JP2003280872A - Image outputting device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image outputting device capable of easily making correspond to various combinations inputs and outputs by dividing input data into three levels, that is, data interpretation, page rendering, and output data conversion, and providing interfaces at respective inputs and outputs. <P>SOLUTION: This data inputting device 1 inputs data to a printer (image outputting device) 2, and at that time, the input data are transferred to exclusive interpreters 10 to 12 or layouters 13 and 14 according to the kind of the input data, and the input data are parsed (interpreted), and converted into plotting data. The plotting data are plotted in a page memory 24 by using a character plotting processing 21, graphic plotting processing 22, and image plotting processing 23 of the page rendering 20. When processing for one page is ended, the page memory 24 is converted into a data format suitable for a designated output device by using page data processing (30-34) for the output device, and transferred to corresponding output devices (40-44). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image output device, and more particularly to printer language processing of a page printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an image output to a display device such as a printing device or a display receives a drawing command and outputs a page memory in which two-dimensional plane coordinates are arranged in the memory. In a PDL language processing system found in a printing apparatus, a PDL language syntax analysis (parser) process is started in order to extract a drawing command, and a drawing in a page memory is performed.
It will be transferred to the output device. In the display,
Graphic drawing function of each OS (Windows
s (registered trademark) GDI, etc.) is often used to draw in a video memory and display it on a display.

In the invention described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-318769 (image output control device, image output control method, and storage medium), image output is performed by an intermediate page data generation module, a rendering processing unit, and a bitmap output processing module. The processing time is shortened by dividing the processing into three layers and operating them in parallel in a pipeline manner.
However, an interface is provided between the intermediate page data generation module and the rendering processing unit, and between the rendering processing unit and the bitmap output processing module,
It does not mention the merits of the configuration in which these can be switched or replaced.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention classifies the above-described operation into three types: input data interpretation, page rendering (drawing), and output data conversion (transfer), and an interface is provided for each input / output. It is an object of the present invention to realize an image output device which can easily cope with various combinations of input and output by preparing input data processing and output data processing in a format conforming to those interfaces.

[0005]

The invention according to claim 1 is a PD
Input data interpreting means for interpreting input data such as L data, character data, image data, page rendering means for drawing in a page memory, output device converting means for converting the obtained page memory for an output device, And means for transferring the converted data to the output device.

The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1, the input data interpreting means is switched or replaced according to the input data.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the output device converting means can be switched or replaced according to the output device.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the page rendering means is a character, a graphic,
Characteristic that the basic figure of the image and the figure attributes such as clipping information and color information are input, the input figure is drawn on the page memory by the character drawing process, the graphic drawing process, and the image drawing process, and the page memory is output. It is what

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, in the second aspect of the invention, the input data interpreting means has a language interpreting means (parser) when the input data is PDL data, and the input data is JPEG or the like. In the case of an image file, it has a decompression means (decoder) for converting the input data into a character drawing command, a graphic drawing command and an image drawing command, and outputs the drawing command of the page rendering means. It is what

The invention of claim 6 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 4, the input data format of the page rendering means can be a function call format or a display list format.

According to a seventh aspect of the invention, in the fourth aspect of the invention, the character drawing process is performed by the font RI of the embedded font.
It is characterized by having a P function, a download font drawing function, and a font cache function.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the fourth aspect, the graphic drawing process includes a scan line conversion function of an arbitrary closed polygon, a clipping function by an arbitrary closed polygon area, a line segment generation function, and a line segment. It is characterized by having a line end modification function, a line segment connection point modification function, and a straight line approximation function of a curve.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the invention, the image drawing process has a scaling function by designating the image source width height and the image destination (page memory coordinate) width height. It is characterized by.

According to a tenth aspect of the invention, in the invention of the fourth aspect, the output data format of the page rendering means is 1
It is characterized in that a full page memory format, which is a format in which the entire page is arranged in a continuous memory, and a band memory format, which is divided into strips in the sub-scanning direction, are possible.

