JP2010074376A - Image coding device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image coding device for more easily obtaining a code representing a high-quality image corresponding to a code representing a low-quality image than a conventional device. <P>SOLUTION: The image coding device includes: a first code generating section 12 for generating a first code from an image read by an image reading section 10; a second code generating section 13 for generating a second code from the image; a file generating section 16 for generating a file including the second code; a code transmitting section 17 for transmitting the first code to a server 3; a position information recording section 18 for recording a storage position information indicating the position where the first code is stored in the server 3, into a file; and a file transmitting section 19 for transmitting the file recording the storage position information to a terminal device 4. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image encoding device, and more particularly to an image encoding device that encodes an image read by an image reading unit.

Conventionally, as an image encoding apparatus that encodes an image read by an image reading unit, a plurality of codes having different resolutions and compression rates are generated from one read image, and the generated codes are used as a mailbox and a terminal of the apparatus. There are some which perform encoding according to various processes by storing in respective storage media such as a hard disk device and a printer spooler of the device (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2007-274617 A

  Thus, when a plurality of codes having different resolutions and compression rates are stored in each storage medium, the image quality of the image represented by the code acquired from a certain storage medium is poor, and the contents of the image cannot be identified. Sometimes, it is necessary to search for and obtain a code representing a high-quality image from another storage medium.

  However, in the conventional techniques as described above, particularly when the number of codes stored in the storage medium is enormous, a code representing a high-quality image corresponding to a code representing a low-quality image is acquired. There was a problem that it was difficult.

  The present invention has been made to solve the conventional problems, and is an image encoding device capable of easily acquiring a code representing a high-quality image corresponding to a code representing a low-quality image from the conventional one. The purpose is to provide.

  An image encoding device of the present invention is an image encoding device that encodes an image read by an image reading unit, a first code generation unit that generates a first code from the image, and a second code from the image. A second code generation unit to generate, a file generation unit to generate a file including the second code, a code transmission unit to transmit the first code to a server device, and the first code stored in the server device A position information recording unit that records storage location information representing the storage location of the file in the file, and a file transmission unit that transmits the file in which the storage location information is recorded to the terminal device.

  With this configuration, the image encoding apparatus according to the present invention stores information indicating the storage position of the code representing the high quality image in the file including the code representing the low quality image. Therefore, the code representing the low quality image is stored. It is possible to easily obtain a code representing a high-quality image corresponding to the conventional one.

  The image encoding device of the present invention includes a first compression unit that compresses the first code, and a second compression unit that compresses the second code, and the first and second compression units include: The first and second codes are respectively compressed so that the image represented by the first code has higher image quality than the image represented by the second code, and the code transmission unit is compressed by the first compression unit. The first code may be transmitted to the server, and the file generation unit may generate a file including the second code compressed by the second compression unit.

  With this configuration, the image coding apparatus of the present invention can reduce the communication load with the terminal device in order to reduce the size of the second code.

  The first compression unit may reversibly compress the first code.

  With this configuration, the image encoding device of the present invention can present a high-quality image to the user of the terminal device as necessary.

  The first compression unit may compress the first code so that it can be partially decoded.

  With this configuration, the image encoding device of the present invention causes the server device to transmit only the code of the image area required by the terminal device, thereby reducing the communication load between the server device and the terminal device. Can do.

  The image coding apparatus according to the present invention further includes an image separation unit that separates the image into components, and the second code generation unit converts the code for each component separated by the image separation unit into the second code. And the second compression unit compresses the second code for each component, and the file generation unit generates a file in which the second code is structured for each component. .

  With this configuration, the image encoding device of the present invention can reduce the size of a file to be transmitted to the terminal device, and thus can reduce the communication load with the terminal device.

  The file generation unit may generate a highly compressed PDF file.

  With this configuration, the image encoding device of the present invention can reduce the size of a file to be transmitted to the terminal device, and thus can reduce the communication load with the terminal device.

  The image encoding method of the present invention is a first code generation step of generating a first code from the image in an image encoding method for encoding an image read by an image reading unit using an image encoding device. A second code generation step for generating a second code from the image, a file generation step for generating a file including the second code, a code transmission step for transmitting the first code to a server device, and the server A position information recording step for recording storage position information representing a storage position of the first code stored in the device in the file; and a file transmission step for transmitting the file in which the storage position information is recorded to the terminal device. Have.

