JP2006347012A - Printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing device which can execute a color processing without image quality deterioration and also can rapidly perform a multiple variation processing suited for a rectangular region, even during performing a combination processing to combine a plurality of images. <P>SOLUTION: In an image combination processing, the order of the color processing and the multiple variation processing is changed depending on whether a combination pixel is of a transmitted color or not. Further, the combination processing is performed in a device non-dependent space. When the combination pixel is of the transmitted color, the multiple variation processing is executed after changing a color space to a base pixel without performing the combination processing. On the other hand, the combination processing is performed after the multiple variation processing, when the synthetic pixel is of the transmitted color. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus.

  When printing data created by a print control device such as a personal computer with a connected printer, a system that creates data that can be printed by the printer in the printer driver in each print control device and sends the data to the printer is common. ing. In recent years, however, in addition to this system, printing is performed by directly connecting a host device such as a digital camera to a printer, or directly from data stored in a data storage device such as a memory card via a reader mounted on the printer. A direct printing apparatus and a direct printing system have been developed.

  On the other hand, in the above-described printing system using a personal computer or the like, data specific to each printer is created. Therefore, in the printer driver software in each system, an image is transferred from another color space such as a CRT to the printer color space. In general, color correction processing for conversion, color conversion processing for conversion in the printer color space, quantization processing, and the like are performed to generate optimum data for the printer.

  However, in a direct printing system that performs printing directly from the above-described digital camera, memory card, or the like, it is difficult to mount a printer driver in the device because of the limited capability of the host device. A general image format is transmitted to a printing apparatus, and the above processing is performed in the printing apparatus to perform printing.

  Further, according to recent user needs, not only printing an image but also a combining process for combining a plurality of images for printing is possible.

However, on the other hand, there is a problem that the processing load of the printer increases by mounting the above-described processing in the printer. This is because the host computer generally has a higher capability than the printer, and the processing speed is reduced when processing equivalent to that of the host computer is performed in the printer. In order to solve this problem, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example, a technique is used in which the order of the color conversion processing unit and the enlargement / reduction processing unit in image processing is switched.
JP 2004-194050 A

  However, in Patent Document 1 of the above-described conventional example, the processing time is shortened by switching the order of the color processing and the enlargement / reduction processing. However, the enlargement / reduction processing needs to be executed before the color processing at the time of composite printing. The problem remains that the processing time cannot be shortened. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to perform printing that can execute color processing without causing deterioration in image quality and can perform scaling processing that fits in a rectangular area even during the combining processing of combining a plurality of images. To provide an apparatus.

  An input device such as a print control device or a digital camera, and a printing device connectable with the input device are provided. For connection, an interface such as USB or parallel is used. The printing apparatus includes a receiving unit for receiving print target data transmitted from the input device. Further, it may include a mechanism for providing data reading means from a storage medium such as a memory card mounted on a built-in reading device and inputting data from this storage medium.

  Next, an image processing apparatus that converts print target data into data unique to the printing apparatus is provided in the printing apparatus. The image processing apparatus performs decoding processing, reduction processing, rotation processing, color space conversion, color conversion processing, enlargement processing, quantization processing, and the like on the print target data, and then performs printing in the engine unit. Furthermore, means for synthesizing a plurality of images and means for determining whether the print designation is composite printing are provided in the image processing apparatus.

  Using the above means, it is first determined whether or not the printing method is composite printing. If composite printing is performed, decoding processing and color space conversion are performed on the base image and frame image to be printed, respectively. To device-independent color space. Next, each image is subjected to a scaling process according to the output rectangular area of the image, and then an image composition process is performed. Next, the synthesized image is subjected to color space conversion processing and quantization processing into a device-dependent color space, and printing is performed in the engine unit. On the other hand, if it is not composite printing, the base image to be printed is first subjected to decoding processing and color space conversion to be converted into a device-independent color space. Next, after performing color space conversion processing to the device-dependent color space, scaling processing is performed. Thereafter, quantization processing is performed, and printing is performed in the engine unit.

  By providing the above means, a printing apparatus capable of performing high-speed printing by reducing the number of color space conversion processes when performing frame-combined printing while performing appropriate composition processing during frame-composite printing. Can be provided.

