JP2000163230A - Image data combining device, image output device provided with the device, and image output controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To decrease the number of all display objects and to actualize a high-speed image output by investigating a display object present in both some partial image area and the next partial image and combining the image data of both the partial image areas according to the result of the investigation. SOLUTION: It is judged (S103) whether or not the number of all objects decreases (or whether there is an object present in both an (n)th temporary band and an (n+1) temporary band) when both the bands are combined. When the number of all the objects does not decrease, the (n)th temporary band is considered to be a permanent band as it is (S106). Then, it is judged (S104) whether or not a maximum combination number L is exceeded when the (n)th and (n+1)th temporary bands are combined together. When the maximum combination number L is exceeded, the (n)th temporary band is considered to be a permanent band (S106). When the maximum combination number L is not exceed, the (n)th and (n+1)th temporary bands are combined into a permanent band (S105).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image output apparatus (for example, a printer) and an image output apparatus for realizing high-speed image output by reducing the total number of display objects when outputting an image using banding. The present invention relates to a control device (for example, a print control device, more specifically, a personal computer). It should be noted that the image in the present specification is a concept including characters such as characters, numerals, and the like in addition to so-called narrowly defined images such as figures, pictures (illustrations), and photographs.
This includes images composed of only characters, images composed only of illustrations, images composed of characters and illustrations, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image output apparatus (for example, a laser printer) using a printer engine which outputs an image at a constant speed, a method for reliably outputting an image based on image data sent from an image output control apparatus. There is a method of preparing a memory having a capacity necessary for storing image data of the entire image. In this method, image data of the entire image is obtained from the image data, stored in a memory, and then output.

However, an image output apparatus using this method needs to prepare a large-capacity memory for storing image data of the entire image, which results in an increase in the price and size of the apparatus.

To avoid this, banding is performed by dividing the entire image into a plurality of bands, sequentially creating image data for each band, storing the image data in a band memory, and sequentially transferring them to a printer engine. There is a method called. Here, the band memory is a memory area for storing image data of one band, and a plurality of band memories are prepared and used sequentially. With banding, after transferring image data to the printer engine, the band memory where the image data was stored can be used to store the image data of the next band, and the amount of memory required for the image output device Can be reduced.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example in which an image is divided into K bands. The image data generation processing (render processing) is performed in order from the first band (first band) of the image 10. Based on the generated image data,
Image output processing by the printer engine is performed in parallel with the rendering processing.

[0006]

However, in the prior art, an image is divided into bands of a fixed length (fixed length). Therefore, display objects (characters, figures, forms, etc.) extending over two bands are used. However, in the rendering process of both bands, the rendering process is performed for the entire object that overlaps each other, and there is a problem that the rendering process takes time.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an image divided into eight fixed-length bands. In the example of the image 20 in FIG.
The image 20 is divided into eight fixed-length bands 31 to 38. For example, the display object “A” spanning the band 31 and the band 32 is first developed in the band 31 render processing and the upper half is used, and then is expanded again in the band 32 render processing and the lower half is used.

[0008] Since it takes time to perform overlapping rendering processing of a display object spanning two bands, it is conceivable to combine the two bands to eliminate a display object that straddles and reduce the rendering processing time. In addition, it is preferable to shorten the render processing time in order to prevent print overrun.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a first example of an image divided into three variable-length bands. In the example of FIG. 3, the maximum number of bands to be combined (the maximum number of combinations) is 3, and the bands 31, 32, and 33, the bands 34, 35, and 36, and the bands 37 and 38 in FIG. As a result, image 2
0 is divided into three bands 41, 42 and 43 of variable length. Thereby, the display objects “A” (two), “B” (one), “D” (two),
“E” (one) and “G” (four) are eliminated.

However, since an unlimited number of bands are combined, the amount of memory required for the image output device is increased. Therefore, appropriate combining processing should be performed.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image data combining apparatus for combining image data of a partial image area, the image data including data of a display object displayed in the area. Investigation means for investigating a display object extending between a partial image region and the next partial image region, and combining image data of both partial image regions straddling the display object based on a result of the investigation. And coupling means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image data combining device according to the first aspect, when the result of the examination indicates that the display object to be straddled exists, the display object is straddled. It is characterized in that image data of both partial image areas are combined.