  Therefore, the image encoding method according to the present invention stores information indicating the storage position of the code representing the high quality image in the file including the code representing the low quality image, and therefore corresponds to the code representing the low quality image. Thus, a code representing a high-quality image can be acquired more easily than the conventional one.

  The image coding method of the present invention includes a first compression step for compressing the first code, and a second compression step for compressing the second code. In the first and second compression steps, The first and second codes are respectively compressed so that the image represented by the first code has higher image quality than the image represented by the second code, and the first code compression step compresses the first code and the second code. The generated first code may be transmitted to the server, and the file generation step may generate a file including the second code compressed in the second compression step.

  Therefore, since the image encoding method of the present invention reduces the size of the second code, the communication load between the image encoding device and the terminal device can be reduced.

  Further, in the first compression step, the first code may be reversibly compressed.

  Therefore, the image coding method of the present invention can present a high-quality image to the user of the terminal device as necessary.

  In the first compression step, the first code may be compressed so that it can be partially decoded.

  Therefore, since the code created by the image coding method of the present invention transmits only a partial code of the image area required by the terminal device from the server device, the code between the server device and the terminal device is Communication load can be reduced.

  The image coding method of the present invention further includes an image separation step of separating the image into components, and in the second code generation step, the code for each component separated in the image separation step is used as the second code generation step. In the second compression step, the second code is compressed for each component, and in the file generation step, a file in which the second code is structured for each component is generated. Good.

  Therefore, the image encoding method of the present invention can reduce the size of a file transmitted from the image encoding device to the terminal device, and thus can reduce the communication load between the image encoding device and the terminal device. it can.

  In the file generation step, a highly compressed PDF file may be generated.

  Therefore, the image encoding method of the present invention can reduce the size of a file transmitted from the image encoding device to the terminal device, and thus can reduce the communication load between the image encoding device and the terminal device. it can.

  The present invention can provide an image encoding device capable of easily acquiring a code representing a high-quality image corresponding to a code representing a low-quality image, as compared with the conventional one.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, an image distribution system in which the image encoding apparatus according to the present invention is configured by a multifunction peripheral will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image distribution system 1 includes a multifunction device 2, a server device 3, and a terminal device 4. In FIG. 1, one multifunction device 2, a server device 3, and a terminal device 4 are shown, but the image distribution system 1 is composed of a plurality of multifunction devices, a server device, and a terminal device. It may be configured.

  The MFP 2 and the server device 3, the MFP 2 and the terminal device 4, and the server device 3 and the terminal device 4 are connected by communication lines 5 to 7, respectively. Here, each of the communication lines 5 to 7 is configured by a WAN (Wide Area Network), a LAN (Local Area Network), a wireless communication network, or the like, or a combination thereof.

  As illustrated in FIG. 2, the multifunction device 2 includes an image reading unit 10 that reads an image, an image separation unit 11 that separates the read image for each component, and a first code generation that generates a first code from the image. Unit 12, a second code generation unit 13 that generates a code for each component separated by the image separation unit 11 as a second code, a first compression unit 14 that compresses the first code, and a second code A second compression unit 15, a file generation unit 16 that generates a file including the second code, a code transmission unit 17 that transmits the first code to the server device 3 via the communication line 5, and a first in the server device 3 A location information recording unit 18 that records storage location information representing the storage location of the code in the file, and a file transmission unit 19 that sends the file in which the storage location information is recorded to the terminal device 4 via the communication line 6 are provided. ing.

  As a more specific hardware configuration, as shown in FIG. 3, the MFP 2 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 21, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 22, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 23, and a hard disk. A device 24, a communication module 25 for communicating with the server device 3 and the terminal device 4 via the communication lines 5 and 6, and a scanner 26 are provided.

  The ROM 23 and the hard disk device 24 store a program to be executed by the CPU 21 in order for the multifunction device 2 to function as the image encoding device according to the present invention. That is, the CPU 21 uses the RAM 22 as a temporary storage area to execute the program, whereby the image separation unit 11, the first code generation unit 12, the second code generation unit 13, the first compression unit 14, the second compression unit 15, A file generation unit 16, a code transmission unit 17, a position information recording unit 18, and a file transmission unit 19 are configured.