  Furthermore, at the time of composite printing, the number of times of color processing is determined by providing means for grasping the transmittance for the pixel to be combined and changing the order of scaling processing and color processing depending on whether the transmittance is 100% or not. Thus, it is possible to provide a printing apparatus that can perform high-speed printing.

  If it demonstrates further, the technical content of this invention could solve the said subject by providing the following structures.

  (1) Image data generation means for executing decoding processing, rotation processing, and reduction processing on a plurality of input image data to generate one or a plurality of raster line data, and one raster line of the generated plurality of images A means for executing color space conversion processing, color conversion processing, and scaling processing on image data and placing them on a buffer, a combining means for combining images after enlargement processing with a plurality of images, and a combined image A printing apparatus comprising: a printing unit that performs a quantization process on the printer and performs printing.

  In the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, an appropriate composition process is performed at the time of frame composition printing, and if the frame composition printing is not performed, the number of color space conversion processes is reduced and high-speed printing is performed. Therefore, it is possible to provide a printing apparatus that can perform printing.

  Furthermore, at the time of composite printing, the number of times of color processing is determined by providing means for grasping the transmittance for the pixel to be combined and changing the order of scaling processing and color processing depending on whether the transmittance is 100% or not. Thus, it is possible to provide a printing apparatus that can perform high-speed printing.

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a diagram that most clearly represents the present invention in a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 101 and 107 are JPEG data, 108 is PNG data, 102 and 109 and 110 are decoding processes, 103 and 111 and 112 are color space conversion processes, 104 and 116 are color conversion processes, and 105, 113, and 114 are Enlargement processing 106 and 117 is quantization processing. In this figure, JPEG data and PNG data are used as an example, but the data format is not specified.

  Further details will be described. Reference numerals 101 to 106 denote print processing flows at the time of non-combination, and reference numerals 107 to 117 denote print processing flows at the time of composition. First, decryption processing is performed on the data 101 at 102. At this time, rotation and reduction processing may be executed according to the output image frame. A plurality of lines of data are generated from the decoding process, but the subsequent processes are executed for each raster line. In 103, color space conversion processing is executed on the decoded one raster line data to generate color space data such as RGB. In 104, color conversion processing into device-dependent colors is executed, and data dependent on the printing apparatus is generated. This enlargement process is necessary when the output rectangular area and the original image have different sizes. Next, a quantization process is performed at 106 to generate printable data. With this processing flow, color space conversion and color conversion processing can be performed on an image (number of pixels) before enlargement, and the processing speed can be increased.

  Next, reference numerals 107 to 117 are print processing flows at the time of composition. The data 107 and 108 are decrypted at 109 and 110. At this time, rotation and reduction processing may be executed according to the output image frame. A plurality of lines of data are generated from the decoding process, but the subsequent processes are executed for each raster line. In 111 and 112, color space conversion processing is performed on the decoded one raster line data to generate color space data such as RGB and RGBα. Next, in 113 and 114, each image is enlarged and converted into a size that can be combined. In 115, image synthesis processing is performed. After color conversion processing in 116, printable data is generated in 117 quantization processing. This processing makes it possible to synthesize data including transmittance (such as α) in a device-independent color space.

  FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of hardware on which the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention operates. A printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a host apparatus 201 for providing print target data, a printing apparatus 203 including means of the present invention, and a bidirectional interface 202 that connects the host apparatus and the printing apparatus. The The host device 201 is not only a computer such as a PC but also a host device for performing direct printing such as a digital camera or a scanner.

  Next, the data flow will be described with reference to FIG. When a digital camera is used as the host device, data captured by the host device or data stored in an area such as a built-in memory card is transmitted to the printing device via the bidirectional interface. At this time, in addition to the print target data, additional information at the time of printing is also transmitted from the host device to the printing device. This additional information includes, in addition to various information accompanying the print data, layout information for expressing the print data on the paper, print setting information, and the like.

  Further, it is possible to perform printing without using a host device. The printing device 203 may include means such as a memory device and an operation panel in FIG. 3 described later. In this case, print data is read from the memory device, and the above information is obtained from the operation panel and printed. This makes it possible to print with the printing device alone.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the internal configuration of the printing apparatus of FIG. 2 described above.

  The printing device includes a CPU 301, a ROM 302, a flash ROM 303, a RAM 304, a CF controller 306, a CF I / F 307, an operation panel 308, an operation panel controller 309, a communication device 310, a communication device controller 311, a display device 312, a display device controller 313, and printing. An apparatus 314 and a printer controller 315 are included.

