JP2009278258A - Image processor, image processing method, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To output an image allowing a color-blind person to easily identify hue, and to obtain hue information only by simply discriminating the direction of a pattern provided to an image. <P>SOLUTION: Input image data are stored in a storage part 203, and a hue information extraction part 204 extracts hue information from the stored image data. A direction determination processing part 205 determines the direction of a pattern superposed on the image data according to the hue information. A pattern superposition processing part 206 superposes the pattern on the image data to output the pattern superposed on the image data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing device, an image processing method, a program, and a recording medium in consideration of a color blind person.

  With the spread of color image display devices and color printers, a document created by a computer or the like has been devised to make it easier to understand using colors. For example, among various applications used in computers, spreadsheet software, etc. has a function to automatically generate pie charts and bar graphs simply by entering numerical values into the table, and each graph area is adjacent to each other. Colors that can be easily distinguished from areas can be automatically assigned.

  However, these are often lacking in consideration for people with color blindness, and it is not always easy to understand, such as assigning colors that are difficult for color blind people to identify. For this reason, there has been proposed an image processing apparatus that associates individual patterns with colors, adds patterns to the image data according to the colors indicated by the image data, and transmits color information to color blind persons.

JP 2004-1708513 A JP 2005-051405 A JP 2002-204363 A

  For example, in Patent Document 1, a pattern corresponding to a color is held in a table format, and the color is converted into a pattern. This method has an advantage that it is easy to realize pattern conversion. However, since the color cannot be recognized unless the correspondence between the color and the pattern is learned, it imposes a burden on the color blind person.

  Further, in Patent Document 2, the pattern is divided into four regions, and a pattern corresponding to the amount of CMYK ink is recorded on each of the regions. Therefore, color information can be transmitted to a color blind person. However, this method has a drawback in that it takes time to recognize the color of a color blind person because it is necessary to read the ink amounts of CMYK by looking at the pattern and then predict the color name.

  Further, Patent Document 3 is a technique for outputting color information with a monochrome printer, and a pattern changes according to chromaticity coordinates (a *, b *). However, this method also has a drawback in that the correspondence between the color and the pattern must be remembered because the basic tone of the pattern changes to dots and lines.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems,
It is an object of the present invention (claims 1 to 3) to output an image in which hue identification can be easily performed for a person with color blindness, not to remember the correspondence between a color and a pattern, but simply to determine the pattern assigned to the image. An object is to provide an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, a program, and a recording medium that can obtain hue information only by identifying a direction.

  In addition, an object of the present invention (claims 4 to 7) is to enable anyone to unify the direction of the pattern indicating the hue when facing the image, so that even the color blind person can accurately determine the hue. An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, a program, and a recording medium.

  An object of the present invention (Claim 8) is to provide an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, a program, and a program that make it easy to determine whether a pattern indicating a hue is superimposed or a general pattern by hatching or the like. It is to provide a recording medium.

  In addition, an object of the present invention (claims 9 and 10) is to prevent the pattern from being superimposed on the image on which the pattern indicating the hue has been superimposed, and the hue from being overlapped to make it difficult to determine the hue. An object is to provide an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, a program, and a recording medium.

  Another object of the present invention (claims 11 to 13) is to make it easy to recognize the pattern by preventing the pattern direction from being disturbed by the influence of the hue that has fluctuated due to image noise or the like, thereby facilitating the hue determination. An object is to provide an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, a program, and a recording medium.

  Another object of the present invention (claims 14 to 16) is to provide an image processing method, a program, and a storage medium capable of outputting an image whose hue can be easily identified for persons with color blindness.

  According to the present invention, a hue information extraction unit that extracts hue information of input image data and a direction of a pattern having the same basic tone that cyclically changes according to the hue information are determined based on at least the extracted hue information. Pattern direction determining means, pattern superimposing means for superimposing the same basic pattern of the determined direction on the input image data, and image data output means for outputting image data on which the pattern is superimposed. This is the main feature.

  Claims 1 and 2: Since the hue information of the image data can be obtained by recognizing the direction of the same tone pattern, an image processing apparatus capable of outputting an image whose hue can be easily identified is realized. be able to.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the pattern is simple and the direction is more easily recognized, it is possible to realize an image processing apparatus that can more easily identify the hue.

  Since the relationship between the direction of the pattern and the hue when facing the output image can be unified, the hue can be accurately determined from the direction of the pattern.

  Claim 5: Since there is a top / bottom direction designating means for designating the top / bottom direction of the image data, it becomes easier to unify the relationship between the pattern direction and hue when facing the output image, and the pattern direction It is possible to make the hue determined from the above accurate.

  Claim 6: Since the top and bottom direction of the image data can be input while viewing the displayed image data, it is easier to unify the relationship between the pattern direction and the hue when facing the output image, and the judgment is made from the pattern direction. The hue to be made can be made accurate.