  The communication module 25 constitutes the code transmission unit 17 and the file transmission unit 19 together with the CPU 21, and is configured by modules corresponding to the types of the communication lines 5 and 6. The scanner 26 constitutes the image reading unit 10. The scanner 26 may be provided with an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) (not shown).

  In FIG. 2, an image separation unit 11 separates an image read by the image reading unit 10 into a foreground color component, an edge component, and a background component. The image separation unit 11 may perform separation according to the type of image to be read, such as separating the image into a text component, a graphic component, a table component, a photographic component, and the like. One image may be separated into at least two components.

  The first code generation unit 12 generates a first code from the image read by the image reading unit 10. On the other hand, the second code generation unit 13 generates a code for each component separated by the image separation unit 11 as a second code.

  The first and second compression units 14 and 15 compress the first and second codes in accordance with encoding methods such as JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group), JPEG2000, and MMR (Modified Modified Read), respectively. It has become.

  Here, the first and second compression units 14 and 15 compress the first and second codes, respectively, so that the image represented by the first code has higher image quality than the image represented by the second code. ing. That is, the size of the second code compressed by the second compression unit 15 is smaller than the size of the first code compressed by the first compression unit 14.

  In particular, the first compression unit 14 compresses the first code so that it can be partially decoded. In the present embodiment, the first compression unit 14 compresses the first code in accordance with ISO-15444-1. Shall. The first compression unit 14 may reversibly compress the first code.

  The file generation unit 16 generates a file (hereinafter referred to as “second file”) in which the second code compressed for each component by the second compression unit 15 is structured for each component. In the present embodiment, the file generation unit 16 generates a highly compressed PDF (Portable Document Format) file as the second file.

  The code transmission unit 17 is configured by, for example, an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client, and transmits the first code to the server device 3 via the communication line 5. The first code transmitted to the server device 3 by the code transmission unit 17 is stored as a file in the server device 3. In the following description, the first code filed in the server device 3 is referred to as a “first file”.

  The first file is preferably a JPEG2000 family file. In the present embodiment, the server device 3 uses a JPM (JPEG 2000 File Format-Multilayer) file conforming to ISO-15444-6 as the first file, or an ISO It is assumed that a JP2C code stream conforming to -15444-1 is generated.

  The location information recording unit 18 records a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) indicating the storage location of the first file stored in the server device 3 and the offset of the first code in the first file in the second file. ing. Moreover, the file transmission part 19 is comprised by the mail server, for example, and transmits a 2nd file to the terminal device 4 via the communication line 6. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the first file includes a JPEG2000 Signature box (jP) indicating that the file is a JPEG2000 family file, a file type box (ftype) indicating a file type, version, compatibility, and the like. A compound header box (mhdr) for managing information related to all the images in the file, a page collection box (pcol) for managing the storage position of each page, and a page box (page1, page2) for each page are included.

  Each page box includes at least one layout object box (Lobj1). The layout object box includes at least one object box (Obj1). The object box includes a code stream (JP2C) as a first code. ).

  In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the first code corresponds to one object for the entire image for one page read by the image reading unit 10. Therefore, when images of a plurality of pages are read by the image reading unit 10, the first file includes page boxes and code streams corresponding to the number of pages of the images.

  On the other hand, the second file includes the second code for the number of pages of the image read by the image reading unit 10 and the PDF attachment, and the PDF attachment includes the JPM file.

  The JPM file included in the PDF attachment includes a data reference box (dtbl) representing a URL indicating the storage location of the first file in the server device 3 and a fragment list table box (ftbl) associated with each object box. included.

  This storage location is made up of the address, directory name, and file name of the server device 3 that stores the first file, and is based on the URL returned from the server device 3 to the MFP 2 after the first file is stored. Specified.

  The fragment list table box includes a fragment list box (flst), and the fragment list box stores the offset of the first code in the first file.

  This offset is a Pointer Marker Segment in which the size of the partial code included in the first code is TLM (Tile-Part Length Main Header), PLM (Packet Length, Main Header), PLT (Packet Length, Tile-part Header), etc. Can be obtained by calculating the distance from the beginning of the file based on the accumulated tile part length and the packet length included in the tile part.