According to the invention of claim 11, in the invention of claim 4, the page rendering means rotates the coordinates of the input data and the image data by 90 degrees, 180 degrees and 270 degrees,
It is characterized in that it can be drawn in the page memory.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the present invention, the page rendering means uses a pseudo gradation expression method such as dither pattern or error diffusion, and the page memory depth (1 The feature is that drawing is possible with the number of gradations that can be expressed by pixels.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the invention, the page rendering means is from RGB to CMY.
It is characterized by having a color conversion function such as K or RGB to gray.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, the output device converting means receives a full page memory or a band memory which is an output data format of the page rendering means, and is suitable for a designated output device. It is characterized by having a function of converting to data and transferring the converted data to an output device.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the invention, the output device is a laser printer.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the invention, in the third aspect of the invention, the output device is an ink jet printer.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the invention, in the third aspect of the invention, the output device is an image file such as JPEG.

An eighteenth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in any one of the first to seventeenth aspects of the present invention, the arithmetic processing of the input data interpreting means, the page rendering means, and the output device converting means is performed by the controller of the printing device. It was done.

According to a nineteenth aspect of the invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to seventeenth aspects, the arithmetic processing of the input data interpreting means, the page rendering means and the output device converting means is performed by a PC
And the like are performed on the host computer side.

According to a twentieth aspect of the invention, in any one of the first to seventeenth aspects, the arithmetic processing of the input data interpreting means, the page rendering means, and the output device converting means is performed by a dedicated ASIC such as a graphic accelerator. It is a feature.

According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, in the case of any one of the first to seventeenth aspects of the present invention, when all means of the input data interpreting means, the page rendering means, and the output device converting means operate in the same processing system, It is characterized in that the arithmetic processing is pipelined to enable parallel operation of each means.

According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to seventeenth aspects, a processing system (PC and printing device, etc.) in which the input data interpreting means, the page rendering means, and the output device converting means are different from each other. It is characterized by enabling a configuration that operates in.

[0027]

1 is a block diagram of an image output apparatus according to the present invention, in which a data input apparatus 1 inputs data to a printing apparatus (image output apparatus) 2, in which case the type of input data is changed. It is then transferred to a dedicated interpreter or layouter. In FIG. 1, the PDL-A interpreter 1 is used.
0, PDL-B interpreter 11, PDL-C interpreter 12, character layouter 13, image layouter 1
5 types of 4 are described. By these, the input data is parsed (interpreted) and converted into drawing data. Drawing data can be broadly divided into character data such as ASCII code and 2-byte code, graphic data such as line drawing and filling of arbitrary figures configured by connecting multiple straight lines / curves, bitmaps and digital images. Image data such as. These are drawn in the page memory 24 using the character drawing process 21, the graphic drawing process 22, and the image drawing process 23 of the page rendering 20. When the processing for one page is completed, the page data for the output device is processed in the page memory 24 in a data format suitable for the specified output device (30 to 34).
Are converted using the above method and transferred to the output device (40 to 44). In FIG. 1, as the page data processing, the output device A 30, the output device B 31, the output device C 32, the preview 33, and the image file 34 are output devices, and the output device A 40 and the output device B are output devices. 41, output device C
42, preview 43, and image file 44.

Thus, by separating the interpreting process of the input data and the page process unique to the output device, various combinations (for example, PDL-A is input and the output device B is input.
Output, input an image and output to a preview device, etc.).

(First Embodiment) The first embodiment is based on Post.
PD represented by Script (registered trademark of Adobe)
L (Page Description Language)
ge: page description language) or a dedicated printer language is output from the printing apparatus.

In FIG. 2, a data input interface (Centronics, network interface, USB, IEEE) of the printer 2 from a host computer 1 such as a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as PC) is provided.
PDL data is received via (eg, 1394). The data is interpreted by the PDL-A interpreter 10 in the printer 2, and the page rendering 20 causes character data,
The graphic data and the image data are drawn by the character drawing process 21, the graphic drawing process 22, and the image drawing process 23, respectively, and drawn in the page memory 24. The page data dedicated to the printing apparatus A is created from the page memory 24 created by the PDL data for one page by using the page data processing 30 for the printing apparatus A, and the page engine 24 (output apparatus A) 40 of the printing apparatus 2 Forward.

