JP2002240353A - Device and method for processing image data, and recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To execute a masking process with respect to recording data in a simple structure at a high speed. SOLUTION: Recording data is read from a first memory 100, mask data is read from a second memory 101 and the recording data and the mask data are synthesized by a data synthesizing circuit 105 to perform the masking process with respect to the recording data. The synthesizing circuit 105 synthesizes the plurality of bits of the recording data with one bit of the mask data. The reading from the first memory 100 and the processing by the data synthesizing circuit 105 is concurrently executed, thereby reducing the operation time period.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for image data processing and a printing apparatus, and more particularly to an image data processing capable of performing mask processing on print data with a simple configuration at a higher speed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an information output device in, for example, a word processor, a personal computer, a facsimile, etc., there is a printer for recording desired information such as characters and images on a sheet-like recording medium such as paper or film.

Various printing methods are known as printing methods for a printer, but a non-impact method that enables non-contact printing on a printing medium such as paper, has a low running cost, and is easy to colorize. For these reasons, the ink jet system has been particularly attracting attention in recent years because of its quietness and the like.

When color printing is performed by such a printer, if a plurality of colors of ink are ejected to the same pixel in a short time, wrinkles and warpage may occur on the printing medium or bleeding to adjacent dots may occur. (Bleeding) occurs. In order to prevent such a phenomenon, a random mask process (hereinafter, also referred to as a random mask process) is performed on print data of each color for printing a predetermined area by the following methods (A) and (B). In each scan, a technique has been proposed in which a predetermined area is completed in a plurality of scans by using thinned-out data which is thinned out at random so that adjacent dots are not printed as simultaneously as possible. By using the thinned-out data randomized from the random mask in each scan in this manner, the adjacent dots are often printed by different scans, and bleeding in a predetermined area can be sufficiently suppressed.

(A) The recording data and the random mask data are read out from the memory in which they are stored in units of one column of one color, and combined processing and other processing (such as vertical registration adjustment) are performed. In the memory of A method of sequentially performing these processes for each color.

(B) The recording data and the random mask data are read out from a memory in which each is stored in a unit of a predetermined number of bits for one color, and the combining process and other processes (vertical registration) are performed in that unit. Adjustment, etc.) and store it in another memory. A method of sequentially performing these processes in units of a predetermined number of bits.

In any of the above methods (A) and (B), in the synthesizing process of the recording data and the random mask data, the respective data are synthesized so as to correspond to one bit at a time.

[0008]

In recent years, in order to improve the quality of a recorded image, a method of recording each pixel in multiple tones has been widely adopted. In this case, the recording data is also represented in multiple gradations using multi-valued data or multiple bits. In the above-described synthesizing process, when the recording data is multi-gradation data,
Before combining with random mask data, it is necessary to convert (also referred to as expansion) the recording data into binary data represented by one bit. Note that a technique for performing random mask processing after developing multi-tone data into binary data is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-60969.

When the multi-tone data is expanded into binary data in this way, the data amount usually increases. And in this case,
As random mask data, the same amount of data as the expanded recording data is required.

As a result, the amount of data to be processed per unit time increases in order not to lower the recording speed.
It is necessary to increase the speed of the PU and peripheral circuits and increase the circuit scale. This is a factor that hinders the cost reduction and miniaturization required for the recording apparatus.

Further, the density of the recording head has been increased in order to increase the resolution of the recorded image, and image data processing including random mask processing on the recorded data can be performed at a higher speed with a simple configuration. There is a need for apparatus and methods for

The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and has an apparatus and method for image data processing capable of performing random mask processing on print data at a higher speed with a simple configuration, and printing. It is intended to provide a device.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, an image data processing apparatus according to the present invention is an image data processing apparatus for performing a mask process on print data. A memory, a second memory for storing mask data, a synthesizing circuit for synthesizing a plurality of bits of the recording data and one bit of the mask data, reading from the first memory, And a control circuit for controlling the reading and the synthesizing circuit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image data processing method comprising: a first reading step for reading recording data; a second reading step for reading mask data; Synthesize
A synthesizing step of performing a mask process on print data, wherein the synthesizing step synthesizes a plurality of bits of the print data and one bit of the mask data.

