In FIG. 1, a form traveling mechanism 1 electrically transports a form 2 to be read. Form 2 is being transported.
An original image 3 recorded on a form 2 is optically scanned. That is, the lamp 4 illuminates the original image 3, and the reflected light is projected onto the photoelectric conversion element 6 by the imaging lens 5. By conveying the form 2, the irradiation position of the original image 3 advances one by one. The photoelectric conversion element 6 is composed of, for example, a one-dimensional semiconductor CCD sensor, and is capable of capturing information/
Based on the timing signal from the storage timing generation circuit 11, electric signals corresponding to the black and white of the original image 3 that are sequentially formed are sent to the signal amplification circuit 7.

The signal amplification circuit 7 amplifies the electrical signal received from the photoelectric conversion element 6 and sends the electrical signal to the analog-to-digital conversion circuit 8. The analog/digital conversion circuit 8 converts the analog electrical signal received from the signal amplification circuit 7 into various types of digital signals. For example, an analog input electrical signal 26 shown in FIG. 2 is converted into a multivalued digital signal 27 shown in FIG. 3. The analog-to-digital conversion circuit 8 compares the converted digital signals with comparison circuits _10A , _10B , _10C ,
...10 Send to _X. Comparison circuits _10A , _10B , _10C ,
... ₁₀
9 (see Figure 4), and stepwise different slice levels 28 set externally in advance.
Slice level designation circuits 9A, 9B, 9C... having A, 28B, 28C...28X (see FIG. 3).
It is compared with the slice level of 9X and binarized as an image pattern at storage timings 30A, 30B,
30C...30X (see FIG. 4) are written into the image information storage memory 12. FIG. 5 shows the image pattern and storage format 31 stored in the image information storage memory 12. The image information storage memory 12 is divided into storage areas for each slice level in advance, and image patterns are stored in a 0.1 bit array.

The display editing circuit 13 includes the image information storage memory 12
The image data of each stage slice is taken out and written into the display image storage memory 16, and the address of the display image storage memory 16 is written into the display control memory 14 corresponding to the image address to be displayed. Further, when displaying code information, the display editing circuit 13 writes the address of the display code pattern on the display character pattern memory 15 set in advance into the display control memory 14 corresponding to the screen address.

The display circuit 17 includes the display control memory 14
The addresses on the image storage memory 16 and display character pattern memory 15 are obtained, and the image pattern and character pattern stored in these addresses are read out and sent to the display section 18.

The display unit 18 displays image patterns 51a and 51 that have been binarized at each slice level, as shown in FIG.
b... 51x are displayed side by side on the display 50 at the same time. The operator selects which pattern is clear and optimal while looking at the arranged patterns, and performs key operations on the keyboard 21 to select the optimal pattern. The selection signal entered by the key is sent to the data transfer control circuit 19 under the control of the keyboard control circuit 20. The data transfer control circuit 19 reads the image pattern of the optimum slice level from the image information storage memory 12 according to the input selection signal, sends it to the storage control circuit 22, and stores it in the storage device 23 (for example, a flexible disk device), or The image pattern is sent to the transmission control circuit 24 and output to an external device via the transmission line 25.

Note that the patterns 51a and 51 displayed at the same time
b, . . 51x can be easily displayed by arranging them vertically or by dividing the screen 50 vertically and horizontally.

Furthermore, if the image to be input is large, it may be possible to display patterns at each slice level of only a portion of the original image at the same time.

Furthermore, the same effect can be obtained without simultaneously displaying images on a single screen. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a slice level display pattern 52a on the screen 53 is displayed, and when an instruction to display the next slice level is given from the keyboard 12, a pattern 52b is displayed.
By displaying the patterns 52a, 52b, . . . 52x on the same screen, the patterns 52a, 52b, .

Further, in this embodiment, various image qualities were obtained by providing slices in stages, but it is possible to obtain similar effects with a single slice by applying bias in stages to the signal obtained from the photoelectric conversion element 6. it is obvious.

In addition, in this embodiment, the binarized data captured at different slice levels is stored in separate areas in the memory, but for example, when displaying the run length of each level of slices, all the slices can be stored in the same area. It is also possible to store patterns in multiple values and obtain the same effect.

Furthermore, although a flexible disk device is used as the output device in this embodiment, it may also be a magnetic tape device, an optical disk device, a central processing unit with channel connection, or the like.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, image data of any image quality can be selected and input by simply capturing the image on the board once optically.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a waveform diagram of the photoelectrically converted analog signal.
Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between signals converted to various digital signals and slice levels, Fig. 4 is a time chart showing the import/storage timing of binarized image patterns, and Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between signals converted to various digital signals and slice levels. FIGS. 6 and 7 are diagrams showing captured image patterns and storage formats, and are diagrams showing displayed image patterns. 2... Form, 3... Original picture, 6... Photoelectric conversion element, 7...
Signal amplification circuit, 8...Analog-digital conversion circuit, 9A, 9B, 9C...9X...Slice level designation circuit, 10A, 10B, 10C...10X...Comparison circuit, 11...Information capture/storage timing generation circuit, 12...Image information Storage memory, 13... Display editing circuit, 14... Display control memory, 15... Character pattern memory for display, 16... Image storage memory for display, 17... Display circuit, 18... Display section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image input device that optically captures an image on a form, converts the captured image into an electrical signal, and then binarizes it to obtain an image pattern. An image input device comprising: means for binarizing in levels; storage means for storing a plurality of binarized image patterns; and display means for displaying the plurality of image patterns. 2. The image input device according to claim 1, wherein the photoelectrically converted signal is binarized at a plurality of slice levels at the same time. 3. The image input device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of image patterns are displayed simultaneously on a display means. 4 means for stepwise amplifying the photoelectrically converted signal in an image input device that optically captures an image on a form, converts the captured image into an electrical signal, and then binarizes it to obtain an image pattern; It is characterized by comprising means for binarizing a signal at a single slice level at each stage, a storage means for storing a plurality of binarized image patterns, and a display means for displaying the plurality of image patterns. image input device. 5. The image input device according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of image patterns are displayed simultaneously on a display means.