JP2005303835A - Image processing system and original reader - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a desired output image by preferably determining whether or not either of an image data for a monochromatic output or the image data for a color output is output. <P>SOLUTION: A processing generating the image data for the color output by a color-image processing section 41 and the processing generating the image data for the monochromatic output by a monochromatic conversion section 42 and a monochromatic image processing section 43 are conducted in parallel to the image data of an original read by a scanner 2. The image based on the image data for the color output and the image based on the image data for the monochromatic output are displayed (a thumb-nail display) simultaneously on a display section 51 for an operation display panel 5, and the selected image data is output from a memory 44 to an output section 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and a document reading apparatus that perform image processing on input image data.

  Based on image data (red (R), green (G), and blue (B) density value data) of the document read by the scanner, cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black ( An image forming apparatus that can output a full-color image by a so-called electrophotographic method by superimposing the toners of each color K) on a sheet is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

In this type of image forming apparatus, processing for generating image data for color output (color image processing) and processing for generating image data for monochrome output (color image processing) based on image data of a document read by a scanner ( Some of them can be selected and executed (monochrome image processing). The user selects in advance whether to perform color image processing or monochrome image processing by operating an operation unit provided in the image forming apparatus, for example, before starting reading of the document. Thereafter, when an operation for starting reading of the original is performed, if the image of the original is read by the scanner and color image processing is selected to be executed, the image data of the original is cyan (C), When converted to magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K) density value data and selected to execute monochrome image processing, the original image data has black (K) density. Converted to value data. Then, the toner image is transferred onto the paper based on the image data after being subjected to color image processing (image data for color output) or the image data after being subjected to monochrome image processing (image data for monochrome output). As a result, image formation is performed.
JP-A-10-70665

However, in the above prior art, since color image processing or monochrome image processing is selected before the reading of the original is started, an image after image processing transferred to the paper by image formation performed thereafter is selected by the user. Cannot be confirmed, and a desired output image may not be obtained.
For example, when the original image includes a light yellow image, the monochrome image processing may convert the light yellow image portion into white. In such a case, the user can perform color image processing and perform color image reproduction faithfully, rather than performing monochrome image processing to form a monochrome image in which a light yellow image portion is converted to white. May be desired to form on the paper.

  The present invention has been made under such a background, and it is possible to suitably determine which image data for monochrome output or image data for color output is to be output, and to obtain a desired output image. An object is to provide an image processing apparatus and a document reading apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 includes a monochrome image processing means (42, 43) for performing processing for generating image data for monochrome output from input image data, and the monochrome image processing means. In parallel with the processing, based on the color image processing means (41) for generating color output image data from the input image data, and the monochrome output image data generated by the monochrome image processing means. Display means (51, 511, 512) capable of displaying an image and an image based on image data for color output generated by the color image processing means, and for monochrome output after the image is displayed by the display means Output determining means (522) for determining which image data for color output or image data for color output is to be output An image processing apparatus (1), which comprises a.

The alphanumeric characters in parentheses indicate corresponding components in the embodiments described later. The same applies hereinafter.
According to this configuration, after confirming the image based on the monochrome output image data and the image based on the color output image data displayed by the display unit, the output determination unit determines which image data to output. can do. That is, when the image based on the monochrome output image data displayed by the display means is not a desired image, the color output image data is output to obtain the image based on the color output image data. Can do. Therefore, a desired output image can be obtained by suitably determining which image data for monochrome output or image data for color output is to be output.

  In particular, since the processing by the monochrome image processing means (monochrome image processing) and the processing by the color image processing means (color image processing) are performed in parallel, when determining the image data to be output by the output determination means, monochrome processing is performed. Both image data for output and image data for color output have already been generated. Therefore, since the image data (monochrome output image data or color output image data) determined by the output determination means can be output immediately, it is determined whether to execute color image processing or monochrome image processing. Then, the time required to output the image data can be shortened compared to a configuration in which image processing is performed after that.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the display means (51, 511, 512) can simultaneously display an image based on image data for monochrome output and an image based on image data for color output. An image processing apparatus (1) according to claim 1.
According to this configuration, the image based on the monochrome output image data and the image based on the color output image data simultaneously displayed on the display unit are compared, and the monochrome output image data and the color output image data are compared. Since it is possible to determine which of these is output, it is possible to better determine whether or not a desired output image can be obtained.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a document reading unit (2) for reading a document image, and a monochrome image for performing processing for generating image data for monochrome output from document image data read by the document reading unit. In parallel with the processing by the processing means (42, 43) and the monochrome image processing means, color image processing means for performing processing for generating image data for color output from the image data of the document read by the document reading section. (41), and storage units (44, 441, 44) for individually storing the monochrome output image data generated by the monochrome image processing unit and the color output image data generated by the color image processing unit 442), an image based on the monochrome output image data generated by the monochrome image processing means, and the color image processing means Thus, display means (51, 511, 512) capable of displaying an image based on the generated color output image data, and for monochrome output stored in the storage unit after the image is displayed by the display means Output determining means (522) for determining which of the image data for color output and the image data for color output is to be output.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to provide a document reading apparatus that exhibits the same effect as that of the first aspect of the invention. Therefore, a desired output image can be obtained by suitably determining which image data for monochrome output or image data for color output is to be output.