Further, the above object is also achieved by a recording apparatus of the present invention comprising the above image data processing apparatus, and a storage medium storing a program code for executing the processing method.

That is, according to the present invention, for example, when print data for one pixel is represented by a plurality of bits as in the case of performing multi-tone printing, mask processing is performed on print data. A plurality of bits of the recording data and one bit of the mask data are combined.

In this case, there is no need to convert or expand either the print data or the mask data, and both data can be used as they are, and the configuration relating to image data processing can be simplified. can do. In this case, for example, the reading of the recording data and the synthesizing process can be performed at the same time. Therefore, if such processing is performed in parallel, the processing time required for the mask process can be reduced.

As described above, the random mask processing can be executed with a simple configuration, and the time required for the random mask processing can be reduced, so that a high-quality image with reduced bleeding can be recorded in a short time. Becomes

[0019]

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

In the embodiment described below, a printer will be described as an example of a recording apparatus using an ink jet recording method.

In this specification, "recording" (also referred to as "printing") means not only the formation of significant information such as characters and figures, but also whether a person is visually perceived. Regardless of whether or not the image has been exposed so as to be able to perform the process, the case where an image, a pattern, a pattern, or the like is widely formed on a recording medium or a case where the medium is processed is also described.

The "recording medium" is not limited to paper used in a general recording apparatus, but is widely applicable to ink, such as cloth, plastic film, metal plate, glass, ceramics, wood, and leather. Things are also represented.

Further, “ink” (sometimes referred to as “liquid”) is to be interpreted as widely as the definition of “recording (printing)”, and is given on a recording medium by A liquid that can be used for forming an image, a pattern, a pattern, or the like, processing a recording medium, or processing ink (for example, coagulating or insolubilizing a colorant in ink applied to the recording medium) is used.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of a main part of an embodiment of a recording apparatus according to the present invention.

The recording apparatus of this embodiment includes four recording heads IJH for ejecting four color inks of Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), and BK (black), and a recording head for each recording head. This is a serial type ink jet printer that performs color recording by a carriage 2 on which a recording head unit 1 in which an ink tank IT for holding supplied ink is integrally formed is mounted.

In the present embodiment, all four recording heads have the same resolution (number of nozzles) and are arranged in parallel.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a CR (carriage) motor for driving the carriage 2 by a belt, 4 denotes a flexible cable for supplying a drive signal and a control signal to each recording head, and 5 denotes an LF (paper feed) motor 6. A gear for rotating a roller 7 for transporting a recording medium P such as recording paper, an encoder scale 8 for detecting the position of the carriage 2 by an optical sensor 9, and a protection and recovery process for the ejection surface of the recording head IJH Is a recovery unit.

The operation of the recording apparatus thus constructed will be described. The recording head IJH is driven in accordance with a drive signal transmitted via the flexible cable 4 while the carriage 2 is reciprocated in the directions a and b in the drawing. When driven, ink of each color is ejected to form an image on the recording paper P.

Scanning of the carriage 2 by the CR motor;
The conveyance of the recording paper P by the LF motor 6 is alternately repeated to record one page. A recovery process is performed by the recovery unit 10 before the start of printing or each time a predetermined number of prints are performed, so that the ejection performance of the print head IJH is maintained.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the printing apparatus of the present embodiment. In the figure, 11 is an interface (I / F) for receiving recording data transmitted from a host device and transmitting and receiving various control signals, 12 is a CPU for controlling the entire apparatus, and 13 is a ROM for storing a control program and various data. , 14 is a RAMa used as a work area for storing recording data and processing data, 15 is an EEPROM for storing a program and a part of various data and externally rewriting as needed, and 16 is a key switch 17. An input control circuit 18 controls an operation portion such as a user, and an output control circuit 18 controls a display portion such as an LED 19.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a data processing circuit for performing a masking process or the like on image data, and reference numeral 21 denotes a RAMb for storing data processed by the data processing circuit 20 and transferred to the recording head unit 1. These will be described later. It will be described in detail.