  Claim 7: Since the top and bottom direction can be automatically set, it becomes easier to unify the relationship between the pattern direction and the hue when facing the output image, and the hue judged from the pattern direction is accurate. Can be.

  Claim 8: Since it is possible to determine whether the pattern is in accordance with hue information or a general pattern by hatching or the like, whether or not a pattern capable of determining the hue is superimposed is determined. Judgment can be made easily.

  Claim 9: When the mark is detected, the superimposition of the pattern is stopped, so that it is possible to prevent the pattern from overlapping and making it difficult to determine the hue.

  Claim 10: Since the similar pattern included in the input image data is removed when the overlapping of the similar patterns is detected, it is possible to prevent the patterns from overlapping and making it difficult to determine the hue.

  Claim 11: The representative hue acquisition means for acquiring hue information representative of the periphery of the target pixel has the effect of reducing the noise component and reduces the disturbance of the direction of the pattern. Can be made easier.

  Claim 12: In the partial area, the hue information is handled as constant, and there is no disturbance in the direction of the pattern, so that the pattern can be easily recognized and the hue determination can be facilitated.

  Claim 13: In the partial area, the direction of the pattern to be superimposed is handled as constant, and the pattern direction is not disturbed. Therefore, the pattern can be easily recognized, and the hue determination can be facilitated.

  Claims 14 to 16: Since the hue information of the image data can be obtained by recognizing the direction of the pattern of the same keynote, an image processing method, a program, and an A recording medium can be realized.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of the appearance of an image processing system according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes an image scanner that reads a document and generates image data, and 102 denotes a digital camera that captures a scene and stores the image data. The image processing unit 103 has a general-purpose input / output interface (for example, USB interface).

  The image processing unit 103 is a unit that controls the entire image processing system, receives, stores, and processes image data output from the image scanner 101 and the digital camera 102 and outputs the image data to the display 104 and the printer 105. A keyboard 106 and a mouse 107 are connected to the image processing unit 103, and the image processing unit 103 operates based on instructions from the keyboard 106 and the mouse 107 by the operator.

  The display 104 displays image data output from the image processing unit 103 and information necessary for an operator's instruction according to a command from the image processing unit 103. The display 104 is a general-purpose video interface (for example, DVI interface). Connected with.

  The printer 105 records the image data output from the image processing unit 103 on a recording sheet according to a command from the image processing unit 103, and is connected to the image processing unit 103 through a general-purpose input / output interface (for example, a USB interface). ing.

Example 1
FIG. 2 shows a configuration of the image processing unit 103 according to the first embodiment. Referring to FIG. 2, reference numeral 201 denotes an image input control unit, which instructs the image scanner 101 and the digital camera 102 that supply original image data via a general-purpose input / output control unit 202 that performs communication protocol control and the like. Thus, the image data is received and stored in the storage unit 203 including a volatile random access memory (RAM).

  A hue information extraction unit 204 extracts the hue information from the image data stored in the storage unit 203 as described above. The image scanner 101 and the digital camera 102 generally output device-dependent image data (here, sRGB: IEC61966-2-1, and the image data is composed of three components R, G, and B). The hue information extraction unit 204 first reads out device-dependent image data stored in the storage unit 203 and converts it into device-independent image data (here, tristimulus values CIEXYZ). Since this conversion method is described in the sRGB standard, etc., description thereof is omitted here.

  Next, the hue information extraction unit 204 extracts the hue information from the device-independent image data (tristimulus values CIEXYZ). Hereinafter, the hue information to be extracted will be described as the hue value of CIELAB, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the hue value of CIELV or CIECAM02 or other hue values may be used.

  Conversion from the tristimulus value CIEXYZ to the hue value of CIELAB is performed as follows. First, CIELAB chromaticity coordinates (a *, b *) and the like are obtained from the tristimulus values CIEXYZ.

  Next, the hue value H * of CIELAB is obtained from the chromaticity coordinates (a *, b *).

  The hue information extraction unit 204 stores the hue information (hue value H *) obtained as described above in the storage unit 203. Note that S * in the equation (6) represents a saturation value.

  Here, FIG. 3 shows a diagram in which the Muhsell color system equal hue and equal chroma curves are plotted on the CIELAB a * b * chromaticity diagram. In the Munsell color system, the hue is roughly divided into 10 hues (R, YR, Y, GY, G, BG, B, PB, P, PR), and the hue is R⇔YR⇔Y⇔GY⇔G⇔BG. It circulates like ⇔B⇔PB⇔P⇔PR⇔R. The hue value H * obtained by the equation (5) is a radian angle with respect to the + direction of a *, and takes values from −π to π. Since the hue value H * of −π and π are substantially the same hue, the hue value H * can also be regarded as circulating.

  On the other hand, the patterns to be superimposed in the present invention have the same basic tone, and their directions are cyclically changed according to the hue information. In the following description, the case where the basic tone of the pattern is a line is taken as an example.