[0013] According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image data combining device according to the first aspect, the combining unit determines that the display object spans the straddle as a result of the investigation.
In addition, when the image data of the two partial image areas spanning the display object is combined, the combined number of the image areas that will include the two partial image areas does not exceed the maximum combined number. Are combined.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image data combination device according to any one of the first to third aspects, the examination means performs the examination in order from a leading partial image area, and the combination means Each time the investigation means investigates one partial image area, image data of both partial image areas straddling the display object is combined based on the result of the investigation.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image data combining apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the combining means includes: after the research means has performed the research on all partial image areas. The image data of both partial image areas straddling the display object are combined in order from the partial image area having the largest number of display objects straddling based on the result of the investigation.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image data combining device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the image data is a display list.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image output apparatus comprising the image data combining apparatus according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the image data is obtained by converting the image data based on the image data. An image is output based on

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image output control device, comprising the image data combining device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the image data is converted as it is or converted to an image output device. It is characterized by supplying.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image data combining method for combining image data including data of a display object to be displayed in the partial image area, wherein the image data includes a partial image area. Investigating a display object spanning between the next partial image area of the area, and combining image data of both partial image areas straddling the display object based on a result of the investigation. Features.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable recording medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute the image data combining method according to the ninth aspect.

According to the above configuration, when outputting an image using banding, the number of entire display objects can be reduced, and high-speed image output can be realized.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an image output apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The image output device 102 according to the present embodiment includes a CPU
121, a memory 122, a printer engine 117, a printer engine controller 123, and an interface 125. The CPU 121 can take the form of a microprocessor and performs various controls. Memory 1
22 stores a program for performing the processing of the interpreter 113. The printer engine 117 is
Under the control of the printer engine control device 123, an image is output based on the image data. Image output control device 10
1 is input via the interface 125.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing each function and data flow of the image output apparatus according to this embodiment.

The interpreter 113 includes a parser 131,
It is composed of a band coupling section 132 and a render 133. In the present embodiment, the parser 131, the band combining unit, and the render 133 are realized by software, and are stored in the memory 122 in the form of a program code. However, all or a part thereof may be realized by hardware.

The parser 131 includes the image output control device 10
The PDL (Page Description Language) command, which is image data transmitted from the PDL 1, is analyzed, classified for each display object, and a display list is generated. The display list describes the objects to be displayed and their attributes (coordinates, colors, etc.). The parser 131 performs a banding process, and the parser 131 generates a display list of each band having a certain length. This fixed length band is called a temporary band. The band combining unit 132 combines some of the temporary bands into a variable-length band, and generates a display list of the variable-length band. This variable-length band is called a main band. Note that the band combining unit 132 may be a part of the parser 131.

The render 133 generates image data based on the display list of the band.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a first example of the band combining process in the image output device according to the present embodiment. In the first example of the combining process, combining is considered in order from the first temporary band, and when the number of display objects of the entire (display list) is reduced by combining and the combined number does not exceed the maximum number of combined objects. This is a method for performing the connection.
Here, the maximum coupling number is the maximum number of bands to be coupled.

First, in step S101, an initial value (1) is set to n, and coupling is examined from the n-th (= 1) temporary band.

In step S102, it is determined whether or not the provisional band to be considered for connection is the last provisional band (K-th provisional band). If it is the last temporary band, it is not combined with the next temporary band, so the n-th temporary band is used as the main band (step S106). If it is not the last temporary band, the process proceeds to step S103.

In step S103, when the n-th temporary band and the (n + 1) -th temporary band are combined, it is determined whether or not the total number of display objects is reduced (whether or not there is a display object that straddles). If the total number of objects does not decrease, the n-th provisional band is used as the main band (step S106). If the total number of objects decreases, the process proceeds to step S104.