  This will be described in detail below.

  When a control program or control procedure stored in the ROM 302 that can only be read by the CPU 301 or the rewritable flash ROM 303 is executed, the RAM 304 serves as a work memory that temporarily stores various data in the calculation and logic judgment of the CPU 301. Used.

  Programs such as decoding processing, color space conversion processing, color conversion processing, enlargement processing, layout processing, and quantization processing according to the present invention are stored in the ROM 301 or the flash ROM 302, and data generated by each program, for example, The layout information, the decoding result of the JPEG file or the PNG file, the color space conversion result, the color conversion result, the enlargement result, the quantization result, and the like are stored in respective storage areas of the RAM 303.

  The CF I / F 307 is an interface of a compact flash (registered trademark) card, and is driven and controlled by the CF controller 306, and reads information on a JPEG image captured by a digital camera stored in the compact flash (registered trademark) card onto the RAM. Used for the purpose.

  The operation panel controller 309 is an input interface for transmitting an operator's instruction. The operated content is displayed on the operation panel 308, and the printing process is started when the print execution button is pressed.

  The communication device 310 is a device for performing communication between the host device and the printing device. The communication device 310 is driven and controlled by the communication device controller 311, receives operations and data from the host device, and returns a response status from the printing device. Used for the purpose. In addition to the operation panel unit, a print operation instruction can be performed by pressing a print execution button from the host device.

  The display device 312 is an output device that is driven and controlled by the display device controller 313 and displays an image read from the CF, an error message, and the like, and uses a small color liquid crystal or the like.

  The printing device 314 is a device unit that records and outputs the mounted paper using a head and ink in the device. In the printing process from the operation panel 308 or the digital camera, the CPU 301 executes the printing control program of the ROM 302 or the flash ROM 303 according to the information received from each interface, and drives the printing device controller 315 to control the ink in the printing device. This is done by operating the head and repeatedly ejecting ink in the ink head onto the paper.

  The internal bus 316 is a common communication path for communicating between devices in the printing device 314 from the CPU 301, and communication between all devices in the printing device is performed via this internal bus. ing.

  Next, processing according to the present invention in the above-described printing apparatus will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 4 to 6. FIG. 4 shows an output example from the printing apparatus of the present invention. This example is a result (image C) when the image A and the image B are combined and printed on one output rectangle. Image A is a base image, and image B is a frame image arranged in the upper layer with respect to the base image. In this figure, a transmittance of 100% is designated for the white rectangular area in the image B, and a transparency of 0% is designated for the gray area surrounding the rectangle. For this reason, in the output result, the base image appears in the region where the transmission value is 100%, and the frame image is printed as it is in the region where the value is 0%.

  Next, in this processing flow, first, in FIG. 2, image data is transmitted from the host device 201 to the printing device 203. The data can be obtained from a storage area in the printing apparatus as described above. Accompanying the acquisition of print data with the printing apparatus, the accompanying information is also acquired from the host apparatus or the built-in operation panel.

  Next, a series of flow until the obtained data is printed will be described with reference to FIG. A in FIG. 5 is an internal processing flow at the time of non-synthesis. The obtained data is converted from a device-independent color space (for example, RGB) to a device-dependent color space (for example, CMYK), and then subjected to enlargement processing and passed to layout processing. Since the color space conversion process performs the same process for all images, the overall processing speed can be improved by reducing the number of target pixels. For this reason, at the time of non-combination, the enlargement process for matching with the output rectangle is performed after the color space conversion process, so that the number of target pixels of the color space conversion process can be reduced.

  Next, B in FIG. 5 is an internal processing flow at the time of composition. Since this processing is image composite printing, there are B-1 base images (backmost images) and B-2 frame images (upper images) as images to be processed. The image can also include an α value (transmittance). In image synthesis, it is necessary to consider the reflection of the above-described transmittance. Therefore, it is necessary to use a device-independent color space (for example, RGB) instead of a device-dependent color space such as CMYK.

