JP2011024051A - Image processing apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that, when a magnification processing is performed during image output, jaggy may be caused by a high frequency component that is not included in an input image, so that image quality may be deteriorated occasionally, and further, the magnification processing and a MTF (Modulation Transfer Function) correction processing are carried out as different processing, thereby a proper processing time may be required. <P>SOLUTION: The magnification processing is performed by an image magnification section 10 in accordance with an output resolution of an image output device 3, and such a resolution correction filter as to store frequency characteristics of before-magnified image data is calculated by a resolution correction filter calculating section 11. Thus, frequency characteristics up to an input resolution of an original image are faithfully reproduced and an unwanted high frequency component (jaggy), that may be caused in image enlargement, is removed. Further, a filter combining section 13 combines the MTF correction filter with the resolution correction filter, the jaggy removal processing accompanying the image magnification processing and MTF correction processing can be simultaneously performed, thereby achieving the speeding up of the processing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image processing method for correcting image quality deterioration caused by image scaling.

  In recent years, with the spread of personal computers, opportunities for outputting digital image data with an image output device such as a printer are increasing. At this time, if the resolution of the digital image data (image resolution) and the input resolution of the image output apparatus are different, it is necessary to convert the image resolution. For example, when image data having a resolution lower than the input resolution is input to the image output device, the image resolution is converted (enlarged), and the converted image data is output from the image output device. As a general enlargement process of image resolution, pixels that are insufficient at the time of enlargement are interpolated by the following method. First, the nearest neighbor that interpolates with the nearest pixel, the bilinear that interpolates using the pixels near the four surroundings, the bicubic that interpolates using the cubic function using the pixels near the sixteen surroundings, etc. is there.

  In general, in an image output apparatus, the frequency characteristics of an image are modulated by MTF (Modulation Transfer Function), which is the frequency characteristics, and the image quality deteriorates. Therefore, MTF correction processing (edge enhancement processing) is performed on the image output apparatus as processing different from the resolution conversion (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  FIG. 10 shows an example of the MTF characteristic. As a general MTF correction process for an image output apparatus, an inverse filter that is an inverse function of the MTF characteristic of the image output apparatus is calculated, an inverse filter process is performed on the input image, and an image after the inverse filter process is output as an image This is done by entering the device. FIG. 11 shows an example of a general MTF correction process for the image output apparatus. That is, according to FIG. 11, an image G obtained by calculating an inverse filter I (u, v) as an inverse function of the MTF characteristic P (u, v) of the image output device and multiplying this by the input image F (u, v). (u, v) is input to the image output apparatus. As a result, the image H (u, v) output from the image processing apparatus is deteriorated due to the MTF characteristic P (u, v) of the image output apparatus, but the deterioration is the inverse filter I (u, v). As a result, an image equivalent to the input image F (u, v) is obtained.

JP 11-1112795 A

  However, when the above-described interpolation processing such as nearest neighbor or bicubic is performed as the enlargement processing in the image output apparatus, high-frequency components that are not included in the input image may occur. Then, the image quality deteriorates, for example, jaggies occur in the enlarged image or the image is blurred.

  In addition, since the interpolation process accompanying the enlargement and the MTF correction process are executed as separate processes, corresponding processing time is required.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image processing apparatus and an image processing method that realize the following functions. That is, unnecessary high-frequency components generated during image enlargement are removed, and image quality deterioration is suppressed. Further, the processing time is shortened by performing batch processing of removal of unnecessary high-frequency components and MTF correction accompanying image enlargement.

  As a means for achieving the above object, an image processing apparatus of the present invention comprises the following arrangement.

  That is, an image processing device that enlarges image data that is lower than the output resolution of the image output device and outputs the enlarged image data to the image output device, enlarges the image data according to the output resolution, An image enlarging means for obtaining data, a resolution correction filter calculating means for calculating a resolution correction filter so as to substantially match a frequency characteristic of the enlarged image data with a frequency characteristic of the image data, and the resolution correction filter based on the resolution correction filter. Resolution correction means for correcting the enlarged image data to obtain corrected image data, and outputting the corrected image data to the image output device.

  And an MTF correction filter acquisition means for acquiring an MTF correction filter based on the MTF characteristics of the image output apparatus; and a filter synthesis means for synthesizing the MTF correction filter with the resolution correction filter. The enlarged image data is corrected based on the resolution correction filter combined with the MTF correction filter.

  According to the present invention having the above-described configuration, it is possible to remove unnecessary high-frequency components that are generated during image enlargement, and to suppress image quality deterioration. Furthermore, the processing time can be shortened by performing batch processing of removal of unnecessary high-frequency components associated with image enlargement and MTF correction.

