JP2011010212A - Image processing apparatus, image processing method and image processing program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processing apparatus, image processing method and image processing program, capable of fast performing image processing corresponding to an image type.SOLUTION: An image processing apparatus 100 comprises: an image type discriminating means 160 for discriminating, from current image data for one predetermined document, the image type as either one of a color image and a monochromatic image; and an image processing means in which, when a temporarily specified image type of the current image data matches the discriminated image type, first image processing specific for the temporarily specified image type is applied to the current image data, and when the temporarily specified image type does not matches the discriminated image type, second image processing specific for the image type discriminated by the image type discriminating means 160 is applied to the current image data.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and an image processing program that perform image processing according to an image type.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are known image apparatuses such as printers, printing machines, facsimile machines, and copiers, and multifunction machines having at least two functions among a copy function, a printer function, a scanner function, and a facsimile function. In such an image apparatus, image data (hereinafter referred to as monochrome image data) corresponding to a monochrome document is subjected to image processing (hereinafter referred to as monochrome image processing) specific to the monochrome image data, while color processing is performed. 2. Description of the Related Art There is known one having a function of performing image processing (hereinafter referred to as color image processing) unique to color image data on image data corresponding to an original (hereinafter referred to as color image data). In recent years, attention has been focused on increasing the speed of image processing for such an image apparatus.

  As a technique related to speeding up of image processing, for example, as in the image device described in Patent Document 1, the standby position of a slider that reads a document is set opposite to the scan start position with respect to the document, and each of the components constituting the scanner is configured. The slider is prepared for reading the document by setting the reference white plate for removing the output level unevenness between the pixels between the end of the document on the side opposite to the scan start position and the standby position. In addition, during the operation of moving from the standby position to the scan start position, it is known to perform correction for removing output level unevenness between pixels and subsequently perform color / monochrome discrimination. Note that the term “correction” here refers to a process of reading a reference white plate before reading a document and setting all white information between pixels of photoelectric conversion elements (CCD) constituting the scanner to the same output level. Further, the output level unevenness referred to here is a factor due to a sensitivity variation for each pixel of the CCD. Further, the color / monochrome discrimination here refers to automatically discriminating whether the image type of the image data corresponding to the read original is a color image or a monochrome image.

  In the conventional image apparatus, in order to perform color / monochrome determination, it is necessary to read the entire original by moving the slider from the standby position to the scan start position. Therefore, there has been a disadvantage that color image processing or monochrome image processing depending on the determination result of the color / monochrome determination cannot be performed until the reading of the entire original is completed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and an image processing program capable of performing image processing according to image type at high speed.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, an image processing apparatus according to the present invention determines the image type of current image data from current image data for one predetermined document, color images and monochrome images. The image type discriminating means for discriminating as one of them, and the provisionally specified image type when the image type of the current image data provisionally specified matches the image type discriminated by the image type discriminating means When the current image data is subjected to the first image processing unique to the image data, the provisionally identified image type and the image type discriminated by the image type discriminating unit do not coincide with each other. And image processing means for performing second image processing specific to the image type on the current image data.

  The image processing method according to the present invention is an image processing method executed by the image processing apparatus, wherein the image type determination means determines the image type of the current image data from the current image data for a predetermined document. Is determined to be one of a color image and a monochrome image, and the image type of the current image data provisionally specified by the image processing unit matches the image type determined by the image type determination unit When the first image processing specific to the temporarily specified image type is applied to the current image data, the temporarily specified image type and the image type determined by the image type determining unit do not match And applying a second image processing specific to the image type determined by the image type determination means to the current image data.

  The image processing program according to the present invention further comprises an image type determination step for determining the image type of the current image data as one of a color image and a monochrome image from the current image data for one predetermined document. If the image type of the temporarily specified image data matches the image type determined in the image type determining step, the first image processing unique to the temporarily specified image type is performed on the current image data. When the temporarily specified image type and the image type determined in the image type determining step do not match, the second image processing specific to the image type determined in the image type determining step is performed on the current image. An image processing step applied to the data is executed by a computer.

  According to the present invention, the image type is provisionally specified and the image processing according to the temporarily specified image type is performed on the image data before the determination of the image type is completed. There exists an effect that a process can be performed at high speed.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a flowchart schematically showing the image type specifying process. FIG. 3 is a flowchart schematically showing processing by the second image processing unit. FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of the image processing apparatus according to the second embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart schematically showing image type specifying processing according to the second embodiment. FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of the image processing apparatus according to the third embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart schematically illustrating image type identification processing according to the third embodiment. FIG. 8 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the image processing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 9 is a flowchart schematically showing an image type specifying process according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 10 is a block diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of the multifunction machine according to the fifth embodiment.

