JP2007083735A - Printer, program and method for controlling printer, apparatus for generating printing data, and program and method for generating printing data - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a novel printer which eliminates a banding phenomenon due to a flight deflection phenomenon or make it almost inconspicuous, and also to provide a program and a method for controlling the printer, an apparatus for generating printing data, and a program and a method for generating the printing data. <P>SOLUTION: The printer 100 comprises: an image data acquiring unit 10 for acquiring an image data composing a predetermined image from an external device, a storage device or the like; a printing data generation unit 11 for generating printing data for printing an image of the image data generated by replacing dot-forming pattern data corresponding to a nozzle involving the banding phenomenon with dot-forming pattern data for avoiding banding, on a printing medium (herein, printing paper); and a printing unit 12 for printing the image of the image data on the printing medium by an ink-jet system, based on the printing data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, a printing apparatus control program, and a printing apparatus control method used for a facsimile apparatus, a copying machine, a printing apparatus for office automation equipment, and the like. ) A printing apparatus suitable for performing a so-called ink jet printing process, in which predetermined characters and images are drawn by being discharged onto the printing apparatus, a printing apparatus control program and a printing apparatus control method, and a printing data generation apparatus, The present invention relates to a print data generation program and a print data generation method.

The following describes a printing apparatus, particularly a printer that employs an inkjet method (hereinafter referred to as an “inkjet printer”).
Ink jet printers are generally inexpensive and can easily obtain high-quality color prints, and are widely used not only in offices but also in general users with the spread of personal computers and digital cameras.

  In such an ink jet printer, a moving body called a carriage or the like in which an ink cartridge and a print head are integrated is generally placed on a print medium (paper) in a direction perpendicular to the paper feed direction. By ejecting (injecting) liquid ink particles in the form of dots from the nozzles of the print head while reciprocating, predetermined characters and images are drawn on the print medium to create a desired printed matter. The carriage is equipped with ink cartridges of four colors (black, yellow, magenta, cyan) including black (black) and a print head for each color, so that not only monochrome printing but also full-color printing combining each color is possible. (Furthermore, 6 colors, 7 colors, or 8 colors in which light cyan, light magenta, etc. are added to these colors are also put into practical use).

  In addition, in this type of ink jet printer in which printing is executed while the print head on the carriage is reciprocated in a direction perpendicular to the paper feed direction, several tens of print heads are used to cleanly print the entire page. Since it is necessary to reciprocate more than 100 times from the first time, there is a disadvantage that it takes much longer printing time than other types of printing apparatuses, for example, laser printers using electrophotographic technology such as copying machines. is there.

  On the other hand, in an inkjet printer of a type in which a long print head having the same (or long) dimension as the width of the print paper is used and a carriage is not used, it is not necessary to move the print head in the width direction of the print paper. Since printing can be performed by so-called one scanning (one pass), high-speed printing is possible as in the case of the laser printer. In addition, since a carriage for mounting the print head and a drive system for moving the print head are not required, the printer casing can be reduced in size and weight, and the quietness can be greatly improved. Yes. The former inkjet printer is generally called a “multi-pass printer”, and the latter inkjet printer is generally called a “line head printer” or a “serial printer”.

  By the way, a print head indispensable for such an ink jet printer is one in which fine nozzles having a diameter of about 10 to 70 μm are arranged in one row at a constant interval or in a plurality of rows in the printing direction. Due to manufacturing error, the ink ejection direction of some nozzles may be tilted, or the position of the nozzles may be shifted from the ideal position. A so-called “flight bend phenomenon” may occur, such as deviation. In addition, there are inks whose ink amount is greatly increased or decreased as compared with the ideal amount, as the variation is large due to the dispersion characteristics of the nozzles.

  As a result, a printing defect referred to as a so-called “banding phenomenon” may occur in a portion printed using the defective nozzle, and the print quality may be significantly reduced. In other words, when the “flight bend” phenomenon occurs, the distance between the dots ejected by the adjacent nozzles becomes non-uniform, and the portion where the distance between adjacent dots is longer than normal is indicated by “white streaks (if the printing paper is white) ) ”Occurs, and“ dark streaks ”occur in a portion where the distance between adjacent dots is shorter than normal. Even when the ink amount is not ideal, a dark streak occurs in a nozzle portion where the ink amount is large, and a white streak occurs in a portion where the ink amount decreases.

  In particular, the banding phenomenon is more likely to occur in the “line head type printer” in which the print head or print medium is fixed (one pass printing) than in the case of the “multi-pass type printer” (serial printer) as described above. (In multi-pass printers, there is a technique that makes banding inconspicuous by using the print head reciprocating many times).

Therefore, in order to prevent a kind of printing failure due to such "banding phenomenon", research and development in the so-called hardware part such as improvement of print head manufacturing technology and design improvement has been earnestly advanced. It is difficult to provide a print head in which 100% “banding phenomenon” does not occur due to manufacturing costs, technical aspects, and the like.
Therefore, in addition to the improvement in the hardware part as described above, a technology that reduces such “banding phenomenon” by using a so-called software method such as printing control as described below is used in combination. Has been.

  For example, in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 shown below, in order to deal with nozzle variations and ink non-ejection, the shading correction technique is used to deal with head variations in areas where the print density is low, and printing is performed. The dark portion is substituted with another color (for example, when printing in black, cyan or magenta is used) so that banding and variations are not noticeable.

Further, in Patent Document 3 shown below, with respect to a solid image (that is, an image that is painted so that the background is not visible), the discharge amount of the adjacent nozzles in the vicinity of the non-ejection nozzle is increased, and a solid image is generated with the entire nozzle. The technique of doing is adopted.
Further, in Patent Document 4 shown below, the variation amount of each nozzle is fed back to error diffusion and processed, and the variation in the ink discharge amount of the nozzle is absorbed to avoid the banding phenomenon.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-19101 JP 2003-136702 A JP 2003-63043 A JP-A-5-30361

However, in the technique of reducing the banding phenomenon and variation using other colors as in the prior arts of Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 described above, the hue of the processed portion changes, so color photographs are taken. Not suitable for printing that requires high image quality and high quality, such as image printing.
In addition, the method of avoiding the “white streak phenomenon” by distributing the information on the non-ejection nozzles to the left and right for areas with high density is reduced when this is applied to the “flight bend phenomenon” described above. Although it is possible, there is a problem that banding still remains in a portion where the concentration is high.

  In the method such as the prior art of Patent Document 3 described above, there is no problem if the printed matter is a solid image, but this method cannot be used if the printed matter is a halftone printed matter. In addition, the method of filling thin lines with other colors is fine as long as it is used very little, but in an image in which other colors occur continuously, a part of the image is similar to the former. The problem remains that the hue changes.

Further, in the method such as the conventional technique of Patent Document 4 described above, there is a problem that the process of performing appropriate feedback is complicated and difficult to solve for the problem that the dot formation content is shifted.
Therefore, the present invention has been made by paying attention to such an unsolved problem of the conventional technology, and can eliminate or make the image quality degradation due to the banding phenomenon caused by the flight bending phenomenon almost inconspicuous. It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel printing apparatus, a printing apparatus control program and a printing apparatus control method, and a printing data generation apparatus, a printing data generation program, and a printing data generation method.

[Mode 1] In order to achieve the above object, a printing apparatus according to mode 1
A printing apparatus configured to print an image by forming a dot formation pattern corresponding to image data to be printed on the medium by a print head having a plurality of nozzles capable of forming dots on the medium used for printing. And
Image data acquisition means for acquiring the image data having pixel values of M values (M ≧ 2) constituting the image;
Stores banding avoidance dot formation pattern data, which is data for forming a dot formation pattern for avoiding banding composed of the plurality of dots, associated with information on nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon among the plurality of nozzles. Dot forming pattern data storage means for
Print data generating means for generating print data obtained by converting the image data into dot formation pattern data for forming a print image of the image data on the medium;
Printing means for printing an image of the image data on the medium by the print head based on the printing data;
The printing data generation means is a dot data corresponding to a nozzle involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data based on the image data and the dot formation pattern data stored in the dot formation pattern data storage means. The printing data is generated by replacing the banding dot formation pattern data corresponding to the nozzle with the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data.

  If it is such a structure, it is possible to acquire the said image data which has the pixel value of M value (M> = 2) which comprises an image by an image data acquisition means, and a dot formation pattern data storage means, Stores banding avoidance dot formation pattern data, which is data for forming a banding avoidance dot formation pattern composed of the plurality of dots, associated with information on nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon among the plurality of nozzles. The print data generation means can generate print data obtained by converting the image data into dot formation pattern data for forming a print image of the image data on the medium. Yes, based on the printing data by the printing means, the image data by the print head. It is possible to print an image on the medium.

  Further, the print data generating means is configured to generate dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data based on the image data and the dot formation pattern data stored in the dot formation pattern data storage means. It is possible to generate printing data in which data is replaced by the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to the nozzle.

  Therefore, for example, `` flying phenomenon '' due to nozzles where the dot formation position deviates from the ideal position, `` white streaks '' due to `` banding phenomenon '' caused by ink ejection failure such as nozzle non-ejection, etc. Deterioration of print image quality such as “dark streaks” can be reduced, and the dot formation pattern data corresponding to the occurrence of banding phenomenon in the N-valued image data is used as the band formation avoidance dot formation pattern data prepared in advance. Since it is a simple process that only replaces, an effect that the process of avoiding banding can be performed at high speed is obtained.

  Here, the dot refers to one region formed by ink ejected from one or a plurality of nozzles landing on a print medium. Further, “dots” are not “zero” in area, and of course have a certain size (area), and there are a plurality of types for each size. However, dots formed by ejecting ink are not always perfect circles. For example, when dots are formed in a shape other than a perfect circle such as an ellipse, the average diameter is treated as the dot diameter, or the area equal to the area of the dots formed by ejecting a certain amount of ink is used. In some cases, a perfect circle equivalent dot is assumed and the diameter of the equivalent dot is treated as the dot diameter. In addition, for example, a method for hitting dots having different densities includes a method of hitting dots having the same dot size and different densities, a method of hitting dots having the same density and different sizes, and ejection of ink having the same density. It is possible to consider a method in which the amount of dots is different and the density is varied by overstrike. In addition, when one ink droplet ejected from one nozzle is separated and landed, it is considered as one dot, but two nozzles or two or more formed from one nozzle around the time. If two dots are stuck, it is assumed that two dots are formed. Hereinafter, a form relating to “printing apparatus control program”, a form relating to “printing apparatus control method”, a form relating to “printing data generation apparatus”, a form relating to “printing data generation program”, a form relating to “printing data generation method”, In addition, the same applies to the description relating to the “recording medium on which the program is recorded”, the best mode for carrying out the invention, and the like.

  The image data acquisition unit acquires image data input from an optical print result reading unit such as a scanner unit, or passively receives image data stored in an external device via a network such as a LAN or WAN. Storage device of a printing apparatus that acquires the image data from a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM through a drive device such as a CD drive or DVD drive of the printing apparatus The image data stored in is acquired. That is, the acquisition includes at least input, acquisition, reception, and reading. Hereinafter, a form relating to “printing apparatus control program”, a form relating to “printing apparatus control method”, a form relating to “printing data generation apparatus”, a form relating to “printing data generation program”, a form relating to “printing data generation method”, In addition, the same applies to the description relating to the “recording medium on which the program is recorded”, the best mode for carrying out the invention, and the like.

  The above-mentioned “banding phenomenon” is caused by the so-called “flying curve phenomenon” caused by the nozzles whose dot formation positions deviate from the ideal formation position, and “white stripes” and “dark stripes” occur simultaneously in the print result. In other words, a print defect in which a “white streak” or a “dark streak” occurs in a print result due to a print defect to be performed and an ink discharge defect such as non-ejection of a nozzle. Hereinafter, a form relating to “printing apparatus control program”, a form relating to “printing apparatus control method”, a form relating to “printing data generation apparatus”, a form relating to “printing data generation program”, a form relating to “printing data generation method”, In addition, the same applies to the description relating to the “recording medium on which the program is recorded”, the best mode for carrying out the invention, and the like.

  In addition, as described above, the “flight bend phenomenon” is different from the simple non-ejection phenomenon of some nozzles, as described above, while ink is ejected, but the ejection direction of some of the nozzles is inclined and the dots are ideal. This is a phenomenon that is formed out of position. Hereinafter, a form relating to “printing apparatus control program”, a form relating to “printing apparatus control method”, a form relating to “printing data generation apparatus”, a form relating to “printing data generation program”, a form relating to “printing data generation method”, In addition, the same applies to the description relating to the “recording medium on which the program is recorded”, the best mode for carrying out the invention, and the like.

  In addition, the above-mentioned “white streaks” continuously cause a phenomenon in which the distance between adjacent dots becomes wider than a predetermined distance due to the “flying curve phenomenon”, and the color of the background of the print medium becomes noticeable in a streak shape. The above-mentioned “dark streaks” are also the same as the “flying curve phenomenon”, in which the phenomenon in which the distance between adjacent dots becomes shorter than a predetermined distance continuously occurs, and the background of the print medium The color disappears, or the distance between dots becomes shorter, which makes it appear darker. Furthermore, some of the dots that are separated from each other overlap normal dots, and the overlapped part is conspicuous in dark stripes. The part (area) that is In addition, white streaks may occur due to nozzles with a small amount of ink, while dark streaks may occur due to nozzles with a large amount of ink. Hereinafter, a form relating to “printing apparatus control program”, a form relating to “printing apparatus control method”, a form relating to “printing data generation apparatus”, a form relating to “printing data generation program”, a form relating to “printing data generation method”, In addition, the same applies to the description relating to the “recording medium on which the program is recorded”, the best mode for carrying out the invention, and the like.

  The “nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon” means, for example, nozzles in which the dot formation position is deviated from the ideal formation position and the “flight bending phenomenon” occurs, and nozzles in the vicinity thereof, for example, When the above-mentioned `` white streak '' occurs, it includes a nozzle in which the dot formation position is deviated and a nozzle that forms a normal dot whose distance is larger than the normal case with respect to the deviated dot. In the case of the “dark streaks”, the nozzle is shifted in the dot formation position due to the “flight curve phenomenon”, and the distance is shorter than the normal case, or part or all of the shifted dots overlap. In addition, a nozzle that forms normal dots is included. Note that the present invention is not limited to this example, and the range in the vicinity may be further expanded, such as three nozzles on both sides of the corresponding nozzle. Hereinafter, a form relating to “printing apparatus control program”, a form relating to “printing apparatus control method”, a form relating to “printing data generation apparatus”, a form relating to “printing data generation program”, a form relating to “printing data generation method”, In addition, the same applies to the description relating to the “recording medium on which the program is recorded”, the best mode for carrying out the invention, and the like.

  The “banding avoidance dot formation pattern data” refers to, for example, a nozzle in which a dot formation position is deviated (or a nozzle in which ejection failure has occurred) in a normal dot formation pattern formed by a nozzle involved in the banding phenomenon. In addition, the dot size in the vicinity of the portion where the distance is wider than the normal case with respect to the shifted dot (or the defective discharge dot) is made larger than usual, and conversely, becomes smaller than the normal case. This data is used to form a dot pattern that is smaller or thinner than the normal dot size. In other words, “white streaks” and “dark streaks” due to banding phenomenon are made inconspicuous (avoidance). Data for forming a dot formation pattern (for example, corresponding to image data after N-value conversion).Hereinafter, a form relating to “printing apparatus control program”, a form relating to “printing apparatus control method”, a form relating to “printing data generation apparatus”, a form relating to “printing data generation program”, a form relating to “printing data generation method”, In addition, the same applies to the description relating to the “recording medium on which the program is recorded”, the best mode for carrying out the invention, and the like.