When the pattern is a line, the direction is the same for every π. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the direction h of the line pattern is substantially the same between −π / 2 and π / 2, and the range can be regarded as −π / 2 to π / 2. So, for example,
h = H * / 2 (7)
Then, the direction of the pattern can be cyclically changed in accordance with the circulation of the hue information.

  Referring to FIG. 2 again, reference numeral 205 denotes a direction determination processing unit that determines the direction of the pattern to be superimposed on the image data from the hue information stored in the storage unit 203 as described above. That is, the direction determination processing unit 205 reads the hue information stored in the storage unit 203, performs an operation illustrated in the equation (7), determines the pattern direction h, and determines the determined pattern direction h. Store in the storage unit 203.

  Reference numeral 206 denotes a pattern superimposition processing unit, which superimposes the pattern in the direction stored in the storage unit 203 on the image data. That is, the pattern superimposition processing unit 206 reads the pattern direction and the image data stored in the storage unit 203, superimposes the pattern by a method described below, and stores the image data on which the pattern is superimposed in the storage unit 203. Remember.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of a pattern superposition method. FIG. 5A shows the reference point O (0,0) and the position of the target pixel A (x, y) defined in the image data when the image data is regarded as a two-dimensional data array. The direction h of the pattern determined in the target pixel A is shown. Here, the distance between the reference point O and the target pixel A is L, the direction from the reference point O toward the target pixel A is g, and the intersection when the perpendicular line is drawn from the target pixel A to the pattern direction vector is Ah. A distance Lh between the point O and the intersection Ah is obtained.

Next, the remainder d when the reference point O is set as the starting point is obtained with the repetition period of the pattern in the h direction set in advance as D (h).
d = Lh mod D (h) (11)
Here, mod is an operator for obtaining a remainder.

  On the other hand, the weighting coefficient Wh (d) of the pattern in the h direction is set in advance as a circled number 1 in FIG. 5B as a function of the remainder d. Thereby, the weighting coefficient Wh (d) corresponding to the remainder d is obtained, and the pattern in the direction stored in the storage unit 203 can be superimposed.

That is, the pattern superimposition processing unit 206 superimposes the pattern (the right side of Expression (12), the second term) on each component (R, G, B) of the image data stored in the storage unit 203 as follows. To do.
R ′ = R + (Wr−R) · Wh (d) · Ws
G ′ = G + (Wg−G) · Wh (d) · Ws
B ′ = B + (Wb−B) · Wh (d) · Ws (12)
Here, (Wr, Wg, Wb) is white point image data.
Ws is a weighting coefficient corresponding to the saturation of the image data, and is obtained as follows, for example.
Ws = (max (R, G, B) −min (R, G, B)) / 255 (13)
Here, max () and min () are functions for obtaining the maximum value and the minimum value of each component (R, G, B) of the image data. However, each component of the image data takes a value from 0 (black) to 255 (white).

  For example, when Ws = 1, if Wh (d) = 1, R ′ = Wr, G ′ = Wg, B ′ = Wb, and each component (R, G, B) of the pixel of interest A becomes white image data. Replace. Further, if Ws = 0 or Wh (d) = 0, R ′ = R, G ′ = G, B ′ = B, so that the original image data, that is, each component (R, G, B) of the target pixel A is obtained. ) Is held as it is. The process of the above equation (12) is executed for all the pixels of the image data stored in the storage unit 203, and the pattern is superimposed on the image data.

  In the vicinity of the achromatic color (max (R, G, B) = min (R, G, B)), the hue changes greatly due to a slight difference in each component of the image data. It's easy to see. The weighting coefficient Ws corresponding to the saturation is added to reduce such invisibility, and the weighting coefficient Ws approaches 0 as the achromatic color is approached, that is, R ′ = R, G ′ = G, It approaches B ′ = B and plays the role of making it difficult to see the superimposed pattern itself. At the same time, the sharpness of the superimposed pattern changes according to the saturation, so that the saturation can be determined from the sharpness of the pattern.

  The weighting coefficient Ws corresponding to the saturation is not limited to a straight line proportional to “max (R, G, B) −min (R, G, B)” as in the equation (13). That is, it is only necessary to gradually make it less visible as it approaches the achromatic color. For example, an S-shaped circled number 4 curve as indicated by a broken line in FIG.

  Further, the saturation not depending on the maximum value and the minimum value of the image data depending on the device as in the expression (13), but the saturation value independent of the device, for example, the saturation of CIELAB shown in the expression (6) The weighting coefficient Ws may be obtained based on the value S *.

  Further, the weighting coefficient Wh (d) corresponding to the remainder d is not limited to the 0/1 pattern such as the circled number 1 in FIG. It may be a non-linear rounded number 3 curve such as a one-dot chain line.

  In the above description, when Ws = Wh (d) = 1, the image data is replaced with white image data. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any color may be used. However, since all the colors are replaced, it is more desirable that the hue is neutral. For example, the following black image data is better.

