JPH08137332A - Image input and output device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To copy a colored original with good image quality. CONSTITUTION: After dividing into each area such as a character and a pattern, in accordance with the feature of document image data, information on image contents and positions, etc., in the areas obtained as the division results are stored with reference to respective areas. The existence of a color, the position of the color and the kind of the color, etc., in every area are identified by a color information identification circuit 6, then, the identification results are stored by a color information memory. And an image processing with appropriately switched processing contents in every area is performed for the supplied document image by an image processing circuit 8 while referring to the area division results and the color information identification results.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image input / output device which captures, processes, and outputs a document image including color by a scanner or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image input / output device of this kind, for example, a facsimile device which performs optimal binarization and encoding processing for a document image and transmits and outputs it, and an electronic photograph which can obtain a plurality of print outputs. There is a copying apparatus that employs a method or an inkjet method, or a filing apparatus that classifies and organizes document images and outputs them to a storage device such as a hard disk.

At present, most of facsimile machines and copying machines handle black-and-white images, and a copying machine intended for color images has just begun.

Further, in the filing apparatus, one of its important functions is the classification and organization of image documents. This is done by inputting keywords and features that artificially accurately express the document image and indexing them. , Or automatically extracting keywords and features by using character recognition or image recognition for classification and organization.

[0005]

In recent years, the number of document images partially containing chromatic characters or figures is gradually increasing. When copying such a colored original document, an electrophotographic method is used. Color copying still has a relatively high running cost and is uncommon. Further, the color copying by the inkjet method has a problem that it takes time to print out.

Further, when a colored original is copied in black and white, or when proper binary processing is performed for black and white facsimile processing, for example, when the entire background of the character is colored, the periphery of the character becomes dark. It becomes difficult to see. Also, shapes,
When a plurality of colors are used to distinguish each other in a graph or the like, there is a problem in that the brightness densities are the same depending on the combination of colors, so that they cannot be distinguished by the shade.

Further, in the filing apparatus, in order to artificially input a keyword or feature that accurately expresses the document image, it is troublesome and time-consuming to read the document image. On the other hand, in order to automatically extract keywords and features by using character recognition, image recognition, etc. for classification and organization, there is a problem that the processing becomes complicated and the circuit scale for that becomes large. .

The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image input / output device capable of copying a colored original document with good image quality.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image input / output device capable of filing a document according to the characteristics of the document image.

[0010]

[Means for Solving the Problems] and

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is an image input / output device for processing and outputting a read document image, and means for extracting the feature of the document image, According to the division result, the document image is divided into a plurality of areas, the color information of each area is identified based on the division result, and the division result is referred to by the color information identification result. Image processing means for performing adaptive processing on each of the generated regions.

The above structure functions to copy a colored original document with good image quality.

Further, in the invention described in claim 6, the image processing means further comprises means for defining the document image according to the characteristics of the divided area as the adaptive processing. The document images are classified based on the definition.

In this structure, the document filing function is performed.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image input / output device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a scanner circuit for capturing a document image, 2
Is a memory control circuit, 3 is a memory circuit, and 4 is an area dividing circuit for dividing into areas such as characters, figures, and photographs according to the characteristics of the document image.

Reference numeral 5 is an area memory for storing the area division result, 6 is a color information identification circuit for identifying color information of each area based on the area division result, and 7 is a color information identification result. A color information memory, 8 is an image processing circuit capable of performing adaptive processing for each divided area of the document image, and 9 is a system control circuit for controlling the entire system of the image input / output apparatus. Is.

Therefore, the operation principle of the image input / output apparatus according to this embodiment will be described.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the processing procedure in the image input / output apparatus according to this embodiment. Also,
3 and 4 are examples of the document image used in the present embodiment, FIG. 3 is the original document image, and FIG. 4 is the output result.
Each of the document images 20 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 has black and white characters 21 representing its title, for example, black and white characters 22 constituting a document, characters 23 expressed in black on a light blue background, and It is composed of a pie chart 24 expressed in a plurality of colors.

In the flowchart shown in FIG. 2, in step S1, the document image including the color shown in FIG. 2 is scanned by the scanner circuit 1 shown in FIG. 1 and fetched, and in step S2, the memory control controlled by the system control circuit 9 is performed. It is stored in the memory circuit 3 via the circuit 2.

Next, in step S3, the document image data read from the memory circuit 3 via the memory control circuit 2 is supplied to the area dividing circuit 4, where the characteristics of the document image data are extracted. Then, in the subsequent step S4, the area is divided into areas such as characters and figures as shown in FIG. 3 according to the characteristics, and then in step S5,
For each area, information such as image content and position of the area which is the division result is stored in the area memory 5.

In step S6, the system control circuit is referred to by referring to the division result stored in the area memory 5 so that the document image data is read from the memory circuit 3 for each area and supplied to the color information identification circuit 6. This device is controlled by 9. In the color information identification circuit 6, the presence or absence of color, the position of color, the type of color, etc. are identified for each area, and the identification result is stored in the color information memory 7.