  The “printing data” means that M-value (M ≧ 2) image data is converted to N-value (M> N ≧) using an error diffusion method or the like according to the type of dot size that can be formed by the nozzle. 2), and information on the presence / absence of dots (whether or not dots are formed by nozzles) for each pixel value of each color of the image data, and the size of the dots when forming (for example, , One of three types (large, medium, and small)), and the like. Hereinafter, a form relating to “printing apparatus control program”, a form relating to “printing apparatus control method”, a form relating to “printing data generation apparatus”, a form relating to “printing data generation program”, a form relating to “printing data generation method”, In addition, the same applies to the description relating to the “recording medium on which the program is recorded”, the best mode for carrying out the invention, and the like.

  In addition, the print data generation unit may generate, for example, an image as a process of generating print data obtained by converting image data into dot formation pattern data for forming a print image of the image data on a medium used for printing. When the image data acquired by the data acquisition means is data having three or more pixel values, this image data is converted into N values (M> N) according to the number of types of dot sizes that can be formed by the nozzles. ≧ 2) Dot forming pattern for avoiding banding is used to convert the dot forming pattern data related to the banding phenomenon in the image data before or after the converting process into the data that matches the performance of the printing means such as the processing Perform processing to replace with data. That is, the conversion includes both a data conversion process according to the performance of the printing unit, such as an N-ary process, and a replacement process for replacing the dot formation pattern data. Hereinafter, a form relating to “printing apparatus control program”, a form relating to “printing apparatus control method”, a form relating to “printing data generation apparatus”, a form relating to “printing data generation program”, a form relating to “printing data generation method”, In addition, the same applies to the description relating to the “recording medium on which the program is recorded”, the best mode for carrying out the invention, and the like.

  Further, the “dot data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon” refers to image data before processing (for example, before the above-described N-value conversion processing) according to the replacement timing of the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data. When the replacement process is performed, image data (which may be after color conversion) itself is shown. When the replacement process is performed after the image data is processed (for example, after the above-described N-value conversion process), the processed image data (for example, , Dot formation pattern data). Hereinafter, a form relating to “printing apparatus control program”, a form relating to “printing apparatus control method”, a form relating to “printing data generation apparatus”, a form relating to “printing data generation program”, a form relating to “printing data generation method”, In addition, the same applies to the description relating to the “recording medium on which the program is recorded”, the best mode for carrying out the invention, and the like.

[Mode 2] Further, the printing apparatus of mode 2 is the printing apparatus of mode 1,
The banding avoidance dot formation pattern data is generated for each area gradation,
The printing data generation unit is configured to convert the dot formation pattern data for each area gradation based on the area gradation of the dot formation pattern formed by the dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data. It is characterized in that it is replaced by dot formation pattern data corresponding to.
With such a configuration, it is possible to replace the dot formation pattern to be replaced with a dot formation pattern for avoiding banding having the same area gradation as the area gradation of the image constituted by the dot formation pattern. As a result, it is possible to prevent or reduce the deterioration of the print image quality due to the replacement process while avoiding the occurrence of the banding phenomenon.

[Mode 3] Furthermore, the printing apparatus of mode 3 is the printing apparatus of mode 2,
The print data generation unit is configured to obtain the dot formation pattern data for banding avoidance corresponding to the area gradation of the dot formation pattern formed by the dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data. When not stored in the pattern data storage means, the dot formation pattern data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon is converted into the banding avoidance dots corresponding to a plurality of types of area gradations different from the area gradation. It is characterized by being replaced with a combination of formation pattern data.

With such a configuration, it is possible to cope with various area gradations by combining dot formation patterns of a plurality of types of area gradations, so dot formation pattern data is prepared for all gradations. This eliminates the need to do this, and the memory capacity required for the dot formation pattern data can be reduced.
Here, the dot corresponding to the nozzle involved in the banding phenomenon is, for example, a dot formed by a nozzle in which a flight curve occurs and a nozzle in the vicinity thereof. Here, the neighboring nozzles refer to nozzles that form dots of about 2 to 10 pixels around the nozzle (which varies depending on the resolution) around the dots formed by the nozzles in which the flight bend occurs. Hereinafter, a form relating to “printing apparatus control program”, a form relating to “printing apparatus control method”, a form relating to “printing data generation apparatus”, a form relating to “printing data generation program”, a form relating to “printing data generation method”, In addition, the same applies to the description regarding the “recording medium on which the program is recorded”, the best mode for carrying out the invention, and the like.

[Form 4] Furthermore, the printing apparatus of form 4 is the printing apparatus of form 1,
The banding avoidance dot formation pattern data is generated for each area gradation,
The printing data generation unit is configured to convert the image data into dot formation pattern data corresponding to each area gradation based on the gradation value of the image data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data. It is characterized by replacement.

  With such a configuration, since the corresponding image data itself is replaced with dot formation pattern data based on the gradation value of the image data, there is no need to calculate the gradation after conversion to area gradation, and the processing is performed. The effect that it can be simplified is obtained. Furthermore, since it is not necessary to perform the area gradation calculation process before replacement for the position to be replaced, there is an effect that the processing can be speeded up.

[Mode 5] Further, the printing apparatus of mode 5 is the printing apparatus of any one of modes 1 to 4,
The print data generation unit is configured to use the dot data or a part of the image data for the banding avoidance with respect to the dot data or the image data corresponding to the nozzle involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data. It is characterized by replacing with dot formation pattern data.

  With such a configuration, it is possible to replace a part of the dots or image dot formation patterns corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon without replacing them with the band formation avoidance dot formation patterns. In addition to reducing print image quality degradation such as “white streaks” and “dark streaks” due to the banding phenomenon, the deterioration of graininess caused by replacing all of them, and the above-described N-value conversion processing when generating print data It is possible to obtain an effect that image quality deterioration due to breaking the regularity of the image can be reduced.

[Mode 6] Furthermore, the printing apparatus of mode 6 is the printing apparatus of any one of modes 1 to 5,
The dot formation pattern data storage means stores the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data in which data of a plurality of types of formation pattern contents is generated for a predetermined area gradation,
The printing data generation means performs the replacement of the dot formation pattern data by combining two or more types of dot formation pattern data selected from the plurality of types of dot formation pattern data.

With such a configuration, since it is possible to replace with a combination of two or more types of dot formation patterns, it is possible to prevent deterioration of image quality due to a pattern perceived by human eyes by repeating the same pattern. An effect is obtained.
Here, the predetermined area gradation refers to handling a certain area gradation width with one area gradation. For example, in the area gradation, if an area gradation of 0 to 255 is set and the gradation amount is engraved for each gradation, for example, the area gradation of 124 is an area gradation of 124.5 or more and less than 125.5. Is defined as a representative gradation. That is, it is an area gradation representing a gradation having a certain width, and that data of a plurality of types of formation pattern contents are generated for a predetermined area gradation, for example, an area gradation of 124 (124. This indicates a state in which a plurality of types of banding-avoiding dot formation pattern data for expressing an area gradation having a width of 5 or more and less than 125.5 is generated. Hereinafter, a form relating to “printing apparatus control program”, a form relating to “printing apparatus control method”, a form relating to “printing data generation apparatus”, a form relating to “printing data generation program”, a form relating to “printing data generation method”, In addition, the same applies to the description regarding the “recording medium on which the program is recorded”, the best mode for carrying out the invention, and the like.

  Further, the combination is performed so that, for example, two or more types of dot formation patterns are alternately arranged so that only one type of dot formation pattern is not continuously arranged. That is, if the dot formation patterns having the same pattern contents are repeatedly arranged so as to be continuously arranged, this repeated pattern is perceived by the human eye, resulting in degradation of image quality. In order to prevent this, when replacing a large number of dot formation patterns having the same area gradation, two or more types of dot formation patterns, for example, are randomly selected from a plurality of types, or a selection order is determined in advance. The selection is performed in accordance with the order, and the two or more selected dot formation patterns are combined and replaced. If not all of the replacement targets are dot formation patterns having the same pattern contents, replacement may be performed so that the dot formation patterns having the same pattern contents are arranged continuously if the dot formation pattern has the same pattern contents about two or three times. Hereinafter, a form relating to “printing apparatus control program”, a form relating to “printing apparatus control method”, a form relating to “printing data generation apparatus”, a form relating to “printing data generation program”, a form relating to “printing data generation method”, In addition, the same applies to the description relating to the “recording medium on which the program is recorded”, the best mode for carrying out the invention, and the like.

[Mode 7] Further, the printing apparatus of mode 7 is the printing apparatus of any one of modes 1 to 4,
The dot formation pattern data storage means stores the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data in which data of a plurality of types of formation pattern contents is generated for a predetermined area gradation,
The printing data generation unit selects the partial data of the dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data from the data of the plurality of types of formation pattern contents. The entire dot corresponding to each nozzle that participates in the banding phenomenon by combining the area gradation of the dot formation pattern configured by and the area gradation of the dot formation pattern configured by other dots in the vicinity of the dot formation pattern The area gradation is replaced with the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data of the area gradation that becomes the target area gradation.

  With such a configuration, it is possible to replace part of the dot formation pattern of dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon without replacing all of the dot formation pattern data for banding avoidance, In addition, since it is possible to replace with a combination of two or more types of dot formation patterns, the deterioration of graininess caused by replacement of all of them, and the regularity of the N-value processing at the time of generating print data described above can be achieved. It is possible to reduce the deterioration of the image quality due to the breakage and to prevent the deterioration of the image quality due to the pattern perceived by human eyes by repeating the same pattern.

  Here, the other dots in the vicinity of the dot formation pattern are the vicinity of the dots (partial dots) to be replaced among all the dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon described above. For example, a dot forming a dot formation pattern having the same area as a dot formation pattern formed by some dots, and a nozzle forming a part of dots to be replaced It is a dot formed by the same nozzle. Hereinafter, a form relating to “printing apparatus control program”, a form relating to “printing apparatus control method”, a form relating to “printing data generation apparatus”, a form relating to “printing data generation program”, a form relating to “printing data generation method”, In addition, the same applies to the description relating to the “recording medium on which the program is recorded”, the best mode for carrying out the invention, and the like.

  The target area gradation is an area gradation that should be originally expressed by dots formed by the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon. In the present invention, for example, the entire dot formed by the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon should have a target area gradation of, for example, luminance “127”, but the overall luminance is “126” due to flight bending or the like. In this case, by replacing the area gradation of some of the dot patterns in the entire dot with a pattern having a luminance of “128”, the overall luminance is set to “127”. Hereinafter, a form relating to “printing apparatus control program”, a form relating to “printing apparatus control method”, a form relating to “printing data generation apparatus”, a form relating to “printing data generation program”, a form relating to “printing data generation method”, In addition, the same applies to the description relating to the “recording medium on which the program is recorded”, the best mode for carrying out the invention, and the like.

[Mode 8] Further, the printing apparatus of mode 8 is the printing apparatus of mode 6 or 7,
The plurality of types of formation pattern contents are a plurality of types of dot formation patterns having the same pattern size and different dot formation contents.
With such a configuration, it is possible to replace with a combination of two or more types of dot formation patterns having the same pattern size and different dot formation contents. It is possible to prevent the deterioration of the image quality due to.

  Here, the dot formation pattern having different dot formation contents means that when expressing a certain area gradation, the number of dots and the area (size) of the dot formation region are the same, and only the dot formation position is It is a different dot formation pattern. Hereinafter, a form relating to “printing apparatus control program”, a form relating to “printing apparatus control method”, a form relating to “printing data generation apparatus”, a form relating to “printing data generation program”, a form relating to “printing data generation method”, In addition, the same applies to the description relating to the “recording medium on which the program is recorded”, the best mode for carrying out the invention, and the like.

[Mode 9] Furthermore, the printing apparatus of mode 9 is the printing apparatus of mode 6 or 7,
The plurality of types of formation pattern contents are a plurality of types of dot formation patterns having different pattern sizes.
With such a configuration, it is possible to replace with a combination of two or more types of dot formation patterns having different pattern sizes, so that deterioration of image quality due to a pattern perceived by human eyes due to repetition of the same pattern is prevented. The effect that it can be obtained. The effect that it can be obtained.

[Mode 10] Furthermore, the printing apparatus according to mode 10 is the printing apparatus according to any one of modes 6 to 9,
The print data generating means includes two or more types of banding avoidance dots randomly selected from the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data of the plurality of types of formation pattern contents stored in the dot formation pattern data storage means. The formation pattern data is replaced with dot data corresponding to nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data in the selection order.

  In such a configuration, two or more types of banding avoidance dot formation pattern data are randomly selected from the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data of a plurality of types of formation pattern contents, and banding in the image data is performed in the order of selection. Since it is possible to replace the dot formation pattern of the dot corresponding to the nozzle involved in the phenomenon, this makes it difficult to repeat the same pattern, and it is perceived by the human eye by repeating the same pattern The effect that the deterioration of the image quality due to the pattern is prevented can be obtained.

[Form 11] Furthermore, the printing apparatus of form 11 is the printing apparatus of any one of forms 6 to 9,
The print data generation means is configured to select two or more types of banding avoidance dot formation patterns selected from the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data of the plurality of types of formation pattern contents stored in the dot formation pattern data storage means. The data is replaced with data of dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data so that the arrangement of the same kind of dot formation patterns is discontinuous.

  With such a configuration, two or more types of banding avoidance dot formation pattern data selected from the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data of a plurality of types of formation pattern contents are not arranged in the same type of dot formation pattern. Since it becomes possible to replace the dot formation pattern data of the dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the N-valued image data so as to be continuous, the pattern perceived by the human eye by repeating the same pattern It is possible to prevent the deterioration of the image quality due to.

[Mode 12] Furthermore, the printing apparatus according to mode 12 is the printing apparatus according to any one of modes 1 to 11,
The print head is a print head in which the nozzles are continuously arranged over a wider range than the mounting area of the print medium.
With such a configuration, as described above, “white streaks” and “dark” due to the banding phenomenon that is particularly likely to occur when a line head type print head that completes printing in one scan (one pass) is used. It is possible to generate printing data effective to make the “streak” inconspicuous.

  Here, “one-scan printing” means that for one line in the paper feed direction (head movement direction) to be printed by each nozzle, the line is printed only by the responsible nozzle, and the assigned nozzle is once When it passes, it means that the printing of the line is finished. Hereinafter, a form relating to “printing apparatus control program”, a form relating to “printing apparatus control method”, a form relating to “printing data generation apparatus”, a form relating to “printing data generation program”, a form relating to “printing data generation method”, In addition, the same applies to the description relating to the “recording medium on which the program is recorded”, the best mode for carrying out the invention, and the like.

[Mode 13] Furthermore, the printing apparatus of mode 13 is the printing apparatus of any one of modes 1 to 11,
The print head is a print head that performs printing while reciprocating in a direction orthogonal to a paper feeding direction of the print medium.
The banding phenomenon described above is conspicuous in the case of a line head type print head, but also occurs in the case of a multi-pass type print head. Therefore, if the printing method according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 11 is applied to a multi-pass type print head, “white streaks” and “dark streaks” due to banding phenomenon generated in the multi-pass type print head can also be obtained. It is possible to generate printing data that is effective for making it inconspicuous.
In the case of a multi-pass type print head, it is possible to avoid the banding phenomenon as described above by taking measures such as repeated scanning of the print head. If the printing apparatus of No. 1 is applied, it is not necessary to scan the same position many times by the print head, so that higher-speed printing can be realized.

[Mode 14] On the other hand, in order to achieve the above object, a printing apparatus control program according to mode 14
A printing head that has a plurality of nozzles capable of forming dots on a medium used for printing controls a printing device that prints an image by forming a dot formation pattern according to the image data to be printed on the medium. A printer control program used to
An image data acquisition step of acquiring the image data having pixel values of M values (M ≧ 2) constituting the image;
A print data generation step for generating print data obtained by converting the image data into dot formation pattern data for forming a print image of the image data on the medium;
A program used for causing a computer to execute a process including a printing step of printing an image of the image data on the medium by the print head based on the printing data;
In the print data generation step, a dot formation pattern for avoiding banding composed of a plurality of the dots associated with the image data and nozzle information related to the banding phenomenon among the plurality of nozzles. Printing in which the dot data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data is replaced with the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to the nozzles based on the dot formation pattern data that is the formation data It is characterized by generating business data.

With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing in accordance with the read program, the same operations and effects as those of the printing apparatus of mode 1 can be obtained.
In addition, most printing devices on the market such as inkjet printers have a computer system including a central processing unit (CPU), a storage device (RAM, ROM), an input / output device, and the like. Since each means can be realized by software, it can be realized more economically and easily than a case where dedicated means is created to realize each means.
Furthermore, it is possible to easily upgrade the version by modifying or improving the function by rewriting a part of the program.

[Mode 15] Furthermore, the printing apparatus control program according to mode 15 is the same as the printing apparatus control program according to mode 14.
The banding avoidance dot formation pattern data is generated for each area gradation,
In the printing data generation step, based on the area gradation of the dot formation pattern formed by the dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data, the data of the dot formation pattern is converted to the area gradation. It is characterized in that replacement is performed with corresponding dot formation pattern data.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing according to the read program, the same operation and effect as those of the printing apparatus according to mode 2 can be obtained.

[Mode 16] Furthermore, the printing device control program of mode 16 is the printing device control program of mode 14 or 15,
In the print data generation step, when there is no banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to an area gradation of a dot formation pattern constituted by dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data. The dot formation pattern data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon is replaced with a combination of the band formation avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to a plurality of types of area gradations different from the area gradation. It is said.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing according to the read program, the same operation and effect as those of the printing apparatus according to mode 3 can be obtained.

[Mode 17] Further, the printing device control program of mode 17 is the same as the printing device control program of mode 14.
The banding avoidance dot formation pattern data is generated for each area gradation,
In the printing data generation step, based on the gradation value of the image data corresponding to the nozzle involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data, the image data is converted into dot formation pattern data corresponding to each area gradation. It is characterized by replacing by.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing in accordance with the read program, the same operation and effect as those of the printing apparatus of mode 4 can be obtained.

[Mode 18] Further, the printing apparatus control program according to mode 18 is the printing apparatus control program according to any one of modes 14 to 17,
In the print data generation step, for the dot data or image data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data, the dot data or a part of the image data is excluded from the banding. It is characterized in that it is replaced with dot formation pattern data for use.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing according to the read program, the same operations and effects as those of the printing apparatus of mode 5 are obtained.

[Mode 19] Furthermore, the printing apparatus control program according to mode 19 is the printing apparatus control program according to any one of modes 14 to 18,
In the printing data generation step, the replacement of the dot formation pattern data is selected from the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data in which data of a plurality of types of formation pattern contents is generated for a predetermined area gradation It is characterized by combining two or more types of dot formation pattern data.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing according to the read program, the same operation and effect as those of the printing apparatus of mode 6 can be obtained.

[Mode 20] Further, the printing device control program according to mode 20 is the printing device control program according to any one of modes 14 to 19,
In the printing data generation step, a part of dot data corresponding to each nozzle involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data is converted into data of a plurality of types of formation pattern contents for a predetermined area gradation. The area gradation of the dot formation pattern constituted by the part of dots selected from the generated dot formation pattern data for avoiding banding and the dot formation pattern constituted by other dots in the vicinity of the dot formation pattern Combined with the area gradation, the area gradation of the entire dot corresponding to each nozzle involved in the banding phenomenon is replaced with the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data of the area gradation that becomes the target area gradation. It is said.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing according to the read program, the same operations and effects as those of the printing apparatus according to mode 7 can be obtained.

[Form 21] Furthermore, the printing device control program of the form 21 is the printing device control program of the form 19 or 20,
The plurality of types of formation pattern contents are a plurality of types of dot formation patterns having the same pattern size and different dot formation contents.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing according to the read program, the same operation and effect as those of the printing apparatus according to mode 8 can be obtained.

[Mode 22] Furthermore, the printing device control program of mode 22 is the printing device control program of mode 19 or 20,
The plurality of types of formation pattern contents are a plurality of types of dot formation patterns having different pattern sizes.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing in accordance with the read program, the same operations and effects as those of the printing apparatus of mode 9 are obtained.

[Form 23] Further, the printing apparatus control program of form 23 is the printing apparatus control program of any one of forms 19 to 22,
In the print data generation step, two or more types of banding avoidance randomly selected from the band formation avoidance dot formation pattern data of the plurality of types of formation pattern contents stored in the dot formation pattern data storage means The dot formation pattern data is replaced with dot data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data in the selection order.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing in accordance with the read program, the same operations and effects as those of the printing apparatus of form 10 are obtained.

[Mode 24] Furthermore, the printing apparatus control program according to mode 24 is the printing apparatus control program according to any one of modes 19 to 22,
In the printing data generation step, two or more types of banding avoidance dot formation selected from the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data of the plurality of types of formation pattern contents stored in the dot formation pattern data storage means The pattern data is replaced with dot data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data so that the arrangement of the same kind of dot formation patterns is discontinuous.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing in accordance with the read program, the same operations and effects as those of the printing apparatus of mode 11 are obtained.

[Mode 25] On the other hand, in order to achieve the above object, a computer-readable recording medium storing the printing apparatus control program according to mode 25 is provided.
The printing apparatus control program according to any one of Form 14 to Form 24 is recorded.
As a result, the same operation and effect as the printing apparatus control program according to any one of forms 14 to 24 can be obtained, and the print program can be easily obtained via a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or MO. It is possible to give and receive.

[Mode 26] On the other hand, in order to achieve the above object, a printing apparatus control method according to mode 26 includes:
A printing head that has a plurality of nozzles capable of forming dots on a medium used for printing controls a printing device that prints an image by forming a dot formation pattern according to the image data to be printed on the medium. A printing apparatus control method used for performing
An image data acquisition step of acquiring the image data having pixel values of M values (M ≧ 2) constituting the image;
A print data generation step for generating print data obtained by converting the image data into dot formation pattern data for forming a print image of the image data on the medium;
A printing step of printing an image of the image data on the medium by the print head based on the printing data,
In the print data generation step, a dot formation pattern for avoiding banding composed of a plurality of the dots associated with the image data and nozzle information related to the banding phenomenon among the plurality of nozzles. Printing in which the dot data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data is replaced with the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to the nozzles based on the dot formation pattern data that is the formation data It is characterized by generating business data.

More specifically, in the image data acquisition step, for example, a program stored in a storage medium such as a ROM is loaded into the RAM, and the loaded program is executed by the CPU, for example, an input device such as a scanner, A storage device such as an HDD, an input / output I / F, and the like cooperate to implement processing. In the print data generation step, a program stored in a storage medium such as a ROM is loaded into the RAM, the loaded program is executed by the CPU, and various data such as dot formation pattern data stored in the storage device is stored. Realized by making full use of processing. In the printing step, a program stored in a storage medium such as a ROM is loaded into the RAM, and the loaded program is executed by the CPU so that an output composed of a drive mechanism such as a print head or a paper feed mechanism is output. Processing is realized by inputting a control signal to the apparatus and controlling the output apparatus (printing means).
As a result, the same effect as that of the printing apparatus of aspect 1 can be obtained.

[Mode 27] Furthermore, the printing apparatus control method of mode 27 is the same as the printing apparatus control method of mode 26,
The banding avoidance dot formation pattern data is generated for each area gradation,
In the printing data generation step, based on the area gradation of the dot formation pattern formed by the dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data, the data of the dot formation pattern is converted to the area gradation. It is characterized in that replacement is performed with corresponding dot formation pattern data.
As a result, the same effect as that of the printing apparatus of aspect 2 can be obtained.

[Mode 28] Further, the printing device control method of mode 28 is the same as the printing device control method of mode 26 or 27,
In the print data generation step, when there is no banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to an area gradation of a dot formation pattern constituted by dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data. The dot formation pattern data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon is replaced with a combination of the band formation avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to a plurality of types of area gradations different from the area gradation. It is said.
As a result, the same effect as that of the printing apparatus according to mode 3 can be obtained.

[Mode 29] Further, the printing apparatus control method of mode 29 is the same as the printing apparatus control method of mode 26,
The banding avoidance dot formation pattern data is generated for each area gradation,
In the printing data generation step, based on the gradation value of the image data corresponding to the nozzle involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data, the image data is converted into dot formation pattern data corresponding to each area gradation. It is characterized by replacing by.
As a result, the same effect as that of the printing apparatus of aspect 4 is obtained.

[Mode 30] Further, the printing apparatus control method according to mode 30 is the printing apparatus control method according to any one of modes 26 to 29.
In the print data generation step, for the dot data or image data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data, the dot data or a part of the image data is excluded from the banding. It is characterized in that it is replaced with dot formation pattern data for use.
As a result, the same effect as that of the printing apparatus of mode 5 can be obtained.

[Mode 31] Further, the printing apparatus control method of mode 31 is the printing apparatus control method of any one of modes 26 to 30,
In the printing data generation step, the replacement of the dot formation pattern data is selected from the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data in which data of a plurality of types of formation pattern contents is generated for a predetermined area gradation It is characterized by combining two or more types of dot formation pattern data.
Thereby, the same effect as that of the printing apparatus of mode 6 can be obtained.

[Mode 32] Furthermore, the printing device control method of mode 32 is the printing device control method of any one of modes 26 to 29,
In the printing data generation step, a part of dot data corresponding to each nozzle involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data is converted into data of a plurality of types of formation pattern contents for a predetermined area gradation. The area gradation of the dot formation pattern constituted by the part of dots selected from the generated dot formation pattern data for avoiding banding and the dot formation pattern constituted by other dots in the vicinity of the dot formation pattern Combined with the area gradation, the area gradation of the entire dot corresponding to each nozzle involved in the banding phenomenon is replaced with the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data of the area gradation that becomes the target area gradation. It is said.
As a result, the same effect as that of the printing apparatus of mode 7 can be obtained.

[Form 33] Furthermore, the printing apparatus control method of form 33 is the same as the printing apparatus control method of form 31 or 32.
The plurality of types of formation pattern contents are a plurality of types of dot formation patterns having the same pattern size and different dot formation contents.
As a result, the same effect as that of the printing apparatus of aspect 8 is obtained.

[Form 34] Furthermore, the printing apparatus control method of aspect 34 is the same as the printing apparatus control method of aspect 31 or 32.
The plurality of types of formation pattern contents are a plurality of types of dot formation patterns having different pattern sizes.
As a result, the same effect as that of the printing apparatus of form 9 is obtained.

[Form 35] Furthermore, the printing apparatus control method of aspect 35 is the printing apparatus control method according to any one of aspects 31 to 34.
In the print data generation step, two or more types of banding avoidance randomly selected from the band formation avoidance dot formation pattern data of the plurality of types of formation pattern contents stored in the dot formation pattern data storage means The dot formation pattern data is replaced with dot data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data in the selection order.
Thereby, the same effect as that of the printing apparatus of form 10 is obtained.

[Form 36] Furthermore, the printing apparatus control method of aspect 36 is the printing apparatus control method according to any one of aspects 31 to 34.
In the printing data generation step, two or more types of banding avoidance dot formation selected from the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data of the plurality of types of formation pattern contents stored in the dot formation pattern data storage means The pattern data is replaced with dot data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data so that the arrangement of the same kind of dot formation patterns is discontinuous.
Thereby, the same effect as that of the printing apparatus of form 11 is obtained.

[Mode 37] On the other hand, in order to achieve the above object, a printing data generation apparatus according to mode 37
Used in a printing device that prints an image by forming a dot formation pattern according to image data to be printed on the medium by a print head having a plurality of nozzles capable of forming dots on the medium used for printing A print data generation device for generating print data to be printed,
Image data acquisition means for acquiring the image data having pixel values of M values (M ≧ 2) constituting the image;
Stores banding avoidance dot formation pattern data, which is data for forming a dot formation pattern for avoiding banding composed of the plurality of dots, associated with information on nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon among the plurality of nozzles. Dot forming pattern data storage means for
Print data generation means for generating print data obtained by converting the image data into dot formation pattern data for forming a print image of the image data on the medium;
The printing data generation means is a dot data corresponding to a nozzle involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data based on the image data and the dot formation pattern data stored in the dot formation pattern data storage means. The printing data is generated by replacing the banding dot formation pattern data corresponding to the nozzle with the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data.

That is, this embodiment does not include printing means for actually executing printing as in the printing apparatus, but generates printing data according to the characteristics of the print head based on the original M-value image data. It is what you do.
Accordingly, it is possible to obtain the same operations and effects as the printing apparatus of form 1, and for example, it is possible to execute print processing by the printing apparatus simply by sending the printing data generated in this form to the printing apparatus. Therefore, with such a configuration, an existing inkjet printing apparatus can be used as it is without preparing a dedicated printing apparatus.
In addition, since a general-purpose information processing device such as a personal computer can be used, an existing printing system including a print instruction device such as a personal computer and an inkjet printer can be used as it is.

[Mode 38] Furthermore, the printing data generation apparatus of mode 38 is the printing data generation apparatus of mode 37,
The banding avoidance dot formation pattern data is generated for each area gradation,
The printing data generation unit is configured to convert the dot formation pattern data for each area gradation based on the area gradation of the dot formation pattern formed by the dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data. It is characterized in that it is replaced by dot formation pattern data corresponding to.
As a result, the same operations and effects as those of the printing apparatus of aspect 2 are obtained.

[Mode 39] Furthermore, the printing data generation device of mode 39 is the printing data generation device of mode 37 or 38,
The print data generation unit is configured to obtain the dot formation pattern data for banding avoidance corresponding to the area gradation of the dot formation pattern formed by the dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data. When not stored in the pattern data storage means, the dot formation pattern data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon is converted into the banding avoidance dots corresponding to a plurality of types of area gradations different from the area gradation. It is characterized by being replaced with a combination of formation pattern data.
As a result, the same operations and effects as those of the printing apparatus of aspect 3 are obtained.

[Form 40] Furthermore, the print data generation apparatus of form 40 is the print data generation apparatus of form 37,
The banding avoidance dot formation pattern data is generated for each area gradation,
The printing data generation unit is configured to convert the image data into dot formation pattern data corresponding to each area gradation based on the gradation value of the image data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data. It is characterized by replacement.
Thereby, the same operation and effect as those of the printing apparatus of aspect 4 can be obtained.

[Form 41] Furthermore, the printing data generation apparatus of form 41 is the printing data generation apparatus of any one of forms 37 to 40,
The print data generation unit is configured to use the dot data or a part of the image data for the banding avoidance with respect to the dot data or the image data corresponding to the nozzle involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data. It is characterized by replacing with dot formation pattern data.
As a result, the same operations and effects as those of the printing apparatus of aspect 5 are obtained.

[Form 42] Furthermore, the printing data generation apparatus according to form 42 is the printing data generation apparatus according to any one of forms 37 to 41.
The dot formation pattern data storage means stores the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data in which data of a plurality of types of formation pattern contents is generated for a predetermined area gradation,
The printing data generation means performs the replacement of the dot formation pattern data by combining two or more types of dot formation pattern data selected from the plurality of types of dot formation pattern data.
Thereby, the same operation and effect as those of the printing apparatus of mode 6 can be obtained.

[Form 43] Furthermore, the print data generation apparatus according to form 43 is the print data generation apparatus according to any one of forms 37 to 40.
The dot formation pattern data storage means stores the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data in which data of a plurality of types of formation pattern contents is generated for a predetermined area gradation,
The printing data generation unit selects the partial data of the dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data from the data of the plurality of types of formation pattern contents. The entire dot corresponding to each nozzle that participates in the banding phenomenon by combining the area gradation of the dot formation pattern configured by and the area gradation of the dot formation pattern configured by other dots in the vicinity of the dot formation pattern The area gradation is replaced with the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data of the area gradation that becomes the target area gradation.
As a result, the same operations and effects as those of the printing apparatus of aspect 7 are obtained.

[Form 44] Furthermore, the print data generation apparatus of form 44 is the print data generation apparatus of form 42 or 43,
The plurality of types of formation pattern contents are a plurality of types of dot formation patterns having the same pattern size and different dot formation contents.
Thereby, the same operation and effect as those of the printing apparatus of aspect 8 can be obtained.

[Form 45] Furthermore, the print data generation device of form 45 is the print data generation device of form 42 or 43.
The plurality of types of formation pattern contents are a plurality of types of dot formation patterns having different pattern sizes.
As a result, the same operations and effects as those of the printing apparatus of aspect 9 are obtained.

[Form 46] Further, the print data generation apparatus according to form 46 is the print data generation apparatus according to any one of forms 42 to 45.
The print data generating means includes two or more types of banding avoidance dots randomly selected from the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data of the plurality of types of formation pattern contents stored in the dot formation pattern data storage means. The formation pattern data is replaced with dot data corresponding to nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data in the selection order.
Thereby, the same operation and effect as those of the printing apparatus of form 10 can be obtained.

[Form 47] Further, the print data generation apparatus according to form 47 is the print data generation apparatus according to any one of forms 42 to 45.
The print data generation means is configured to select two or more types of banding avoidance dot formation patterns selected from the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data of the plurality of types of formation pattern contents stored in the dot formation pattern data storage means. The data is replaced with data of dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data so that the arrangement of the same kind of dot formation patterns is discontinuous.
As a result, the same operations and effects as those of the printing apparatus of form 11 are obtained.

[Form 48] On the other hand, in order to achieve the above object, a print data generation program of form 48 includes:
Used in a printing device that prints an image by forming a dot formation pattern according to image data to be printed on the medium by a print head having a plurality of nozzles capable of forming dots on the medium used for printing A print data generation program used to generate print data to be printed,
An image data acquisition step of acquiring the image data having pixel values of M values (M ≧ 2) constituting the image;
The image data is used to cause a computer to execute a process including a print data generation step for generating print data obtained by converting the image data into dot formation pattern data for forming a print image of the image data on the medium. Including programs,
In the print data generation step, a dot formation pattern for avoiding banding composed of a plurality of the dots associated with the image data and nozzle information related to the banding phenomenon among the plurality of nozzles. Printing in which the dot data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data is replaced with the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to the nozzles based on the dot formation pattern data that is the formation data It is characterized by generating business data.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing in accordance with the read program, the same operation and effect as those of the printing data generation apparatus of form 37 can be obtained.

[Form 49] Furthermore, the print data generation program of form 49 is the print data generation program of form 48,
The banding avoidance dot formation pattern data is generated for each area gradation,
In the printing data generation step, based on the area gradation of the dot formation pattern formed by the dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data, the data of the dot formation pattern is converted to the area gradation. It is characterized in that replacement is performed with corresponding dot formation pattern data.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing according to the read program, the same operation and effect as those of the printing data generation apparatus according to form 38 are obtained.

[Form 50] Furthermore, the print data generation program of form 50 is the print data generation program of form 48 or 49,
In the print data generation step, when there is no banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to an area gradation of a dot formation pattern constituted by dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data. The dot formation pattern data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon is replaced with a combination of the band formation avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to a plurality of types of area gradations different from the area gradation. It is said.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing in accordance with the read program, the same operations and effects as those of the printing data generation apparatus of form 39 are obtained.

[Form 51] Furthermore, the print data generation program of form 51 is the same as the print data generation program of form 48,
The banding avoidance dot formation pattern data is generated for each area gradation,
In the printing data generation step, based on the gradation value of the image data corresponding to the nozzle involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data, the image data is converted into dot formation pattern data corresponding to each area gradation. It is characterized by replacing by.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing in accordance with the read program, the same operations and effects as those of the printing data generation apparatus of form 40 are obtained.

[Form 52] Furthermore, the print data generation program of form 52 is the print data generation program of any one of forms 48 to 51,
In the print data generation step, for the dot data or image data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data, the dot data or a part of the image data is excluded from the banding. It is characterized in that it is replaced with dot formation pattern data for use.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing in accordance with the read program, the same operation and effect as those of the printing data generation apparatus of form 41 are obtained.

[Form 53] Furthermore, the print data generation program of form 53 is the print data generation program of any one of forms 48 to 52,
In the printing data generation step, the replacement of the dot formation pattern data is selected from the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data in which data of a plurality of types of formation pattern contents is generated for a predetermined area gradation It is characterized by combining two or more types of dot formation pattern data.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing according to the read program, the same operations and effects as those of the printing data generation apparatus according to form 42 are obtained.

[Form 54] Furthermore, the print data generation program of form 54 is the print data generation program of any one of forms 48 to 51,
In the print data generation step, a part of dot data corresponding to each nozzle involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data is converted into a plurality of types of formation pattern content data for a predetermined area gradation. The area gradation of the dot formation pattern constituted by the part of the dots selected from the generated dot formation pattern data for avoiding banding and the dot formation pattern constituted by other dots in the vicinity of the dot formation pattern Combined with the area gradation, the area gradation of the entire dot corresponding to each nozzle involved in the banding phenomenon is replaced with the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data of the area gradation that becomes the target area gradation. It is said.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing in accordance with the read program, the same operations and effects as those of the print data generating apparatus of form 43 are obtained.

[Form 55] Furthermore, the print data generation program of form 55 is the same as the print data generation program of form 53 or 54,
The plurality of types of formation pattern contents are a plurality of types of dot formation patterns having the same pattern size and different dot formation contents.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing in accordance with the read program, the same operations and effects as those of the printing data generation apparatus of form 44 are obtained.

[Form 56] Furthermore, the print data generation program of form 56 is the same as the print data generation program of form 53 or 54,
The plurality of types of formation pattern contents are a plurality of types of dot formation patterns having different pattern sizes.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing in accordance with the read program, the same operations and effects as those of the print data generating apparatus of form 45 are obtained.

[Form 57] Furthermore, the print data generation program of form 57 is the print data generation program of any one of forms 53 to 56,
In the print data generation step, two or more types of banding avoidance randomly selected from the band formation avoidance dot formation pattern data of the plurality of types of formation pattern contents stored in the dot formation pattern data storage means The dot formation pattern data is replaced with dot data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data in the selection order.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing in accordance with the read program, the same operations and effects as those of the print data generating apparatus of form 46 are obtained.

[Form 58] Further, the print data generation program according to form 58 is the print data generation program according to any one of forms 53 to 56.
In the printing data generation step, two or more types of banding avoidance dot formation selected from the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data of the plurality of types of formation pattern contents stored in the dot formation pattern data storage means The pattern data is replaced with dot data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data so that the arrangement of the same kind of dot formation patterns is discontinuous.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing in accordance with the read program, the same operations and effects as those of the printing data generation apparatus of form 47 are obtained.

[Mode 59] On the other hand, in order to achieve the above object, a computer-readable recording medium on which the printing data generation program according to mode 59 is recorded is provided.
The printing data generation program according to any one of Forms 48 to 58 is recorded.
As a result, the same operation and effect as those of the print data generation program of any one of Forms 48 to 58 can be obtained, and the recording medium such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or FD (flexible disk) can be used. It is possible to easily exchange printing programs.

[Mode 60] On the other hand, in order to achieve the above object, a printing data generation method according to mode 60 includes:
Used in a printing device that prints an image by forming a dot formation pattern according to image data to be printed on the medium by a print head having a plurality of nozzles capable of forming dots on the medium used for printing A print data generation method for generating print data to be printed,
An image data acquisition step of acquiring the image data having pixel values of M values (M ≧ 2) constituting the image;
A print data generation step for generating print data obtained by converting the image data into dot formation pattern data for forming a print image of the image data on the medium;
In the print data generation step, a dot formation pattern for avoiding banding composed of a plurality of the dots associated with the image data and nozzle information related to the banding phenomenon among the plurality of nozzles. Printing in which the dot data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data is replaced with the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to the nozzles based on the dot formation pattern data that is the formation data It is characterized by generating business data.

More specifically, in the image data acquisition step, for example, a program stored in a storage medium such as a ROM of an information processing apparatus such as a PC that generates print data is loaded into the RAM, and the loaded program is loaded into the CPU. Is executed in cooperation with an input device such as a scanner, a storage device such as an HDD, and an input / output I / F. The printing data generation step loads a program stored in a storage medium such as a ROM of an information processing apparatus such as a PC that generates printing data into the RAM, and the CPU executes the loaded program. This is realized by performing processing using various data such as dot formation pattern data stored in the storage device.
Thereby, the same operation and effect as those of the printing data generation apparatus of form 37 can be obtained.

[Form 61] Furthermore, the print data generation method of form 61 is the same as the print data generation method of form 60,
The banding avoidance dot formation pattern data is generated for each area gradation,
In the printing data generation step, based on the area gradation of the dot formation pattern formed by the dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data, the data of the dot formation pattern is converted to the area gradation. It is characterized in that replacement is performed with corresponding dot formation pattern data.
As a result, the same operation and effect as those of the printing data generation apparatus of form 38 are obtained.

[Form 62] Furthermore, the print data generation method of form 62 is the same as the print data generation method of form 60 or 61,
In the print data generation step, when there is no banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to an area gradation of a dot formation pattern constituted by dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data. The dot formation pattern data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon is replaced with a combination of the band formation avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to a plurality of types of area gradations different from the area gradation. It is said.
Thereby, the same operation and effect as those of the printing data generation apparatus of form 39 are obtained.

[Mode 63] Furthermore, the printing data generation method of mode 63 is the same as the printing data generation method of mode 60,
The banding avoidance dot formation pattern data is generated for each area gradation,
In the printing data generation step, based on the gradation value of the image data corresponding to the nozzle involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data, the image data is converted into dot formation pattern data corresponding to each area gradation. It is characterized by replacing by.
Thereby, the same operation and effect as those of the printing data generation apparatus of form 40 can be obtained.

[Mode 64] Furthermore, the print data generation method of mode 64 is the print data generation method of any one of modes 60 to 63,
In the print data generation step, for the dot data or image data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data, the dot data or a part of the image data is excluded from the banding. It is characterized in that it is replaced with dot formation pattern data for use.
Thus, the same operation and effect as those of the printing data generation apparatus of form 41 are obtained.

[Mode 65] Furthermore, the printing data generation method of mode 65 is the printing data generation method of any one of modes 60 to 64,
In the printing data generation step, the replacement of the dot formation pattern data is selected from the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data in which data of a plurality of types of formation pattern contents is generated for a predetermined area gradation It is characterized by combining two or more types of dot formation pattern data.
Thereby, the same operation and effect as those of the printing data generation apparatus of form 42 can be obtained.

[Mode 66] Further, the printing data generation method of mode 66 is the printing data generation method of any one of modes 60 to 63,
The dot formation pattern data storage means stores the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data in which data of a plurality of types of formation pattern contents is generated for the same area gradation,
In the print data generation step, a part of the dot data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data, the area gradation corresponding to the area gradation of the other part in the vicinity thereof It is characterized in that it is replaced with dot formation pattern data for banding avoidance.
Thus, the same operation and effect as those of the printing data generation apparatus according to the form 43 can be obtained.

[Mode 67] Furthermore, the print data generation method of mode 67 is the same as the print data generation method of mode 65 or 66,
The plurality of types of formation pattern contents are a plurality of types of dot formation patterns having the same pattern size and different dot formation contents.
Thereby, the same operation and effect as those of the printing data generation apparatus of form 44 can be obtained.

[Mode 68] Furthermore, the print data generation method of mode 68 is the same as the print data generation method of mode 65 or 66,
The plurality of types of formation pattern contents are a plurality of types of dot formation patterns having different pattern sizes.
Thereby, the same operation and effect as those of the printing data generation apparatus of form 45 can be obtained.

[Mode 69] Furthermore, the printing data generation method of mode 69 is the printing data generation method of any one of modes 65 to 68,
In the print data generation step, two or more types of banding avoidance randomly selected from the band formation avoidance dot formation pattern data of the plurality of types of formation pattern contents stored in the dot formation pattern data storage means The dot formation pattern data is replaced with dot data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data in the selection order.
Thereby, the same operation and effect as those of the printing data generation apparatus of form 46 can be obtained.

[Mode 70] Furthermore, the printing data generation method of mode 70 is the printing data generation method of any one of modes 65 to 68,
In the printing data generation step, two or more types of banding avoidance dot formation selected from the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data of the plurality of types of formation pattern contents stored in the dot formation pattern data storage means The pattern data is replaced with dot data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data so that the arrangement of the same kind of dot formation patterns is discontinuous.
Thereby, the same operation and effect as those of the printing data generation apparatus of form 47 can be obtained.

[First Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 to 11 show a first embodiment of a printing apparatus, a printing apparatus control program, a printing apparatus control method, a printing data generation apparatus, a printing data generation program, and a printing data generation method according to the present invention. FIG.

First, the configuration of a printing apparatus 100 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printing apparatus 100 according to the present invention.
The printing apparatus 100 is a line head type printing apparatus, and as shown in FIG. 1, is associated with an image data acquisition unit 10 that acquires image data constituting a predetermined image from an external device, a storage device, or the like, and a banding phenomenon. Generates print data to print the image of the image data configured by replacing the dot formation pattern data of the dots corresponding to the nozzles with the dot formation pattern data for avoiding banding on the printing medium (here, printing paper). The printing data generation unit 11 performs printing, and the printing unit 12 prints an image of image data on a printing medium by an inkjet method based on the printing data.

  The image data acquisition unit 10 expresses M-value (M ≧ 3) image data (for example, a gradation (luminance value) for each color (R, G, B) per pixel by 8 bits (0 to 255). Image data) from the external device via a network such as a LAN or WAN in response to a print instruction from the external device or the input device of the own device. Or from a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM via a drive device (not shown) such as a CD drive or a DVD drive provided in the device, or from a storage device 70 (described later) of the device. It is possible to do. Further, the multi-value RGB data is subjected to color conversion processing and converted to multi-value CMYK (in the case of four colors) data corresponding to each ink of the print head 200 at the same time.

  The print data generation unit 11 converts the CMYK-converted M-value image data into N-values (M> N ≧ 2) based on the N-value information stored in the N-value information storage unit 11b. Corresponding to the binarization processing unit 11a, the N-valued information storage unit 11b that stores the N-valued information necessary for the N-valued processing, such as the threshold value set for each type of dot size, and the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon A dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c that replaces the data after the N-value processing of the dots to be replaced with the dot formation pattern data for banding avoidance based on the replacement information stored in the replacement information storage unit 11d, and the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon And a replacement information storage unit 11d that stores replacement information necessary for replacement processing such as banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to the nozzle numbers of In addition, the M-value image data that has undergone CMYK conversion is converted into printing data used in the inkjet printing unit 12 described later, that is, dots of a predetermined color and a predetermined size for each pixel data in the image data. It has a function of converting into data relating to whether to form or not to form dots (hereinafter referred to as “binarization” or “halftoning” as appropriate).

Here, FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged bottom view showing the structure of the print head 200 of the present invention provided in the printing unit 12, and FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged side view thereof.
As shown in FIG. 3, the print head 200 includes a black nozzle module in which a plurality of nozzles N (18 in the figure) that exclusively discharge black (K) ink are linearly arranged in the nozzle arrangement direction. 50, and a plurality of nozzles N for discharging yellow (Y) ink exclusively, and a plurality of nozzles 52 for discharging magenta (M) ink exclusively, and a yellow nozzle module 52 arranged linearly in the nozzle arrangement direction. The magenta nozzle module 54 in which the nozzles N are linearly arranged in the nozzle arrangement direction, and a plurality of nozzles N that specifically discharge cyan (M) ink are arranged in a straight line in the nozzle arrangement direction. The configuration includes four nozzle modules 50, 52, 54 and 56 such as the nozzle module 56. As shown in FIG. 3, the nozzle modules 50, 52, 54, and 54 are arranged so that the nozzles N of the same number in these four nozzle modules are aligned in the printing direction (perpendicular to the nozzle arrangement direction). 56 are integrally arranged. Accordingly, the plurality of nozzles N constituting each nozzle module are arranged linearly in the nozzle arrangement direction, and the nozzles N of the same number in the four nozzle modules are arranged linearly in the printing direction.

  Further, the print head 200 having such a structure is provided with a piezo (not shown) provided for each of the ink chambers. The ink supplied into the ink chamber (not shown) provided for each of the nozzles N1, N2, N3. By ejecting from each nozzle N1, N2, N3... By a piezoelectric element such as a piezo actuator, circular dots are printed on white printing paper, and the voltage applied to this piezoelectric element is multistage. By controlling the amount of ink discharged from the ink chamber, dots of different sizes can be printed for each nozzle N1, N2, N3. There are also cases where a single dot is formed by applying a voltage to the nozzles in two stages in a short time series in a time series and combining two ejections on the printing paper. In this case, by utilizing the fact that the ejection speed varies depending on the size of the dots, by ejecting the large dots following the small dots, the ink is landed at substantially the same position on the paper surface to form one larger dot. It is possible.

  Next, in FIG. 4, among the four nozzle modules 50, 52, 54 and 56, the black nozzle module 50 of the sixth nozzle N6 from the left causes a flight bending phenomenon, and printing is performed from the nozzle N6. Ink is ejected on the medium S in an oblique direction, so that dots formed on the print medium S are ejected from the normal nozzle N7 adjacent to the nozzle N6 and in the vicinity of the dots formed on the print medium S. It shows a state where it is formed.

  Returning to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the printing unit 12 receives ink from the nozzle modules 50, 52, 54 and 56 formed on the print head 200 while moving one or both of the print medium and the print head 200. Each of the ink jet printers is configured to form a predetermined image composed of a large number of dots by being ejected in the form of dots on the print medium S. In addition to the print head 200 described above, the print head 200 is connected to the print medium. A print head feed mechanism (not shown) that reciprocates in the width direction on S (a multi-pass type), a paper feed mechanism (not shown) for moving the print medium S, and the print head 200 based on the print data. It is composed of a print control mechanism (not shown) that controls ink ejection.

  The printing apparatus 100 includes hardware necessary for realizing the functions of the image data acquisition unit 10, the print data generation unit 11, the printing unit 12, and the like on software, and for realizing the functions. A computer system for executing software to be controlled is provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the hardware configuration of the computer system includes a central processing unit (CPU) 60 that is a central processing unit that performs various controls and arithmetic processing, and a RAM (main storage) (main storage). Random Access Memory (ROM) 62 and ROM (Read Only Memory) 64, which is a read-only storage device, are connected by various internal and external buses 68 such as a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus and an ISA (Industrial Standard Architecture) bus. In addition, an external storage device (Secondary Storage) 70 such as an HDD, an output device 72 such as a printing unit 12, a CRT, and an LCD monitor, an operation panel and a mouse are connected to the bus 68 via an input / output interface (I / F) 66. A network cable for communication with an input device 74 such as a keyboard, a scanner, and a print instruction device (not shown). Le L is obtained by connecting a.

  When the power is turned on, a system program such as BIOS stored in the ROM 64 or the like is stored in various dedicated computer programs stored in the ROM 64 in advance, or in a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, flexible disk (FD), or the like. Various dedicated computer programs installed in the storage device 70 are loaded into the RAM 62 via a medium or a communication network such as the Internet, and the CPU 60 executes various resources according to instructions described in the program loaded in the RAM 62. Each function as described above is realized on software by performing predetermined control and arithmetic processing by making full use of.

  Furthermore, in the printing apparatus 100, the CPU 60 activates a predetermined program stored in a predetermined area of the ROM 64, and executes the printing process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 according to the program. Note that, as described above, the print head 200 for forming dots can generally form dots of a plurality of types of colors such as four colors and six colors at the same time, but the following example explains the explanation. In order to facilitate the description, it is assumed that each dot is formed by any one (single color) print head 200 (monochrome image).

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a printing process in the printing apparatus 100.
When the printing process is executed by the CPU 60, as shown in FIG. 5, first, the process proceeds to step S100.
In step S100, the image data acquisition unit 10 receives print instruction information from an external device connected via the network cable L, or has received print instruction information via the input device 74. Thus, it is determined whether or not there is a print instruction. If it is determined that there is a print instruction (Yes), the process proceeds to step S102. If not (No), the determination process is repeated until there is a print instruction.

  When the process proceeds to step S102, the image data acquisition unit 10 outputs the image data corresponding to the print instruction to the external device, a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM, and a storage device 70 such as an HDD as described above. To determine whether or not the image data has been acquired. If it is determined that the image data has been acquired (Yes), the acquired image data is transmitted to the print nozzle setting unit 12 and the step is performed. The process proceeds to S104. If not (No), a response indicating that printing is not possible is sent to the print instruction source, and then the printing process for the print instruction is abandoned and the process proceeds to Step S100.

Here, the image data is data in which a plurality of M-value pixel data is arranged in a matrix, the row direction of which coincides with the nozzle arrangement direction of the print head 200, and the column direction of the print head 200. Matches the print direction.
When the process proceeds to step S104, the print data generation unit 11 executes the print data refining process, and the process proceeds to step S106.

In step S106, the print data generation unit 11 determines whether or not the print data generation process has been completed. If it is determined that the print data generation process has been completed (Yes), the process proceeds to step S108; otherwise (No) ) Goes to step S104 and continues the process.
When the process proceeds to step S108, the printing data generation unit 11 outputs the printing data generated in step S104 to the printing unit 12, and the process proceeds to step S110.

In step S110, the printing unit 12 executes a printing process based on the printing data from the printing data generation unit 11, and proceeds to step S100.
Next, based on FIG. 6, the print data generation processing in step S104 will be described in detail.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating print data generation processing in the print data generation unit 11 of the printing apparatus 100.

This print data generation process is a process for generating print data by replacing dot data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon with banding avoidance dot formation pattern data prepared in advance. When executed in step S104, as shown in FIG. 6, first, the process proceeds to step S200.
In step S200, the N-value conversion processing unit 11a determines whether image data after CMYK conversion has been acquired from the image data acquisition unit 10, and if it is determined that acquisition has been performed (Yes), the acquired image data is stored. The data is transmitted to the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c, and the process proceeds to step S202. If not (No), the determination process is continued until acquisition.

In step S202, the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c acquires replacement information from the replacement information storage unit 11d, and proceeds to step S204.
Here, the replacement information in the present embodiment includes information indicating whether or not each nozzle number of the print head 200 is involved in the banding phenomenon, and if it is involved, avoids banding corresponding to the nozzle number. Dot formation pattern data. In the present embodiment, the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data is generated for each gradation according to the gradation of the image data to be processed.

In step S204, the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c selects a nozzle number that has not been subjected to replacement processing and corresponds to printing of image data from the replacement information acquired in step S202, and proceeds to step S206.
In this embodiment, as nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon, basically four nozzles including two nozzles on the left side and one on the right side, including nozzles that generate the flight bending phenomenon, correspond. Accordingly, the dot formation patterns corresponding to these four nozzles are replaced with banding avoidance dot formation patterns of a predetermined size prepared in advance in the replacement information storage unit 11d. In addition, when the nozzles that generate the flight bending phenomenon are continuous or when two or more nozzles are located in the vicinity, for example, the basic one described above is the pattern size, etc. Dot formation pattern data for banding avoidance having different formation contents is generated.

In step S206, the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c determines whether or not the dot data corresponding to the nozzle of the nozzle number selected in step S204 is data to be replaced, and is determined to be data to be replaced. If yes (Yes), the process proceeds to step S208. If not (No), the process proceeds to step S210.
When the process proceeds to step S208, the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c converts the dot data corresponding to the nozzle number to be replaced in the image data acquired in step S200, to the area gradation of the dot formation pattern that constitutes the data. A process of replacing with the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to is performed, and the process proceeds to step S210.

  Here, in the present embodiment, the dot formation pattern data for avoiding banding is prepared for each number of nozzles constituting the “nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon”, and the number of nozzles is the same. Performs the replacement process using the same banding avoidance dot formation pattern data prepared for each gradation. Further, in the present embodiment, for each nozzle involved in the banding phenomenon, all the dot data corresponding to that nozzle are replaced with banding avoidance dot formation pattern data (hereinafter referred to as a continuous replacement mode). ) And a processing mode in which only a part of the processing mode is replaced (hereinafter referred to as a thinning replacement mode) can be selected.

In step S210, the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c determines whether all the nozzle numbers corresponding to the image data have been selected. If it is determined that the nozzle numbers have been selected (Yes), the image data after the replacement processing is determined as N. The data is transmitted to the value processing unit 11a and the process proceeds to step S212. Otherwise (No), the process proceeds to step S204.
When the process proceeds to step S212, when the N-value conversion processing unit 11a acquires the image data after the replacement processing from the dot formation pattern data replacement unit 11c, the N-value processing unit 11a acquires N necessary for the N-value processing from the N-value conversion information storage unit 11b. The value information is acquired and the process proceeds to step S214.

  In the present embodiment, the N-value information includes a threshold value for determining whether to form a dot for a plurality of types of dot formation sizes, or whether to form a dot, and a dot value for each dot formation size. Corresponding density values are included. That is, the value (density value) of the pixel data constituting the image data is compared with the above-described threshold value of the density value, and when it is equal to or larger than the threshold value, it is determined that a dot of that size is formed. It is determined that no dot of that size is formed.

In step S214, the N-value conversion processing unit 11a executes N-value conversion processing on the remaining data of the image data excluding the portion of the data subjected to replacement processing in step S208, and the process proceeds to step S216.
Here, the N-value conversion processing converts the density value of the pixel data to “1” when it is determined to “form” the dot based on the determination result obtained by comparing the density values described above. Is determined to be “not formed”, it is converted to “0”. However, the largest dot formation size determined to be “formed” is set as the dot formation size of the pixel data, and the dot formation size information (size identification information) is determined to be “formed”. Corresponds to the numerical value “1”. Therefore, the information set for each size corresponds to the information of each dot formation size, and in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the dots are “not formed” according to the density value. In other words, there are four types of dot formation sizes including “small”, “medium”, and “large”, so that the quaternization processing is substantially performed. In the present embodiment, the N-value processing is an error diffusion method capable of area gradation expression, and in the processing focused on text or the like, a method of simply determining a value by comparing the threshold values of each pixel, It is possible to use a technique such as dither as another area gradation expression method.

In step S216, the N-value conversion processing unit 11a determines whether or not the N-value conversion processing is completed. If it is determined that the N-value conversion processing is completed (Yes), the image data after the N-value conversion processing is used as print data. The data is transmitted to the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c and the process proceeds to step S218. If not (No), the process proceeds to step S214 and the N-value conversion process is continued.
Here, the printing data includes information on the presence / absence of dot formation and identification information of the dot size to be formed.

When the process proceeds to step S218, when the print data is acquired from the N-value conversion processing unit 11a in the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c, the print data generation unit 11 ends the series of print data generation processing and performs the original processing. Return to.
Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
Here, FIG. 8A is a diagram showing an example of a dot pattern formed by only the black nozzle module 50 that does not have an abnormal nozzle that generates a so-called flight curve, and FIG. Among these, it is the figure which showed an example of the dot pattern formed when the nozzle N6 has generate | occur | produced the flight bending phenomenon. FIG. 9A is a diagram illustrating an example of a banding avoidance dot formation pattern for an area gradation with a density value of 63, and FIG. 9B is a banding avoidance dot formation pattern for an area gradation of a density value of 95. It is a figure which shows an example. FIG. 10A is a diagram illustrating an example of a replacement pattern when the continuous replacement mode is set, and FIG. 10B is a diagram illustrating an example of a replacement pattern when the thinning replacement mode is set. FIG. 11A is a diagram illustrating an example of a dot pattern formed based on printing data generated in consideration of the flight curve of the nozzle N6 when the continuous replacement mode is set, and FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the dot pattern formed based on the data for printing produced | generated in consideration of the flight curve of the nozzle N6 at the time of thinning substitution mode setting.

As shown in FIG. 8 (a), the dot pattern formed by the black nozzle module 50 having no abnormal nozzles that generate a flying curve has nozzle intervals such as “white stripes” and “dark stripes” as described above. The banding phenomenon that occurs due to the deviation is not generated.
On the other hand, as for the printing result by the black nozzle module 50 including the nozzle that generates the flight curve, the dot formed by the nozzle N6 is formed by the normal nozzle N7 adjacent to the right as shown in FIG. As a result, a “white streak” is generated between the dot formed by the nozzle N6 and the dot formed by the nozzle N5 adjacent to the left side. Yes.

The above-mentioned “white streaks” are conspicuously more conspicuous when the printed matter is printed at a so-called uniform density, and the print paper is white and the ink is black and the combination is extremely different in density. As a result, the quality of the printed matter is extremely deteriorated.
On the other hand, when the nozzle modules 52, 54, and 56 corresponding to other colors are used instead of the black nozzle module 50, the nozzle N6 and its nozzle N6 are shifted by the distance a due to the flight curve as described above. Since the distance between the nozzle N7 on the right and the right side is close by the distance a, the density of dots formed by these nozzles is high (the dots may overlap), and this portion is a “dark streak”. In this case, the quality of the printed matter is extremely deteriorated.

  Therefore, in the printing apparatus 100 according to the present invention, dot data that is composed of pixel data corresponding to not only the nozzle causing the flight bend, that is, the abnormal nozzle N6 but also the nozzle in the vicinity thereof is formed as a banding avoidance dot formation. It is possible to make “white stripes” or “dark stripes” inconspicuous by generating printing data replaced with pattern data.

  First, when the printing apparatus 100 receives printing instruction information from an external apparatus or the like in the image data acquisition unit 10 (step S100), the printing apparatus 100 transmits image data corresponding to the printing instruction information to the external apparatus that is the transmission source of the printing instruction information. And the image data obtained by converting the color information (RGB) of the acquired image data into CMYK is transmitted to the print data generation unit 11 (step S102). When the print data generation unit 11 acquires the image data from the image data acquisition unit 10, the print data generation unit 11 executes a print data generation process (step S104).

  Printing data generation processing is started by determining that image data has been acquired in the N-value conversion processing unit 11a (step S200). First, in the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c, from the replacement information storage unit 11d. By reading the replacement information and storing it in a predetermined area of the RAM 62, the replacement information is acquired (step S202). Here, the replacement information includes information indicating whether or not the banding phenomenon is involved, and banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to each nozzle number. Further, in the present embodiment, the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data is data for forming a dot portion of 4 dots × 4 dots as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B. (A) is a banding avoidance dot formation pattern corresponding to the density value “63” in the area gradation, and (b) is similarly a banding avoidance dot corresponding to the density value “95” in the area gradation. It is a formation pattern. Although only the density values “63” and “95” are shown, banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to the density value of each gradation is also prepared.

  Next, based on the acquired image data, the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c selects a nozzle number corresponding to the nozzle used for printing the image data from the replacement information stored in the RAM 62 (step S204). It is determined whether or not the dot data corresponding to the nozzle of the selected nozzle number is data to be replaced related to the banding phenomenon (step S206).

  Here, in the present embodiment, the selected nozzle numbers are basically the four nozzle numbers corresponding to the four pixel rows that are continuously arranged around the banding occurrence position in the image data. For example, in the print head 200, as described above, the flight curve occurs in the sixth nozzle and the distance between the fifth and sixth nozzles changes widely, so the nozzle numbers 4, 5, 6, and 7 are selected. Is done.

If the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c determines that the dot data corresponding to the nozzle of the selected nozzle number is the data to be replaced ("Yes" branch of step S206), for example, the user The replacement process is executed in accordance with either the continuous replacement mode or the thinning-out replacement mode set by (step S208).
For example, when the density value of the dot formation pattern corresponding to the replacement nozzle selected in the continuous replacement mode is 63, as shown in FIG. 10A, the dot data corresponding to the selected nozzle All are replaced with banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to the density value 63. That is, instead of the original dot data, a plurality of 4 dot × 4 dot banding avoidance dot formation patterns corresponding to the density value 63 shown in FIG. 9A are continuously arranged.

  On the other hand, for example, when the density value of the dot formation pattern that is set to the thinning replacement mode and corresponds to the selection nozzle to be replaced is 95, as shown in FIG. Is replaced with banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to the density value 95. That is, instead of a part of the original dot data, a part of the 4 dot × 4 dot banding avoidance dot formation pattern corresponding to the density value 95 shown in FIG. 9B is thinned out. It is arranged discontinuously in such a state (a state in which the original data is sandwiched in the middle).

When the replacement process as described above is completed for the dot data corresponding to the nozzles of all nozzle numbers (“Yes” in step S210), the image data after the replacement process is converted into an N-value processing unit 11a. Transmit to.
When the N-value conversion processing unit 11a acquires the image data after the replacement process from the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c, the N-value conversion processing unit 11a reads the N-value conversion information from the N-value conversion information storage unit 11b and stores it in a predetermined area of the RAM 62. The N-value information is acquired (step S212). Here, as described above, the N-value information includes an N-value threshold corresponding to each dot formation size information and a density value. Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the density value corresponding to the dot formation size information is a density value “84” for small dots and a density value “168” for medium dots. The density value “255” corresponds to the large dot.

When acquiring the N-value information, the N-value processing unit 11a performs an N-value process on the data of the part that has not been replaced in the image data based on the N-value information. Here, in the present embodiment, an error diffusion technique is used as the N-value conversion processing method, and this makes it possible to perform gradation expression using the above-described area gradation.
In this error diffusion processing, when M-value data is converted into N-values with a certain threshold as a boundary, the difference from the threshold is not discarded, but is diffused as an error to a plurality of pixels to be processed. This is what is used, and is a conventionally known one. For example, taking the binarization process as an example, if the target pixel to be processed can be expressed in 8 bits (256 gradations) and the gradation is “101”, in the normal binarization process, Since the gradation is less than the threshold value (intermediate value) “128”, it is processed as “0”, that is, a pixel not forming a dot, and “101” is discarded as it is. On the other hand, in the case of error diffusion processing, the “101” is diffused to the surrounding unprocessed pixels according to a predetermined error diffusion matrix. Since only the normal binarization processing does not reach the threshold value as in the case of the selected pixel, it has been processed as “no dot is formed”, but the density value exceeds the threshold value by receiving the error of the selected pixel. It will be handled such as “form dots”, and binarized data closer to the original image data can be obtained.

That is, the above-described density value for each dot formation size is used in error diffusion processing, and the difference between the density value of the original pixel data and the density value of the corresponding dot formation size after N-value conversion is an error. It is diffused to surrounding unprocessed pixel data.
Specifically, if the density value indicated by each pixel data to be processed in the error diffusion method is α, the dot density shown in FIG. 7 is defined. For example, if “42 ≦ α <126”, the dot density is small. The dot is formed, that is, “1”, and if “α <42 or 126 ≦ α”, it is not formed, that is, “0”. Similarly, for “medium dots”, “126” is “1” if “126 ≦ α <210”, “0” if “α <126” and “210 ≦ α”, and for large dots. For example, “210 ≦ α” is “1”, and “α <210” is “0”. That is, based on these comparison results, if there is at least one numerical value “1” indicating that dots are formed for the above three types of dot sizes, “1” for the largest dot size among them. On the other hand, when the numerical value “0” indicating that no dot is to be formed is obtained for all dot sizes, “0” is selected. As described above, for each pixel data, the pixel data is converted into either a value indicating that one of the three types of dots is formed or a value “0” indicating that the dot is not formed. . For example, when information indicating the size is added to “1”, which is a value indicating formation, and the large dot is “L1”, the medium dot is “M1”, and the small dot is “S1”, Are converted into any one of the four values of “0” indicating that no value is to be formed. After the conversion, the difference between the original pixel data value and the converted value is calculated, and the difference is diffused to unprocessed pixels around the original pixel as an error.

As a technical method for controlling the dot size in this way, for example, in the case of a method using a piezo actuator for the print head, the voltage applied to the piezo element is changed to control the ink ejection amount. This makes it easy to implement.
Further, in the error diffusion processing in the present embodiment, for example, the pixel data of the replaced portion is ignored and the error is diffused to the next unprocessed pixel.

  When the N-value conversion processing is completed for all the pixel data except for the replaced portion (step S216), the image data subjected to the replacement processing and N-value conversion processing is used as print data, and printing is completed upon completion. The data generation process is terminated (step S218). Thereby, it is determined that the generation of the print data is completed (step S106), and the print data is output to the printing unit 12 (step S108).

  Then, in the printing unit 12, dots are formed (printed) on the printing medium using the black nozzle module 50 based on the printing data output from the printing data generation unit 11 (step S110). As a result of this formation, for example, as shown in FIG. 11 (a) or (b), the dot formation pattern for the banding occurrence place is replaced with a dot formation pattern for avoiding banding. As shown in the figure, compared with the dot formation result when normal printing data is generated without taking into consideration the state in which the flight of the nozzle N6 is bent (the above replacement process is not performed), When viewed from a simple point of view, although it is undeniable that some rough feeling is generated as compared with the ideal print result of FIG. 8A, the phenomenon that is visually recognized as white stripes and dark stripes is made inconspicuous. Can improve the overall image quality.

Furthermore, since the data to be replaced is simply replaced with banding avoidance dot formation pattern data prepared in advance, it is possible to generate printing data avoiding banding at high speed.
In the first embodiment, the image data acquisition unit 10 corresponds to the image data acquisition unit of the form 1 or 37, and the print data generation unit 11 includes the forms 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 37, 38 corresponds to any one of the print data generation means 38, 39, 40, and 41, and the printing unit 12 corresponds to the printing means of the first mode.

  In the first embodiment, step S102 corresponds to the image data acquisition step of any one of forms 14, 26, 48, and 60, and step S104 includes forms 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 26. , 27, 28, 29, 30, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 60, 61, 62, 63 and 64, step S110 corresponds to the form 14 or 26. Corresponds to the printing step.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 12 to 16 show a second embodiment of a printing apparatus, a printing apparatus control program, a printing apparatus control method, a printing data generation apparatus, a printing data generation program, and a printing data generation method according to the present invention. FIG.

Here, the configurations of the printing apparatus and the computer system according to the present embodiment are the same as those in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the first embodiment. In the present embodiment, the print data generation process performed in step S104 in FIG. 5 of the first embodiment is changed to that of FIG.
The print data generation process of FIG. 12 is the same as that of the first embodiment, but is replaced from the information of each nozzle and the point that the replacement process is performed in parallel with the N-value conversion process. The content of the dot formation pattern data for avoiding banding used at the time and the replacement method are different. Hereinafter, only different parts from the first embodiment will be described, and description of parts overlapping with the first embodiment will be omitted.

Based on FIG. 12, the print data generation processing in step S104 in the present embodiment will be described in detail.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating print data generation processing in the print data generation unit 11 of the printing apparatus 100.
The print data generation process is a process for generating print data by replacing dot data corresponding to nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon with banding avoidance dot formation pattern data prepared in advance. When executed in step S104, the process first proceeds to step S300 as shown in FIG.

In step S300, the N-value conversion processing unit 11a determines whether image data after CMYK conversion has been acquired from the image data acquisition unit 10, and if it is determined that acquisition has been performed (Yes), the acquired image data is stored. The data is transmitted to the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c, and the process proceeds to step S302. If not (No), the determination process is continued until acquisition.
In step S302, the N-value conversion processing unit 11a acquires N-value conversion information necessary for the N-value conversion process from the N-value conversion information storage unit 11b, and also notifies the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c of the start of the N-value conversion process. The process proceeds to step S304.

In step S304, when the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c receives a notification from the N-value conversion processing unit 11a, the replacement information is acquired from the replacement information storage unit 11d, and the process proceeds to step S306.
Here, the replacement information in the present embodiment includes nozzle information (dot formation position information) corresponding to each nozzle number of the print head 200 and nozzles in which the dot formation position is shifted from the ideal formation position by a predetermined distance or more. That is, the information includes dot formation pattern data for avoiding banding when there is a nozzle in which a flight curve occurs.

  Further, in the present embodiment, a plurality of formation pattern contents (dot formation positions and pattern sizes) for avoiding banding are prepared for the same area gradation, and the plurality of formation pattern contents. In combination with the dot formation pattern for avoiding banding, the data of the portion where banding occurs is replaced.

In step S306, the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c selects pixel data that has not been subjected to replacement processing and N-value conversion processing, and proceeds to step S308.
In step S308, in the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c, based on the replacement information acquired in step S304, is the flight curve generated in the nozzle corresponding to the pixel data selected in step S306 (hereinafter referred to as selected pixel data)? By determining whether or not the selected pixel data is data to be replaced, if it is determined that the selected pixel data is data to be replaced (Yes), the process proceeds to step S310; No) moves to step S316. That is, when a flight curve occurs in the nozzle corresponding to the selected pixel data, it is determined that the pixel data is data to be replaced, and otherwise, it is determined that the data is not data to be replaced.

When the process proceeds to step S310, the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c replaces the pixel data to be replaced with the band formation avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to the area gradation of the dot formation pattern included in the pixel data. And the process proceeds to step S312.
Here, in the present embodiment, the dot formation pattern data for avoiding banding is prepared for each number of nozzles constituting the “nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon”, and the number of nozzles is the same. Performs the replacement process using the same banding avoidance dot formation pattern data prepared for a plurality of types for each gradation.

  In this embodiment, for each nozzle involved in the banding phenomenon, dot data corresponding to the nozzle is prepared with a plurality of types of formation pattern contents with the same pattern size and the same area gradation. Processing mode (hereinafter referred to as “composite continuous replacement mode”) that replaces the combined dot formation pattern data for banding avoidance, and banding avoidance that includes multiple types of formation pattern contents with different pattern sizes for the same area gradation Any one of the processing modes (hereinafter referred to as size composite continuous replacement mode) for replacing the dot formation pattern data for combination can be selected.

  In step S312, the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c determines whether the N-value conversion processing and replacement processing have been completed for all the pixel data in the image data. If it is determined that the processing has ended (Yes). The process proceeds to step S314, and if not (No), the process proceeds to step S306. Here, in the present embodiment, the image data that has been subjected to the N-value conversion process and the replacement process becomes print data.

When the process proceeds to step S314, the printing data generation unit 11 ends a series of printing data generation processing and returns to the original processing.
On the other hand, in step S308, if the selected pixel data is not the data to be replaced and the process proceeds to step S316, the N-value conversion processing unit 11a uses the N-value information acquired in step S302 based on the N-value information. The N-value conversion process is executed and the process proceeds to step S312. Here, the data after the N-ary processing is transmitted to the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
Here, FIGS. 13A to 13C are diagrams illustrating an example of a plurality of types of banding avoidance dot formation patterns for the area gradation of the density value 63, and FIG. 14 illustrates a plurality of types of patterns having different pattern sizes. It is a figure which shows an example of the dot formation pattern for banding avoidance. FIG. 15A is a diagram showing an example of the replacement pattern when the composite continuous replacement mode is set, and FIG. 15B is a diagram showing an example of the replacement pattern when the size composite continuous replacement mode is set. FIG. 16A is a diagram showing an example of a dot pattern formed based on printing data generated in consideration of the flight curve of the nozzle N6 when the composite continuous replacement mode is set, and FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a dot pattern formed based on printing data generated in consideration of the flight curve of the nozzle N6 when the size composite continuous replacement mode is set.

  Also in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8B in the first embodiment, a flight bend occurs in the nozzle N6 of the black nozzle module 50, and the dots formed by the nozzle N6 are A distance a shifts toward the dot formed by the normal nozzle N7 adjacent to the right side. As a result, the dot formed by the nozzle N6 and the dot formed by the nozzle N5 adjacent to the left side are shifted. "White streaks" have occurred.

  The print data generation process in the present embodiment is started by determining that image data has been acquired in the N-value conversion processing unit 11a (step S300). Similarly, in the N-value conversion processing unit 11a, an N value is obtained. The N-value information is acquired by reading the N-value information from the digitized information storage unit 11b and storing it in a predetermined area of the RAM 62 (step S302). When the N-value conversion processing unit 11a acquires the N-value conversion information, the N-value conversion processing unit 11a notifies the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c of the start of the N-value conversion processing. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the image data acquired in the N-value processing unit 11a is stored in a memory area in the RAM 62 that is shared with the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c.

Next, when the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c receives an N-value conversion start notification from the N-value conversion processing unit 11a, the replacement information corresponding to the set mode is read out from the replacement information storage unit 11d. The replacement information is acquired by storing in the predetermined area (step S304).
Here, as described above, the replacement information includes nozzle information corresponding to each nozzle number of the print head 200 (dot formation position information), a nozzle whose dot formation position is deviated by more than a predetermined distance from the ideal position, That is, it includes information on dot formation pattern data for avoiding banding when there is a nozzle in which a flight curve occurs. In the present embodiment, different data is prepared for the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data in the composite continuous replacement mode and the size composite continuous replacement mode.

  Further, in the present embodiment, for the composite continuous replacement mode, the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data has one density value (density in the figure) as shown in FIGS. There are three types of formation pattern contents for the value “63”), and each is data for forming a dot formation pattern of a uniform size (number of dots) of 4 dots × 4 dots. In other words, in the present embodiment, for each density value (for example, 0 to 255), band formation avoidance dot formation pattern data having three types of dot formation pattern contents of a uniform size is prepared.

  In the present embodiment, for the size composite continuous replacement mode, the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data has one density value (here, as shown in FIGS. 14A to 14C), for example. , Density value “63”), “4 dots × 2 dots”, “4 dots × 4 dots”, and “4 dots × 6 dots” for different types of banding (number of dots) for avoiding banding There is dot formation pattern data. That is, in this embodiment, banding avoidance dot formation pattern data of three types of formation pattern sizes are prepared for each density value.

In the present embodiment, as described above, there are three types of formation pattern contents and formation pattern sizes. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and two or more types of configurations may be used.
Next, based on the image data stored in the shared memory area, the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c selects pixel data that has not been subjected to replacement processing in the image data, and corresponds to the pixel data in the replacement information. Based on the information of the nozzles and the nozzles in the vicinity thereof (hereinafter referred to as the corresponding nozzle module), it is determined whether or not each nozzle of the corresponding nozzle module has a flight curve. In the present embodiment, it is determined that the flight curve phenomenon has not occurred when the amount of flight curve is smaller than a predetermined value. Also, the dot formation position information specifically refers to the amount of deviation of the dot formation position of each nozzle N from the ideal formation position (the so-called flight curve amount) and the pitch of dots formed by each nozzle N ( Information indicating the distance between the centers of adjacent dots).