  As described above, the terminal device 4 stores the first code storage position corresponding to the user's region of interest on each second code based on the data reference box included in the second file and the fragment list box of each page. Can be specified.

  In FIG. 1, the server device 3 is configured by a computer device having a large-capacity storage medium, and functions as an FTP server, for example, in order to receive the first code transmitted by the multifunction device 2. .

  The terminal device 4 is configured by a computer device that functions as a browser for browsing images, and functions as, for example, a mail client in order to receive the second file transmitted by the multifunction device 2.

  Further, the terminal device 4 requests a JPIP client that requests the server device 3 via the communication line 7 for the code of the image in the display area required by the browser operation by the user in accordance with JPIP (JPEG2000 Interactive Protocols and APIs). It is supposed to function as. On the other hand, the server device 3 functions as a JPIP server that transmits the code of the requested image to the terminal device 4 via the communication line 7.

  The image registration operation of the image distribution system 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, in the MFP 2, an image is read by the image reading unit 10 (step S1), and the read image is separated for each component by the image separating unit 11 (step S2).

  Next, the first code generation unit 12 generates a first code from the image read by the image reading unit 10 (step S3). Further, the code for each component separated by the image separation unit 11 is generated as the second code by the second code generation unit 13 (step S4).

  Next, the first code is compressed by the first compression unit 14 (step S5). The second code encoded for each component separated by the image separation unit 11 is compressed for each component by the second compression unit 15 (step S6).

  Next, a second file in which the second code compressed for each component by the second compression unit 15 is structured for each component is generated by the file generation unit 16 (step S7). Here, when images of a plurality of pages are read by the image reading unit 10 and the second code represents the second and subsequent pages, the second file has already been generated, so the second code is added. As described above, the generated second file may be updated by the file generation unit 16.

  Next, the first code is transmitted to the server device 3 via the communication line 5 by the code transmission unit 17 (step S8). In the server device 3 that has received the first code, a first file is generated from the first code (step S9). Here, when images of a plurality of pages are read by the image reading unit 10 and the first code represents the second and subsequent pages, the first file has already been generated, so the first code is added. As described above, the generated first file may be updated.

  Next, the URL representing the storage location of the first file stored in the server device 3 and the offset of the first code in the first file are recorded in the second file by the location information recording unit 18 (step S10).

  Next, the second file is transmitted to the terminal device 4 via the communication line 6 by the file transmission unit 19 (step S11). Here, in the present embodiment, since the file transmission unit 19 is configured by the mail client, the second file is stored in an area allocated to the spooler in the storage area of the hard disk device 24. Become.

  Here, the image reading unit 10 determines whether there is an image to be read next (step S12). If it is determined that there is an image to be read next, the image registration operation returns to step S1. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no image to be read next, the image registration operation ends.

  As described above, since the first and second files are updated each time an image is read by the image reading unit 10, as shown in FIG. Before reading, the code of the high-quality image of the read page can be acquired from the first file of the server device 3 based on the second file.

  As described above, the image distribution system 1 as an embodiment of the present invention is stored in the server device 3 in a file including a code representing a low-quality image transmitted from the multifunction device 2 to the terminal device 4. In order to store the information indicating the storage position of the code representing the high-quality image, the code representing the high-quality image corresponding to the code representing the low-quality image is easier for the user of the terminal device 4 than the conventional one. Can be acquired.

  In the present embodiment, the example in which the image represented by the second code is lower in quality than the image represented by the first code has been described. However, in the present invention, the second code compressed by the second compression unit 15 is described. Should be smaller than the size of the first code compressed by the first compression unit 14.

  That is, the second code may be compressed higher than the first code, the resolution of the image represented by the second code may be lower than the resolution of the image represented by the first code, and the image represented by the first code is in color. However, the image represented by the second code may be monochrome.

  Further, in the present embodiment, an example in which the multifunction device 2 transmits the first code to the server device 3 and the server device 3 converts the first code into a first file has been described. In the present invention, The multifunction device 2 may file the first code into a first file and send the first file to the server device 3. The first code may be sent to the server device 3 in the code stream state without being filed. You may make it store.