In the case of supporting a new print engine B (output device B) corresponding to the same PDL, as shown in FIG. 3, the configuration higher than the page rendering 20 does not change and the print engine B (output device B) does not change. Printing device B for 41
Only the page data processing 31 for use is prepared. Also,
In the case of supporting the existing print engine A corresponding to the new PDL-B, as shown in FIG. 4, the configuration lower than the page rendering 20 does not change and the PDL-B interpreter 10 corresponding to the PDL-B interpreter 10 is used. Interprinter 11
Will only be prepared.

(Second Embodiment) The second embodiment is based on Post.
PD represented by Script (registered trademark of Adobe)
L (Page Description Language)
ge: page description language) or a dedicated printer language on a screen device such as a display on a PC.

In FIG. 5, the printer driver 1 for PDL-A uses the PD based on the print request from the application.
PDL data for LA is generated. PDL-A
The page interpreter 10 interprets it as drawing data, and the page rendering 20 draws it in the page memory 24 to generate a page. When the data for one page is completed, it is converted into the image file A40 by the page data processing 30 for the image file A. Here, if the image file is a general image image format such as JPEG or GIF, the options of applications used for the subsequent processing are expanded. This image file A
40 using the image file display program 50
Display on the display 60. P treated in this Example 2
If the DL data and the PDL data used in the first embodiment are the same, a preview function for displaying and confirming on the screen before printing in the first embodiment is provided.

(Third Embodiment) The third embodiment is based on Post.
PD represented by Script (registered trademark of Adobe)
L (Page Description Language)
ge: page description language) or a dedicated printer language is converted into an image image by using page rendering on a PC, transferred to a printing device, and then converted again into an image for a printing device by using page rendering. Is.

In FIG. 6, first, on the PC 2, the printer driver 1 for PDL-A generates PDL data for PDL-A based on a print request from an application. The PDL-A interpreter 10 interprets it into drawing data, and the page rendering 20 draws it in the page memory 24 to generate a page. When the data for one page is completed, it is converted into the image file A by the page data processing 30 for the image file A. For example, the conversion processing includes image compression processing such as JPEG. It is transferred to the printing device 102.

Next, in the printer 102, the image file A interpreter 110 receives the image file A and interprets it as drawing data (image data in this case). This interpretation processing includes image compression decompression processing. The page rendering 120 draws in the page memory 124 to generate a page. When the data for one page is completed, the page data processing 130 for the printer A creates page data for the print engine A and transfers it to the print engine A 140.

In the first embodiment, the PDL data is directly received by the printing device and is interpreted by the interpreter to generate a page. In this embodiment, the PDL is interpreted on the PC, and P
The first page rendering does generate a page on C and transforms it into image-compressed data suitable for transfer, which in turn is rendered by a second page rendering suitable for the printing device. Generate a page. The same page rendering is used in two places, the PC and the printing device.

Since the processing load of PDL interpretation and page rendering on a PC is greater, it is suitable for a high-speed PC and a printing apparatus (inkjet etc.) with few resources (memory and CPU processing). If you want to change the format of the transfer data (for example, if you want to change the image compression method), use P
Only the page data processing 30 for image file A on C and the interpreter 110 for image file A on the printing apparatus are changed. Of course, as shown in the first embodiment, the PDL change and the printer change also only change the interpreter part and the page data processing part.

[0039]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, various combinations of input data and output data are possible (claims 1 to 3). The input data interpreting means can deal with various input data formats (claims 4 to 5). The page rendering means can deal with various drawing commands (claims 6 to 9). The page rendering means can support various output data formats (claims 10 to 13). The output data conversion means can support various output devices (claims 14 to 17). Various platforms (OS etc.) for executing the input data interpreting means, the page rendering means, and the output data converting means can be supported (claims 18 to 20). Multiple processing can be performed by pipelining, and load balancing can be performed to increase the speed (claims 21 and 2).
2).