R ′ = R + (Kr−R) · Wh (d) · Ws
G ′ = G + (Kg−G) · Wh (d) · Ws
B ′ = B + (Kb−B) · Wh (d) · Ws (14)
Here, (Kr, Kg, Kb) is black point image data.
Alternatively, it may be replaced with gray image data having a predetermined density as described below.
R ′ = R + (Gyr−R) · Wh (d) · Ws
G ′ = G + (Gyg−G) · Wh (d) · Ws
B ′ = B + (Gyb−B) · Wh (d) · Ws (15)
Here, (Gyr, Gyg, Gyb) is black point image data.

  Referring again to FIG. 2, reference numeral 207 denotes an image output control unit that reads out image data on which a pattern stored in the storage unit 203 is superimposed and instructs the printer 105 via the general-purpose input / output control unit 202. As a result, the image data is sent to the printer 105. Further, the image output control unit 207 may send image data on which the pattern stored in the storage unit 203 is superimposed to the display 104 via the video I / F 208.

  Although the case where the pattern repetition period is D (h) and changes in the direction of the line pattern h has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the pattern repetition period D may be constant regardless of the direction.

  In this case, since the setting of the weighting coefficient Wh (d) as shown in FIG. 5B can be made constant regardless of the direction of the line pattern, the setting of the weighting coefficient Wh (d) is once. And it is easier to implement.

In the above description, the case where the pattern has a basic line is taken as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the basic tone of the pattern may be a halftone dot pattern. In this case, the direction is the same for every π / 2. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the direction h of the halftone dot pattern is substantially the same between −π / 4 and π / 4, and the range can be regarded as −π / 4 to π / 4. So, for example,
h = H * / 4 (16)
By doing so, the direction of the pattern can be cyclically changed in accordance with the circulation of the hue information.

Example 2
Prior to the description of the second embodiment, a description related to the vertical direction of the image data will be given with reference to FIG. FIG. 7A shows the scanning direction of the image, and it is assumed that the image is main-scanned from left to right (X direction) and sub-scanned from bottom to top (Y direction).

  FIG. 7B is an example of a document image read by the image scanner 101 described above, and shows a state of facing the document. FIG. 7C shows a state in which the original image of FIG. 7B is rotated. If the direction of the vertical direction with respect to the sub-scanning direction is u, the circled number 1 is directly opposite. State (u = 0), circled number 2 tilted left (u = π / 2), circled number 3 inverted (u = -π), circled number 4 tilted right (U = −π / 2). Then, in the state where the image is placed, the line pattern (white pattern) in the direction corresponding to the color of the letter “B” (in this example, the right diagonal direction (h = −π / 4)) is superimposed. It also shows how it was done.

  When the image processed in this way is observed facing the front, it is as shown in FIG. That is, the image of the straight line (circled number 1) and the reverse (circled number 3) has the same line pattern direction, but the image tilted to the left and right (circled numbers 2 and 4) is the line pattern. Is shifted by π / 2. That is, since patterns in different directions are superimposed on the same character color, the hue cannot be read only by the pattern direction. Such a condition is particularly undesirable for all color blind people. Therefore, in order to avoid such a state, considerations such as unifying the way of placing the original image (top and bottom direction) are required of the operator.

  On the other hand, the above-described image scanner 101 or the like generally has different maximum readable document sizes depending on whether the document is scanned vertically or horizontally. For this reason, usually, an operation of changing the orientation of the document according to the size of the document is performed. However, as described above, when the line pattern corresponding to the hue is overlaid, if this is done, the hue cannot be read only in the direction of the pattern, so that the size of the original that can be read is different in portrait / landscape. Is in the above embodiment.

  The second embodiment also solves the above problems. FIG. 8 shows the configuration of the image processing unit 103 of the second embodiment. The same configurations and processes as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted (the same applies to the following embodiments).

  Referring to FIG. 8, reference numeral 209 denotes a top / bottom direction setting unit, which sets the top / bottom direction of image data stored in the storage unit 203 as described above. That is, it is set which state the relationship between the vertical direction of the image and the scanning direction is as illustrated in circled numbers 1 to 4 in FIG.

A direction determination processing unit 210 determines the direction of the pattern to be superimposed on the image data based on the hue information stored in the storage unit 203 as described above and the set vertical direction. For example, when the pattern is a line, the direction determination processing unit 210 reads the hue information stored in the storage unit 203 and performs the calculation illustrated in Equation (17) to determine the pattern direction h. The determined pattern direction h is stored in the storage unit 203.
h = (H * / 2) + u (17)
Thereby, for example, in the case of the circled numbers 2 and 4 in FIG.
u = π / 2 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Number 2 with circles
u = −π / 2 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ circled number 4
Therefore, the shift in the direction of π / 2 of the line pattern shown in FIG. 7D can be corrected.