  Exemplary embodiments of an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and an image processing program according to the present invention are explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the present embodiment, as an example to which the image processing apparatus is applied, a multifunction machine having at least two functions among a copy function, a printer function, a scanner function, and a facsimile function will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The image processing apparatus 100 includes an image data input unit 110, a first image processing unit 120, an image data temporary storage unit 130, a second image processing unit 140, an image data storage unit 150, and an image type determination unit. 160, an image type storage unit 170, and an image type identification unit 180.

  The image data input unit 110 accepts input of image data generated based on an arbitrary document, and outputs the input image data to the first image processing unit 120 and the image type determination unit 160. The arbitrary document referred to here is, for example, a color document expressed by subtractive color mixture of four colors of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y) and black (K), gray It means either one of monochrome originals expressed in shades of color (gray scale). In addition, image data generated based on a color document is referred to as color image data, and image data generated based on a monochrome document is referred to as monochrome image data.

  The first image processing unit 120 accepts input of image data output from the image data input unit 110 and performs predetermined first image processing on the input image data. The first image processing unit 120 stores the image data subjected to the first image processing in the image data temporary storage unit 130 and outputs the image data to the second image processing unit 140. Note that the first image processing here refers to image processing that does not depend on the image type, that is, image processing that is similarly applied to both color image data and monochrome image data. Examples of such first image processing include A / D conversion processing and shading correction processing.

  The image data temporary storage unit 130 temporarily stores image data subjected to the first image processing. Note that the temporary storage of the image data here means storing at least the image data output by the first image processing unit 120 until the second image processing described later is completed. For example, the temporarily stored image data is discarded when the second image processing to be described later ends, or is rewritten with new image data output from the first image processing unit 120.

  The second image processing unit 140 accepts input of image data output from the first image processing unit 120. In addition, when the image type is notified from the image type specifying unit 180, the second image processing unit 140 performs second image processing corresponding to the notified image type on the input image data, and The image data is stored in the image data storage unit 150. Further, when the image type is re-notified from the image type specifying unit 180, the second image processing unit 140 acquires the image data subjected to the first image processing from the image data temporary storage unit 130, and the image data Second image processing is performed according to the image type re-notified in the data. Then, the second image processing unit 140 replaces the image data stored in the image data storage unit 150 with image data that has been subjected to the second image processing according to the re-notified image type.

  Note that the second image processing here refers to image processing depending on image type, that is, color image processing specific to image processing of color image data and monochrome image processing specific to image processing of monochrome image data. It means either one. Examples of such color image processing include color correction. Examples of such monochrome image processing include color space conversion processing.

  The image data storage unit 150 stores image data that has been subjected to the second image processing. As a result, the printer unit included in the multifunction peripheral appropriately reads out the stored image data in accordance with a user's print request, and performs printing based on the read image data.

  The image type determination unit 160 receives input of image data output from the image data input unit 110. Then, the image type determining unit 160 performs an image type determining process for determining the image type of the image data from the input image data, and the image type obtained as a result of the image type determining process is sent to the image type specifying unit 180. Output. Note that known processing can be used for the image type discrimination processing here. More specifically, for example, the input image data is converted into image data expressed by brightness and two color differences (YUV), and the total number of pixels having a color difference (UV) larger than a predetermined threshold is calculated. When the calculated total number is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the image type of the image data is determined as a color image. On the other hand, when the calculated total number is less than the predetermined threshold, the image type is determined as a monochrome image. A type determination process or the like can be used.

  Such a known image type determination process determines the image type by analyzing the entire image data of one read original. Therefore, image processing using the result of such image type determination processing requires time for analyzing the entire image data. Therefore, as described later, the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment performs image processing of image data without waiting for such image type determination processing to end.

  The image type storage unit 170 stores the image type determined by the image type determination process performed last. The image type determined by the image type determination process performed last here is the image type before the image data (hereinafter referred to as current image data) that is the target of the second image processing. This refers to the image type of image data (hereinafter referred to as old image data) that has been input to the determination unit 160 and whose document type has been determined.

  The image type specifying unit 180 acquires the image type stored in the image type storage unit 170, temporarily specifies the acquired image type as the image type of the current image data, and sets the temporarily specified image type as the second image. Notify the processing unit 140. In addition, when receiving the input of the image type determined by the image type determining unit 160, the image type specifying unit 180 compares the temporarily specified image type with the determined image type, and based on the comparison result, the second image type is determined. The image processing unit 140 is notified of the image type again. In the following description, the above-described process performed by the image type specifying unit 180 is referred to as an image type specifying process.