In step S104, it is determined whether or not even if the n-th temporary band and the (n + 1) -th temporary band are combined, the maximum number L of combined bands is not exceeded. If the n-th temporary band and the (n-1) -th temporary band are combined, they are also considered.
If the maximum number L is exceeded, the n-th temporary band is used as the main band (step S106). Maximum number of connections L
Otherwise, the n-th temporary band and the (n + 1) -th temporary band are combined to form the main band (step S105).

After step S105 or S106, 1 is added to n in step S107. If n exceeds the number of bands K, the processing is completed for all bands, and the process is terminated. The processing of step S102 and subsequent steps is performed on the special band (step S1
08).

For example, if the above method is applied to the eight temporary bands shown in FIG. 2 with the maximum number of connections L = 3, three main bands shown in FIG. 3 are generated. That is, band 3
The bands 1 and 32 and the bands 32 and 33 are combined because the total number of display objects is reduced by the combination and the maximum number L of the combined objects is not exceeded even if the bands are combined.
Are not combined because the total number of display objects is reduced by the combination, but exceeds the maximum combination number L when combined. Hereinafter, the same combination is performed.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a second example of the band combining process in the image output device according to the present embodiment. The second example of the combining process is a method in which the number of reductions of the entire display object due to the combination between the temporary bands is first obtained, and the combination with the largest number of reductions is examined.

In steps S151 to S154, the reduction number d (n) of the entire display object when the n-th temporary band and the (n + 1) -th temporary band are combined is obtained.

In step S155, the records (n, d (n)) are sorted in descending order by d (n), and the records x (n) = (x (n) .a, x (n).
b). In the present embodiment, when d (n) is the same, the smaller of n is set first.

For example, if steps S151 to S155 are applied to the eight temporary bands shown in FIG. 2, x (1) =
(3,5), x (2) = (7,4), x (3) = (6,
3), x (4) = (1,2), x (5) = (4,2),
x (6) = (2,1) and x (7) = (5,1).
Note that x (1) = (3,5) indicates that the third provisional band
Combining with the tentative band means that the total number of display objects is reduced by five.

In step S156, the initial value (1) is set to n, and the combination is examined from the temporary band for the record x (n) (= x (1)).

In step S157, the x (n).
a temporary band and the (x (n) .a) +1 temporary band are combined, and the reduced number x (n).
It is determined whether or not b is 0. 0, x (n). The temporary band is used as the main band (step S160). If the total number of objects decreases, the process proceeds to step S158.

In step S158, the x (n).
It is determined whether or not even if the temporary band a and the (x (n) .a) +1 temporary band are combined, the maximum combined number L is not exceeded. If the maximum number of bonds L is exceeded, x (n). The temporary band is used as the main band (step S160). When the maximum number L is not exceeded, x (n). The temporary band a and the (x (n) .a) +1 temporary band are combined to form a main band (step S159).

After step S159 or S160, 1 is added to n in step S161, and n is K-1.
If (K: number of bands) is exceeded, all records x
Since the processing for (n) has been completed, the processing is terminated. If the processing has not been exceeded, step S15 is performed for a new x (n).
7 is performed (step S162).

If the K-th provisional band (the last provisional band) is not combined with the previous provisional band in step S159, it does not belong to any main band, so the K-th provisional band is This band is used as it is (step S163).

For example, if the above method is applied to the eight temporary bands shown in FIG. 2 with the maximum number of connections L = 3, three main bands shown in FIG. 8 are generated. That is, first x
Regarding (1), the combination of the bands 33 and 34 with the largest reduction number of the entire object is considered and combined. After that, they are combined with respect to x (2) to x (5), but x
(6) In other words, the bands 32 and 33 are not combined because the combined number exceeds the maximum number. Similarly, x (7) is not combined. According to this method, the display objects “A” (2), “C” (5),
“D” (two), “F” (three), and “G” (4
) Is eliminated.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an image output control device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Image output control device 201 according to the present embodiment
Are the CPU 221, the memory 222, the interface 2
25, an input means 226 and a display 227, and can take the form of, for example, a personal computer. The memory 222 stores programs for processing the interpreter 213, the application software 211, and the printer driver 212. These programs are stored in the memory 222,
It may be stored on a hard disk or the like, or may be stored on a floppy disk, CD-ROM, or the like,
Before execution, it may be read into the memory 222, a hard disk, or the like. Image data to the image output device 202 is output via the interface 225. The input means 226 is, for example, a keyboard and a mouse. The display 227 is for displaying information related to image output and the like.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing each function and data flow of the image output control device according to this embodiment.