Reference numeral 30 denotes a print head drive control circuit that generates a drive signal for the print head unit 1, 31 denotes an LF motor drive circuit that drives the LF motor 6, and 32 denotes a C drive.
This is a CR motor drive circuit that drives the R motor 3.

In the present embodiment, a print buffer for storing print data and a mask buffer for storing a random mask are provided in the RAMa 14,
It is accessible from the PU 12 and the data processing circuit 20. However, the print buffer and the mask buffer may be configured as independent memories.
The configuration may not be directly accessible from U.

The data read from the print buffer or the mask buffer is processed inside the data processing circuit 20 and is temporarily stored in the RAMb 21. Then, the print head drive control circuit 3
The data is transferred to 0 and converted into drive data for the printhead, and printing is performed.

Here, it is described that the RAMb 21 is also connected to the CPU and other memories.
b21 does not necessarily need to be connected to the CPU or another memory, and the RAM b21 only needs to be connected at least to the data processing circuit 20 and the recording head drive circuit 30. Further, the RAMb 21 can be replaced with a logic circuit.

FIG. 3 is a detailed block diagram of a part related to the data processing of the present embodiment, and the data processing of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 100 denotes a first memory (print buffer) storing print data;
Reference numeral 1 denotes a second memory (mask buffer) in which random mask data is stored. Each of these two memories corresponds to the RAMa14 in FIG. Reference numeral 108 denotes a third memory for storing data processed by the data processing circuit 20, which corresponds to the RAMb 21 in FIG.

Inside the data processing circuit 20, there are a read circuit 102, three data holding circuits 103 a to c,
104 and 106, a data synthesizing circuit 105, and a data receiving circuit 107.

The operation of the data processing circuit 20 will be described. The recording data read from the first memory 100 by the read circuit 102 is latched (held) by the data holding circuit a103. The random mask data read from the second memory 101 by the read circuit 102 is latched by the data holding circuit b104. Then, after both data are synthesized by the data synthesizing circuit 105, the data is latched by the data holding circuit c 106 and stored in the third memory 108 by the data writing circuit 107.

Here, the data synthesizing circuit 105 will be described. In the synthesizing circuit of this embodiment, when the recording data for one pixel is a plurality of bits (N bits: N is an integer of 2 or more), that is, each pixel is multiplied by N-bit data (N is an integer of 2 or more). In the case of gradation recording, the above-described N-bit recording data and 1-bit random mask data can be combined.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing the synthesizing process in the data synthesizing circuit 105. As shown in FIG. 5, the recording data is multi-tone data of N-bit data (N is an integer of 2 or more). ), And when represented by multi-valued data or a plurality of bits (N bits: N is an integer of 2 or more), N-bit data (N is an integer of 2 or more), which is the multi-gradation data, Combine with 1-bit random mask data.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a result of combining print data and random mask data when print data is represented by 2 bits and random mask data is 1 bit. As shown in the figure, the value of each bit of the synthesis result is a result of a logical product (AND) of each bit constituting the recording data and the random mask data. That is, the result of the logical product of the lower bits of the print data and the random mask data is the lower bit of the combined result, and the result of the logical product of the upper bits of the print data and the random mask data is the upper bit of the combined result.

As described above, the synthesis process of the multi-bit data and the 1-bit data may be performed by synthesizing the 1-bit data with respect to each of the bits constituting the multi-bit by calculation. (In the case of two bits, four patterns of 00, 01, 10, and 11) and random mask data may be prepared in a table format in advance, and the table may be referred to.

In any case, according to the present invention, the recording data represented by multiple gradations and the random mask data are combined (calculated) as they are without converting or expanding the data format. FIGS. 5 and 6 show a case where random mask processing is performed on print data used in one scan. In detail, FIG.
Suppose that print data corresponding to a certain pixel (for example, pixel X) indicates “11” and random mask data indicates “0” as shown in FIG. The synthesis result in this case is “00” as is clear from FIG. However, this means that “the ink is not ejected to the pixel X in the current scan” and that “the ink is not ejected to the pixel X until the next and subsequent scans”. I am not doing it. That is, FIG.
Indicates the type of print data to be printed in one scan when focusing on one scan. Therefore, if the print data is “11”, the random mask data is “0”, and the synthesis result is “00” in the first scan, no ink is ejected to the pixel X in the first scan, and In the second scan, if the print data is “11”, the random mask data is “1”, and the synthesis result is “11”, ink is discharged to the pixel X in the second scan. In this scan, the recording data of "11" is always recorded in the pixel X.