  In view of the above, in B-1, first, conversion processing to a device-independent color space is performed, for example, RGB space data is prepared. Next, the size of the output rectangle is enlarged in the enlargement process. On the other hand, for the B-2 frame image, for example, RGBα space data capable of expressing the transmittance is prepared, and the size of the output rectangle is similarly enlarged. Next, a synthesis process reflecting the α value is performed in the RGB space which is the same space. Since the synthesized data is data in a device-independent RGB space, conversion processing to a CMYK space that is a device-dependent color space is performed thereafter. By the above processing, the composition processing as shown in FIG. 4 becomes possible.

  Next, in the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above, the processing flow will be described in detail using the flowchart of FIG.

  FIG. 6 is a process showing the main flow of this process. First, at the start of processing, it is determined in 601 whether or not it is composite printing. If it is not composite printing, the process proceeds to 602, where it is determined whether all processing for the output image has been completed. If it has been completed, the process proceeds to 610, where it ends. On the other hand, if all the processes have not been completed, the process proceeds to 603 to execute an image decoding process. For example, when the data is JPEG data, YCbCr data is obtained by decoding processing. Next, in 604, conversion processing to a device-independent color space (for example, RGB space) is performed, and in 605, conversion processing to a device color space (for example, CMYK) is performed. Further, in 606, enlargement processing is executed so as to fit the output rectangular area, and in 607, layout processing (for example, output to a memory) is executed. Next, after the quantization process is executed in 608, the output process to the engine unit is executed in 609, and the process returns to 602. In this processing flow, since the enlargement process is performed in the device color space, the color space conversion process that is the pre-processing is performed on the number of pixels before the enlargement, and the color space conversion process can be speeded up. .

  On the other hand, if it is determined in 601 that it is composite printing, the process proceeds to 610, where it is determined whether or not all the processes for the output image have been completed, and if completed, the process proceeds to 621 and all the processes are terminated. If the processing has not been completed, the base image is decoded at 611 and the frame image is decoded at 612, and conversion processing to a color space that can be synthesized is performed at 613 and 614. For example, the base image is RGB, and the frame image for which the transmission value can be specified is RGBα. Next, in 615 and 616, enlargement processing is performed on each image so as to fit the output rectangular size. Although the enlargement ratio varies depending on the size of each original image, enlargement processing is executed so that the sizes after enlargement become equal. Next, in 617, a composition process is executed. The composition processing at this time reflects the transmittance, and for example, a composition result as shown in FIG. 4 is obtained. Next, a conversion process to a device-dependent color space is performed on the synthesized image data in 618, and then a quantization process is performed in 619. The quantized data is output by the engine at 620 and returns to 610. The synthesizing process needs to be executed in a device-independent color space, but can be realized by realizing a flow like this process.

  By repeating the flow in FIG. 6 described in detail above, it is possible to generate a composite image reflecting the transmission value during composite printing, and it is possible to perform processing at high speed during non-compositing.

  Next, a synthesis processing method for the purpose of speeding up the above-described synthesis processing of the present invention will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the flow of the composition processing method of the present invention. This synthesis processing method can be used as the processing from 111 to 116 in FIG.

  FIG. 7A shows an example in which the base image and the frame image are combined. The base image is composed of 1 to 3 different data, and the frame image is composed of different data of ○ and ×. In the frame image, “X” indicates 100% transparent pixels, and “◯” indicates other pixels. Considering the case where each image is doubled when enlarged to fit the output rectangular frame, as shown in the synthesis result, the first two pixels are the base image pixels, and the next two pixels are As a result of the synthesis, and the last two pixels, the pixel of the base image is output as it is again. That is, the pixel of 100% transmission in the frame image is output as it is as the pixel of the target base image. Note that the synthesis result is indicated by an underline, but this indicates that the result has also been converted to a device-dependent color space.

  FIG. 7B is a diagram showing data changes in the process of FIG. 7A. First, in (1), a frame image enlargement process is executed. At this time, a process for determining whether or not the transmission is 100% is also performed. Next, in (2), for a pixel that is not 100% transparent, the target base image is enlarged and combined. Next, in (3), color space conversion processing is executed only for the synthesized pixels. A pixel that is 100% transparent remains as it is. Next, in (4), the color space conversion process is executed for the pixel of the target base image for the pixel that is 100% transparent, and the result of the enlargement process is output to the buffer.