  Next, the image type specifying process by the image type specifying unit 180 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart schematically showing the image type specifying process.

  When the current image data is input to the image data input unit 110, the image type identification unit 180 refers to the image type storage unit 170 and acquires the image type stored in the image type storage unit 170 (step S101). . Next, the image type specifying unit 180 temporarily specifies the acquired image type as the image type of the current image data, and notifies the second image processing unit 140 of the temporarily specified image type (step S102).

  Next, the image type identification unit 180 determines whether an input of the image type determined by the image type determination unit 160 has been received (step S103). If the image type identification unit 180 determines that the input of the image type determined by the image type determination unit 160 has not been received (No in step S103), the image type identification unit 180 waits for subsequent processing until the input of the image type is received.

  On the other hand, if the image type specifying unit 180 determines that the input of the image type determined by the image type determining unit 160 has been received as a result of the determination in step S103 (Yes in step S103), the image type specifying unit 180 is determined as the temporarily specified image type. It is determined whether or not the image type matches (step S104). As a result, when it is determined that the temporarily specified image type matches the determined image type (Yes in step S104), the image type specifying unit 180 performs a process in step S106 described later. On the other hand, when the image type specifying unit 180 determines that the temporarily specified image type does not match the determined image type (No in step S104), the determined image type is sent to the second image processing unit 140. Re-notification is performed (step S105). Thereafter, the image type identification unit 180 replaces the image type of the old image data stored in the image type storage unit 170 with the image type of the current image data (step S106). In other words, the image type storage unit 180 stores the result of the image type determination process performed last. As a result, the image type identification process ends.

  Next, the process performed by the second image processing unit 140 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart schematically showing processing by the second image processing unit 140.

  The second image processing unit 140 receives the input of the image type notified in step S102 (step S151), and also receives the input of the current image data subjected to the first image processing (step S152).

  Next, the second image processing unit 140 selects image processing corresponding to the notified image type as second image processing (step S153). More specifically, the second image processing unit 140 performs an appropriate parameter for image processing according to the notified image type, for example, color image image processing when the notified image type is a color image. For example, if the notified image type is a monochrome image, a parameter suitable for monochrome image processing is acquired from a parameter storage unit (not shown).

  Next, the second image processing unit 140 performs the selected second image processing on the current image data on which the first image processing has been performed (step S154), and the selected second image processing. Is stored in the image data storage unit 150 (step S155).

  Next, the second image processing unit 140 determines whether or not the image type is re-notified from the image type specifying unit 180 (step S156). As a result, when the second image processing unit 140 determines that the image type has not been notified again (No in step S156), the processing by the second image processing unit 140 ends.

  On the other hand, if the second image processing unit 140 determines that the image type has been notified again (step S156-Yes), the second image processing unit 140 refers to the image data temporary storage unit 130 and acquires the current image data stored therein. (Step S157). Then, the second image processing unit 140 selects the second image processing corresponding to the re-notified image type (step S158), and for the current image data acquired from the image data temporary storage unit 130, The selected second image processing is performed (step S159).

  Next, the second image processing unit 140 replaces the current image data stored in the image data storage unit 150 with the current image data that has been subjected to the second image processing according to the re-notified image type. (Step S160). More specifically, the second image processing unit 140 deletes the current image data stored in the image data storage unit 150, and replaces the deleted current image data according to the re-notified image type. Stores the current image data subjected to the second image processing. Thereby, the processing by the second image processing unit 140 ends.

  Next, the overall processing of the image processing apparatus 100 will be described with a specific example. In the following description, the actual image type of the current image data is a color image, and the image type stored in the image type storage unit 170 is a color image.

  When the current image data is input to the image data input unit 110, the image type identification unit 180 acquires the image type stored in the image type storage unit 170 as a color image, and sets the image type of the current image data as a color image. Are temporarily specified, and the second image processing unit 140 is notified of the temporarily specified image type. As a result, the second image processing unit 140 performs color image processing on the current image data and stores the current image data on which the color image processing has been performed before the image type determination processing on the current image data is completed. Stored in the unit 150. Here, the second image processing unit 140 performs the second image processing corresponding to the color image on the current image data whose actual image type is a color image before the image type determination process is completed. ing. In other words, appropriate second image processing corresponding to the actual image type is performed on the current image data before the image type determination process.