  If the amount of flight curve is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, it is determined that there is a nozzle that generates flight curve in the corresponding nozzle module corresponding to the selected pixel data. It is determined that the data is present (“Yes” branch in step S308). Then, from the replacement information, the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to the density value of the dot formation pattern corresponding to the corresponding nozzle module including the selected pixel data is selected, and in the selected banding avoidance dot formation pattern data, The data corresponding to the selected pixel data is replaced with the selected pixel data, and the image data stored in the shared memory is overwritten with the image data after the replacement (step S310). In the present embodiment, this replacement process is executed according to a processing method in either the composite continuous replacement mode or the size composite continuous replacement mode set by the user, for example.

  For example, when the density value of the dot formation pattern corresponding to the corresponding nozzle module of the selected pixel data to be replaced is set to 63 in the composite continuous replacement mode, as shown in FIG. Are replaced with a combination of three types of banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to the density value 63. That is, in place of the original dot data, a plurality of four types of 4 dots × 4 dots banding avoidance dot formation patterns corresponding to the density value 63 shown in FIG. Become. Here, as a method of replacing the three types of banding avoidance dot formation pattern data in combination, one pattern is sequentially selected from the three types of patterns shown in FIG. 14, and the selected patterns are selected in the order of selection. Assuming that the method of replacement so as to be continuously arranged and the patterns shown in FIGS. 14A to 14C are patterns (a) to (c), respectively, pattern (a) → pattern (b) → pattern (c ) → Pattern (a) → Pattern (b) → Pattern (c)... There is a method of replacing the same pattern so that it becomes discontinuous in the combination of three types of patterns.

When the replacement is performed using the method as described above, for example, as shown in FIG. 15A, the patterns having the same formation contents in the three types of patterns are replaced in a state of being arranged in a row without being continuous.
On the other hand, for example, when the density value of the dot formation pattern corresponding to the corresponding nozzle module of the selected pixel data to be replaced is 63 in the size composite continuous replacement mode, as shown in FIG. A part of dot data corresponding to the corresponding nozzle module is replaced with a combination of three types of banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to the density value 63 and having different pattern sizes. That is, instead of the original dot formation pattern data, “2 dots × 4 dots”, “4 dots × 4 dots”, and “4” corresponding to the density value 63 shown in FIGS. Three types of banding avoidance dot formation patterns having different pattern sizes of “dots × 6 dots” are replaced so as to be continuously arranged. Here, the method of replacing the three types of banding avoidance dot formation pattern data in combination is the same as in the composite continuous replacement mode.

When the replacement is performed using the method as described above, for example, as shown in FIG. 15B, the patterns of the same size in the three types of patterns are replaced in a state where they are arranged in a row without being continuous.
Here, in the present embodiment, the corresponding nozzle module corresponding to the selected pixel data is basically four nozzles corresponding to four pixel rows arranged in succession in the image data. For example, since the number of nozzles of the print head 200 is 18 as described above, the nozzle numbers 0 to 3, 4 to 7, 8 to 11, and 12 to 15 are set for the selected pixel data, and the rest Pixel data corresponding to the nozzle numbers 16 and 17 are handled separately.

  Further, in the present embodiment, as described above, for each selected pixel data, the selected pixel data is changed to the dot corresponding to the selected pixel data in the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to each mode. Replace with data. In the present embodiment, each pixel is selected and processed in order. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of pixel data corresponding to the pattern size of the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data is selected at the same time. You may make it the structure processed.

Further, when the amount of flight curve of each nozzle of the corresponding nozzle module corresponding to the selected pixel data is smaller than a predetermined value, it is determined that the flight curve has not occurred in each nozzle of the nozzle module of the selected pixel data. Then, it is determined that the selected pixel data is not data to be replaced (“No” branch of step S308).
As described above, when the selected pixel data is not the data to be replaced, the N-value conversion processing unit 11a is notified of this. Upon receiving this notification, the N-value conversion processing unit 11a performs N-value conversion processing similar to that in the first embodiment on the corresponding pixel data (step S316).

  Then, when the above replacement processing and N-value conversion processing are completed for all pixel data (“Yes” in step S312), the image data after the replacement processing and N-value conversion processing is used as print data. Upon completion, the print data generation process is terminated (step S314), whereby it is determined that the print data generation is complete (step S106), and the print data is output to the printing unit 12 (step S106). Step S108).

  Then, in the printing unit 12, dots are formed (printed) on the printing medium using the black nozzle module 50 based on the printing data output from the printing data generation unit 11 (step S110). As a result of this formation, for example, as shown in FIG. 16A or FIG. 16B, the dot formation pattern for the banding occurrence location is replaced with a dot formation pattern for avoiding banding. As shown in the figure, compared with the dot formation result when normal printing data is generated without taking into consideration the state in which the flight of the nozzle N6 is bent (the above replacement process is not performed), When viewed from a simple point of view, although it is undeniable that some rough feeling is generated as compared with the ideal print result of FIG. 8A, the phenomenon that is visually recognized as white stripes and dark stripes is made inconspicuous. Can improve the overall image quality.

Furthermore, since the data to be replaced is simply replaced with banding avoidance dot formation pattern data prepared in advance, it is possible to generate printing data avoiding banding at high speed.
The nozzle information is used, for example, by optical printing result reading means such as scanner means periodically or at a predetermined time in order to cope with a change in the characteristics of the print head 200 after use of the printing apparatus 100. The characteristics of the print head 200 may be inspected from the print result of the print head 200, and the inspection result may be stored together with the data in the replacement information storage unit 11d or overwritten on the data. Further, the characteristics of the print head 200 are fixed to some extent in the manufacturing stage, and it is considered that it is relatively rare to change after manufacturing except for ejection failure due to ink clogging or the like. Therefore, if inspection is performed at the time of shipment from the factory and stored in the replacement information storage unit 11d in advance, there is almost no need to set a means for detecting nozzle characteristics in each printing apparatus.

In the second embodiment, the image data acquisition unit 10 corresponds to the image data acquisition unit of the form 1 or 37, and the print data generation unit 11 includes the forms 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 11, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 46, and 47, and the printing unit 12 corresponds to the printing unit of mode 1.
In the second embodiment, step S102 corresponds to the image data acquisition step of any one of forms 14, 26, 48, and 60, and step S104 includes forms 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 23. , 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 35, 36, 48, 49, 50, 51, 53, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 69 and 70 Step S110 corresponds to the printing step of form 14 or 26.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 17 to 19 show a third embodiment of a printing apparatus, a printing apparatus control program, a printing apparatus control method, a printing data generation apparatus, a printing data generation program, and a printing data generation method according to the present invention. FIG.

Here, the configurations of the printing apparatus and the computer system according to the present embodiment are the same as those in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the first embodiment. In the present embodiment, the print data generation process performed in step S104 in FIG. 5 of the first embodiment is changed to that of FIG.
The print data generation process of FIG. 17 is the same as that of the first and second embodiments described above, but the replacement process is performed after the N-value processing of the image data, and information on each nozzle. The content of the dot formation pattern data for avoiding banding and the replacement method used for replacement are different. Hereinafter, only different parts from the first and second embodiments will be described, and description of parts overlapping with the first and second embodiments will be omitted.

Based on FIG. 17, the print data generation processing in step S104 in the present embodiment will be described in detail.
FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating print data generation processing in the print data generation unit 11 of the printing apparatus 100.
This print data generation process is a process for generating print data by replacing dot data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon with banding avoidance dot formation pattern data prepared in advance. When executed in step S104, as shown in FIG. 17, first, the process proceeds to step S400.

In step S400, the N-value conversion processing unit 11a determines whether or not image data after CMYK conversion has been acquired from the image data acquisition unit 10. If it is determined that the image data has been acquired (Yes), the process proceeds to step S402. If not (No), the determination process is continued until acquisition.
In step S402, the N-value conversion processing unit 11a acquires N-value conversion information necessary for the N-value conversion process from the N-value conversion information storage unit 11b, and the process proceeds to step S404.

In step S404, the N-value conversion processing unit 11a performs N-value conversion processing on the image data acquired in step S400, and transmits the image data for which the N-value conversion processing has been completed to the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c. Then, the process proceeds to step S406.
In step S406, the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c acquires replacement information from the replacement information storage unit 11d, and proceeds to step S408.

Here, the replacement information in the present embodiment includes information indicating whether or not each nozzle number of the print head 200 is involved in the banding phenomenon, and if it is involved, avoids banding corresponding to the nozzle number. Dot formation pattern data.
Further, in the present embodiment, the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data is not prepared for each gradation according to the gradation of the image data to be processed as in the first embodiment. For example, when the range of density values that can be handled is “0 to 255”, for example, density values “2”, “4”, “6”,..., “252”, “254”, and the like. The dot formation pattern data for banding avoidance is prepared only for the even density values, and the remaining odd density values are supported by a combination of even density values. Banding avoidance dot formation pattern data is prepared, and for the dot formation patterns to be replaced corresponding to the remaining density values, a set of banding avoidance dot formation pattern data of the prepared density values is provided. It is replaced by a suit. By doing so, the number of banding avoidance dot formation pattern data that becomes enormous depending on the range of gradation values can be reduced, and the memory capacity required for this data can be reduced.

In step S408, the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c selects a nozzle number that has not been subjected to replacement processing and corresponds to printing of image data from the replacement information acquired in step S406, and proceeds to step S410.
In step S410, the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c determines whether or not the dot data corresponding to the nozzle of the nozzle number selected in step S204 is replacement target data, and is determined to be replacement target data. If yes (Yes), the process proceeds to step S412. If not (No), the process proceeds to step S414.

When the process proceeds to step S412, the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c converts the dot data corresponding to the nozzle number to be replaced in the N-valued image data to the area gradation of the dot formation pattern constituting the data. The process of replacing with banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to is performed, and the process proceeds to step S414.
Here, in the present embodiment, for each nozzle involved in the banding phenomenon, the processing mode for replacing all dot data corresponding to the nozzle with the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data (hereinafter referred to as composite continuous replacement mode). 2) and a processing mode in which only a part thereof is replaced (hereinafter referred to as a composite thinning replacement mode) can be selected. Note that in the composite thinning replacement mode, the entire dot including the replacement target is obtained using the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data prepared for some density values in advance and the density value of the dot portion not to be replaced. The density value is expressed.

In step S414, the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c determines whether all the nozzle numbers corresponding to the image data have been selected. If it is determined that the nozzle numbers have been selected (Yes), the process proceeds to step S416, otherwise. In the case (No), the process proceeds to step S408.
When the process proceeds to step S416, the print data generation unit 11 ends a series of print data generation processing and returns to the original processing.

Next, based on FIG.18 and FIG.19, operation | movement of this Embodiment is demonstrated.
Here, FIG. 18A is a diagram illustrating an example of a replacement pattern when the composite continuous replacement mode 2 is set, and FIG. 18B is a diagram illustrating an example of a replacement pattern when the composite thinning replacement mode is set. . FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of a dot pattern formed on the basis of print data generated in consideration of the flight curve of the nozzle N6.

  Also in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8B in the first embodiment, a flight bend occurs in the nozzle N6 of the black nozzle module 50, and the dots formed by the nozzle N6 are A distance a shifts toward the dot formed by the normal nozzle N7 adjacent to the right side. As a result, the dot formed by the nozzle N6 and the dot formed by the nozzle N5 adjacent to the left side are shifted. "White streaks" have occurred.

The print data generation process in the present embodiment is started by determining that image data has been acquired in the N-value conversion processing unit 11a (step S400). The N-value information is read from the digitized information storage unit 11b and stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 62, thereby acquiring the N-value information (step S402).
Upon obtaining the N-value information, the N-value processing unit 11a performs an N-value process similar to that of the first embodiment on the image data based on the N-value information, Is transmitted to the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c (step S404).

  When the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c acquires the image data after the N-value conversion processing from the N-value conversion processing unit 11a, the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c reads the replacement information from the replacement information storage unit 11d and stores it in a predetermined area of the RAM 62. Information is acquired (step S406). Here, the replacement information includes information indicating whether or not the banding phenomenon is involved, and banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to each nozzle number. In the present embodiment, the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data is used to form the banding avoidance dot formation pattern shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B in the first embodiment, for example. Similar to the data, it is data for forming a dot formation pattern corresponding to each density value and corresponding to a dot portion of 4 dots × 4 dots.

  In the present embodiment, for the composite continuous replacement mode 2, the density values “1”, “4”, “7”,. .. Banding avoidance dot formation patterns corresponding to “125”, “128”,..., “252”, “255” are prepared and can be handled in the composite thinning replacement mode. Banding avoidance dot formation patterns corresponding to even density values in a density value range of “0 to 255” are prepared.

  The dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c selects, from the replacement information stored in the RAM 62, the nozzle number corresponding to the nozzle used for printing the image data based on the acquired image data after the N-value processing (step S408). ), It is determined whether or not the dot data corresponding to the nozzle of the nozzle number is data to be replaced related to the banding phenomenon (step S410).

Here, in the present embodiment, the selected nozzle numbers are basically four pixel rows arranged in succession around the banding occurrence location in the image data, as in the first embodiment. The four nozzle numbers corresponding to.
When the dot formation pattern replacement unit 11c determines that the dot data corresponding to the nozzle of the selected nozzle number is the data to be replaced ("Yes" branch in step S410), for example, the user The replacement process is executed in accordance with either the composite continuous replacement mode 2 or the composite thinning replacement mode set by (step S412).

  For example, when the density value of the dot formation pattern that is set to the composite continuous replacement mode 2 and corresponds to the selection nozzle to be replaced is “127”, as shown in FIG. All of the dot formation pattern data is replaced with a combination of banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to the density values “125” and “128”. In other words, instead of the original dot formation pattern data, 4 dots × 4 dots banding avoidance dot formation corresponding to two types of density values “125” and “128” having a density value of “127” on average. The patterns are arranged alternately and continuously.

  On the other hand, for example, when the density value of the dot formation pattern that is set to the composite thinning replacement mode and corresponds to the selection nozzle to be replaced is “127”, as shown in FIG. A part of the corresponding dot formation pattern data is replaced as a replacement target, and the replacement process is not performed on the other part. At this time, the replacement target portion is expressed so that the density value “127” of the entire dot formation pattern is expressed by the average of the density value of the replacement target portion and the density value “127” of the non-replacement portion. And a combination of banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to density values “128” and “126”. That is, instead of the original dot data to be replaced, two 4 dot × 4 dot banding avoidance dot formation patterns corresponding to the density value “128” and 4 dots × 4 corresponding to the density value “126”. By arranging one dot formation pattern for avoiding banding of dots, the density value of the entire dot formation pattern becomes “127” together with the density value “127” of the dot formation pattern of the dot portion that is not the replacement target. Replace with.

  If it is determined that the dot data corresponding to the nozzle of the selected nozzle number is not the data to be replaced ("No" branch in step S410), other unprocessed nozzle numbers are included in the replacement information. If there is an unprocessed nozzle number ("No" branch in step S414), the unprocessed nozzle number is selected (step S408), and the above determination process is performed. (Step S410), and processing according to the determination result of the determination processing is performed.

  When the determination processing and replacement processing as described above are completed for the dot data corresponding to the nozzles of all nozzle numbers (“Yes” branch in step S414), the image data subjected to this replacement processing is printed. When the print data is generated, the print data generation process ends (step S416), whereby it is determined that the print data generation is complete (step S106), and the print data is output to the printing unit 12. (Step S108).

  Then, in the printing unit 12, dots are formed (printed) on the printing medium using the black nozzle module 50 based on the printing data output from the printing data generation unit 11 (step S110). As a result of this formation, for example, as shown in FIG. 19A, the dot formation pattern for the banding occurrence place is replaced with a dot formation pattern for avoiding banding, and as shown in FIG. Compared with the dot formation result when normal printing data is generated without considering the state of flight bending at the nozzle N6 (the above replacement process is not performed), it is viewed from a macro viewpoint. Although it is undeniable that some rough feeling is generated as compared with the ideal printing result of FIG. 8A, the phenomenon that is visually recognized as white stripes and dark stripes can be made inconspicuous, The image quality as a whole can be improved.