A block diagram showing a configuration of an image processing system in the first embodiment, The flowchart which shows the image output process in 1st Embodiment, The flowchart which shows the resolution correction filter calculation process in 1st Embodiment, The figure which shows the frequency characteristic example of the input image in 1st Embodiment, and an expansion image, The figure which shows the example of the resolution correction filter in 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the example of the MTF correction filter in 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the example of a synthetic | combination filter in 1st Embodiment, The block diagram which shows the structure of the image processing system in 2nd Embodiment, The flowchart which shows the image output process in 2nd Embodiment, The figure which shows the MTF characteristic example of an image output device, It is a figure which shows the example of MTF correction | amendment with respect to an image output device.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. The configurations shown in the following embodiments are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to the illustrated configurations.

<First Embodiment>
System Configuration FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image processing system to which this embodiment is applied. In the figure, 1 is an image processing device, 2 is an image storage unit for storing image data, and 3 is an image output device such as a printer. The image storage unit 2 and the image output device 3 are connected to the image processing device 1 by a serial bus interface such as USB (Universal Serial Bus) or IEEE1394.

  In the image processing apparatus 1, reference numeral 10 denotes an image enlargement unit that acquires the output resolution of the image output apparatus 3 and enlarges input image data input from the image storage unit 2 based on the output resolution. Reference numeral 11 denotes a resolution correction filter calculation unit that acquires input image data before and after enlargement and calculates a resolution correction filter. Reference numeral 12 denotes an MTF correction filter calculation unit that acquires the MTF characteristics of the image output apparatus 3 and calculates an MTF correction filter. Reference numeral 13 denotes a filter synthesis unit that synthesizes the resolution correction filter calculated by the resolution correction filter calculation unit 11 and the MTF correction filter calculated by the MTF correction filter calculation unit 12. Reference numeral 14 denotes a correction filter processing unit that corrects the enlarged input image data using the filter combined by the filter combining unit 13.

Image Output Processing In the image processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, image data having a resolution lower than the output resolution of the image output apparatus 3 is input, enlarged, and output to the image output apparatus 3. Hereinafter, image output processing in the image processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in S1 to S4, the image enlargement unit 10 performs enlargement processing of input image data. That is, first, input image data to be output is acquired from the image storage unit 2 in S1, and then input image resolution is acquired from the acquired input image data in S2. In step S3, the output resolution of the image output apparatus 3 is acquired. In step S4, image enlargement is performed on the input image data by nearest neighbor interpolation based on the input image resolution and the output resolution. The enlargement process in the present invention is not limited to the nearest neighbor interpolation process, and a bilinear, bicubic interpolation process, or the like can be applied.

  In step S5, the resolution correction filter calculation unit 11 calculates a resolution correction filter based on the image data before and after enlargement acquired in steps S1 and S4. Details of the calculation process of the resolution correction filter will be described later.

  Next, in S6, the MTF correction filter calculation unit 12 acquires the MTF characteristic of the image output device 3, and in S7, calculates the MTF correction filter based on the MTF characteristic. Details of the MTF correction filter calculation process will be described later.

  Next, in S8, the filter synthesis unit 13 synthesizes the resolution correction filter calculated in S5 and the MTF correction filter calculated in S7 to calculate a synthesis filter. Details of this filter composition processing will be described later.

  Next, in S9, the correction filter processing unit 14 performs correction filter processing using the synthesis filter calculated in S8 on the enlarged image data created in S4 to correct the image. Specifically, first, the enlarged image data is subjected to processing such as Fourier transform to convert the image data in the real space to the frequency space data, and then the correction processing by the synthesis filter is executed. Thereafter, the corrected frequency space data is converted into corrected image data in real space by inverse Fourier transform or the like. In step S10, the corrected image data corrected in step S9 is supplied to the image output apparatus 3.

Resolution Correction Filter Calculation Processing The resolution correction filter calculation processing in S5 will be described below using the flowchart of FIG. This process is performed in the resolution correction filter calculation unit 11.

  First, in step S31, input image data and an image obtained by enlarging the input image data by the image enlargement unit 10 (hereinafter, enlarged image data) are acquired.

  In S32, the input image data and the enlarged image data are subjected to Fourier transform to convert the image data in the real space into the frequency data in the frequency space. Here, FIG. 4 shows an example of the frequency characteristics of the input image data and the enlarged image data. In the figure, the solid line indicates the frequency characteristic of the input image data, and the dotted line indicates the frequency characteristic of the enlarged image data. It can be seen that the high-frequency component is emphasized in the enlarged image data and jaggy is generated.

