JP2004120714A - Multifunction machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inexpensive high-performance multifunction machine in which capacitance of a memory required for processing of rotating an image is further reduced and rotating processing of the image is performed at high speed. <P>SOLUTION: The multifunction machine for rotating and printing a read image has: a scanner part for reading the image in a first direction to generate read image data composed of a plurality of bits for each pixel; an image processing part for converting the read image data to binarized image data indicating whether or not the image data are to be printed for each pixel; a first storage part for storing at least one page of the binarized image data; a rotating processing part for reading the binarized image data in the first storage part in a second direction different from the first direction and writing the image data in a second storage part; and a printing part for printing the image data according to the binarized image data written in the second storage part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a multifunction peripheral that integrates functions such as a scanner and a printer, and more particularly to a multifunction peripheral that can rotate an image read by a scanner by 90 ° and print the image.
[0002]
[Prior art]
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a read image is printed by a multifunction peripheral having a scanner unit and a printer unit. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, even when there are a plurality of images to be printed, the multifunction peripheral can read the plurality of images and print the plurality of reduced images on one sheet of paper.
[0003]
For example, a case will be described in which a plurality of images to be printed are two images, an image A having the alphabet “A” and an image B having the same “B”. FIGS. 2A and 2B show an example in which these two images are read one by one by the scanner unit and the images are printed on one sheet of paper. For example, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, alphabets “A” and “B” are printed in the portrait direction.
[0004]
Here, it is assumed that there is a request to print the image A and the image B on one sheet. In this case, the scanner unit sequentially reads the image A and the image B, and the letters “A” and “B” in the alphabet are printed after being reduced by 90 ° and rotated as shown in FIG. As described above, in the multifunction peripheral, image rotation processing is required internally.
[0005]
Generally, RGB image data obtained by reading an image in a row direction from a scanner is stored in a memory for one page, and the stored RGB image data is read out in a column direction and written in another memory, thereby obtaining the 90 ° angle. A rotation process is performed. As described above, in the conventional method, image rotation processing is performed using image data read from a scanner as it is (for example, see Patent Document 1).
[0006]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2001-291101 A (Page 2-7, FIG. 1)
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, if the read image data is monochrome image data, it is composed of 8-bit (256 gradation) rasterized pixel data. In the case of color image data, the image data is composed of rasterized pixel data of 8 bits for each color (256 gradations for each color) in RGB (Red Green Blue) and a total of 24 bits for RGB image data. In order to rotate these image data, it is necessary to store at least one page of image data in a semiconductor memory, sequentially read out the image data in a direction perpendicular to the reading direction of a scanner, and store the data in another semiconductor memory. Therefore, a memory capacity for storing at least one page of large-capacity image data is required. In addition, in the process of rotating an image, it is necessary to read and write image data of a plurality of bits for each pixel, which causes a problem of speeding up.
[0008]
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive and high-performance multifunction peripheral capable of reducing the memory capacity required for processing for rotating an image and performing high-speed image rotation processing. is there.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, one aspect of the present invention is to provide a multifunction peripheral that prints a plurality of images on a single sheet of paper in which a plurality of pixels read from a scanner before rotating image data. The multifunction peripheral converts bit image data into binarized data indicating the presence or absence of printing for each pixel, performs a rotation process, and executes printing.
[0010]
For example, in a multifunction machine that rotates and reads a read image, a scanner unit that reads an image in a first direction to generate read image data including a plurality of bits for each pixel, and prints the read image data for each pixel An image processing unit that converts the binarized image data into at least one page, and a first storage unit that stores the binarized image data for at least one page. A rotation processing unit that reads in a second direction different from the direction of, and writes the read data in the second storage unit, and a printing unit that prints according to the binary image data written in the second storage unit. The feature is in the multifunction machine.