  Next, in the printing apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention configured as described above, the processing flow will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

  FIG. 8 is a process that can be arranged as a composition process and a conversion process to a device-dependent color space in the series of processes 610 to 621 in FIG. First, in 801, it is determined whether or not all rasters have been combined. If the process has not been completed, the process proceeds to 802, where it is determined whether the processes from 803 to 807, which will be described later, have been completed for all the pixels of the target raster of the frame image. If not completed, it is determined in 803 whether or not the target pixel is 100% transparent. If it is transparent, the process proceeds to 806 and the continuous 100% transparent pixel counter is incremented and the process returns to 802. On the other hand, if it is not 100% transmissive, the process proceeds to 804 and it is determined whether the transmissive pixel counter exceeds a certain amount. If it exceeds a certain amount, the process proceeds to 807, where the starting point and end point are stored, the counter is cleared, and the target pixel is enlarged in accordance with the output rectangular frame, and then output to the enlargement result buffer and returned to 802. On the other hand, if it does not exceed a certain amount, the multiple pixels for the counter and the pixel of interest that is not 100% transparent are enlarged to fit the output rectangular frame, output to the enlarged result buffer, and then the counter is cleared. Return to 802. The state in which the above processing is completed is B- (1) in FIG.

  Next, when it is determined in step 802 that all the pixels have been completed, the processing proceeds to step 808, and processing for determining whether or not the processing from 809 to 813, which will be described later, has been completed for all the raster pixels of the frame image is performed. . If not completed, a determination is made in 809 as to whether or not the target pixel is within the stored continuous area. If the target pixel is within the area, the process returns to 808. To enlarge. Next, after performing composition processing in 811 (end of B- (2) in FIG. 7), conversion processing from a device-independent color space to a device-dependent color space is performed in 812, output to a buffer in 813, and then to 808 Return. The state in which the above processing is completed is B- (3) in FIG.

  Next, when it is determined in 808 that all the pixels have been completed, the process proceeds to 814, and determination processing is performed to determine whether or not the processing for all the continuous areas stored has been completed. If not completed, color conversion processing from the device-independent space of the target base pixel to the device-dependent space is performed in 815. Next, after enlarging the main image in 816, device dependent data for the number of enlarged pixels is output in 817 and the process returns to 801.

  The above is the description of the flow in FIG.

  By repeating the flow in FIG. 6 and FIG. 8 described in detail above, it is possible to reduce the color space conversion process even at the time of composite printing, and the processing speed can be increased. The above is the operation in the printing apparatus according to the first embodiment.

The figure which shows the processing flow in the printing apparatus of this invention. Hardware configuration diagram in which the printing apparatus of the present invention operates FIG. 1 is an internal configuration diagram of a printing apparatus according to the present invention Synthesis result in the first embodiment Flow chart of composition processing in the first embodiment Flowchart showing the internal processing flow in the first embodiment Flow chart showing internal processing for speeding up in the first embodiment Flowchart showing the internal processing flow for speeding up in the first embodiment

Explanation of symbols

101, 107 JPEG data 108 PNG data 102, 109, 110 Decoding processing 103, 111, 112 Color space conversion processing 104, 116 Color conversion processing 105, 113, 114 Enlargement processing 106, 117 Quantization processing 115 Composition processing 202 Bidirectional Interface 203 Printing device 301 CPU
302 ROM
303 Flush ROM
304 RAM
306 CF controller 307 CF I / F
308 Operation Panel 309 Operation Panel Controller 310 Communication Device 311 Communication Device Controller 312 Display Device 313 Display Device Controller 314 Printing Device 315 Printing Device Controller

Claims (4)

  Image data generating means for executing decoding processing, rotation processing, and reduction processing on a plurality of input image data to generate one or a plurality of raster line data, and one raster line image data of the generated plurality of images On the other hand, there are means for executing color space conversion processing, color conversion processing, and scaling processing on the buffer, combining means for combining the images after enlargement processing with respect to a plurality of images, and quantum processing for the combined images. A printing apparatus comprising: a printing unit that executes printing and performs printing.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the combining unit includes an image whose transmittance can be specified as one of the combined images.   3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the synthesizing unit performs synthesis processing in a device-independent color space.   If the result of each pixel after synthesis is the same as that of the background pixel, the synthesizing unit described in claim 2 executes the scaling process described in claim 1 for that pixel on the pixel after synthesis, The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the printing apparatus is executed before the composition processing when the pixel is not the same as the background pixel.

Images