  In step S33, a resolution correction filter is calculated by dividing the frequency characteristics of the input image data by the frequency characteristics of the enlarged image data. FIG. 5 shows an example of the resolution correction filter. In the present embodiment, for example, by applying the resolution correction filter process shown in FIG. 5 to the enlarged image data shown in FIG. 4, unnecessary high-frequency components (jaggy) generated after the enlargement process can be removed. Thereby, the frequency characteristic up to the input resolution of the original image can be faithfully reproduced.

MTF correction filter calculation process The MTF correction filter calculation process in S6 and S7 will be described below. This process is performed in the MTF correction filter calculation unit 12.

  First, the MTF characteristic of the image output apparatus 3 is acquired in S6. Since the MTF characteristic of the image output apparatus 3 varies depending on the output medium, it is necessary to obtain the MTF characteristic for each output medium in the image output apparatus 3 in advance. is there. Therefore, for example, a profile describing the MTF characteristics obtained for each output medium may be stored, and a corresponding profile may be used according to the output medium to be used.

  Next, in S7, the inverse function is calculated from the MTF characteristic of the image output apparatus 3 acquired in S6, and this is used as the MTF correction filter. FIG. 6 shows an example of the MTF correction filter. In the figure, the dotted line indicates the MTF characteristic of the image output apparatus 3, and the solid line indicates the MTF correction filter. In the present embodiment, image data output to the image output device 3 is subjected to filter processing using an MTF correction filter in advance, thereby reducing image quality degradation caused by the MTF at the time of output by the image output device 3. be able to.

Filter synthesis process The filter synthesis process in S8 will be described below. This process is performed in the filter synthesis unit 13.

  First, the resolution correction filter calculated by the resolution correction filter calculation unit 11 and the MTF correction filter calculated by the MTF correction filter calculation unit 12 are acquired. Then, a composite filter for performing resolution correction and MTF correction in a lump is calculated by multiplying the resolution correction filter by the MTF correction filter. FIG. 7 shows an example of the synthesis filter. In the figure, a dotted line indicates a resolution correction filter, and a dashed line indicates an MTF correction filter. A solid line indicates a synthesis filter obtained by multiplying the resolution correction filter and the MTF correction filter. According to the figure, it can be seen that the synthesis filter is calculated so as to remove unnecessary high-frequency components while satisfying both the resolution correction and the MTF correction.

  The correction filter processing unit 14 of the present embodiment performs correction filter processing on the enlarged image data using the synthesis filter created as described above. In the corrected image data obtained by the correction, an extra high frequency component is removed, so that the frequency characteristic substantially matches the frequency characteristic of the input image data.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, a frequency filter that preserves the frequency characteristics of image data before enlargement as a resolution correction filter is applied to image data enlarged at the time of image output. As a result, it is possible to faithfully reproduce the frequency characteristics up to the input resolution of the original image, and to remove unnecessary high-frequency components (jaggies) that occur during image enlargement.

  Furthermore, by multiplying the resolution correction filter by an MTF correction filter that is an inverse function of the MTF characteristics of the image output device, removal of unnecessary high-frequency components generated during image enlargement and reduction in image quality degradation due to MTF during image output are reduced. And batch processing are possible. Therefore, an image faithful to the input image can be output at higher speed.

Second Embodiment
Hereinafter, a second embodiment according to the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment described above, an example in which the MTF characteristic of the image output apparatus is directly acquired from the image output apparatus and the MTF correction filter is sequentially calculated has been described. The second embodiment is characterized in that an MTF correction filter is held in advance for each type of image output device and the MTF characteristics can be selected by designating the type of image output device.

System Configuration FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image processing system to which the second embodiment is applied. In the figure, 81 is an image processing device, 82 is an image storage unit for storing image data, and 83 is an image output device such as a printer. The image storage unit 82 and the image output device 83 are connected to the image processing device 81 by a serial bus interface such as USB (Universal Serial Bus) or IEEE1394.

  In the image processing device 81, reference numeral 800 denotes an image enlargement unit that acquires the output resolution of the image output device 83 and enlarges input image data input from the image storage unit 82 based on the output resolution. Reference numeral 801 denotes a resolution correction filter calculation unit that acquires input image data before and after enlargement and calculates a resolution correction filter. Reference numeral 802 denotes an MTF correction filter selection unit that selects an MTF correction filter according to the type of the image output device 83. Reference numeral 803 denotes a filter synthesis unit that synthesizes the resolution correction filter calculated by the resolution correction filter calculation unit 801 and the MTF correction filter selected by the MTF correction filter selection unit 802. Reference numeral 804 denotes a correction filter processing unit that corrects the enlarged input image data using the filter synthesized by the filter synthesis unit 803.

  Reference numeral 805 denotes an image output device information acquisition unit that acquires device information such as the type and output resolution of the image output device 83 based on, for example, a user instruction. Reference numeral 806 denotes an MTF correction filter holding unit that holds an MTF correction filter calculated in advance according to the type of the image output device 83.