Hereinafter, referring to the flowchart of FIG.
The operation of the data processing circuit of the present embodiment will be described in detail.
FIG. 4 illustrates a case where random mask processing is performed on print data used in one scan.

First, in step S1, one column of random mask data of one color to be recorded by one recording head is read from the second memory 101 and latched by the data holding circuit b104. Next, in step S2, 1 / M of one column of one color is read from the first memory 100.
(M ≧ 1) is read, and the data holding circuit a
Latch to 103. For the sake of simplicity, the following description is based on M = 2.

Next, in step S3, the data synthesizing circuit 105 latches the random mask data latched by the data holding circuit b104 corresponding to the recording data latched by the data holding circuit a103 and the data held by the data holding circuit a103. The data is synthesized with the recorded data, and the result is latched in the data holding circuit c106.
Then, the process proceeds to step S4, where the print buffer
It is determined whether reading of all data for one column of the currently processed color has been completed.

At this point, 1 is set in the previous step S2.
Since only // 2 columns of recorded data are read,
Proceeding to step S5, the remaining half column of print data is read out and latched by the data holding circuit a103, and at the same time, the data latched by the data holding circuit c106 is stored in the third memory 108.

Then, the process proceeds to step S3 again, and the data synthesizing circuit 105 sets the data holding circuit b1 similarly to the above.
Among the random mask data latched in the data holding circuit a103, the one corresponding to the recording data newly latched in the data holding circuit a103 this time and the data masking circuit a10 newly
3 is synthesized with the recording data latched in No. 3, and the result is latched in the data holding circuit c106.

Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S4, where it is determined whether or not reading of all data for one column of the color currently being processed has been completed from the print buffer. At this point, since all the data has been read, the process proceeds to step S6, and the data newly latched by the data holding circuit c106 is stored in the third memory 108.

Next, the process proceeds to step S7, where it is determined whether or not there is another color or print head data to be processed. If there is another color or print head to be processed, step S
Go to step 8 and change the target color or print head to S1
A series of processing from S8 to S8 is performed again. Note that the value of M may be different for each color or recording head. Further, although M ≧ 1 in the above description, preferably, M ≧ 2. In the case of M ≧ 2, the reading of the recording data, the synthesizing process, and the storing process in the third memory can be performed in parallel, so that the data processing time can be reduced.

After a series of processes for the next color or print head is completed, and it is determined again in step S7 that there is no color or print head to be processed, the process proceeds to step S9, in which one CR scan is performed. It is determined whether or not processing of all columns necessary for (scan) has been completed. If it is determined that the process has not been completed, the process returns to step S1. If it is determined in step S9 that the processing for all columns has been completed, the processing ends. After the above processing is completed, the processing data stored in the third memory 108 is recorded by one scan of the head.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
Even if the recording data for each pixel is multi-level data or multi-tone data represented by a plurality of bits, there is no need to convert or expand any data when synthesizing with a random mask. Can be used as it is.

Further, according to the above-described configuration, for example, the reading and the synthesizing process of the recording data and the storing process to the third memory can be performed at the same time. The processing time for the mask processing can be reduced.

Therefore, in a printing apparatus that performs multi-tone printing, data processing relating to mask processing can be performed at a higher speed with a simple configuration. In addition, since the random mask processing can be realized with a simple configuration, the cost of the apparatus can be reduced, and the time required for the random mask processing can be reduced, so that a multi-tone image with reduced bleeding can be recorded at high speed. be able to.

[Other Embodiments] In the above-described embodiments, a serial type ink jet printer has been described as an example. However, the present invention is applicable to other types of recording apparatuses such as a thermal transfer type and a dot impact type. Is also widely applicable.

