JP2010219856A - Image processing apparatus, image processing program, and image processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate operation of confirming an area to be marked out on a document for distribution. <P>SOLUTION: An image processing apparatus has an image data acquiring means that acquires image data, an area definition acquiring means that acquires an area definition to the image data, a storage managing means that stores the image data and area definition while associating with each other, a display control means that generates display image data to which colors are added so that a gradation pattern of the image data can be recognized in an area indicated by the area definition based on the image data and the area definition when the area definition is acquired, a print request acquiring means that acquires a print request for the image data, and a print control means that generates printed image data in which the gradation pattern of the image data is changed so as not to be recognized in the area indicated by the area definition based on the image data and the area definition when the print request is acquired. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing program, and an image processing method, and more particularly to image display and printing processing.

  Today, it is a common practice to project and display presentation materials with a projector during research presentations and lectures. In the presentation device described in Patent Document 1, a presenter can overwrite a marker or the like on a projected image by operating a PC (Personal Computer) connected to a projector.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-175777

By the way, when distributing a printed document in which a part of the original is filled, it is necessary to prepare a hard copy of the original for storing the original and prepare a printed document for distribution in which the hard copy is partially filled. . However, in order to manage a print document for distribution as internal data, the original and the print document for distribution must be managed in association with each other, which makes management complicated. In the first place, management with paper documents has a problem that work efficiency and storage location are inefficient compared to management with electronic data.
Further, in order to confirm the contents of the target area of the original to be filled with a plurality of people, it is desired that the original can be operated while being projected by a projector. For example, when this operation is performed while image data read by a scanner is projected and displayed by a projector, the target area is sequentially checked while an opaque graphic is superimposed on the target area by the image editing application. However, once the target area has been painted and the contents of the area are to be checked again, the opaque figure superimposed on the area must be removed by an editing operation, which is cumbersome.

  The present invention has been created to solve these problems, and an object of the present invention is to make it easy to confirm a region to be filled in a distribution document.

  (1) An image processing apparatus for achieving the above object stores image data acquisition means for acquiring image data, area specification acquisition means for acquiring area specification for image data, and image data and area specification in association with each other. And a storage management unit that generates display image data in which a gradation pattern of image data is identifiable in a region indicated by the region designation based on the image data and the region designation when the region designation is acquired. Control means, print request acquisition means for acquiring a print request for image data, and when the print request is acquired, image data for printing in which the gradation pattern of the image data is changed to be indistinguishable in the area indicated by the area designation Printing control means for generating based on the data and the area designation.

  According to the present invention, in order to generate the display image data in which the gradation pattern of the image data is identifiable in the area indicated by the area specification, the viewer of the display screen of the display image data selects the area indicated by the area specification. It can be recognized and the contents of the area can be recognized. In addition, since the print image data in which the gradation pattern of the image data is changed to be indistinguishable in the area designated by the area designation is generated, the viewer of the print document of the print image data cannot recognize the contents of the area designated by the area designation. . Furthermore, by storing the image data and the area designation in association with each other, the image data representing the original is stored without being processed, so that information for printing or displaying the original itself and a part of the original are filled. It is possible to easily manage the information for printing and displaying the printed document. Note that the gradation pattern is a spatial change of gradation including at least the strongest contour that appears due to the gradation difference between pixels in a certain region. Therefore, adding the gradation pattern in an identifiable manner means adding the colors so that the gradation pattern before the addition can be identified from the gradation pattern after the addition. On the other hand, changing the gradation pattern to be indistinguishable means changing the gradation value so that the gradation pattern before the change cannot be identified from the gradation pattern after the change.

(2) The image processing apparatus for achieving the above object may be a projector further provided with a projection means for projecting and displaying the display image data.
According to the present invention, since the projection unit is provided, it is possible to project and display image data for a viewer of the display screen of the display image data to confirm the region indicated by the region designation.

  Note that the function of each means described in the claims is realized by hardware resources whose function is specified by the configuration itself, hardware resources whose function is specified by a program, or a combination thereof. The functions of these means are not limited to those realized by hardware resources that are physically independent of each other. Furthermore, the present invention can be realized as a print control program for causing a computer to function as a print control apparatus, a print control method, or a recording medium for a print control program. Of course, the recording medium for the print control program may be a magnetic recording medium, a magneto-optical recording medium, or any recording medium developed in the future. Further, the order of the operations described in the claims is not limited to the order of description as long as there is no technical obstruction factor, and may be executed simultaneously, or may be executed in the reverse order of the description order, or may be continuous. It does not have to be executed in order.