  Accordingly, when the pattern superimposing processing unit 206 superimposes the pattern in the direction stored in the storage unit 203 on the image data, the relationship between the pattern direction and the hue when facing the image can be unified, so the pattern It is possible to accurately determine the hue from the direction of.

  Next, an example of an operation screen displayed on the display 104 by the above-described vertical direction setting unit 209 via the video I / F 208 is shown in FIG.

  FIG. 9 is a reading condition setting screen of the image scanner 101. A reading mode 901 and a reading size 902 can be selected by operating the mouse 107 or the like described above. Reference numeral 903 denotes a top / bottom direction selection area for selecting the top / bottom direction of the document. When the operator clicks the selection area (white circle portion) with the mouse 107 according to the orientation of the document set on the image scanner 101 with the mouse 107, the top / bottom direction setting unit 209 is connected via the general-purpose input / output control unit 202. The operation of the mouse 107 is detected, and the selected vertical direction is set. At the same time, the display position of the black dot is moved to the white circle to notify the operator that the selection has been recognized.

  Reference numeral 904 denotes a scan start button. When the operator finishes the selection and clicks the scan start button 904 with the mouse 107, the top / bottom direction setting unit 209 causes the mouse 107 to be connected via the general-purpose input / output control unit 202. An operation is detected and the start of scanning is transmitted to the image input control unit 201. As a result, the image input control unit 201 issues a command to the image scanner 101 via the general-purpose input / output control unit 202 as described above, receives image data, and stores the image data in the storage unit 203.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the top / bottom direction can be set according to the top / bottom direction of the set document, so the relationship between the pattern direction and the hue when facing the image is determined. Can be easily unified. That is, the hue determined from the pattern direction can be made accurate. Further, it is possible to eliminate the restriction that the readable document size is different in portrait / landscape.

  It is not necessary to set the vertical direction before the start of scanning as described above. In the following, an example of setting the vertical direction after scanning will be described.

  FIG. 10 shows another example of the operation screen displayed on the display 104 by the top / bottom direction setting unit 209 via the video I / F 208. In this example, an image 1001 scanned in landscape orientation without setting the top / bottom direction is displayed in FIG. 10A, and an image 1002 scanned in portrait orientation is displayed in FIG. 10B. That is, the image data stored in the storage unit 203 by the image input control unit 201 is read and displayed on the operation screen.

  Here, reference numerals 1003-1 to 1004 denote vertical direction selection areas for selecting the vertical direction of the document, and the operator selects a selection area (white arrow portion) according to the direction of the vertical direction of the document displayed on the display 104. Is clicked with the mouse 107, the top / bottom direction setting unit 209 detects the operation of the mouse 107 via the general-purpose input / output control unit 202 and sets the selected top / bottom direction. At the same time, the arrow portion displayed in black is updated to notify the operator that the selection has been recognized.

  Reference numeral 1004 denotes a setting end button. When the operator finishes the selection and clicks the setting end button 1004 with the mouse 107, the top / bottom direction setting unit 209 is connected to the mouse 107 via the general-purpose input / output control unit 202. Detect operations. Then, as described above, the direction determination processing unit 210 determines the direction of the pattern to be superimposed on the image data based on the hue information stored in the storage unit 203 and the set vertical direction.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the vertical direction can be set according to the vertical direction of the displayed document, the relationship between the direction of the pattern and the hue when facing the image is determined. Can be easily unified. That is, the hue determined from the pattern direction can be made accurate. Further, it is possible to eliminate the restriction that the readable document size is different in portrait / landscape.

  Moreover, the setting of the top-and-bottom direction is not limited to what is determined and specified by the operator as described above. For example, it may be set by recognizing with the top and bottom recognition technology. An example of the operation flow executed by the top-and-bottom direction setting unit 209 is shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 11, first, the top / bottom direction setting unit 209 reads the image data stored in the storage unit 203 by the image input control unit 201, and performs automatic top / bottom recognition processing by a known method (step 1101). The top-and-bottom recognition uses, for example, a method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 08-336038 (for example, a character is cut out from an image and the character is recognized one by one. This is performed for four cases where the directions are assumed to be celestial, and the case where the character recognition rate is the highest is determined as the actual celestial direction).

  Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the automatic top / bottom recognition processing is successful (step 1102). For example, this is prepared in the case where characters cannot be extracted successfully. When it is determined that the top / bottom recognition has failed, for example, an operation screen illustrated in FIG. A top / bottom direction selection process for entrusting selection is performed (step 1103).

  Then, the direction determination processing unit 209 is based on the top / bottom direction selected in the top / bottom direction or the top / bottom direction selection processing (step 1103) successful in the automatic top / bottom recognition processing (step 1101) and the hue information stored in the storage unit 203. Determines the direction of the pattern to be superimposed on the image data.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the vertical direction can be automatically set according to the input image data (image data stored in the storage unit 203 by the image input control unit 201). It is possible to easily unify the relationship between the direction of the pattern and the hue when facing the. That is, the hue determined from the pattern direction can be made accurate. Similarly, it is possible to eliminate the restriction that the readable document size is different in portrait / landscape.