  In the present embodiment, the code transmission unit 17 of the multifunction device 2 has been described as transmitting the first code to the server device 3 in conformity with FTP. However, in the present invention, SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) is used. ), FTPS (File Transfer Protocol over SSL / TLS), SMB (Server Message Block), Web Dev (Web-Based Distributed Authoring and Versioning), etc. 3 may be transmitted.

  In the present embodiment, the file transmission unit 19 of the MFP 2 has been described as transmitting the second file to the terminal device 4 by mail. However, in the present invention, FTP, SFTP, FTPS, SMB, and You may make it transmit a 2nd file to the terminal device 4 based on the protocol which can transmit a file like WebDev.

1 is a block diagram of an image distribution system configured by a multifunction machine as one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a multifunction machine as an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of a multifunction peripheral as an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. It is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating the 1st and 2nd file in the image delivery system comprised by the multifunctional machine as one embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows the image registration operation | movement of the image delivery system comprised by the multifunctional machine as one embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating one effect | action of the image registration operation | movement of the image delivery system comprised by the multifunctional machine as one embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image delivery system 2 Multifunction machine 3 Server apparatus 4 Terminal device 5, 6, 7 Communication line 10 Image reading part 11 Image separation part 12 1st code generation part 13 2nd code generation part 14 1st compression part 15 2nd compression part 16 File generation unit 17 Code transmission unit 18 Position information recording unit 19 File transmission unit 21 CPU
22 RAM
23 ROM
24 hard disk device 25 communication module 26 scanner

Claims (12)

In an image encoding device that encodes an image read by an image reading unit,
A first code generator for generating a first code from the image;
A second code generator for generating a second code from the image;
A file generation unit for generating a file including the second code;
A code transmitter for transmitting the first code to the server device;
A position information recording unit that records storage position information representing a storage position of the first code stored in the server device in the file;
An image encoding apparatus comprising: a file transmission unit configured to transmit a file in which the storage position information is recorded to a terminal device. A first compression unit for compressing the first code;
A second compression unit for compressing the second code,
The first and second compression units compress the first and second codes, respectively, so that the image represented by the first code has higher image quality than the image represented by the second code,
The code transmission unit transmits the first code compressed by the first compression unit to the server,
The image encoding device according to claim 1, wherein the file generation unit generates a file including the second code compressed by the second compression unit.   The image encoding apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first compression unit compresses the first code reversibly.   The image coding apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the first compression unit compresses the first code so as to be partially decoded. An image separation unit for separating the image for each component;
The second code generation unit generates a code for each component separated by the image separation unit as the second code,
The second compression unit compresses the second code for each component,
5. The image encoding device according to claim 2, wherein the file generation unit generates a file in which the second code is structured for each component. 6.   The image encoding apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the file generation unit generates a highly compressed PDF file. In an image encoding method for encoding an image read by an image reading unit using an image encoding device,
A first code generation step of generating a first code from the image;
A second code generation step of generating a second code from the image;
A file generation step of generating a file including the second code;
A code transmission step of transmitting the first code to a server device;
A position information recording step of recording storage position information representing a storage position of the first code stored in the server device in the file;
A file transmission step of transmitting a file in which the storage location information is recorded to a terminal device. A first compression step of compressing the first code;
A second compression step of compressing the second code,
In the first and second compression steps, the first and second codes are respectively compressed so that the image represented by the first code has higher image quality than the image represented by the second code,
In the code transmission step, the first code compressed in the first compression step is transmitted to the server,
8. The image encoding method according to claim 7, wherein in the file generation step, a file including the second code compressed in the second compression step is generated.   9. The image encoding method according to claim 8, wherein in the first compression step, the first code is reversibly compressed.   The image encoding method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein in the first compression step, the first code is compressed so that it can be partially decoded. An image separation step of separating the image into components,
In the second code generation step, a code for each component separated in the image separation step is generated as the second code,
In the second compression step, the second code is compressed for each component,
11. The image encoding method according to claim 8, wherein in the file generation step, a file in which the second code is structured for each component is generated.   12. The image encoding method according to claim 11, wherein in the file generation step, a highly compressed PDF file is generated.