JP2013179386A - Image reader and image reading method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce power consumption compared to that in a normal mode by reducing a quantity of illumination light when an image reader is set to an energy saving mode.SOLUTION: An image reader 10 comprises: a document illuminating section 40 configured to illuminate a surface of a media to be read from which an image is to be read; a reading condition setting section 20 able to set an energy saving mode as a reading condition; a light quantity altering section 30 configured such that if the reading condition has been set to the energy saving mode, a quantity of light for illuminating the surface of the media to be read is made smaller than that in a normal mode; and a photoelectric conversion section 50 configured to receive light from the surface to be read and convert the light into an electric signal.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus and an image reading method.

  An image reading apparatus that reads an image by irradiating light consumes a large amount of power when irradiating light. On the other hand, a technique for suppressing wasteful power by adjusting the amount of illumination light to an optimum value according to the reading condition has been considered and already known.

  For example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 disclose a technique for adjusting the illumination light amount to an optimum value according to various reading conditions in order to provide an image reading method that is low-cost, energy-saving, and high performance.

  Patent Document 3 discloses a technique for turning off the scanner lamp or reducing the amount of light of the scanner lamp when shifting to the power saving mode after reading for the purpose of reducing power consumption by the image reading apparatus. ing.

  In a conventional image reading apparatus that adjusts the amount of illumination light, the amount of illumination light is optimized in accordance with the read mode such as the set resolution, thereby reducing unnecessary power. However, in the conventional image reading apparatus that adjusts the amount of illumination light, there is a problem that it is impossible for the user to further reduce the power consumption during reading without changing the reading mode such as resolution.

  For example, in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, priority is given to image reading with reduced power consumption over power consumption necessary for normal image reading while maintaining image quality as much as possible without changing reading conditions, or normal image reading. The problem that the user cannot select whether or not to prioritize has not been solved.

  In Patent Document 3, the problem that the power consumption during “reading” cannot be further suppressed cannot be solved.

  In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an image reading apparatus and an image reading method capable of reducing the amount of illumination light when the energy saving mode is set and suppressing power consumption as compared with the normal mode. Is to provide.

In order to solve the above problems, according to one aspect of the present invention,
An illumination unit that illuminates a reading surface of a medium that is an image reading target;
A condition setting unit capable of setting an energy saving mode as a reading condition;
When the reading condition is set to the energy saving mode, a light amount changing unit that reduces the light amount when illuminating the reading surface of the medium than in the normal mode;
A photoelectric conversion unit that receives light from the reading surface and converts the light into an electrical signal;
An image reading apparatus is provided.

  According to the present invention, the amount of illumination light can be reduced when the energy saving mode is set, and the power consumption can be suppressed as compared with the case of the normal mode.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment. 1 is a functional configuration diagram of an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating image processing according to an embodiment. The figure which showed the example of the smoothing filter process which concerns on one Embodiment. The table | surface which showed the relationship between the smoothing filter which concerns on one Embodiment, and reading conditions. The graph which showed the relationship between the resolution and light quantity which concern on one Embodiment for every mode. The graph which showed the relationship between the color or monochrome resolution and light quantity which concern on one Embodiment for every mode. The figure which showed an example of the display of the operation panel which concerns on one Embodiment. 6 is a flowchart showing a read image quality and mode selection process according to an embodiment. 6 is a flowchart showing preview processing according to an embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating image processing based on a white reference reading value according to an embodiment.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in this specification and drawing, about the component which has the substantially same function structure, the duplicate description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol.

  An image reading apparatus according to an embodiment described below is adapted to normal reading conditions (original reading resolution, color / monochrome, etc.) from an operation panel of the image reading apparatus or a host computer connected to the image reading apparatus. Thus, the reading in the normal mode or the energy saving mode can be selected.

  When reading in the energy saving mode is selected, the image reading apparatus according to an embodiment performs power reading while reducing the amount of illumination light compared to normal reading while maintaining image quality as much as possible. Reduce. Thereby, the user of the image reading apparatus can suppress power consumption while maintaining the image quality as much as possible without changing the reading mode such as the reading resolution.

  In the image reading apparatus according to the embodiment described below, the user of the image reading apparatus can select whether or not to give priority to suppressing power consumption. Thus, reading with reduced power consumption can be performed based on the intention of the user of the image reading apparatus.

  The characteristics of the image reading apparatus according to the embodiment have been described above. Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of the image reading apparatus having the above characteristics will be described with reference to the drawings.

[overall structure]
First, the configuration of an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of an image reading apparatus according to this embodiment. The image reading apparatus 10 according to this embodiment includes an image scanner 101, a host computer 102, and an interface 103. The image scanner 101 and the host computer 102 are electrically connected by an interface 103, whereby image data is transferred and other communications are performed.

  The image scanner 101 includes a line image sensor 110, an operation panel 104, a sequence controller 105, and a light amount adjustment unit 107. The sequence controller 105 includes a memory 106 such as a ROM that stores a series of sequences. A document 115 to be read is conveyed by a roller 114 driven by the power of a motor.

  The document illuminating unit 108 in the line image sensor 110 includes three colors of LEDs (light emitting diodes) of red, blue, and green in the case of color reading. The light amount adjustment unit 107 adjusts the illumination light amount by controlling the voltage and current supplied to the LEDs of the document illumination unit 108 according to the determination of the illumination light amount. The reflected light from the document is condensed on the light receiving element 111 by the rod lens array 109 and subjected to photoelectric conversion.

  On the operation panel 104, various reading conditions (resolution, reading color, reading size, etc.) can be set by the user. In addition, the operation panel 104 enables reading setting in the energy saving mode. In this case, as shown below, the amount of illumination light output from the document illumination unit 108 is set according to the set reading conditions such as resolution and the reading setting in the energy saving mode.