The block diagram concerning one Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart concerning one Embodiment of this invention. The schematic diagram for demonstrating one Embodiment of this invention. The graph for demonstrating the change process of a gradation pattern.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the corresponding component in each figure, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.
1. Hardware Configuration FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a projector 10 as an embodiment of the present invention. A scanner 21, a tablet 22, a printer 23, and a USB memory 24 can be connected to the projector 10. The projector 10 can project and display image data read by the scanner 21, print it from the printer 23, and save it in the USB memory 24.

  The projector 10 includes a control unit 11 and a display unit configured by a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a VRAM (Video RAM), a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an input / output mechanism (I / O), and the like. 12. The display unit 12 includes a light source, a liquid crystal panel, and the like, and has a function of projecting and displaying image data on a screen or the like. The control unit 11 functions as an image processing device by executing a program stored in the ROM, and projects and displays image data based on data input from the scanner 21 and the tablet 22, or a printer 23 and a USB memory. 24 to output necessary data.

2. Software Configuration The image processing program stored in the ROM in the control unit 11 causes the control unit 11 of the projector 10 to function as an image processing apparatus. The image processing program includes an image data acquisition unit 11a, an area designation acquisition unit 11b, a storage management unit 11c, a display control unit 11d, a print request acquisition unit 11e, a print control unit 11f, and a printer driver 11g. By executing the function, a function as an image processing apparatus is realized.

  The image data acquisition unit 11a acquires image data read from a document by the scanner 21, and delivers the image data to the storage management unit 11c. The area designation acquisition unit 11b acquires the area designation input from the tablet 22, and delivers the area designation to the storage management unit 11c. The area designation input by the tablet 22 is an area designation in the coordinate system of the display area to be projected and displayed. Therefore, the area designation acquisition unit 11b linearly converts the area designation in the coordinate system of the display area into the area designation in the coordinate system of the image data, and then delivers it to the storage management unit 11c.

  The storage management unit 11c stores the image data delivered from the image data acquisition unit 11a in association with the region designation delivered from the region designation acquisition unit 11b. The association between the image data and the area designation may be performed by managing both as one file, or may be performed by adding information for referring to the other to one.

  The display control unit 11d generates display image data from the area designation and image data stored by the storage management unit 11c. The display control unit 11d generates display image data according to the display magnification and the display target area. Since the image data stored in the storage management unit 11c is data of the entire area read by the scanner 21 from the document, the display control unit 11d stores the display target area of the image data in the VRAM. The display control unit 11d adds a region indicated by the region designation so that the gradation pattern of the image data stored in the VRAM can be identified. As a result, display image data is generated in the VRAM. Since the area designation stored by the storage management unit 11c is an area designation in the coordinate system of the image data, the display control unit 11d linearly converts the area designation into an area designation in the coordinate system of the display area. That is, the control display unit 11d adds an area directly indicated by the converted area designation. Since the coordinate system of the area designation output from the tablet 22 and the coordinate system of the display area coincide with each other, the area designation output from the tablet 22 may be an area designation that directly points to the additional color target area. Display image data generated in the VRAM is read by the display unit 12 and is projected and displayed.

  The print request acquisition unit 11 e acquires a print request from the tablet 22. For example, the print request acquisition unit 11e acquires, as a print request, click information in an area corresponding to the print icon output by the tablet 22 in a state where a menu screen including a print icon corresponding to the print request is displayed. The print request acquisition unit 11e may acquire operation information of a print dedicated switch provided in the projector 10 as a print request. The print request acquisition unit 11e activates the print control unit 11f when the print request is acquired.

  The print control unit 11f generates image data for printing from the image data stored in the storage management unit 11c and the area designation. The print control unit 11f specifies a designated area in the image data based on the read area designation. The print control unit 11f copies the image data stored by the storage management unit 11c to another area of the RAM, and sets the gradation value of the area indicated by the area designation so that the gradation pattern of the copied image data cannot be identified. change. As a result, print image data is generated in a different area from the image data stored by the storage management unit 11c. The print control unit 11f delivers the generated print image data to the printer driver 11g. The printer driver 11 g converts the transferred print image data in accordance with the specifications of the printer 23 and transmits the converted data to the printer 23. As a result, the printing image data is printed by the printer 23.

  The storage management unit 11 c may convert the format of the stored image data and output it to the USB memory 24. For example, image data in bitmap format may be converted to JPEG format and output to the USB memory 24. In this case, by outputting the area designation as header information of the TIFF file format, it can be associated with the image data in the TIFF file. In addition, the storage management unit 11 c may acquire image data stored in the USB memory 24.

3. Image Processing Method FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an image processing method using the control unit 11 of the projector 10 as an image processing apparatus. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the process of image processing.

  First, processing in the scanner 21 will be described. The scanner 21 repeats the process of determining whether or not a request for reading image data has occurred (step S100).

  When an image data reading request is generated, the scanner 21 reads image data from the set original (step S105). The image data is read from the document as raster data, and the scanner 21 transmits the image data to the projector 10 (step S110).

  Next, processing in the projector 10 will be described. The image data acquisition unit 11a acquires the image data transmitted from the scanner 21 (step S115). That is, the image data acquisition unit 11a stores the image data transmitted from the scanner 21 in a RAM area that can be used by the storage management unit 11c. As a result, the image data stored by the storage management unit 11c is image data I of the entire area read by the scanner 21 from the document as shown in FIG. The display control unit 11d generates display image data from the image data I stored in the storage management unit 11c according to the display magnification and the display target area, and stores the display image data in the VRAM. As a result, the display image data stored in the VRAM is projected and displayed on the screen by the display unit 12 (step S120).

  Next, the area designation acquiring unit 11b determines whether or not the area designation has been acquired (step S125). If there is no area designation acquisition, the print request acquisition unit 11e determines whether a print request has been acquired (step S140). These processes are repeated until an area designation or print request is acquired.

When the area designation is acquired (Y in step S125), the area designation obtaining unit 11b passes the obtained area designation to the storage management unit 11c. The storage manager 11c stores the transferred area designation in association with the already stored image data (step S130). The presenter inputs an area designation through the tablet 22. As shown in FIG. 3, the tablet 22 has an input area A having the same resolution as the projected display area, and the presenter performs an area designation operation by clicking or dragging on the input area A. The area designation is input by dragging an L-shaped locus in the input area A. Respect to the locus of the drag in FIG. 3 starting is P ₁₁ end point is P _21, the rectangular area for the two-point and diagonal becomes a region designated pointed area. The area designation acquisition unit 11b acquires the coordinate values P ₁₁ and P ₂₁ corresponding to the drag trajectory start point and trajectory end point as the area designation. Coordinate values _{P 11, P 21} is the coordinate value of the origin at the upper left corner point _{0 1} of the input region A. The area designation acquisition unit 11b linearly converts the acquired area designation coordinate values P ₁₁ and P ₂₁ into coordinate values P ₁₂ and P ₂₂ in the coordinate system of the image data, and uses the coordinate values P ₁₂ and P ₂₂ as the area designation V. Delivered to the storage management unit 11c. The storage management unit 11c manages the area designation V and the image data I in one file F in order to store the delivered area designation V and the already stored image data I in association with each other.

The display control unit 11d, the region designation V is stored in the storage management unit 11c, the coordinate values _{P 11, P 21} in the coordinate system of the display area coordinate values _{P 12, P 22} as region designation V file F Perform linear conversion. The display control unit 11d generates display image data D in which the area indicated by the coordinate values P ₁₁ and P ₂₁ after conversion is added in the VRAM. The display image data is updated with the display image data D generated in the VRAM (step S135). Specifically, the display control unit 11d specifies image data that is projected and displayed by reading display image data stored in the VRAM. The display control unit 11d specifies the region indicated by the region designation for the image data based on the coordinate values P ₁₁ and P ₂₁ . Input area A and a display area to be projected appears to have the same resolution, the position of the coordinate values P _11, P ₂₁ on the display area is determined by the origin at the upper left corner point 0 ₁ of the display area. The display controller 11d adds the gradation pattern in the region indicated by the region designation so that it can be identified. The display image data D generated in this way is stored in the VRAM, then read by the display unit 12 and reflected on the screen. According to such processing, the viewer of the screen on which the display image data D is projected and displayed can recognize the area indicated by the area designation input by the presenter and can recognize the contents of the area. Therefore, it becomes easy to change or confirm the area designation by the collaborative work of the viewer and the presenter. When the process of step S135 ends, the process returns to step S125.

Here, a process of adding the color indicated by the area designation will be described with reference to FIG. 4A. FIG. 4A is a graph showing gradation patterns before and after processing. The horizontal axis indicates the position in the area where the region designated point as an origin to P _11, the vertical axis represents the tone value. A broken line indicates a gradation pattern before color addition, and a solid line indicates a gradation pattern after color addition. Tone value of the region from 0 in additive color before the gradation pattern to the x ₁ is 200, the gradation value of the right region from the x ₁ is 100. As an example of the additional color processing, here, 100 is subtracted from the gradation value of each pixel. As a result, the gradation value is 100 becomes a region from 0 gradation pattern after additive color to x _1, the gradation value of the right region from the x ₁ is 0 (because the gradation value is not a minus), The strongest contour of the gradation pattern before color addition is maintained even after color addition. The strongest contour means a position where the gradation difference is greatest between adjacent pixels. For Figure 4A, since the presence of the strongest contour x ₁ in both before and after additive color, it can be seen that the contour is maintained even after additive color.

  The case where a print request is acquired in step S140 will be described with reference back to FIG. At the time when the print request is acquired, there are two cases, that is, the case where the area designation has already been acquired and the case where it has not yet been acquired. When the print request is acquired when the area designation has not yet been acquired, the print control unit 11f generates print image data from the image data I of the image file F stored in the storage management unit 11c. (Step S145). Since the area designation has not been acquired, the print control unit 11 f generates image data for printing by copying the image data I to another area of the RAM. The generated printing image data is delivered to the printer driver 11g, and the printing image data is converted by the printer driver 11g according to the specifications of the printer 23 and then transmitted to the printer 23. The printer 23 prints image data for printing without specifying a region. When the process of step S145 ends, the process returns to step 125.

If the print request is acquired when the area designation has already been obtained, the print control unit 11f prints the print image from the image data I and the area designation V of the image file F stored in the storage management unit 11c. Data P is generated (step S145). Specifically, the print control section 11f identified based a region where region specifying is pointing to the image data I into the coordinate value P _12, P _22. For area designation V stored in the storage management unit 11c is a coordinate system of the image data, the position of the coordinate values P _12, P ₂₂ is determined by the origin at the upper left corner point 0 ₂ in the printing image data P Is done. The print control unit 11f generates print image data P by performing a process of filling the area indicated by the designated area. The generated printing image data P is transferred to the printer driver 11g, and the printing image data P is converted in accordance with the specifications of the printer 23 by the printer driver 11g, and then transmitted to the printer 23. Printing image data P is printed by the printer 23. The viewer of the printed document on which the printing image data P is printed cannot recognize the contents of the area indicated by the area designation input by the presenter. As a result, it is possible to easily create a print document in which the designated area is filled while checking on the screen. When the process of step S145 ends, the process returns to step 125.

Here, a process for filling the area indicated by the area designation will be described with reference to FIG. 4C. FIG. 4C is a graph showing a gradation pattern before filling and after filling. The horizontal axis indicates the position in the area where the region designated point as an origin to P _12, the vertical axis represents the tone value. A broken line indicates a gradation pattern before painting, and a solid line indicates a gradation pattern after painting. Fill a gradation value is 200 in the region from 0 in the previous gradation pattern to x _1, the gradation value of the right region from the x ₁ is 100. As an example of the filling process, here, a process of changing all the gradation values of each pixel to 0 is performed. As a result, the entire contour of the gradation pattern disappears, and the gradation pattern before painting becomes indistinguishable. Here, an example in which all the gradation values of each pixel are set to 0 has been described. However, the gradation values of all the pixels may be set to a constant value in the region indicated by the region designation, and are not limited to 0.
4). Other Embodiments The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, as for the process of adding the area indicated by the area specification, the process of subtracting 100 from the gradation value of each pixel has been described in the above embodiment, but a different process may be executed. FIG. 4B is a diagram showing an example thereof. The vertical axis, horizontal axis, broken line, and solid line are the same as in FIG. 4A. The gradation pattern before the addition is the same as in FIG. 4A. In FIG. 4B, a process of changing each gradation value to ½ is performed when adding colors. As a result, the gradation value is 100 becomes a region from 0 gradation pattern after processing to x _1, the gradation value of the right region from the x ₁ 50, and the strongest contour of the gradation pattern before additive color Is maintained even after color addition. Since the strongest contours present in x ₁ in both before and after the additive color Figure 4B, it can be seen that the contour is maintained even after additive color.

Further, as another color addition process, the gradation value of each pixel may be changed according to the following equation.
V = av + (1-a) v ₀
Here, V is a gradation value after color addition, a is a constant between 0 and less than 1, v is a gradation value before color addition, and v ₀ is a constant indicated by any integer from 0 to 255. By substituting the gradation value before color addition into this equation, the gradation value after color addition can be obtained. As the value of a is set larger, not only the strong contour before color addition but also the weak contour is maintained. On the other hand, as the value of a is set smaller, it becomes more difficult to maintain a weak outline before color addition. Therefore, in order to adopt this expression as the color addition processing, attention must be paid to the value a. When the image data is shown in color, the color addition processing may be performed by changing the gradation value of each pixel according to this equation for any one or more of the RGB channels.

  FIG. 4D is a diagram illustrating an example of a painting process different from that in FIG. 4C. The vertical axis, horizontal axis, broken line, and solid line are the same as in FIG. 4C. The gradation pattern before painting is the same as in FIG. 4C. In FIG. 4D, at the time of painting, the gradation value of each pixel is changed so that the gradation pattern becomes a waveform. Specifically, a new gradation value is set according to the position of the horizontal axis so that the gradation pattern becomes a waveform without considering the gradation value before filling. For example, a waveform gradation pattern can be formed by drawing a sine curve with the position of the horizontal axis as a variable. According to such processing, all the contours of the gradation pattern disappear, and the gradation pattern before painting becomes indistinguishable.

10: projector, 11: control unit, 11a: image data acquisition unit, 11b: area designation acquisition unit, 11c: storage management unit, 11d: display control unit, 11e: print request acquisition unit, 11f: print control unit, 11g: Printer driver, 12: display unit, 21: scanner, 22: tablet, 23: printer, A: input area, D: image data for display, F: file, I: image data, P: image data for printing, V: Area specification

Claims (4)

Image data acquisition means for acquiring image data;
Area designation obtaining means for obtaining area designation for the image data;
Storage management means for storing the image data and the region designation in association with each other;
When the area designation is acquired, display control for generating display image data in which the gradation pattern of the image data is added in an identifiable manner in the area indicated by the area designation based on the image data and the area designation Means,
Print request acquisition means for acquiring a print request for the image data;
When the print request is acquired, print control means for generating print image data in which the gradation pattern of the image data is changed to be indistinguishable in the region indicated by the region designation based on the image data and the region designation When,
An image processing apparatus comprising:   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a projection unit that projects and displays the display image data. Image data acquisition means for acquiring image data;
Area designation obtaining means for obtaining area designation for the image data;
Storage management means for storing the image data and the region designation in association with each other;
When the area designation is acquired, display control for generating display image data in which the gradation pattern of the image data is added in an identifiable manner in the area indicated by the area designation based on the image data and the area designation Means,
Print request acquisition means for acquiring a print request for the image data;
When the print request is acquired, print control means for generating print image data in which the gradation pattern of the image data is changed to be indistinguishable in the region indicated by the region designation based on the image data and the region designation When,
An image processing program that causes a computer to function. Get image data,
Obtaining a region designation for the image data;
Storing the image data and the area designation in association with each other;
When the area designation is acquired, display image data in which a gradation pattern of the image data is identifiable in the area indicated by the area designation is generated based on the image data and the area designation.
Obtaining a print request for the image data;
When the print request is acquired, print image data in which the gradation pattern of the image data is changed to be indistinguishable in an area indicated by the area designation is generated based on the image data and the area designation.
An image processing method.

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