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a digital color copying machine including an image processing unit 1 as an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Referring to FIG. 1, this digital color copying machine has an output unit based on image data (red (R), green (G) and blue (B) density value data) of a document read by a scanner 2. 3, by superimposing cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K) toners on paper, a full-color image can be formed by a so-called electrophotographic system.

  The scanner 2 includes a light source for irradiating light toward the document and a CCD image sensor (not shown) that receives reflected light from the document and outputs an analog signal. The CCD image sensor is configured by arranging a plurality of CCD elements in a straight line, and an electric main scanning in the arrangement direction of these CCD elements and a sub-scanning by relative movement of the light source with respect to the original. Thus, reading of the document image is achieved. The RGB color image data (analog signal) output from the CCD image sensor is input to the A / D conversion unit 4, and each A / D conversion unit 4 has multiple values (for example, “0” to “255”). Is converted to digital data and input to the image processing unit 1.

  The image data input to the image processing unit is given to the color image processing unit 41 and the monochrome conversion unit 42. The color image processing unit 41 performs processing (color image processing) for generating image data for color output from input RGB image data. That is, the color image processing unit 41 generates image data of each color of CMYK (for example, density value data of “0” to “255”, respectively) based on the input image data of each color of RGB. Various image processing for optimizing the color image output from the output unit 3 based on the data is performed.

  The monochrome conversion unit 42 generates black (K) image data (for example, density value data “0” to “255”) based on the input RGB image data. The black image data generated by the monochrome conversion unit 42 is input to the monochrome image processing unit 43. The monochrome conversion unit 42 and the monochrome image processing unit 43 perform processing (monochrome image processing) for generating image data for monochrome output from the input black image data. That is, the monochrome image processing unit 43 performs various types of image processing on the black image data input from the monochrome conversion unit 42 to optimize the monochrome image output from the output unit 3 based on the image data. To be done.

  This digital color copying machine is provided with an operation display panel 5 for performing various input operations and various displays. The operation display panel 5 includes a display unit 51 and an operation unit 52. In this embodiment, an image based on image data for color output generated by the color image processing unit 41 and an image based on image data for monochrome output generated by the monochrome conversion unit 42 and the monochrome image processing unit 43 are used. These images can be reduced and simultaneously displayed on the display unit 51 of the operation display panel 5 so that these images can be displayed as thumbnails (list display).

  The color output image data generated by the color image processing unit 41 is stored in the color image data storage unit 441 provided in the memory 44 and also input to the color thumbnail display processing unit 45. The color thumbnail display processing unit 45 generates RGB color image data from the input color output image data (CMYK color image data), and displays an image (color image) based on the image data on the operation display panel 5. It is displayed on the display unit 51. Since the color image displayed on the display unit 51 of the operation display panel 5 is an image based on the image data after the color image processing by the color image processing unit 41, the color output data stored in the color image data storage unit 441 is stored. The color image output from the output unit 3 can be faithfully reproduced based on the image data.

  On the other hand, the monochrome output image data generated by the monochrome conversion unit 42 and the monochrome image processing unit 43 is stored in the monochrome image data storage unit 442 provided in the memory 44 and input to the monochrome thumbnail display processing unit 46. Is done. The monochrome thumbnail display processing unit 46 generates RGB color image data from the input monochrome output image data (black image data), and displays an image (monochrome image) based on the image data on the operation display panel 5. This is displayed on the unit 51. Since the monochrome image displayed on the display unit 51 of the operation display panel 5 is an image based on the image data after the monochrome image processing by the monochrome conversion unit 42 and the monochrome image processing unit 43, it is stored in the monochrome image data storage unit 442. A monochrome image output by the output unit 3 can be faithfully reproduced based on the monochrome image data for monochrome output.

  Thereafter, the user confirms the color image and the monochrome image displayed as thumbnails on the display unit 51 of the operation display panel 5, and operates the operation display panel 5 to determine whether to perform color output or monochrome output. Will be. A signal representing the determination content of whether to perform color output or monochrome output is input from the operation display panel 5 to the image processing unit 1. When it is determined to execute color output, the color output image data stored in the color image data storage unit 441 of the memory 44 is output to the output unit 3, and it is determined to execute monochrome output. In this case, the monochrome output image data stored in the monochrome image data storage unit 442 of the memory 44 is output to the output unit 3.

  The output unit 3 has a known configuration including, for example, a photoconductor, a main charger, a developing device, a transfer device, and the like. That is, at the time of image formation, the surface of the substantially cylindrical photoconductor is uniformly charged by the main charger, and the image data (image data for color output or for monochrome output) input from the memory 44 to the surface of the photoconductor. By irradiating light based on (image data), a so-called electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor. On the surface of the photoreceptor on which the electrostatic latent image is formed, toner (CMYK color toner for color output or black toner for monochrome output) is selectively attached by a developing device to form a toner image. Is done. The toner image formed on the surface of the photoconductor is transferred onto the paper by the action of the transfer device.

The output unit 3 may be configured such that each color toner is sequentially attached to the surface of one photoconductor, or the surface of a plurality of (for example, four) photoconductors provided corresponding to each color toner. A configuration in which toner of each color is attached may be used.
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an external configuration of the operation display panel 5 and shows a state in which thumbnail display is performed.

As shown in FIG. 2, at the right end of the operation display panel 5, a numeric keypad 521 that is pressed when setting the number of sheets (set number of sheets) on which image formation is performed, and when an image forming operation is started. An operation unit 52 including a start button 522 that is pressed and a stop button 523 that is pressed when the image forming operation being executed is stopped is disposed.
In a portion from the central portion to the left end portion of the operation display panel 5, for example, a display portion 51 configured by a color liquid crystal display with a touch panel is disposed. In a state where thumbnail display is being performed, the color thumbnail display unit 511 and the monochrome thumbnail display unit 512 which are arranged close to each other on the left side of the display unit 51 are respectively used for color output output from the color thumbnail display processing unit 45. An image (color image) based on the image data and an image (monochrome image) based on the monochrome output image data output from the monochrome thumbnail display processing unit 46 are displayed.

  In a state where thumbnail display is being performed, in addition to the color thumbnail display unit 511 and the monochrome thumbnail display unit 512, the display unit 51 includes a color output determination key 513 for determining to execute color output, and a monochrome output. A monochrome output determination key 514 for determining to execute is displayed. The user can perform a determination operation using these keys 513 and 514 by touching the color output determination key 513 or the monochrome output determination key 514. The color output determination key 513 and the monochrome output determination key 514 are preferably arranged close to each other in the vicinity of the color thumbnail display unit 511 and the monochrome thumbnail display unit 512.

  In addition, the display unit 51 displays a paper size selection key 515 for selecting the size of the paper to be used, a set number display unit 516 for displaying the set number set by operating the numeric keypad 521, and the like. . The paper size selection key 515 has a plurality of paper sizes corresponding to each paper size (for example, Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) A row 3 (A3), A row 4 (A4), B row 5 (B5), etc.). The user can select the size of the paper to be used by touching any one of the plurality of keys.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of control performed when image formation is performed in this digital color copying machine.
Referring to FIG. 3, when an instruction to start image formation is given by pressing start button 522 (YES in step S1), first, an image of a document is read by scanner 2 (step S2). The color image processing by the color image processing unit 41 and the monochrome image processing by the monochrome conversion unit 42 and the monochrome image processing unit 43 are executed in parallel. As a result, the color output image data is stored in the color image data storage unit 441 of the memory 44 and is also input to the color thumbnail display processing unit 45, and the monochrome output image data is stored in the monochrome image data of the memory 44. The information is stored in the storage unit 442 and input to the monochrome thumbnail display processing unit 46.

  Thereafter, the color thumbnail display processing unit 45 displays a color image based on the color output image data on the color thumbnail display unit 511 of the display unit 51, and the monochrome thumbnail display processing unit 46 uses the monochrome output image data. A monochrome image is displayed on the monochrome thumbnail display unit 512 of the display unit 51, whereby thumbnail display is performed (step S3).

  During the thumbnail display on the display unit 51 of the operation display panel 5, it is monitored whether the color output determination key 513 or the monochrome output determination key 514 has been operated (step S4). When the color output determination key 513 is operated (YES in step S4), it is set to execute color output (step S5), and when the monochrome output determination key 514 is operated (in step S4). NO), it is set to execute monochrome output (step S6).

  In this way, after setting whether to perform color output or monochrome output, when the start button 522 is pressed again (YES in step S7), image formation on the sheet is performed according to the set content. Performed (step S8). That is, when color output is set to be executed, the color output image data stored in the color image data storage unit 441 of the memory 44 is read and given to the output unit 3, and each color of CMYK A color image based on the image data is formed on the paper using toner. On the other hand, when the monochrome output is set to be executed, the monochrome output image data stored in the monochrome image data storage unit 442 of the memory 44 is read out and given to the output unit 3, and the black toner is output. Is used to form a monochrome image on the paper based on the image data.

  In this embodiment, after confirming the monochrome image displayed on the monochrome thumbnail display unit 512 of the display unit 51 and the color image displayed on the color thumbnail display unit 511, any image data (image data for monochrome output or color data) is displayed. Whether to output image data for output) can be determined by operating the monochrome output determination key 514 or the color output determination key 513. That is, when the monochrome image displayed on the monochrome thumbnail display unit 512 of the display unit 51 is not a desired image, the image data for color output is output, and a color image based on the image data for color output is obtained. be able to. Therefore, a desired output image can be obtained by suitably determining which image data for monochrome output or image data for color output is to be output.

  In particular, since monochrome image processing and color image processing are performed in parallel, when determining image data to be output using the monochrome output determination key 514 or the color output determination key 513, image data for monochrome output and color output are determined. Both image data for use have already been generated. Accordingly, since the image data (monochrome output image data or color output image data) determined by operating the monochrome output determination key 514 or the color output determination key 513 can be output immediately, color image processing and monochrome output can be performed. Compared with a configuration in which image processing is performed after deciding which image processing is to be executed, the time required to output image data can be shortened.

In this embodiment, the monochrome image and the color image that are simultaneously displayed (thumbnail display) on the display unit 51 are compared with each other, and it is determined whether to output the image data for monochrome output or the image data for color output. Therefore, it is possible to better determine whether or not a desired output image can be obtained.
The present invention is not limited to the contents of the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims.

For example, the image based on the image data for monochrome output and the image based on the image data for color output are not limited to the configuration in which thumbnails are displayed on the display unit 51, but the operation display panel 5 (the display unit 51 or the operation unit 52 is displayed). ) May be configured to be switched and displayed on the display unit 51.
The display unit 51 and the operation unit 52 are not limited to the configuration arranged integrally with the operation display panel 5, and may be arranged separately.

  The display unit 51 may be configured by a color liquid crystal display that does not include a touch panel. In this case, after confirming the image based on the image data for monochrome output displayed on the display unit 51 and the image based on the image data for color output, the image data for monochrome output and It may be possible to determine which image data for color output is to be output.

  In the above-described embodiment, the digital color copying machine has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to the digital color copying machine, but can be applied to other image forming apparatuses such as a facsimile and a printer. The present invention can also be applied to a document reading device. The image processing unit 1 is not limited to the configuration provided in the apparatus, and an image processing apparatus that performs image processing on image data input from the outside can be configured individually.

  When the present invention is applied to a printer, for example, it may be configured such that image data captured by a digital camera can be directly input to the printer. In this case, monochrome image processing and color image processing are performed in parallel on the image data directly input from the digital camera, and images based on the image data after the image processing are displayed as thumbnails, and then selected by the user. An image based on image data (monochrome output image data or color output image data) may be output.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of a digital color copying machine including an image processing unit as an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view which shows the external appearance structure of the operation display panel, Comprising: The state at the time of performing the thumbnail display is shown. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of control performed when image formation is performed in the digital color copying machine.

Explanation of symbols

1 Image Processing Unit 2 Scanner 41 Color Image Processing Unit 42 Monochrome Conversion Unit 43 Monochrome Image Processing Unit 44 Memory 441 Color Image Data Storage Unit 442 Monochrome Image Data Storage Unit 51 Display Unit 511 Color Thumbnail Display Unit 512 Monochrome Thumbnail Display Unit 522 Start Button

Claims (3)

Monochrome image processing means for performing processing for generating image data for monochrome output from input image data;
In parallel with the processing by the monochrome image processing means, color image processing means for performing processing for generating image data for color output from input image data;
Display means capable of displaying an image based on monochrome output image data generated by the monochrome image processing means and an image based on color output image data generated by the color image processing means;
An image processing apparatus comprising: output determination means for determining which of monochrome output image data and color output image data is to be output after an image is displayed by the display means.   2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit can simultaneously display an image based on image data for monochrome output and an image based on image data for color output. An original reading unit for reading an image of the original;
Monochrome image processing means for performing processing for generating image data for monochrome output from image data of a document read by the document reading unit;
In parallel with the processing by the monochrome image processing means, a color image processing means for performing processing for generating image data for color output from image data of the original read by the original reading section;
A storage unit for individually storing the monochrome output image data generated by the monochrome image processing unit and the color output image data generated by the color image processing unit;
Display means capable of displaying an image based on monochrome output image data generated by the monochrome image processing means and an image based on color output image data generated by the color image processing means;
Output determining means for determining which of monochrome output image data and color output image data stored in the storage unit is to be output after an image is displayed by the display means; A document reading apparatus characterized by the above.

Images