  The case where image data is input from the image scanner 101 has been described above as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the image data input from the digital camera 102 may be displayed as shown in FIG. In addition, since the image direction (EXIF2.2 or the like) used in the digital camera 102 can embed the image direction, if the digital camera 102 has the ability to detect and embed the image direction at the time of shooting, this is used. You may make it set a top-and-bottom direction with reference.

Example 3
FIG. 12 shows the configuration of the image processing unit 103 of the third embodiment. Referring to FIG. 12, reference numeral 211 denotes a pattern detection unit, which reads image data stored in the storage unit 203 by the image input control unit 201 as described above, and is similar to the pattern superimposed by the pattern superimposition processing unit 206 described above. Processing for detecting whether the pattern is included in the image data is performed. Since the process performed by the pattern detection unit 211 can be easily realized by a known pattern matching process or the like, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In addition, when the pattern detection unit 211 detects a similar pattern, the pattern removal processing unit 212 performs a process of removing the similar pattern included in the image data, and stores the image data from which the similar pattern is removed in the storage unit 203. To remember. Then, the above-described hue information extraction unit 204 and pattern superimposition processing unit 206 read out the image data from which the similar pattern is removed.

  This is because if the pattern is further superimposed on the pattern, the patterns interfere with each other and become dirty, and this can be prevented by removing the pattern and then overlaying the pattern again. it can. The processing performed by the pattern removal processing unit 212 can be easily realized by a low-pass filter or the like having a cutoff characteristic that is about twice as long as the superimposed pattern, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

Example 4
FIG. 13 shows a configuration of the image processing unit 103 according to the fourth embodiment. Referring to FIG. 13, reference numeral 213 denotes a mark addition processing unit, which reads out mark data from the mark data holding unit 214 storing mark data, and stores the image data stored in the storage unit 203 by the pattern superimposition processing unit 206 described above. To synthesize. Then, the image output control unit 207 described above is caused to read the image data combined with the mark data. Thereby, it is possible to output image data in which a pattern corresponding to the hue information of the image data is superimposed and the mark data is combined.

  Here, the mark data is synthesized in order to clearly indicate to the user that a process for adding a pattern according to the hue information is performed on the image. In the following, FIG. 14 shows an example of a processed image, which will be described in detail.

  FIG. 14A shows an example of a document image set on the image scanner 101 described above, for example, which is composed of colored characters, a pie chart, and the like. FIG. 14B is an example of a processed image of the document image of FIG. 14A, and a pattern according to the hue of the document image is superimposed. A white line pattern (h = 0) in the vertical direction is superimposed on the red image and the red arrow 1403, and a white line in the diagonally right direction is superimposed on the blue image and the blue character (B) 1404. A pattern (h = −π / 4) is superimposed, and a green white line pattern (h = π / 2) is superimposed on the green image 1405, and a yellow image and a yellow character (Y) 1406 are superimposed. Is superimposed with a white line pattern (h = π / 4) in the diagonally left direction. Reference numeral 1401 denotes a processed mark synthesized by the mark addition processing unit 213.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the hue information is accurately transmitted to the color-blind person by superimposing a line or halftone pattern in a direction corresponding to the hue information of the image data. . However, lines and halftone patterns themselves are generally used for so-called hatching, halftone shading / shading, etc., so they are confused and misjudged that patterns according to hue are superimposed. There was a possibility. The processed mark is for preventing this erroneous determination. That is, the user can accurately determine whether the pattern is in accordance with the hue information or a general pattern by hatching or the like based on the presence / absence of the processed mark 1401, thereby preventing erroneous determination. be able to.

  The processed mark 1401 shown in FIG. 14B includes a reference direction display 1402 that indicates a specific direction in the direction of the arrow. The reference direction display 1402 functions to indicate the direction of a specific hue (for example, h = 0), and the observer can accurately determine the hue indicated by the pattern based on the direction indicated by the reference direction display 1402. can do. That is, even if the pattern is superimposed with the original image being rotated and placed as in FIG. 7C described above, accurate hue reading can be performed.

  Even in the case of an image processing unit having setting means for setting the vertical direction as in the second embodiment, if the vertical direction is set incorrectly, the image is abstract and the vertical direction cannot be determined. This is effective when it is difficult to determine the top / bottom direction, such as when the orientations and the like are mixed and individual differences occur in the top / bottom direction determination. The direction of the pattern to be superimposed on the image data is determined based on the hue information stored in the storage unit 203 and the above-described vertical direction. In this case, the mark data stored in the mark data holding unit 214 is also Then, rotation processing is performed based on the set top and bottom directions, and processing such as synthesis is performed.