In the third embodiment, the image data acquisition unit 10 corresponds to the image data acquisition unit of the form 1 or 37, and the print data generation unit 11 includes the forms 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 46, and 47, and the printing unit 12 corresponds to the printing unit of form 1. .
In the third embodiment, step S102 corresponds to the image data acquisition step of any one of forms 14, 26, 48, and 60, and step S104 includes forms 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 20, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 36, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 63 , 64, 65, 66, 69, and 70 correspond to the printing data generation step, and step S110 corresponds to the printing step of form 14 or 26.

  In the printing apparatus 100 according to the first to third embodiments, dots of three types of sizes can be formed except for “not formed”. However, the printing apparatus 100 is not limited to this. , Even when only one type of dot can be formed except for “not formed”, a banding avoidance dot forming pattern composed of the one type of dot is prepared, and FIG. As shown in FIG. 20, the dot formation pattern corresponding to the nozzles involved in the flight curve shown in FIG. 20 is replaced with the prepared banding avoidance dot formation pattern, so that the dot pattern printing result of FIG. In comparison, the phenomenon visually recognized as white stripes and dark stripes can be made inconspicuous, and the overall image quality can be improved.

  In addition, the printing apparatus according to the first to third embodiments is characterized in that printing data is generated from image data in accordance with the characteristics of the print head with almost no modification to the existing printing apparatus itself. Therefore, it is not necessary to prepare a special printer as the printing unit 12, and an existing inkjet printer can be used as it is. If the printing unit 12 is separated from the printing apparatus 100 in the first to third embodiments, the function can be realized only by a general-purpose printing instruction terminal (printing data generation apparatus) such as a PC. Become.

Further, the present invention is not limited to the flying bend phenomenon, but the ink ejection direction is vertical (normal), but the formation content of the nozzle is deviated from the normal position. As a result, the dots formed are the same as the flying bend phenomenon. Of course, the present invention can be applied in exactly the same manner.
The printing apparatus 100 in the first to third embodiments can be applied not only to a line head type ink jet printer but also to a multi-pass type ink jet printer. It is possible to obtain high-quality printed material with almost no noticeable white or dark streaks in one pass even if the flight bend phenomenon occurs. Since it can be reduced, high-speed printing is possible than before.

FIGS. 21A to 21C show respective printing methods using a line head type ink jet printer and a multi-pass type ink jet printer.
As shown in FIG. 2A, when the width direction of a rectangular print medium (paper) S is the main scanning direction of the image data and the longitudinal direction is the sub-scanning direction of the image data, the line head type inkjet printer As shown in FIG. 5B, the print head 200 has a length corresponding to the paper width of the print medium (paper) S. The print head 200 is fixed and the print head 200 is By moving the printing medium (paper) S in the sub-scanning direction, printing is completed in so-called one pass (operation). The printing medium (paper) S may be fixed as in a so-called flat head type scanner, and printing may be performed while moving the print head 200 side in the sub-scanning direction, or moving both in the opposite direction. Is possible. On the other hand, in the multi-pass type ink jet printer, as shown in FIG. 4C, the print head 200, which is much shorter than the paper width, is positioned in the direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction. Printing is executed by moving the print medium (paper) S in the sub-scanning direction by a predetermined pitch while reciprocating in the main scanning direction many times. Therefore, the latter multi-pass type ink jet printer has a drawback that it takes more printing time than the former line head type ink jet printer, but the print head 200 can be repeatedly positioned at an arbitrary position. Among the banding phenomenon as described above, it is possible to cope to some extent with respect to the reduction of the white streak phenomenon.

In the first to third embodiments, the ink jet printer that performs printing by ejecting ink in dots has been described as an example. However, the present invention provides a print head in which the print mechanisms are arranged in a line. The present invention can also be applied to other printing apparatuses used, for example, thermal head printers called thermal transfer printers or thermal printers.
In FIG. 3, each nozzle module 50, 52, 54, 56 provided for each color of the print head 200 has a form in which the nozzles N are linearly continuous in the longitudinal direction of the print head 200. As shown in FIG. 22, each of these nozzle modules 50, 52, 54, 56 is composed of a plurality of short nozzle units 50a, 50b,... 50n, which are arranged before and after the movement direction of the print head 200. You may comprise as follows. In particular, if each nozzle module 50, 52, 54, 56 is configured with a plurality of short nozzle units 50a, 50b,... 50n, the individual lengths of the nozzle units 50a, 50b,. Since it is possible to configure a long nozzle module using the above-described head, it is possible to increase the manufacturing yield of the nozzle module.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus 100 according to the present invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of a computer system. It is a partial expanded bottom view which shows the structure of the print head 200 of this invention. FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged side view of FIG. 4. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a printing process in the printing apparatus 100. 6 is a flowchart illustrating print data generation processing in the print data generation unit 11 of the printing apparatus 100. It is a figure which shows an example of the dot size which each nozzle N can form. (A) is the figure which showed an example of the dot pattern formed only by the black nozzle module 50 without the abnormal nozzle which generate | occur | produces a flight curve, (b) is a nozzle N6 among the black nozzle modules 50 flying. It is the figure which showed an example of the dot pattern formed when the curve phenomenon has generate | occur | produced. (A) is a banding avoidance dot formation pattern corresponding to the density value “63” in the area gradation, and (b) is similarly a banding avoidance dot corresponding to the density value “95” in the area gradation. It is a formation pattern. (A) is a figure which shows an example of the substitution pattern at the time of continuous substitution mode setting, (b) is a figure which shows an example of the substitution pattern at the time of thinning substitution mode setting. (A) is a figure which shows an example of the dot pattern formed based on the printing data produced | generated considering the flight curve of the nozzle N6 at the time of continuous substitution mode setting, (b) is a thinning substitution mode It is a figure which shows an example of the dot pattern formed based on the data for printing produced | generated in consideration of the flight curve of the nozzle N6 at the time of setting. 6 is a flowchart illustrating print data generation processing in the print data generation unit 11 of the printing apparatus 100. (A)-(c) is a figure which shows an example of the dot formation pattern for multiple types of banding avoidance with respect to the area gradation of the density value 63. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the several types of dot formation pattern for banding avoidance from which pattern size differs. (A) is a figure which shows an example of the replacement pattern at the time of composite continuous replacement mode setting, (b) is a figure which shows an example of the replacement pattern at the time of size composite continuous replacement mode setting. (A) is a figure which shows an example of the dot pattern formed based on the printing data produced | generated in consideration of the flight curve of the nozzle N6 at the time of composite continuous replacement mode setting, (b) is a size composite continuous It is a figure which shows an example of the dot pattern formed based on the data for printing produced | generated in consideration of the flight curve of the nozzle N6 at the time of substitution mode setting. 6 is a flowchart illustrating print data generation processing in the print data generation unit 11 of the printing apparatus 100. (A) is a figure which shows an example of the substitution pattern at the time of composite continuous substitution mode 2 setting, (b) is a figure which shows an example of the substitution pattern at the time of composite thinning substitution mode setting. It is a figure which shows an example of the dot pattern formed based on the data for printing produced | generated in consideration of the flight curve of the nozzle N6. It is a figure which shows an example of the dot pattern formed based on the printing data produced | generated in consideration of the flight curve of the nozzle N6 in case the nozzle N can form only one kind of size dot. (A)-(C) is explanatory drawing which shows the difference in the printing system by a multipass type inkjet printer and a line head type inkjet printer. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the other example of the structure of a print head.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Printing apparatus, 200 ... Print head, 10 ... Image data acquisition part, 11 ... Print data generation part, 11a ... N-value conversion processing part, 11b ... N-value conversion information storage part, 11c ... Dot formation pattern replacement part, 11d ... Replacement information storage unit, 12 ... Printing unit, 60 ... CPU, 62 ... RAM, 64 ... ROM, 66 ... Interface, 70 ... Storage device, 72 ... Output device, 74 ... Input device, 50 ... Black nozzle module, 52 ... Yellow nozzle module, 54 ... Magenta nozzle module, 56 ... Cyan nozzle module, P, S ... Print medium (paper), L ... Network cable, N ... Nozzle

Claims (18)

A printing apparatus configured to print an image by forming a dot formation pattern corresponding to image data to be printed on the medium by a print head having a plurality of nozzles capable of forming dots on the medium used for printing. And
Image data acquisition means for acquiring the image data having pixel values of M values (M ≧ 2) constituting the image;
Stores banding avoidance dot formation pattern data, which is data for forming a dot formation pattern for avoiding banding composed of the plurality of dots, associated with information on nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon among the plurality of nozzles. Dot forming pattern data storage means for
Print data generating means for generating print data obtained by converting the image data into dot formation pattern data for forming a print image of the image data on the medium;
Printing means for printing an image of the image data on the medium by the print head based on the printing data;
The printing data generation means is a dot data corresponding to a nozzle involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data based on the image data and the dot formation pattern data stored in the dot formation pattern data storage means. The printing apparatus is characterized in that printing data is generated by substituting with the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to the nozzle. The banding avoidance dot formation pattern data is generated for each area gradation,
The printing data generation unit is configured to convert the dot formation pattern data for each area gradation based on the area gradation of the dot formation pattern formed by the dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing is replaced with dot formation pattern data corresponding to.   The print data generation unit is configured to use the dot formation pattern data for banding avoidance corresponding to the area gradation of the dot formation pattern formed by the dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data. When not stored in the pattern data storage means, the dot formation pattern data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon is converted into the banding avoidance dots corresponding to a plurality of types of area gradations different from the area gradation. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the printing apparatus is replaced with a combination of formation pattern data. The banding avoidance dot formation pattern data is generated for each area gradation,
The printing data generation unit is configured to convert the image data into dot formation pattern data corresponding to each area gradation based on the gradation value of the image data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus is replaced.   The print data generation unit is configured to use the dot data or a part of the image data for the banding avoidance with respect to the dot data or the image data corresponding to the nozzle involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus is replaced with dot formation pattern data. The dot formation pattern data storage means stores the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data in which data of a plurality of types of formation pattern contents is generated for a predetermined area gradation,
2. The printing data generation unit performs replacement of the dot formation pattern data by combining two or more types of dot formation pattern data selected from the plurality of types of dot formation pattern data. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 5. The dot formation pattern data storage means stores the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data in which data of a plurality of types of formation pattern contents is generated for a predetermined area gradation,
The printing data generation unit selects the partial data of the dots corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data from the data of the plurality of types of formation pattern contents. The entire dot corresponding to each nozzle that participates in the banding phenomenon by combining the area gradation of the dot formation pattern configured by and the area gradation of the dot formation pattern configured by other dots in the vicinity of the dot formation pattern 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the area gradation is replaced with the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data having an area gradation in which a target area gradation is obtained. 6.   8. The printing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the plurality of types of formation pattern contents are a plurality of types of dot formation patterns having the same pattern size and different dot formation contents.   8. The printing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the contents of the plurality of types of formation patterns are a plurality of types of dot formation patterns having different pattern sizes.   The print data generating means includes two or more types of banding avoidance dots randomly selected from the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data of the plurality of types of formation pattern contents stored in the dot formation pattern data storage means. The printing according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein the formation pattern data is replaced with data of dots corresponding to nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data in the selection order. apparatus.   The print data generation means is configured to select two or more types of banding avoidance dot formation patterns selected from the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data of the plurality of types of formation pattern contents stored in the dot formation pattern data storage means. 6. The data is replaced with dot data corresponding to nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data so that the arrangement of the same kind of dot formation patterns is discontinuous. The printing apparatus according to claim 1.   12. The print head according to claim 1, wherein the print head is a print head in which the nozzles are continuously arranged over a range wider than a mounting area of the print medium. Printing device.   12. The printing according to claim 1, wherein the printing head is a printing head that performs printing while reciprocating in a direction orthogonal to a paper feeding direction of the printing medium. apparatus. A printing head that has a plurality of nozzles capable of forming dots on a medium used for printing controls a printing device that prints an image by forming a dot formation pattern according to the image data to be printed on the medium. A printer control program used to
An image data acquisition step of acquiring the image data having pixel values of M values (M ≧ 2) constituting the image;
A print data generation step for generating print data obtained by converting the image data into dot formation pattern data for forming a print image of the image data on the medium;
A program used for causing a computer to execute a process including a printing step of printing an image of the image data on the medium by the print head based on the printing data;
In the print data generation step, a dot formation pattern for avoiding banding composed of a plurality of the dots associated with the image data and nozzle information related to the banding phenomenon among the plurality of nozzles. Printing in which the dot data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data is replaced with the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to the nozzles based on the dot formation pattern data that is the formation data A printer control program for generating business data. A printing head that has a plurality of nozzles capable of forming dots on a medium used for printing controls a printing device that prints an image by forming a dot formation pattern according to the image data to be printed on the medium. A printing apparatus control method used for performing
An image data acquisition step of acquiring the image data having pixel values of M values (M ≧ 2) constituting the image;
A print data generation step for generating print data obtained by converting the image data into dot formation pattern data for forming a print image of the image data on the medium;
A printing step of printing an image of the image data on the medium by the print head based on the printing data,
In the print data generation step, a dot formation pattern for avoiding banding composed of a plurality of the dots associated with the image data and nozzle information related to the banding phenomenon among the plurality of nozzles. Printing in which the dot data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data is replaced with the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to the nozzles based on the dot formation pattern data that is the formation data A printing apparatus control method, comprising: generating business data. Used in a printing device that prints an image by forming a dot formation pattern according to image data to be printed on the medium by a print head having a plurality of nozzles capable of forming dots on the medium used for printing A print data generation device for generating print data to be printed,
Image data acquisition means for acquiring the image data having pixel values of M values (M ≧ 2) constituting the image;
Stores banding avoidance dot formation pattern data, which is data for forming a dot formation pattern for avoiding banding composed of the plurality of dots, associated with information on nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon among the plurality of nozzles. Dot forming pattern data storage means for
Print data generation means for generating print data obtained by converting the image data into dot formation pattern data for forming a print image of the image data on the medium;
The printing data generation means is a dot data corresponding to a nozzle involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data based on the image data and the dot formation pattern data stored in the dot formation pattern data storage means. A printing data generation apparatus, wherein printing data is generated by replacing the banding dot formation pattern data corresponding to the nozzle with the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data. Used in a printing device that prints an image by forming a dot formation pattern according to image data to be printed on the medium by a print head having a plurality of nozzles capable of forming dots on the medium used for printing A print data generation program used to generate print data to be printed,
An image data acquisition step of acquiring the image data having pixel values of M values (M ≧ 2) constituting the image;
The image data is used to cause a computer to execute a process including a print data generation step for generating print data obtained by converting the image data into dot formation pattern data for forming a print image of the image data on the medium. Including programs,
In the print data generation step, a dot formation pattern for avoiding banding composed of a plurality of the dots associated with the image data and nozzle information related to the banding phenomenon among the plurality of nozzles. Printing in which the dot data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data is replaced with the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to the nozzles based on the dot formation pattern data that is the formation data A print data generation program characterized by generating print data. Used in a printing device that prints an image by forming a dot formation pattern according to image data to be printed on the medium by a print head having a plurality of nozzles capable of forming dots on the medium used for printing A print data generation method for generating print data to be printed,
An image data acquisition step of acquiring the image data having pixel values of M values (M ≧ 2) constituting the image;
A print data generation step for generating print data obtained by converting the image data into dot formation pattern data for forming a print image of the image data on the medium;
In the print data generation step, a dot formation pattern for avoiding banding composed of a plurality of the dots associated with the image data and nozzle information related to the banding phenomenon among the plurality of nozzles. Printing in which the dot data corresponding to the nozzles involved in the banding phenomenon in the image data is replaced with the banding avoidance dot formation pattern data corresponding to the nozzles based on the dot formation pattern data that is the formation data A printing apparatus control method, comprising: generating business data.

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