  Next, the overall processing of the image processing apparatus 100 will be described with another specific example. In the following description, the image type of the current image data input to the image data input unit 110 is a color image, and the image type stored in the image type storage unit 170 is a monochrome image. Since the actual image type of the current image data is a color image, it goes without saying that the image type obtained as a result of the image type determination process is also a color image.

  When the current image data is input to the image data input unit 110, the image type specifying unit 180 acquires the image type stored in the image type storage unit 170, and temporarily specifies the image type of the current image data as a monochrome image. Then, the temporarily specified image type is notified to the second image processing unit 140. As a result, the second image processing unit 140 performs monochrome image processing on the current image data before storing the image type determination processing on the current image data, and stores the current image data subjected to the monochrome image processing as image data. Stored in the unit 150. Here, the second image processing unit 140 performs the second image processing corresponding to the monochrome image on the current image data whose actual image type is a color image before the completion of the image type determination process. Yes. In other words, the current image data is not subjected to the second image processing according to the actual image type before the completion of the image type determination process. Therefore, the second image processing unit 140 needs to execute the second image processing according to the color image that is the actual image type of the current image data.

  Therefore, when the image type determination process is completed, the second image processing unit 140 temporarily stores the second image processing corresponding to the color image that is the determination result in the image data temporary storage unit 130. The current image data is applied to the current image data, and the current image data subjected to the second image processing corresponding to the monochrome image is replaced by the current image data. As a result, the second image processing appropriate for the actual image type is performed on the current image data subjected to the first image processing.

  As described above, the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment performs image processing according to the image type obtained as a result of the image type discrimination process performed in the past on the current image data before the completion of the image type discrimination process. The image processing according to the actual image type obtained as a result of the image type discrimination process is performed only when the image type used for the image processing is different from the actual image type obtained as a result of the image type discrimination process. Is going. As a result, when the actual image type and the temporarily specified image type are the same, it is not necessary to perform image processing after the image type determination processing, and it is possible to increase the speed of the image processing.

  In the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment, the image type obtained as a result of the last image type determination process is stored in the image type storage unit. For example, the image type determination process performed in the past Any one of a plurality of image types obtained as a result of the above may be stored in the image type storage unit, and a predetermined image type specified by the user or an image type specified at the time of manufacture of the multifunction device The image types may be stored. This also allows the image type specifying unit to temporarily specify the image type as the image type of the current image data before the completion of the image type determination process. When the image type designated by the user is stored in the image type storage unit, an input unit for receiving such image type input may be provided separately.

  Also, a plurality of image types obtained by image type determination processing performed in the past may be stored in the image type storage unit in a predetermined order such as time series. More specifically, for example, three image types may be stored in the image type storage unit in the order of color image, monochrome image, and monochrome image. Thus, for example, when three image data are input to the image processing apparatus in the order of color image data, monochrome image data, and monochrome image data, the image types are sequentially set before the image type determination processing is completed. It is possible to specify temporarily in the order of color image, monochrome image, and monochrome image.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is different from the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment in that an internal processing of the image type specifying unit and a counter value storage unit are provided instead of the image type storage unit. Therefore, the same parts as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The image processing apparatus 200 includes an image data input unit 110, a first image processing unit 120, an image data temporary storage unit 130, a second image processing unit 140, an image data storage unit 150, and an image type determination unit. 160, a counter value storage unit 270, and an image type identification unit 280.

  The counter value storage unit 270 stores a history of image types previously determined by the image type determination unit 160. More specifically, the counter value storage unit 270 stores the cumulative number of times that the image type determination unit 160 has determined the image type of the old image data as a monochrome image (hereinafter referred to as a monochrome counter value), and Stored is the cumulative number of times (hereinafter referred to as a color counter value) that the image type determination unit 160 has determined the image type of the old image data as a color image.

  The image type identification unit 280 refers to the counter value storage unit 270, acquires the monochrome counter value and the color counter value stored in the counter value storage unit 270, and performs image processing based on the acquired monochrome counter value and color counter value. The type is provisionally specified, and the temporarily specified image type is notified to the second image processing unit 140. In addition, when receiving the input of the image type output from the image type determination unit 160, the image type specification unit 280 compares the temporarily specified image type with the image type determined by the image type determination unit 160, and compares the comparison. According to the result, the second image processing unit 140 is notified again of the image type. In the following description, the above-described process performed by the image type specifying unit 280 is referred to as an image type specifying process.

  Next, the image type specifying process will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart schematically showing the image type specifying process.