Further, even a full-line type recording apparatus provided with a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the width of the maximum recording medium that can be recorded by the recording apparatus has a plurality of recording heads. If so, the present invention can be applied, and the same effect can be obtained.

The above-described embodiment is particularly provided with a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating thermal energy as energy used for ejecting ink even in an ink jet recording system. By using a method in which a change in the state of the ink is caused by energy, it is possible to achieve higher density and higher definition of recording.

The typical configuration and principle are described in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, liquid (ink)
By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to recorded information and providing a sharp temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling to an electrothermal transducer arranged corresponding to a sheet or a liquid path in which Since thermal energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer and film boiling occurs on the heat-acting surface of the recording head, bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis can be formed. It is valid.

The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble to form at least one droplet. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable.

As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. Further, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination of the discharge port, the liquid path, and the electrothermal converter (linear liquid flow path or right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, A configuration using U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,600, which discloses a configuration in which a heat acting surface is arranged in a bent region, is also included in the present invention. In addition, for multiple electrothermal transducers,
JP-A-59-123670 which discloses a configuration in which a common slot is used as a discharge part of an electrothermal transducer, and JP-A-59-123670 which discloses a configuration in which an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy corresponds to a discharge part. A configuration based on 138461 may be adopted.

Further, as a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the width of the maximum recording medium that can be recorded by the recording apparatus, the length is determined by combining a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above specification. This may be either a configuration satisfying the above requirements or a configuration as a single recording head formed integrally.

In addition to the cartridge type recording head in which an ink tank is provided integrally with the recording head itself described in the above embodiment, the recording head is electrically connected to the apparatus main body by being mounted on the apparatus main body. A replaceable chip-type recording head, which enables a simple connection and supply of ink from the apparatus main body, may be used.

Further, it is preferable to add recovery means for the printhead, preliminary auxiliary means, and the like to the configuration of the printing apparatus described above, since the printing operation can be further stabilized. Specific examples thereof include capping means for the recording head, cleaning means, pressurizing or suction means, preheating means using an electrothermal transducer or another heating element or a combination thereof. It is also effective to provide a preliminary ejection mode for performing ejection that is different from printing, in order to perform stable printing.

Further, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the recording mode of only the mainstream color such as black, but may be an integral recording head or a combination of a plurality of recording heads. Alternatively, the apparatus may be provided with at least one of full colors by color mixture.

In the above-described embodiment, the description has been made on the assumption that the ink is a liquid. However, even if the ink solidifies at room temperature or lower, the ink that softens or liquefies at room temperature is used. Or, in the ink jet method, generally, the temperature of the ink itself is controlled within a range of 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or less to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is in a stable ejection range.
It is sufficient that the ink is in a liquid state when the use recording signal is applied.

In addition, in order to positively prevent the temperature rise due to thermal energy as energy for changing the state of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, the temperature is positively prevented.
Alternatively, in order to prevent evaporation of the ink, ink that solidifies in a standing state and liquefies by heating may be used. In any case, the application of heat energy causes the ink to be liquefied by application of the heat energy according to the recording signal and the liquid ink to be ejected, or to start to solidify when reaching the recording medium. The present invention is also applicable to a case where an ink having a property of liquefying for the first time is used.

In such a case, the ink is disclosed in JP-A-54-5
No. 6847 or Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 60-71260, in which the porous sheet is opposed to the electrothermal converter in a state of being held as a liquid or solid substance in the concave portions or through holes of the porous sheet. It may be. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

The present invention can be applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), and can be applied to a single device (for example, a copier, a facsimile). Device).

Further, an object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium (or a recording medium) in which a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiment is recorded to a system or an apparatus, and to provide a computer (a computer) of the system or the apparatus. It is needless to say that the present invention can also be achieved by a CPU or an MPU) reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. Also,
When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also the operating system (OS) running on the computer based on the instructions of the program code.
It goes without saying that a case where the functions of the above-described embodiments are implemented by performing some or all of the actual processing, and the processing performs the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion card inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the program code is read based on the instruction of the program code. Needless to say, the CPU included in the function expansion card or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

When the present invention is applied to the storage medium, the storage medium stores program codes corresponding to the above-described flowchart (shown in FIG. 4).