Image Output Processing Hereinafter, image output processing in the image processing apparatus 81 of the second embodiment will be described using the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in steps S901 to S905, the image enlargement unit 800 performs enlargement processing of input image data. That is, first, input image data to be output is acquired from the image storage unit 82 in S901, and then input image resolution is acquired from the acquired input image data in S82. In step S903, the image output device information acquisition unit 805 acquires the type of the image output device 83. In step S904, the image output device information acquisition unit 805 acquires the output resolution of the image output device 83. Information acquisition processing of the image output device 83 in the image output device information acquisition unit 805 may be selected by the user via a UI or the like, or may be detected directly from the image output device 83. In step S905, based on the input image resolution and the output resolution, image enlargement is performed on the input image data by nearest neighbor interpolation processing. Note that the enlargement processing in the present invention is not limited to the two-arrest neighbor interpolation processing, and bilinear, bicubic interpolation processing, or the like can also be applied.

  In step S906, the resolution correction filter calculation unit 801 calculates a resolution correction filter based on the image data before and after enlargement acquired in steps S901 and S905, in the same manner as in step S5 in the first embodiment.

  In step S907, the MTF correction filter selection unit 802 selects an MTF correction filter corresponding to the type of the image output device 83 acquired in step S903 from the MTF correction filter holding unit 806. Note that the MTF correction filter held in the MTF correction filter holding unit 806 is calculated in advance for each type of the image output device 83, but further calculates and holds the MTF correction filter for each output resolution. It is also possible. Further, it is possible to calculate and hold an MTF correction filter for each output medium. In this case, it is necessary to acquire the type of the output medium to be used in addition to the type of the image output device 83 in S903.

  In step S908, the filter combining unit 803 combines the resolution correction filter calculated in step S906 and the MTF correction filter selected in step S907 in the same manner as in step S8 of the first embodiment described above, thereby calculating a combined filter.

  In step S909, the correction filter processing unit 804 executes correction filter processing using the synthesis filter calculated in step S908 on the enlarged image data created in step S905 to correct the image data. In step S910, the corrected image data corrected in step S909 is supplied to the image output device 83.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the MTF correction filter corresponding to the type of the image output apparatus is held in advance, and is appropriately selected and used. Therefore, since it is not necessary to calculate the MTF correction filter during the image output process, the processing time is further reduced as compared with the first embodiment described above.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, or the like) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.

Claims (8)

An image processing apparatus that enlarges image data having a lower resolution than the output resolution of the image output apparatus and outputs the image data to the image output apparatus,
Image enlargement means for enlarging the image data according to the output resolution and obtaining enlarged image data;
Resolution correction filter calculating means for calculating a resolution correction filter so as to substantially match the frequency characteristics of the enlarged image data with the frequency characteristics of the image data;
Resolution correction means for correcting the enlarged image data based on the resolution correction filter to obtain corrected image data;
An image processing apparatus that outputs the corrected image data to the image output apparatus.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the resolution correction filter calculating unit calculates the resolution correction filter by dividing a frequency characteristic of the image data by a frequency characteristic of the enlarged image data. Further, an MTF correction filter acquisition means for acquiring an MTF correction filter based on the MTF characteristics of the image output device;
Filter synthesis means for synthesizing the MTF correction filter with the resolution correction filter,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the resolution correction unit corrects the enlarged image data based on the resolution correction filter combined with the MTF correction filter.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the filter synthesis unit multiplies the MTF correction filter by the resolution correction filter. A holding unit that holds an MTF correction filter corresponding to the type of the image output device;
Output device information acquisition means for acquiring the type of the image output device,
The acquisition unit for the MTF correction filter selects an MTF correction filter from the holding unit according to the type of the image output device acquired by the output device information acquisition unit. The image processing apparatus described. An image processing method for enlarging image data having a lower resolution than the output resolution of an image output device and outputting the image data to the image output device,
An image enlarging step of enlarging the image data according to the output resolution to obtain enlarged image data;
A resolution correction filter calculating step of calculating a resolution correction filter so as to substantially match the frequency characteristics of the enlarged image data with the frequency characteristics of the image data;
A resolution correction step of correcting the enlarged image data based on the resolution correction filter to obtain corrected image data,
An image processing method, comprising: outputting the corrected image data to the image output device. Further, an MTF correction filter acquisition step for acquiring an MTF correction filter based on the MTF characteristic of the image output device;
And a filter synthesis step of synthesizing the MTF correction filter with the resolution correction filter,
The image processing method according to claim 6, wherein in the resolution correction step, the enlarged image data is corrected based on the resolution correction filter combined with the MTF correction filter.   A program for causing a computer to function as each unit of the image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5 when executed by the computer.

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