  When the current image data is input to the image data input unit 110, the image type identification unit 280 refers to the counter value storage unit 270 and acquires the monochrome counter value and the color counter value stored in the counter value storage unit 270. (Step S201). Next, the image type identification unit 280 compares the acquired monochrome counter value and color counter value (step S202). As a result, if the image type identification unit 280 determines that the color counter value is greater than or equal to the monochrome counter value (Yes in step S202), the image type identification unit 280 temporarily identifies the image type of the current image data as a color image, and the image type is a color image. This is notified to the second image processing unit 140 (step S204). On the other hand, when the image type specifying unit 280 determines that the color counter value is not equal to or greater than the monochrome counter value (No in step S202), the image type specifying unit 280 specifies the image type of the current image data as a monochrome image, and the image type is a monochrome image. This is notified to the second image processing unit 140 (step S203).

  Thereafter, the image type identification unit 280 performs the processing of Steps S103 to S105. Thereafter, the image type identification unit 280 adds 1 to the counter value corresponding to the image type determined by the image type determination unit 160 (step S205). Thereby, the image type identification process ends.

  As described above, the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment performs the cumulative number of times the image type has been determined as a color image by the image type determination process performed in the past before the completion of the image type determination process. The current image data is subjected to image processing according to the image type corresponding to the larger one of the cumulative number of times the image type is determined as a monochrome image by the broken image type determination process. Only when the image type used for the image processing is different from the actual image type obtained as a result of the image type discrimination process, the image processing corresponding to the image type obtained as a result of the image type discrimination process is performed. ing. As a result, when the image type obtained as a result of the image type determination process is the same as the temporarily specified image type, it is not necessary to perform the image process after the image type determination process, and the image processing can be speeded up. It becomes. Further, by temporarily specifying the image type according to the cumulative number of determination results of the image type determination process, the image type of the current image data can be temporarily specified more accurately.

  In the counter value storage unit of the present embodiment, the cumulative number of times the image type has been determined as a monochrome image by the image type determination process performed in the past, and the image type by the image type determination process performed in the past. The accumulated number of times determined as a color image is stored, and the image type identification unit of the present embodiment provisionally identifies the image type based on the accumulated number. However, the present embodiment is not limited to this, and the counter value storage unit stores, for example, a history of image types designated in a reading mode set on the side of an original reading apparatus such as a scanner when reading an original. May be. More specifically, the counter value storage unit includes an accumulated number of times when the user designates the monochrome reading mode for an original reading device such as a scanner and an accumulated number of times when the color reading mode is designated when the original is read. It may be stored. Then, the image type identification unit compares the accumulated number of times, tentatively identifies the image type with the larger cumulative number as the image type of the current image data, and performs image processing according to the temporarily identified image type. May be applied to data. This also makes it possible to increase the speed of image processing, and it is possible to provisionally specify the image type of the input current image data more accurately.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is different from the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment in that it further includes an internal process of the image type identification unit and a coincidence count storage unit. Therefore, the same parts as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the image processing apparatus 300. The image processing apparatus 300 includes an image data input unit 110, a first image processing unit 120, an image data temporary storage unit 130, a second image processing unit 140, an image data storage unit 150, and an image type determination unit. 160, an image type storage unit 170, an image type identification unit 380, and a coincidence count storage unit 390.

  The coincidence count storage unit 390 stores the accumulated number of times that the image type obtained as a result of the image type discrimination process for the old image data matches the image type temporarily specified for the old image data (hereinafter, the number of matches). And the cumulative number of times they did not match (hereinafter referred to as the number of mismatches).

  Next, the image type specifying process by the image type specifying unit 380 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart schematically showing the image type specifying process.

  After acquiring the image type stored in the image type storage unit 170 (step S101), the image type identification unit 380 refers to the match number storage unit 390, and determines the number of matches stored in the match number storage unit 390. The number of mismatches is acquired (step S301). Thereafter, the image type identification unit 380 determines whether or not the number of matches acquired from the match count storage unit 390 is equal to or greater than the number of mismatches (step S302). As a result, when the image type identification unit 380 determines that the number of matches is not equal to or greater than the number of mismatches (No in step S302), the image type relative to the image type acquired from the image type storage unit 170 is set as the image of the current image data. Temporarily specified as the type, and the temporarily specified image type is notified to the second image processing unit 140 (step S303). Then, the image type identification unit 380 performs the process of step S103. The image type relative to the image type of the current image data here refers to a color image when the image type stored in the image type storage unit 170 is a monochrome image, for example. When the image type is a color image, it means a monochrome image.

  On the other hand, if the image type identification unit 380 determines that the number of matches is equal to or greater than the number of mismatches as a result of the process in step S302 (step S302—Yes), the image type identification unit 380 performs the processes in steps S102 and S103.

  Next, after step S103, the image type specifying unit 380 determines whether or not the image type of the temporarily specified current image data matches the image type determined by the image type determining unit 160 (step S104). ). Then, if the result of step S104 is Yes, the image type identification unit 380 increases the number of matches stored in the match count storage unit 390 by 1 (step S304), performs the process of step S106, and then performs the image processing. The type identification process ends. On the other hand, if the result of step S104 is No, the image type identification unit 380 performs the process of step S105, increments the number of mismatches stored in the match count storage unit 390 by 1 (step S305), and performs step S106. After performing the process, the image type specifying process is terminated.

  As described above, in the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment, the cumulative number of times that the image type obtained as a result of the image type determination process coincides with the temporarily specified image type in the image type specifying process performed in the past. Further, the image type is provisionally specified based further on the cumulative number of times they did not match. As a result, in addition to speeding up the image processing, it is possible to provisionally specify the image type of the current image data more accurately.

(Fourth embodiment)
Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is different from the image processing apparatus according to the second embodiment in that the internal processing of the image type identification unit and the coincidence count storage unit are provided. Therefore, the same parts as those of the second embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is also omitted.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the image processing apparatus 400. The image processing apparatus 400 includes an image data input unit 110, a first image processing unit 120, an image data temporary storage unit 130, a second image processing unit 140, an image data storage unit 150, and an image type determination unit. 160, a counter value storage unit 270, an image type identification unit 480, and a coincidence count storage unit 490. Since the coincidence count storage unit 490 is the same as the coincidence count storage unit of the third embodiment, the description thereof is omitted here.

  Next, the image type specifying process by the image type specifying unit 480 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart schematically showing the image type specifying process.

  After the processing in step S201, the image type identification unit 480 acquires the number of matches and the number of mismatches stored in the match count storage unit 490 (step S401), as in the third embodiment. Is equal to or greater than the number of mismatches (step S402).

  Next, as in the second embodiment, when the image type identification unit 480 determines that the number of matches is equal to or greater than the number of mismatches (Yes in step S402), the color counter value is equal to or greater than the monochrome counter value. (Step S202—Yes), the image type of the current image data is provisionally specified as a color image, and the temporarily specified image type is notified to the second image processing unit 140 (step S204). On the other hand, when the image type identification unit 480 determines that the number of matches is equal to or greater than the number of mismatches (step S402—Yes), the image type identification unit 480 determines that the color counter value is not equal to or greater than the monochrome counter value (step S202—No). The image type of the image data is temporarily specified as a monochrome image, and the temporarily specified image type is notified to the second image processing unit 140 (step S203).

  However, unlike the second embodiment, the image type identification unit 480 determines that the color counter value is greater than or equal to the monochrome counter value when it is determined that the number of matches is not greater than or equal to the number of mismatches (No in step S402). In this case (step S202-Yes), the image type of the current image data is provisionally specified as a monochrome image, and the temporarily specified image type is notified to the second image processing unit 140 (step S203). On the other hand, when the image type identification unit 480 determines that the number of matches is not greater than or equal to the number of mismatches (step S402-No), the image type identification unit 480 determines that the color counter value is not greater than the monochrome counter value (step S202-No). The image type of the image data is temporarily specified as a color image, and the temporarily specified image type is notified to the second image processing unit 140 (step S204).

  Each process after step S203 and step S204 is the same as that in the second embodiment, and step S404 and step S405 are the same as step S304 and step S305 in the third embodiment, respectively. Since it is a thing, description is abbreviate | omitted.

  As described above, in the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment, the cumulative number of times that the image type obtained as a result of the image type determination process coincides with the temporarily specified image type in the image type specifying process performed in the past. The image type is provisionally specified based on the cumulative number of times they did not match. As a result, in addition to speeding up the image processing, it is possible to provisionally specify the image type of the current image data more accurately.

  In the image processing apparatuses according to the first to fourth embodiments, an image data temporary storage unit is provided, and the current image data subjected to the first image processing is temporarily stored in the image data temporary storage unit. Yes. However, the first to fourth embodiments are not limited to this. For example, the current image data subjected to the first image processing is not provided with the image data temporary storage unit, and the second image processing unit and You may output to an image data storage part. In this case, when the image type is re-notified by the image type specifying unit, the second image processing unit takes out the current image data subjected to the first image processing from the image data storage unit, and re-notified the image Image processing corresponding to the type may be performed on the current image data. This also makes it possible to increase the speed of image processing.