[0074]

As described above, according to the present invention, there is no need to convert or expand either the recording data or the mask data, and both data can be used as they are, and image data processing can be performed. Can be simplified. In this case, for example, the reading of the recording data and the synthesizing process can be performed at the same time. Therefore, if such a process is performed in parallel, the processing time required for the mask process can be reduced.

As described above, the random mask processing can be executed with a simple configuration, and the time required for the random mask processing can be shortened. Therefore, a high-quality image with reduced bleeding can be recorded in a short time. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a configuration of a main part of an embodiment of a recording apparatus according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of the printing apparatus of the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a detailed block diagram of a portion related to data processing in the control configuration of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of data processing according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically illustrating a method of synthesizing print data and random mask data according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a table showing an example of a result of combining print data and random mask data according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 recording head 2 carriage 3 carriage motor 6 LF motor 11 interface circuit 12 CPU 13 ROM 14 RAMa 20 data processing circuit 21 RAMb 100 first memory 101 second memory 102 readout circuit 103 data holding circuit a 104 data holding circuit b 105 data synthesis Circuit 106 Data holding circuit c 107 Data writing circuit 108 Third memory

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C056 EA01 EA05 EC71 EC74 EC79 FA03 FA10 2C262 AA02 AA24 AB13 AB19 BB03 BB35 BC01 DA06 DA18 EA04 FA20 GA09 GA12 GA23 5C074 AA02 AA08 AA10 AA12 BB16 CC26 DD06 DD15 DD16 GG

Claims (18)

[Claims] 1. An image data processing apparatus for performing a mask process on print data, a first memory storing print data, a second memory storing mask data, and a plurality of bits of the print data. A combining circuit that combines the first data and one bit of the mask data; a control circuit that reads from the first memory, reads from the second memory, and controls the combining circuit;
An image data processing circuit comprising: 2. The image data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit controls the combination by the combination circuit and the reading from the first memory at the same time. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a third memory storing the synthesized result, wherein the control circuit performs synthesis in the synthesis circuit, reads from the first memory, and stores the result in the third memory. 3. The image data processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control is performed so that the storage of the image data is performed simultaneously. 4. The image data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of bits are print data for one pixel. 5. The synthesizing circuit according to claim 1, wherein the synthesizing circuit performs the synthesizing by performing a predetermined operation on each of the plurality of bits and the one bit. Image data processing device. 6. The image data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the combining circuit performs the combining with reference to a predetermined table. 7. The control circuit according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit comprises: a first latch for holding data read from the first memory;
And a second latch for holding data read from the memory. 8. A recording device comprising the image data processing device according to claim 1, wherein each pixel is recorded in multiple gradations. 9. A print head having a plurality of printing elements arranged in a predetermined direction, wherein the control circuit reads data from the first memory by a fraction of the number of the printing elements. 9. The recording apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the recording is performed in units. 10. The recording apparatus according to claim 9, comprising a plurality of said recording heads, wherein each recording head records a different color to perform color recording. 11. The recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the recording head is an inkjet recording head that performs recording by discharging ink. 12. The recording head according to claim 1, wherein the recording head ejects ink by using thermal energy, and includes a thermal energy converter for generating thermal energy to be applied to the ink. Item 12. The recording device according to Item 11. 13. A first read step of reading print data, a second read step of reading mask data, and combining the print data and the mask data to perform a mask process on the print data. An image data processing method, comprising: combining the plurality of bits of the recording data with one bit of the mask data. 14. The image data processing method according to claim 13, wherein the synthesizing step and the first reading step are performed simultaneously. 15. The method according to claim 15, further comprising a storing step of storing the combined result in a third memory, wherein the combining step, the first reading step, and the storing step are performed simultaneously. The image data processing method according to claim 14. 16. The method according to claim 13, wherein in the combining step, the combining is performed by performing a predetermined operation on each of the plurality of bits and the one bit. Image data processing method. 17. The image data processing method according to claim 13, wherein in the combining step, the combining is performed with reference to a predetermined table. 18. A storage medium storing a code of a program for realizing the image data processing method according to claim 13. Description: