JP2006270458A - Apparatus and method for image processing - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus and a method for image processing that improve real-time performance of image generation. <P>SOLUTION: A sub-element generation section 108 decides an overlap are of image elements, generates sub-element data of an image sub-element corresponding to an area other than the overlap area for an image element other than a foreground image element among the image elements including the overlap area, and stores element raster data of image elements which do not include the overlap area and the foreground image element including the overlap area and the generated sub-element data of the image sub-element in a cache memory 112, and a list update section 114 updates a page assembly list in response to the generation of the sub-element data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus that forms an image by combining a plurality of image elements.

2. Description of the Related Art Some image processing apparatuses such as a copier, a printer, or a so-called digital multi-function peripheral having both functions generate each image by combining a plurality of image elements prepared in advance. In such an image processing apparatus, for example, an image element is compressed and stored, and an assembly list representing a region of a plurality of image elements constituting an image is generated. At the time of image generation, the image processing apparatus reads and expands the stored image elements based on the assembly list, and generates an image by combining a plurality of image elements after expansion (for example, patents). Reference 1).
US Pat. No. 6,476,931 B1

  However, in the image generation method described above, when image elements overlap, the processing load for image generation increases, and real-time performance may not be ensured. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image configured by combining image elements. The image shown in FIG. 1 includes image elements E1 to E5 arranged on the image area E0, and the image element E5 is arranged on the front surface of the image element E4.

  In generating such an image, the image processing apparatus reads the image elements E1 to E5 and writes them in the page buffer. In this case, if the image element E5 is read after the image element E4 is read, the page buffer is overwritten in the read order, thereby overlapping the image element E4 and the image element E5 (the hatched portion in FIG. 1). ), The image element E4 is arranged. However, when the image element E4 is read after the image element E5 is read, if the page buffer is overwritten in the read order, the image element E5 is arranged in the overlapping region of the image element E4 and the image element E5. End up. For this reason, correction processing for arranging the image element E4 on the front surface is necessary, the processing load increases, and it is difficult to ensure real-time performance.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described conventional problems, and provides an image processing apparatus and an image processing method that improve real-time performance in image generation.

  The image processing apparatus of the present invention forms an image by combining a plurality of image elements, and includes an overlap determination unit that determines an overlap region of the image elements and an overlap region determined by the overlap determination unit. Among the image elements, an image element other than the foreground, an image sub-element generating unit that generates an image sub-element corresponding to a region other than the overlapping region, and an image element that does not include the overlapping region determined by the overlapping determining unit An image element storing means for storing the foreground image element including the overlap area determined by the overlap determining means and the image sub-element generated by the image sub-element generating means; and the image sub-element Respond to generation of image sub-elements Te, and a combination information updating means for updating the combination information of the image elements constituting the image.

  With this configuration, when image elements are overlapped, only the image sub-elements corresponding to the regions other than the overlap region are subject to combination among the image elements including the overlap region. And the combination information is updated. Therefore, the image elements and image sub-elements stored in the storage means do not overlap with other image elements and image sub-elements. For this reason, it is possible to generate an image by simply reading and combining image elements and image sub-elements from the storage means based on the updated combination information. The correction process for arranging in front is not performed, the processing load is reduced, and real-time performance is ensured.

  In the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the combination information after the update by the combination information update unit is determined by the overlap determination unit, the region information of the image element that does not include the overlap region determined by the overlap determination unit. The image element includes the overlapping area and includes the foreground image element and the area information of the image sub-element generated by the image sub-element generation unit.

  Further, the image processing apparatus of the present invention includes an image element that does not include an overlapping area determined by the overlap determining unit stored in the image element storage unit based on the combination information updated by the combination information updating unit. Image element combining means for combining the foreground image element including the overlap area determined by the overlap determining means and the image sub-element generated by the image sub-element generating means.

  With this configuration, it is possible to perform image generation by accurately grasping and combining image element and image sub-element regions based on the updated combination information.

  In the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the image element is a rectangular area, and the image sub-element generating unit includes an image element other than the foremost image element among the image elements including the overlapping area determined by the overlapping determining unit. , An image sub-element of a rectangular area obtained by dividing an area other than the overlapping area is generated.

  In the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the image sub-element generation unit sets a dividing line corresponding to an outer edge line in a predetermined direction in the image element, and the overlap determination unit stored in the image element storage unit An image element that does not include the determined overlap area, and an image sub-element of a rectangular area that includes the overlap area determined by the overlap determination unit and that is divided by the dividing line is generated for the foremost image element. An image sub-element of a rectangular area obtained by dividing the area other than the overlap area by the dividing line is generated for the image elements other than the foreground among the image elements including the overlap area determined by the overlap determination means.

  With this configuration, the area between the dividing lines in the image is configured only by sequentially arranging image sub-elements having the same width between the dividing lines and in the direction of the dividing lines. Is done. Therefore, when reading an image, continuous reading can be performed in units of regions between the dividing lines, and the reading speed can be increased.

  The image processing method of the present invention is in an image processing apparatus that composes an image by combining a plurality of image elements, and includes an overlap determination step for determining an overlap region of the image elements and a determination in the overlap determination step. Among the image elements including the overlapped area, the image subelement generating step for generating an image subelement corresponding to the area other than the overlapped area for the image element other than the forefront, and the overlap determined in the overlap determining step An image element that does not include an area, an image that includes the overlap area determined in the overlap determination step, and that stores the foreground image element and the image sub-element generated in the image sub-element generation step in a storage unit Element memory Has a-up, depending on the generation of the image sub-elements in the image sub-element generating step, and a combination information updating step of updating the combination information of the image elements constituting the image.

  According to the present invention, the correction process for arranging the image element on the front surface is not performed, the processing load is reduced, and the real-time property is improved.

  Hereinafter, an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In FIG. 2, the image processing apparatus 100 converts the data format of page data corresponding to a page image, and obtains converted page data corresponding to the page image. The image processing apparatus 100 includes a raster image processor (RIP) 102, an element buffer memory 104, a list buffer memory 106, a sub-element generation unit 108, an element storage 110, a cache memory 112, a list update unit 114, a page assembly unit 116, a page. The buffer memory 118 and 120 are configured.

  The RIP 102 inputs page data corresponding to the page image and converts it into a predetermined data format. The converted page data is composed of data (element raster data) of a plurality of image elements constituting the page image, and the element buffer memory 104 stores the plurality of element raster data. In addition, the RIP 102 generates a page assembly list that is a list of area information that represents the area of each image element constituting the page image. The list buffer memory 106 stores this page assembly list.

  The sub-element generation unit 108 determines the overlap of the image elements based on the page assembly list, and generates sub-element data corresponding to the image sub-element obtained by dividing the image element from the element raster data according to the overlap state. The sub-element data is stored in the element storage 110 together with the element raster data, and further stored in the cache memory 112.

  The list update unit 114 updates the page assembly list according to the generation of the image sub-element by the sub-element generation unit 108. Based on the updated page assembly list, the page assembly unit 116 uses the element raster data and the sub-element data to combine image elements and image sub-elements, and generates converted page data corresponding to the page image. To do. The page buffer memories 118 and 120 store the converted page data.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the image processing apparatus 100 will be described with reference to a flowchart. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image processing apparatus 100.

  When the page data corresponding to the page image is input, the RIP 102 converts the page data into a predetermined data format, and as the converted page data, element raster data corresponding to each of a plurality of image elements constituting the page image Is generated (S101). This element raster data is composed of image data of an image element and the number of the element raster data, and is stored in the element buffer memory 104.

  Next, the RIP 102 generates a page assembly list, which is a list of area information representing areas of image elements constituting the page image, corresponding to the generated plurality of element raster data (S102).

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a page assembly list. The page assembly list shown in the figure is an example in the case where the image elements constituting the page image are those shown in FIG. 1, and is constituted by the area information of the image elements E1 to E5 constituting the page image. The area information includes a corresponding image element number and coordinate information indicating the arrangement position of the image element. The coordinate information is composed of coordinates (X, Y) in the two-dimensional space in the area of the page image and the coordinate Z of the height. As for the coordinate Z of the height, the coordinate value becomes larger as the image element is arranged on the front surface. The generated page assembly list is stored in the list buffer memory 106.

  Next, the sub-element generation unit 108 reads out the element raster data stored in the element buffer memory 104 and the page assembly list stored in the list buffer memory 106.

  Further, the sub-element generation unit 108 determines an overlapping area of image elements based on area information of each image element included in the page assembly list. When there is an overlapping area of image elements, the sub-element generation unit 108 selects an image element other than the foreground among the image elements including the overlapping area based on the area information of each image element included in the page assembly list. Identify the number. Further, the sub-element generating unit 108 is based on element raster data having the number of the specified image element other than the foreground, in other words, based on element data corresponding to the image element other than the foreground, including an overlapping region. Then, the area other than the overlapping area in the image element other than the foreground including the overlapping area is divided into image sub-elements that are rectangular areas, and sub-element data corresponding to each image sub-element is generated (S103). . This sub-element data is constituted by image data of an image sub-element and a number of the sub-element data.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image sub-element. FIG. 5 shows an example in which the image elements constituting the page image are those shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, the region of the image element E1 and the region of the image element E2 partially overlap each other, and the image element E2 is disposed on the front surface. Further, the area of the image element E1 and the area of the image element E3 partially overlap, the image element E1 is disposed on the front surface, and the area of the image element E1 and the area of the image element E4 partially overlap. The image element E4 is disposed on the front surface. Furthermore, the area of the image element E4 and the area of the image element E5 partially overlap each other, and the image element E5 is disposed on the front surface.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, the image element E1 arranged behind the image elements E2 and E4 is divided into image sub-elements E1a, E1b, E1c, and E1d whose regions other than the overlapping region are rectangular regions. Sub-element data corresponding to these is generated. In addition, the image element E3 arranged behind the image element E1 is divided into image sub-elements E3a and E3b whose regions other than the overlapping region are rectangular regions, and sub-element data corresponding to these is generated. Further, the image element E4 arranged behind the image element E5 is divided into image sub-elements E4a and E4b whose regions other than the overlapping region are rectangular regions, and sub-element data corresponding to these is generated.