In step S7, the document image data read from the memory circuit 3 is transferred to the memory control circuit 2
Is supplied to the image processing circuit 8 via. The image processing circuit 8 is supplied with the area division result read from the area memory 5 and the color information identification result read from the color information memory 7, and here, by referring to these, The supplied document image is subjected to image processing capable of adaptively switching the processing content for each area, and output.

Here, an example of the processing contents in this embodiment will be described.

The document image shown in FIG. 4 is obtained by outputting only the luminance signal information of the document image shown in FIG. 3, but in FIG. Then, the processing is performed so as to delete the existing luminance signal information of the light blue background portion. Further, in the circle graph area 24 also indicated by the hatched portion, for example, if purple and green are used here. , The processing is performed so as to change the density of one of the luminance signals.

By processing in this way, the character area 23
The background does not become dark and the characters are easy to see, and in the pie chart area 24, in the above example, the luminosity signals of purple and green are close to each other, so that they cannot be distinguished. There is no such thing.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
By referring to the area division result and the color information identification result of the input document image and performing adaptive image processing for each divided area, for example, a color document original is subjected to facsimile processing or copying processing in black and white. However, good image quality can be obtained.

A modification of the above embodiment will be described below. In these modifications, the same components as those of the apparatus according to the above embodiment shown in FIG.
Here, their description is omitted. <Modification 1> FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image input / output device according to Modification 1. In FIG.
Is an electrophotographic printer, and 11 is an inkjet printer.

Here, the parts described with reference to FIG. 1 will be omitted and only the differences will be described. That is, FIG.
2, the image processing circuit 8 refers to the area division result and the color information identification result, first selects only the achromatic area of the document image data, outputs it to the electrophotographic printer 10, and prints it out. To do.

Next, only the chromatic area is selected, output to the ink jet printer 11, and printed out using the same paper as in the case of the achromatic area.

As a result, the running cost is relatively low, and the printing is performed only in the chromatic color area by using the ink jet method, so that the printout time can be shortened. <Modification 2> FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image input / output device according to Modification 2. Also in the figure, the image processing circuit 8 refers to the area division result and the color information identification result, classifies and organizes document images using various characteristics of the area, and performs filing in the storage device 12. Here, the various characteristics of the area are the number, position, size, density, presence / absence of color, type of color, etc. of the area.

Taking FIG. 3 as an example, the numbers of the character area and the graphic area are 3, 1 respectively, the position of the character area is the upper part, and the position of the graphic area is the lower part. Further, there are two chromatic areas. In this way, a document image is defined by a plurality of features related to a region, several feature ranges are set for each feature, and documents within a certain range are treated as the same document. .

Further, a plurality of features used for classification may be digitized and displayed to be used as an index for filing and used for retrieval or the like.

With the above configuration, the document images can be classified without performing particularly complicated recognition processing, and the classification and organization when the document images of various predetermined formats are mixed can be accurately performed. it can.

The present invention may be applied to a system including a plurality of devices or an apparatus including a single device. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

As described above, according to the present invention,
By performing the image processing with reference to the area division result of the document image and the color information identification result, the colored original can be copied with good image quality.

According to another aspect of the invention, the document image is defined according to the characteristics of the divided areas, so that the document image can be classified without performing complicated recognition processing.

[0036]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image input / output device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in the apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a document image for explaining the operation principle.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an image after output.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image input / output device according to a modified example 1.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image input / output device according to a modified example 2.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Scanner Circuit 2 Memory Control Circuit 3 Memory Circuit 4 Area Division Circuit 5 Area Memory 6 Color Information Identification Circuit 7 Color Information Memory 8 Image Processing Circuit 9 System Control Circuit 10 Electrophotographic Printer 11 Inkjet Printer 12 Storage Device

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI Technical display location G06T 7/00 H04N 1/60 1/46 9365-5H G06F 15/62 325 A 15/66 A 9061-5H 15 / 70 310 9061-5H 330 Z H04N 1/40 D 1/46 Z

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An image input / output device for processing and outputting a read document image, means for extracting a feature of the document image, and means for dividing the document image into a plurality of areas according to the feature. Means for identifying color information of each area based on the division result, and image processing means for performing adaptive processing for each of the divided areas with reference to the division result and the identification result of the color information An image input / output device comprising: 2. The image input / output device according to claim 1, wherein the image processing means changes the luminance signal information of the document image as the adaptive processing. 3. The image input according to claim 2, wherein the change of the brightness signal information is deletion of the brightness signal information corresponding to a background portion of the document image or a change of the brightness signal density. Output device. 4. The plurality of areas include characters, tables, line drawings,
The image input / output device according to claim 1, wherein a photograph is included. 5. The image input / output device according to claim 1, wherein the color information includes the presence / absence of a color in each area and the type of the color. 6. The image processing means further comprises, as the adaptive processing, means for defining the document image in accordance with the characteristics of the divided areas, and based on the definition, the image processing of the document image is performed. The image input / output device according to claim 1, wherein classification is performed. 7. The feature of the divided area includes the number of the area, the position in the document image, the size, the density, the presence / absence of color, and the type of color.
The image input / output device described in 1. 8. The image processing means further comprises means for selecting an achromatic color area and a chromatic color area as the adaptive processing, and different printing for the achromatic color area and the chromatic color area. The image input / output device according to claim 1, further comprising a unit that performs an output process.