The application software 211 is
A computer program (for example, a word processor) designed to assist the user in performing some work, such as processing text and graphics. When a print request is issued, drawing such as "draw a straight line" or "draw a character" Command (for example, Microsoft Windows GDI
Command).

The printer driver 212 converts a drawing command into a PDL command. PDL is an interpreted programming language for integrally describing data such as text and graphics in page units. P
Examples of the DL include WPL of Tokyo Denki Sekkei, Post Script of Adobe Systems, and PCL of Hewlett-Packard.

The band combining section 232 performs, for example, the band combining process shown in FIG. 6 or FIG.

In the present embodiment, the display list of the main band generated by the band combiner 232 is converted into image data by the render 233 and transmitted to the image output device 202. The display list of the main band is transmitted. Then, the rendering process may be performed by the image output device 202.

In the above description, the combination of the temporary bands is attempted when the total number of display objects is reduced. However, for example, bitmaps and the like are relatively easy to separate even if they span both bands. If the processing time is not increased so much, provisional bands may not be combined.

[0052]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When an image is output using banding, the number of entire display objects can be reduced, and high-speed image output can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example in which an image is divided into K bands.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image divided into eight fixed-length bands.

FIG. 3 shows a first example of an image divided into three variable-length bands.
It is a figure showing an example.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating functions and data flows of the image output apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a first example of band combining processing in the image output device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a second example of the band combining process in the image output device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 shows a second example of an image divided into three variable-length bands.
It is a figure showing an example.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image output control device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating functions and data flows of an image output control device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 20 Image 31 to 38, 41 to 43, 51 to 53 Band 101, 201 Image output control device 102, 202 Image output device 211 Application software 212 Printer driver 113, 213 Interpreter 117 Printer engine 121, 221 CPU 122, 222 Memory 123 Printer engine controller 125, 225 Interface 226 Input means 227 Display 131, 231 Parser 132, 232 Band combining unit 133, 233 Render

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Claims (10)

[Claims] An image data combining apparatus for combining image data of a partial image area and image data including display object data to be displayed in the area, wherein for a certain partial image area, a partial image next to the area Image data, comprising: an investigation unit for investigating a display object extending over a region, and a coupling unit coupling, based on the result of the investigation, image data of both partial image regions over which the display object extends. Coupling device. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the combining unit combines the image data of the two partial image areas that the display object straddles when the surveillance display object exists as a result of the investigation. An image data combining device according to claim 1. 3. The combination means as a result of the examination, if the display object spans and the image data of both partial image areas spanning the display object are combined, the two partial image areas are included. 2. The image data of two partial image areas are combined when the number of combined image areas does not exceed the maximum number of combined images.
An image data combining device according to claim 1. 4. The investigation means performs the investigation in order from the leading partial image area, and each time the investigation means investigates one partial image area, the combining means performs the display based on a result of the investigation. 4. The image data combining device according to claim 1, wherein the image data of the two partial image regions over which the object extends are combined. 5. The combining means, after the research means has performed the research on all the partial image regions, based on the result of the research, in order from the partial image region in which the number of display objects to be straddled is large. 4. The image data combining device according to claim 1, wherein the image data of the two partial image regions over which the object extends are combined. 6. The image data combining device according to claim 1, wherein the image data is a display list. 7. An image output device, comprising: the image data combining device according to claim 1; and outputting an image based on the image data or image data obtained by converting the image data. . 8. An image data combining device according to claim 1, wherein the image data is used as it is.
Or an image output control device for converting and supplying the converted image to an image output device. 9. An image data combining method for combining image data of a partial image area and image data including display object data to be displayed in the area, wherein for a partial image area, a partial image next to the area An image data combining method, comprising: investigating a display object extending over a region, and combining image data of both partial image regions extending over the display object based on a result of the investigation. . 10. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute the image data combining method according to claim 9 is recorded.