  After the generation of the sub-element data, the sub-element generation unit 108 includes the sub-element data corresponding to the generated image sub-element, the element raster data corresponding to the image element not including the overlapping area, and the overlapping area, and Element raster data corresponding to the frontmost image element is stored in the element storage 110. The element raster data and sub-element data stored in the element storage are further stored in the cache memory 112.

  Further, the sub-element generation unit 108 generates image sub-element region information and outputs it to the list update unit 114, and among the region information included in the page assembly list, the region information of the image element that does not include the overlapping region, Then, the area information of the foreground image element including the overlapping area is output to the list update unit 114.

  The list update unit 114 inputs the area information of the input image sub-element, the area information of the image element not including the overlapping area, and a new page assembly including the overlapping area and including the area information of the foremost image element. Generate a list. As a result, the page assembly list is updated according to the generation of the image sub-element (S104).

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the updated page assembly list. FIG. 6 shows an updated page assembly list when the image element is divided into image sub-elements as shown in FIG. 5, and instead of the area information of the image element E 1, the area other than the overlapping area of the image element E 1 is displayed. Area information of the image sub-elements E1a, E1b, E1c and E1d obtained by dividing the area; area information of the image sub-elements E3a and E3b obtained by dividing the area other than the overlapping area of the image element E3 instead of the image element E3; Instead of the area information of the image element E4, area information of the image sub-elements E4a and E4b obtained by dividing an area other than the overlapping area of the image element E4 is included. The updated page assembly list is output to the page assembly unit 116.

  The page assembly unit 116 includes region information of the image sub-element in the input updated page assembly list, region information of the image element not including the overlapping region, and region information of the foreground image element including the overlapping region. The sub-element data corresponding to the image sub-element having the number, the element raster data corresponding to the image element not including the overlapping area, and the foreground image including the overlapping area. The element raster data corresponding to the element is sequentially read from the cache memory 112. Further, the page assembly unit 116 combines image elements and image sub-elements using the read sub-element data and element raster data based on the coordinates included in each area information in the input updated page assembly list. Then, the converted page data corresponding to the page image is generated (S105). The generated post-conversion page data is alternately output and stored in the page buffer memories 118 and 120. As a result, a printer (not shown), which is the output destination of the converted page data in the page buffer memories 118 and 120, outputs the page data when the page assembly unit 116 outputs to the page buffer memory 118. When page data is read from the buffer memory 120 and output from the page assembly unit 116 to the page buffer memory 120, continuous reading is possible by reading the page data from the page buffer memory 118.

  As described above, in the image processing apparatus 100, when image elements are overlapped, among the image elements including the overlapping area, the image element other than the foreground corresponds to the image sub-element representing the area other than the overlapping area. Sub-element data is generated, and the sub-element data is cached together with element raster data corresponding to the image element not including the overlapping area and element raster data corresponding to the foremost image element including the overlapping area. The page assembly list is updated in response to the generation of the sub-element data stored in the memory 112.

  Therefore, the image sub-element corresponding to the sub-element data stored in the cache memory 112 and the image element corresponding to the element raster data do not overlap with other image elements or image sub-elements. Therefore, sub-element data and element raster data are read from the cache memory 112 based on the updated page assembly list, and a page image can be generated simply by combining the corresponding image sub-elements and image elements. It becomes. Therefore, the correction processing for arranging the required image elements on the front side is not performed depending on the reading order of the image elements as in the conventional case, the processing load is reduced, and real-time performance is ensured.

  Note that other methods are also conceivable for dividing the image element. Specifically, the sub-element generation unit 108 uses the outer edge of the image element in a predetermined direction (for example, the horizontal direction) based on the coordinates in the area information of each image element included in the page assembly list read from the list buffer memory 105. Set the dividing line corresponding to the line. Further, the sub-element generating unit 108 includes an image element that does not include an overlapping area, and an image element that includes the overlapping area and that is the foremost image element, corresponding to the image sub-element corresponding to the rectangular area divided by the dividing line. Element data is generated, and for the image elements other than the foreground among the image elements including the overlapping area, sub-element data corresponding to the image sub-element of the rectangular area obtained by dividing the area other than the overlapping area by the dividing line is generated. .

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of image element division by dividing lines. In FIG. 7, a dividing line (dotted line) corresponding to the outer edge line in the horizontal direction in each of the image elements E1 to E5 is set.

  The image element E1 is divided into image sub-elements E1a, E1b, E1c, E1d, and E1e by dividing lines in areas other than the overlapping area. Similarly, the image element E2 is divided into image sub-elements E2a and E2b by dividing lines, the image element E3 is divided into image sub-elements E3a, E3b, E3c and E3d by dividing lines, and the image element E3 is divided by dividing lines. A region other than the overlapping region is divided into image sub-elements E4a, E4b, E4c, and E4d by a dividing line. Note that the image element E5 is not divided because the dividing line does not pass through the region. Note that, as shown in FIG. 7, the image element is divided, and the updated page assembly list is as shown in FIG.

  By dividing the image element by the dividing line in this way, each of the regions (Band 1 to 10 in FIG. 7) between the dividing lines has the same width as that between the dividing lines. It is configured only by sequentially arranging image sub-elements along the direction of the dividing line. For example, the area of Band6 is configured only by sequentially arranging image sub-elements E4a, E1a, and E3c having the same width as that of Band6 along the direction of the dividing line. Therefore, when reading an image, continuous reading can be performed in units of regions between the dividing lines, and the reading speed can be increased.

  As described above, the image processing apparatus and the image processing method according to the present invention can improve the real-time property in image generation, and are useful as an image processing apparatus or the like.

It is a figure which shows an example of the image comprised combining an image element. It is a block diagram of an image processing apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of an image processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of a page assembly list. It is a figure which shows an example of the division | segmentation of an image element. It is a figure which shows an example of the page assembly list after an update. It is a figure which shows an example of the division | segmentation of an image element. It is a figure which shows an example of the page assembly list after an update.

Explanation of symbols

100 image processing apparatus 102 RIP
104 Element buffer memory 106 List buffer memory 108 Sub-element generation unit 110 Element storage 112 Cache memory 114 List update unit 116 Page assembly unit 118, 120 Buffer memory

Claims (6)

An image processing apparatus that composes an image by combining a plurality of image elements,
Overlap determination means for determining an overlap region of the image elements;
An image sub-element generating unit that generates an image sub-element corresponding to a region other than the overlapping region for an image element other than the foreground among the image elements including the overlapping region determined by the overlapping determining unit;
An image element that does not include the overlap area determined by the overlap determination means, an image element that includes the overlap area determined by the overlap determination means, and is generated by the foreground image element and the image sub-element generation means Image element storage means for storing sub-elements;
An image processing apparatus comprising: combination information updating means for updating combination information of image elements constituting the image in response to generation of image subelements by the image subelement generation means. The combination information after the update by the combination information update unit includes the region information of the image element that does not include the overlap region determined by the overlap determination unit, the overlap region determined by the overlap determination unit, and the forefront information The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising image elements and area information of the image sub-elements generated by the image sub-element generation unit. Based on the combination information updated by the combination information update unit, the image element that does not include the overlap region determined by the overlap determination unit stored in the image element storage unit, and the overlap region determined by the overlap determination unit 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an image element combination unit that combines the foremost image element and the image subelement generated by the image subelement generation unit. . The image element is a rectangular region;
The image sub-element generating means generates an image sub-element of a rectangular area obtained by dividing an area other than the overlap area for the image elements other than the foreground among the image elements including the overlap area determined by the overlap determination means. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The image sub-element generation unit sets a dividing line corresponding to an outer edge line in a predetermined direction in the image element, and does not include an overlap area determined by the overlap determination unit stored in the image element storage unit And an image sub-element of a rectangular area including the overlap area determined by the overlap determination means and divided by the dividing line for the foremost image element, and the overlap determined by the overlap determination means The image sub-element of the rectangular area which divided | segmented area | regions other than the said overlapping area with the said dividing line is produced | generated about the image elements other than the forefront among the image elements containing an area | region. Processing equipment. An image processing method in an image processing apparatus for composing an image by combining a plurality of image elements,
An overlapping determination step of determining an overlapping region of the image elements;
An image sub-element generating step for generating an image sub-element corresponding to a region other than the overlapping region for an image element other than the foreground among the image elements including the overlapping region determined in the overlapping determining step;
An image element that does not include the overlap area determined in the overlap determination step, an image element that includes the overlap area determined in the overlap determination step, and is the foreground image element, and the image sub-element generation step An image element storage step of storing the sub-element in the storage means;
An image processing method comprising: a combination information update step of updating combination information of image elements constituting the image in accordance with generation of image sub elements in the image sub element generation step.

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