[0011]
In the present invention, such a configuration allows the data to be sufficiently small before performing the rotation processing, so that the memory for storing the data is small and the data to be handled is small, so the rotation processing is performed at high speed. It is.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, such embodiments do not limit the technical scope of the present invention, but extend to the inventions described in the claims and their equivalents.
[0013]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a multifunction peripheral according to an embodiment of the present invention. Each functional block shown in FIG. 1 is controlled by a CPU and a DRAM (not shown). A case where a predetermined image A and an image B are read by a scanner and printed on one sheet will be described as an example.
[0014]
First, an image A to be printed is set on the scanner 10. The scanner 10 operates under the control of the scanner control unit 20, raster-scans the image A, and reads as 24-bit (8 bits × R, G, B) RGB image data of each pixel. The read RGB image data is sent to the scanner control unit 20. The scanner control unit 20 transfers the read RGB image data to the image processing unit 40 while temporarily storing the read RGB image data in the line buffer 30.
[0015]
Next, in the image processing unit 40, first, the image data is reduced. Here, the reduction process is a process of reducing the image size by thinning out the pixels of the RGB image data according to a predetermined rule. By this reduction processing, the capacity of the RGB image data is reduced by the amount by which predetermined pixels are thinned out. For example, when the pixels are thinned out in a staggered lattice pattern, the capacitance is reduced to about １ ／ accordingly.
[0016]
Subsequently, a color conversion process from RGB to C, M, Y (cyan, magenta, yellow) corresponding to the ink of the printer head 120 is performed. By this color conversion processing, the image data is converted into at least C, M, Y image data or C, M, Y, K (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) image data. More preferably, the image data may be converted into image data of C, M, Y, K, LC, LM (cyan, magenta, yellow, black, light cyan, light magenta). In this color conversion process, each pixel data is converted from R, G, B image data to C image data, and similarly, Y, M, K, etc. image data is converted from R, G, B image data, respectively. Is converted. If the same 256 gradations are maintained, the C, M, Y or C, M, Y, K data consists of 8 bits for each color, for a total of 24 or 32 bits.
[0017]
Furthermore, the capacity of image data is reduced by the binarization process of converting the gradation data of the pixel into binary data indicating whether or not printing is performed for each pixel. The RGB image data has a total of 24 bits (8 bits × 3 colors). However, when the C, M, Y data is binarized, it has 3 bits (1 bit × 3 colors), and C, M, Y, Even when the K data is binarized, it is 4 bits (1 bit × 4 colors). Therefore, the data capacity is significantly reduced as compared with the RGB image data. Even when the C, M, Y, K, LC, and LM data are binarized in order to improve the image quality, the data is 6 bits (1 bit × 6 colors), and the data capacity is 1 compared to the RGB image data. / 4.
[0018]
Actually, the data may be converted into a quaternary value instead of a binary value. This is not only to reduce the amount of data but also to improve the quality of printing. In the case of binary, since each color is one bit, there is only two choices, "print" or "do not print" a particular pixel. However, when converted to quaternary, that is, 2 bits for each color, it is possible to assign four options of "print thickly", "print thinly", "print in the middle", and "do not print". Therefore, the print quality is improved as compared with the case of binarization. The capacity of the image data is smaller than that of the RGB image data even when converted to four values. In the case of a quaternary value, since each color is 2 bits, C, M, Y image data is 6 bits (2 bits × 3 colors), and C, M, Y, K image data is 8 bits (2 bits × 4 colors). ). Further, even when image data of C, M, Y, K, LC, and LM are converted into quaternary data in order to further improve the print image quality, the data is 12 bits (2 bits × 6 colors). Since the RGB image data has a total of 24 bits, the capacity of the quaternary converted C, M, Y, K, LC, and LM image data is half the capacity of the RGB image data.
[0019]
Here, if the image is black and white, the image data is 256 bits and 8 bits. If this image data is binarized, it becomes 1 bit "print" or "not print", and even if converted to quaternary, 2 bits "print thick""printthin""print in the middle""do not print""become. Therefore, even if the image is black and white, binarization or quaternization reduces the capacity of image data to 1/8 or 1/4.