  In the image processing apparatuses according to the first to fourth embodiments, the color document is expressed by subtractive color mixing of CMYK, but is expressed by any color mixing method such as subtractive color mixing of three colors of CMY. Also good. In addition, the monochrome document is expressed in gray scale, but may be expressed in monochrome binary, for example.

  In the image processing apparatuses according to the first to fourth embodiments, the provisionally specified image type is notified to the second image processing unit with the input of the current image data by the image data input unit as a trigger. For example, the second image processing unit may be notified at an arbitrary timing, such as when the second image processing on the previous image data is completed.

(Fifth embodiment)
Next, with reference to FIG. 10, the hardware configuration of the multifunction peripheral according to the first to fourth embodiments will be described. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the multifunction peripheral according to the first to fourth embodiments. As shown in the figure, this multi-function device has a configuration in which the controller 10 and an engine unit (Engine) 60 are connected by a PCI (Peripheral Component Interface) bus. The controller 10 is a controller that controls the entire multifunction peripheral and controls drawing, communication, and input from an operation unit (not shown). The engine unit 60 is a printer engine that can be connected to a PCI bus, and is, for example, a monochrome plotter, a one-drum color plotter, a four-drum color plotter, a scanner, or a fax unit. The engine unit 60 includes an image processing part such as error diffusion and gamma conversion in addition to a so-called engine part such as a plotter.

  The controller 10 includes a CPU 11, a north bridge (NB) 13, a system memory (MEM-P) 12, a south bridge (SB) 14, a local memory (MEM-C) 17, and an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). 16 and a hard disk drive (HDD) 18, and the north bridge (NB) 13 and the ASIC 16 are connected by an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) bus 15. The MEM-P 12 further includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12a and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 12b.

  The CPU 11 performs overall control of the multifunction peripheral, and has a chip set including the NB 13, the MEM-P 12, and the SB 14, and is connected to other devices via the chip set.

  The NB 13 is a bridge for connecting the CPU 11 to the MEM-P 12, SB 14, and AGP 15, and includes a memory controller that controls reading and writing to the MEM-P 12, a PCI master, and an AGP target.

  The MEM-P 12 is a system memory used as a memory for storing programs and data, a memory for developing programs and data, a memory for drawing a printer, and the like, and includes a ROM 12a and a RAM 12b. The ROM 12a is a read-only memory used as a program / data storage memory, and the RAM 12b is a writable / readable memory used as a program / data development memory, a printer drawing memory, or the like.

  The SB 14 is a bridge for connecting the NB 13 to a PCI device and peripheral devices. The SB 14 is connected to the NB 13 via a PCI bus, and a network interface (I / F) unit and the like are also connected to the PCI bus.

  The ASIC 16 is an IC (Integrated Circuit) for image processing applications having hardware elements for image processing, and has a role of a bridge for connecting the AGP 15, PCI bus, HDD 18, and MEM-C 17. The ASIC 16 includes a PCI target and an AGP master, an arbiter (ARB) that forms the core of the ASIC 16, a memory controller that controls the MEM-C 17, and a plurality of DMACs (Direct Memory) that rotate image data using hardware logic. (Access Controller) and a PCI unit that performs data transfer between the engine unit 60 via the PCI bus. The ASIC 16 is connected with an FCU (Facile Control Unit) 30, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) 40, and an IEEE 1394 (the Institute of Electrical Engineers 50) interface via the PCI bus. The operation display unit 20 is directly connected to the ASIC 16.

  The MEM-C 17 is a local memory used as a copy image buffer and a code buffer, and an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 18 is a storage for storing image data, programs, font data, and forms. It is.

  The AGP 15 is a bus interface for a graphics accelerator card that has been proposed to speed up graphics processing, and speeds up the graphics accelerator card by directly accessing the MEM-P 12 with high throughput. .

  An image processing program executed by the image processing apparatuses according to the first to fourth embodiments includes a module configuration including the above-described image data input unit, first image processing unit, document type determination unit, and document type identification unit. As actual hardware, the CPU 11 reads out and executes an image processing program from a storage medium such as the HDD 18, so that the above-described units are loaded on a main storage device such as the MEM-P 12. One image processing unit, a document type determination unit, and a document type identification unit are generated on the main storage device.

  The image processing program executed by the image processing apparatuses according to the first to fourth embodiments is a file in an installable format or an executable format, and is a CD-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R, It may be provided by being recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk). Further, the image processing program may be stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided by being downloaded via the network. Further, the image processing program may be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet. Further, the image processing program may be provided by being incorporated in advance in a ROM or the like.