  Referring to FIG. 13 again, reference numeral 215 denotes a mark detection processing unit, which performs a process of detecting whether or not the processed mark as synthesized by the mark addition processing unit 213 described above is included in the image data. That is, the mark detection processing unit 215 reads the image data stored in the storage unit 203 by the image input control unit 201 as described above, and performs pattern matching processing with the mark data stored in the mark data holding unit 214. The presence / absence of a mark is determined.

  Then, when the mark detection processing unit 215 determines the presence of the mark, the mark superimposition processing unit 206 stops the pattern superimposition described above. This is because if the pattern is further superimposed on the pattern, the patterns interfere with each other and become dirty, and this is prevented by stopping the pattern superposition. In this case, faithful reproduction of the original image preserves the pattern direction and conveys hue information. Of course, this may be prevented by preparing the pattern removal processing unit 212 as in the third embodiment, removing the pattern, and then superimposing the pattern again.

Example 5
FIG. 15 shows a modification of the hue information extraction unit 204 according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 15A, the image data RGB read from the storage unit 203 is input to the filter circuit 1501 of the hue information extraction unit 204. The filter circuit 1501 is a circuit that performs low-pass filter processing on each component of the image data, and holds, for example, a filter coefficient 1502 as shown in FIG. 15B. The image of the pixel of interest 1503 and its surrounding pixels 1504 A product-sum operation 1505 of the data and the filter coefficient 1502 is performed to generate image data RGB ′ subjected to low-pass filter processing.

  The image data RGB ′ subjected to the low-pass filter processing is image data depending on the device as described above. Reference numeral 1506 denotes an XYZ conversion circuit, which converts the device-dependent image data RGB ′ as described above into device-independent image data (tristimulus values XYZ).

  Reference numeral 1507 denotes a CIELAB conversion circuit which obtains CIELAB chromaticity coordinates (a *, b *) and the like from the tristimulus values CIEXYZ as described above. A hue conversion circuit 1508 is a circuit for obtaining the hue value H * of CIELAB from the CIELAB chromaticity coordinates (a *, b *) as described above. The obtained hue value H * and the like are stored in the storage unit 203.

  As described above, in this embodiment, since the filter circuit 1501 that performs low-pass filter processing based on the image data of the target pixel and its surrounding pixels is provided, the hue value H * output by the hue conversion circuit 1508 is The hue value is representative of the area around the pixel of interest.

  By the way, the image data output from the image scanner 101 or the like generally includes a noise component, and when the hue value H * is calculated as it is, the hue value H * including the noise component is obtained. For this reason, as in the present invention, when a line or a halftone pattern having a direction corresponding to hue information is superimposed, the pattern direction is disturbed by a noise component, and the pattern direction tends to be unclear.

  However, the above-described filter circuit 1501 has an effect of reducing such a noise component, which can reduce the disturbance of the pattern direction and make the pattern direction clear.

Example 6
FIG. 16 shows the configuration of the image processing unit 103 of the sixth embodiment. Referring to FIG. 16, reference numeral 216 denotes an area division control unit that generates a control signal for handling image data divided into a plurality of partial areas. Here, a state in which the image data is divided into a plurality of partial areas is shown in FIG. FIG. 17 shows only a part of the entire image data.

  In FIG. 17A, each pixel of the image data is displayed with small squares (for example, 1701). A plurality of pixels are collected to form a partial region (for example, 1702). As shown in FIG. 17B, the entire image data is divided into a plurality of partial areas. The region division control unit 216 generates a signal for identifying a partial region formed by dividing the image data in this way.

  Referring to FIG. 16 again, the hue information extraction unit 217 reads the image data stored in the storage unit 203 by the image input control unit 201 and obtains the hue information and the like in the same manner as the hue information extraction unit 204 described above. The hue information and the like are stored in the storage unit 203 in accordance with the control signal from the region division control unit 216. That is, the hue information extraction unit 217 calculates and stores hue information representing each partial area for each partial area. Hue information representing the partial region can be obtained by using, for example, the filter circuit 1501 as described above.

  Thereby, the hue information is handled as being constant in each partial area. Further, the direction of the pattern determined based on this is also constant in each partial area. Accordingly, since the pattern direction is not disturbed, it is possible to superimpose a pattern whose pattern direction is easily recognized.

  In the above, the hue information extraction unit 217 has extracted the hue information in accordance with the control signal from the region division control unit 216, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the direction determination processing unit 205 in FIG. 16 may determine the direction of the pattern to be superimposed on the image data in accordance with the control signal from the region division control unit 216. That is, for each partial area, the direction of the pattern representing the partial area may be determined and stored in the storage unit 203.

  Thereby, the direction of the pattern to be superimposed is handled as being constant in each partial area. Accordingly, since the pattern direction is not disturbed, it is possible to superimpose a pattern whose pattern direction is easily recognized.

Example 7
Although the pattern superimposition processing unit 206 described above superimposes a continuous pattern according to the direction h stored in the storage unit 203, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a plurality of patterns as illustrated in FIG. 18 may be prepared as superposed patterns, and the patterns may be superposed by discretely switching according to the direction h stored in the storage unit 203.

  In the above description, the present invention has been described as the image processing unit 103 to which a plurality of devices (image scanner 101, digital camera 102, display 104, printer 105, etc.) are connected. The present invention may be applied to a machine, a facsimile machine, etc.

  Another object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium (or recording medium) in which a program code of software that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is recorded to a system or apparatus, and the computer (or CPU or CPU) of the system or apparatus. Needless to say, this can also be achieved by the MPU) reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an operating system (OS) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by performing part or all of the actual processing and the processing is included.

  Furthermore, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion card inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function is determined based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the CPU or the like provided in the expansion card or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing. When the present invention is applied to the storage medium, the storage medium stores program codes corresponding to the flowcharts described above.

1 shows an example of the appearance of an image processing system of the present invention. 1 shows a configuration of an image processing unit of Embodiment 1. The figure which plotted the same hue and the equal chroma curve of the Munsell color system on the a * b * chromaticity diagram of CIELAB is shown. The line pattern example superimposed by this invention is shown. An example of a pattern superimposing method is shown. An example of a halftone dot pattern to be superimposed is shown. It is a figure for demonstrating the top-and-bottom direction of image data. 2 shows a configuration of an image processing unit according to a second embodiment. The reading condition setting screen of an image scanner is shown. The other example of the operation screen which a top and bottom direction setting part displays is shown. The example of an operation | movement flow which a top-and-bottom direction setting part performs is shown. 4 shows a configuration of an image processing unit according to Embodiment 3. 4 shows a configuration of an image processing unit according to a fourth embodiment. The example of an image explaining the process of Example 4 is shown. The modification (Example 5) of a hue information extraction part is shown. The structure of the image processing unit of Example 6 is shown. A state in which image data is divided into a plurality of partial areas is shown. The other example of a pattern to superimpose is shown.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Image scanner 102 Digital camera 103 Image processing unit 104 Display 105 Printer 106 Keyboard 107 Mouse 201 Image input control part 202 General-purpose input / output control part 203 Storage part 204 Hue information extraction part 205 Direction determination process part 206 Pattern superimposition process part 207 Image output Control unit 208 Video I / F

Claims (16)

  Hue information extracting means for extracting the hue information of the input image data, and pattern direction determination for determining the direction of the same tone pattern that cyclically changes according to the hue information based on at least the extracted hue information And a pattern superimposing unit that superimposes the same-tone pattern in the determined direction on the input image data, and an image data output unit that outputs the image data on which the pattern is superimposed. An image processing apparatus.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pattern superimposing unit superimposes a pattern corresponding to a pixel position and saturation of the input image data.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pattern superimposed by the pattern superimposing unit is a line pattern.   It has a top and bottom direction setting means for setting the top and bottom direction of the input image data, and the pattern direction determining means determines a pattern direction based on the set top and bottom direction and the extracted hue information. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1.   5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the top and bottom direction setting unit includes a top and bottom direction specifying unit that specifies a top and bottom direction of the input image data.   The top / bottom direction setting means includes an image data display means for displaying the input image data, a top / bottom direction input means for inputting the top / bottom direction of the input image data, and the input top / bottom direction is confirmed. The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a vertical direction confirmation unit.   5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the top / bottom direction setting unit includes a top / bottom direction determination unit that determines a top / bottom direction of the input image data.   2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising mark adding means for adding a mark indicating that a pattern is superimposed on the input image data.   Mark detection means for detecting whether or not there is a mark indicating that a pattern is superimposed on the input image data, and the pattern superposition means stops pattern superposition when the mark is detected. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:   When the pattern detecting means for detecting whether or not a pattern similar to the pattern superimposed by the pattern superimposing means is superimposed on the input image data, and when the pattern detecting means detects superposition of similar patterns, The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a pattern removing unit that removes a similar pattern included in the input image data.   The hue information extraction means includes representative hue acquisition means for acquiring hue information representing the periphery of the target pixel based on the image data of the target pixel and its peripheral pixels in the input image data. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1.   A division control unit configured to perform control for dividing the input image data into a plurality of partial areas, and the hue information extraction unit extracts hue information of the divided partial areas. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1.   The image forming apparatus includes a division control unit that performs control for dividing the input image data into a plurality of partial areas, and the pattern determining unit determines a pattern to be superimposed on the divided partial areas. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1.   Hue information extraction step for extracting the hue information of the input image data, and pattern direction determination for determining the direction of the same tone pattern that cyclically changes according to the hue information based on at least the extracted hue information A pattern superimposing step of superimposing a pattern of the same tone in the determined direction on the input image data, and an image data output step of outputting the image data on which the pattern is superimposed. Image processing method.   A program for causing a computer to implement the image processing method according to claim 14.   A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to implement the image processing method according to claim 14 is recorded.

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