[0020]
As described above, the image processing unit 40 performs the processing for reducing the data capacity of the image A read by the scanner unit.
[0021]
Next, the image processing unit 40 stores the image data for one page of the image A on which the series of processes have been performed in the first pool memory 50 for temporarily pooling. The first pool memory is, for example, a synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) which is a high-speed DRAM. The capacity of the first pool memory 50 only needs to be able to store the data of one page of the image A whose capacity has been significantly reduced by the image processing unit 40, and thus can be smaller than that of the related art. However, the image data that is not subjected to the rotation processing does not need to undergo the processing in the rotation processing unit 60, and is thus sent to and stored in the second pool memory 70. When the data of the image A is stored in the first pool memory, the image B can be read by the scanner unit.
[0022]
Next, the data of the image A stored in the first pool memory 50 is read out by the rotation processing unit 60 in a direction perpendicular to the direction read by the scanner 10, and written in the second pool memory 70. . That is, the rotation process means that one page of RGB image data generated by the scanner 10 reading in the row direction is image-processed by the above-described image processing unit 40 and stored in the first pool memory 50. This is a process in which data is read in the column direction by the rotation processing unit 60 and written in the second pool memory 70 in the row direction. The data read in the column direction by this processing is pooled in the second pool memory 70 as image data rotated by 90 °. At this time, since the data volume of the image data is greatly reduced by the image processing unit 40, the reading and writing of the binary data accompanying the rotation processing of the image data is performed at high speed.
[0023]
Next, the interlace processing unit 80 reads the data of the image A pooled in the second pool memory 70 and performs an interlace process in response to printing by the printer head 120. The interlace process is a process of selecting the pixel data corresponding to the path of the printer head and the nozzle at that time.
[0024]
Next, the data of the image A subjected to the interlace processing by the interlace processing unit 80 is developed by the image buffer controller 90 into the image buffer 100 as pixel data of nozzles for one pass. The developed pixel data of one pass is read by the head control unit 110. The head control unit 110 operates the printer head 120 based on the read pixel data, and the image A is actually printed. Image B also undergoes the same processing as image A. After the printing of the image A is completed, the printing of the image B is continuously performed.
[0025]
As described above, according to the embodiment, the RGB image data read by the scanner is first reduced by thinning out pixels, color-converted into C, M, and Y data, and further subjected to binarization processing. The size of the data has been reduced. Therefore, the capacity of the first pool memory for storing one page of data for the rotation process can be reduced. Therefore, a remarkable effect that an inexpensive multifunction peripheral can be provided is achieved. Similarly, since the image rotation processing is performed after reducing the size of the image data, high-speed processing is possible. Therefore, there is an effect that a high-performance multifunction peripheral with a high print processing can be provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a multifunction peripheral according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a read image is printed by a multifunction peripheral having a scanner unit and a printer unit.
[Explanation of symbols]
Reference Signs List 10 scanner 20 scanner control unit 40 image processing unit 50 pool SDRAM for one page 60 rotation processing unit

Claims (3)

In a multifunction machine that rotates and prints the read image,
A scanner unit that reads the image in a first direction and generates read image data including a plurality of bits for each pixel;
An image processing unit that converts the read image data into binary image data,
A first storage unit that stores the binary image data for at least one page;
A rotation processing unit that reads the binarized image data in the first storage unit in a second direction different from the first direction and writes the data in the second storage unit;
And a printing unit for printing in accordance with the binarized image data written in the second storage unit. In claim 1,
The read image data has gradation data of each pixel,
The multifunction peripheral, wherein the image processing unit performs color conversion of the read image data from a color space at the time of reading to a color space at the time of printing. In claim 1,
The MFP according to claim 1, wherein the image processing unit further performs a reduction process by thinning out predetermined pixels of the read image data.

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