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an image output device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a printing device page data processing unit is changed in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the PDL interpreter is changed in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of Codes] 1 ... Data input device, 2 ... Printing device, 10 ... PDL-A
Interpreter, 11 ... PDL-B interpreter, 1
2 ... PDL-C interpreter, 13 ... Character layouter, 14 ... Image layouter, 20 ... Page rendering, 21 ... Character drawing processing, 22 ... Graphic drawing processing, 23 ... Image drawing processing, 24 ... Page memory, 3
0-34 ... Output device page data processing, 40-44 ...
Output device.

Claims (22)

[Claims] 1. An input data interpreting means for interpreting input data such as PDL data, character data and image data, a page rendering means for drawing in a page memory, and an output for converting the obtained page memory for an output device. An image output device comprising: device conversion means; and means for transferring the converted data to an output device. 2. The image output device according to claim 1, wherein the input data interpretation means is switched or replaced according to the input data. 3. The image output device according to claim 1, wherein the output device conversion means is switched or replaced according to the output device. 4. The page rendering means according to claim 1, wherein a figure, such as a basic figure of a character, a graphic, or an image, and clipping information, color information, etc., is input, and a character drawing process, a graphic drawing process, and an image drawing process are performed. An image output device, which draws an input figure on a page memory and outputs the page memory. 5. The input data interpreting means according to claim 2, when the input data is PDL data, has a language interpreting means (parser) for the input data, and when the input data is an image file such as JPEG, Deployment means (decoder)
And an image output device which converts input data into a character drawing command, a graphic drawing command, and an image drawing command, and outputs the drawing command included in the page rendering means. 6. The input data format of the page rendering means according to claim 4, or a function call format, or
An image output device, which is capable of display list format. 7. The image output device according to claim 4, wherein the character drawing process has a font RIP function of an embedded font, a download font drawing function, and a font cache function. 8. The graphic drawing process according to claim 4, wherein the scan line conversion function of an arbitrary closed polygon, the clipping function by an arbitrary closed polygon area, the line segment generation function, the line segment line end modification function, and the line segment. An image output device having a connection point modifying function and a curve linear approximation function. 9. The image output device according to claim 4, wherein the image drawing process has a scaling function by designating an image source width height and an image destination (page memory coordinate) width height. . 10. The output data format of the page rendering means according to claim 4, is a full page memory format in which one entire page is arranged in a continuous memory, and a strip shape in the sub-scanning direction. An image output device capable of band memory format. 11. The page rendering means according to claim 4, wherein the coordinates of the input data and the image data are set to 90.
An image output device capable of being rotated by 180 degrees, 270 degrees, and drawn in a page memory. 12. The page rendering means according to claim 4, wherein the page rendering means uses a pseudo gradation expression method such as a dither pattern or error diffusion, and a depth of a page memory suitable for an output device thereof (a gradation that can be expressed by one pixel). An image output device capable of drawing with a number. 13. The image output device according to claim 4, wherein the page rendering unit has a color conversion function of RGB to CMYK, RGB to gray, or the like. 14. The output device converting means according to claim 3, wherein a full page memory or a band memory, which is an output data format of the page rendering means, is input and converted into data suitable for a designated output device. An image output device having a function of transferring data to an output device. 15. The image output device according to claim 3, wherein the output device is a laser printer. 16. The image output device according to claim 3, wherein the output device is an inkjet printer. 17. The output device according to claim 3, wherein the output device is a JPE.
An image output device, which is an image file such as G. 18. The image output device according to claim 1, wherein the arithmetic processing of the input data interpretation means, the page rendering means, and the output device conversion means is performed by a controller of the printing device. apparatus. 19. The image output device according to claim 1, wherein the arithmetic processing of the input data interpreting means, the page rendering means, and the output device converting means is performed on the host computer side such as a PC. Output device. 20. The image output device according to claim 1, wherein the arithmetic processing of the input data interpreting means, the page rendering means, and the output device converting means is performed by a dedicated ASIC such as a graphic accelerator. Image output device. 21. In the image output device according to any one of claims 1 to 17, when all of the input data interpreting means, the page rendering means, and the output device converting means operate in the same processing system, each arithmetic processing is performed. An image output device characterized by being pipelined to enable parallel operation of each means. 22. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the input data interpreting means, the page rendering means, and the output device converting means operate in different processing systems (PC and printing device, etc.). An image output device having a configuration capable.