  In the first to fifth embodiments, an example in which the image forming apparatus of the present invention is applied to a multifunction machine having at least two functions among a copy function, a printer function, a scanner function, and a facsimile function will be described. However, the present invention can be applied to any image device such as a copying machine, a printer, a scanner device, and a facsimile device.

10 Controller 11 CPU
12 MEM-P
12a ROM
12b RAM
13 NB
14 SB
15 AGP
16 ASIC
17 MEM-C
18 HDD
20 Operation display section 30 FCU
40 USB
50 IEEE1394
60 Engine
100, 200, 300, 400 Image processing apparatus 110 Image data input unit 120 First image processing unit 130 Image data temporary storage unit 140 Second image processing unit 150 Image data storage unit 160 Image type determination unit 170 Image type storage unit 180, 280, 380, 480 Image type identification unit 270 Counter value storage unit 390, 490 Number of coincidence storage unit

JP-A-8-242371

Claims (10)

Image type discrimination means for discriminating the image type of the current image data as one of a color image and a monochrome image from the current image data of one predetermined document;
When the image type of the temporarily specified current image data matches the image type determined by the image type determining unit, the first image processing unique to the temporarily specified image type is applied to the current image data. When the image type temporarily determined and the image type determined by the image type determination unit do not match, the second image processing specific to the image type determined by the image type determination unit is performed. Image processing means applied to the data;
An image processing apparatus comprising: Image storage means for storing current image data subjected to the image processing;
The image processing means performs the first image processing on the current image data and stores it in the image storage means when the temporarily specified image type matches the image type determined by the image determination means. If the temporarily specified image type does not match the image type determined by the image determining unit, the first image processing is performed on the current image data and stored in the image storage unit, and The second image processing is performed on the current image data, and the current image data stored in the image storage means is replaced with the current image data subjected to the second image processing. The image processing apparatus according to 1. An image type storage means for storing an image type determined as one of a color image and a monochrome image from the old image data input before the input of the current image data by the image type determination means;
Image type specifying means for temporarily specifying the image type of the current image data as the image type stored in the image type storage means;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: A first number of times that the image type determining means determines the image type of the old image data as a color image from the old image data input before the input of the current image data, and a monochrome image from the old image data. A second number of times of determining the image type of the old image data;
Image type specifying means for temporarily specifying the image type of the current image data as an image type corresponding to the larger one of the first number and the second number;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: The first number of times when the color mode is designated when reading the original corresponding to the old image data input before the input of the current image data, and the second number of times when the monochrome mode is designated when reading the original. Mode designation number storage means for storing the number of times,
The image type of the current image data is temporarily specified as an image type corresponding to the larger one of the first number of times and the second number of times. Image processing device. Image type input means for receiving an input of an image type of the current image data;
Image type specifying means for temporarily specifying the image type of the current image data as the image type input to the image type input means;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: An image type in which a plurality of image types determined as one of a color image and a monochrome image from the old image data input before the input of the current image data by the image type determination unit are stored in a predetermined order Storage means;
Image type specifying means for temporarily specifying the image type of the current image data as the image type stored in the image type storage means in the order;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: The image type discriminating means discriminates as one of a color image and a monochrome image from the old image data input before the input of the current image data, and the temporarily specified image of the old image data The first number of times the type matches, the image type determined from the old image data as one of a color image and a monochrome image, and the image type of the temporarily specified old image data are one. A match count storage means storing a second count that has not been performed, and
When the image type of the current image data is provisionally specified as one of a color image and a monochrome image, and the second number of times is greater than the first number, the temporarily specified image type is determined. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, which is temporarily specified as one of a color image and a monochrome image. An image processing method executed by an image processing apparatus,
A step of determining an image type of the current image data as one of a color image and a monochrome image from the current image data of one predetermined original document;
When the image processing means matches the temporarily specified image type of the current image data with the image type determined by the image type determining means, the first image processing specific to the temporarily specified image type is performed. If the image type temporarily applied to the current image data and the image type determined by the image type determination unit do not match, a second unique to the image type determined by the image type determination unit Applying image processing to the current image data;
An image processing method comprising: An image type determining step for determining the image type of the current image data as one of a color image and a monochrome image from the current image data of one predetermined document;
If the image type of the temporarily specified image data matches the image type determined in the image type determining step, the first image processing unique to the temporarily specified image type is performed on the current image data. If the temporarily specified image type does not match the image type determined in the image type determining step, the second image processing unique to the image type determined in the image type determining step is applied to the current image data. Image processing steps to be applied;
A program that causes a computer to execute.

Images