[Function configuration]
Next, the functional configuration of the image reading apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the image reading apparatus according to the present embodiment. The image reading apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes a reading condition setting unit 20, a light amount changing unit 30, a document illumination unit 40, a photoelectric conversion unit 50, an image processing unit 60, a storage unit 80, and a display unit 90.

  The reading condition setting unit 20 sets, for example, the resolution at the time of reading an image, the presence / absence of a color at the time of reading the image (color or monochrome), the reading size, and the like as various reading conditions. Further, the reading condition setting unit 20 can set an energy saving mode as a reading condition. When the energy saving mode is not set in the reading condition setting unit 20, it can be determined that the normal mode is set. The reading condition setting unit 20 can also explicitly set whether reading in the energy saving mode or reading in the normal mode is performed. The reading condition setting unit 20 is an example of a condition setting unit that can set an energy saving mode as a reading condition.

  The light amount changing unit 30 determines the light amount of the illumination of the document illuminating unit 40 according to the conditions of the reading condition setting unit 20, and changes the light amount of the illumination to the determined light amount. For example, the light amount changing unit 30 changes the light amount when illuminating the reading surface of the document in accordance with at least one of the image reading resolution and the image reading color and the reading mode. In the energy saving mode, the light amount changing unit 30 reduces the light amount when illuminating the reading surface of the medium as compared with the normal mode.

  The document illumination unit 40 illuminates the document. The document illuminating unit 40 is an example of an illuminating unit that illuminates a reading surface of a medium (document or printed matter) that is an image reading target.

  The photoelectric conversion unit 50 receives reflected light (or transmitted light) from the reading surface of the document and converts the light into an electrical signal.

  The image processing unit 60 performs white correction and smoothing image processing on the read electrical signal. White correction is image processing performed to correct variations in the light receiving state of read image data and to make the white color of the document the same brightness. Examples of the variation in the light receiving state of the read image data include variation in the amount of light of the original illumination and variation in sensitivity of the light receiving element 111.

  The image processing unit 60 creates white correction data by reading a white plate serving as a brightness reference in advance before reading a document. When the energy saving mode is set, the image processing unit 60 creates white correction data for the energy saving mode. When the normal mode is set, the image processing unit 60 creates white correction data for the normal mode. The image processing unit 60 uses the white correction data to correct image data read from an actual document. Specifically, when the energy saving mode is set in the reading condition setting unit 20, the image processing unit 60 corrects the read image data using the generated white correction data for the energy saving mode. . In the normal mode, the read image data is corrected using the generated white correction data for the normal mode. In the smoothing process, image processing is performed using a smoothing filter in order to make the noise component of the image inconspicuous.

  The image processing unit 60 determines whether or not to perform smoothing filter switching or smoothing according to the set reading condition depending on the energy saving mode or the normal mode. When it is determined that smoothing is performed according to the determined result, the image processing unit 60 smoothes the read image data using the switched smoothing filter. Specifically, since the amount of illumination light is reduced in reading an original in the energy saving mode, noise components mixed in image data read from an actual original are larger than in reading in a normal mode. Therefore, when a document is read in the energy saving mode, image processing is performed to increase the smoothing degree of the image smoothing filter as compared with normal reading. The image processing unit 60 performs other necessary image processing (enlargement / reduction, color conversion processing, etc.).

  The storage unit 80 stores one or more smoothing filters for smoothing the read image data. The display unit 90 displays the image read in the energy saving mode on the operation panel 104 as a preview image.

[Operation]
Next, the operation of the image reading apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing image processing according to the present embodiment. When this process is started, the reading condition setting unit 20 sets a reading resolution and a reading color (color / monochrome). Also, the reading condition setting unit 20 sets the reading condition for power consumption to either the normal mode or the energy saving mode in accordance with the operation of the operation panel or the host computer by the user (step S201). Here, the energy saving mode is set.

  Next, the light quantity changing unit 30 determines the light quantity according to the set reading condition (step S202). Next, the document illumination unit 40 adjusts the light quantity of illumination to the light quantity determined in step S202 (step S203). Next, the image processing unit 60 creates white correction data according to the mode set in the reading condition setting unit 20 (step S204). Here, white correction data for the energy saving mode is created. Specifically, the read image data becomes brighter or darker by changing the amount of light. In order to avoid this, the image processing unit 60 reads white as a reference, sets the read value as white, and creates white correction data for image data to be read thereafter. This white correction can be performed using a known technique generally performed in an image reading apparatus. As a result, even in the case of reading in the energy saving mode with a reduced amount of light, the brightness is corrected by the white correction, so that reading with as much image quality as possible can be performed. The photoelectric conversion unit 50 converts light read by photoelectric conversion into an electronic signal (step S205). As a result, image data is read from the document.

  Next, the image processing unit 60 corrects the read image data using the white correction data created in step S204 (step S206). Next, the image processing unit 60 switches the smoothing filter corresponding to the mode set in the reading condition setting unit 20 and smoothes the image (step S207). As described above, reading an image in the energy saving mode requires a smaller amount of illumination and makes it easier for noise components to enter the image than reading an image in the normal mode. As a countermeasure against this, the image processing unit 60 does not perform the image processing smoothing filter processing in the image reading in the normal mode, but does not perform the image processing smoothing filter processing in the energy saving mode. Process and smooth the image. Alternatively, the image processing unit 60 reads the image in the energy saving mode by increasing the degree of smoothing or widening the image area to be smoothed compared to the smoothing process during normal reading. Make the noise component of the image inconspicuous.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, several smoothing strengths such as small / medium / large are prepared in stages, and the user can select the strength at the time of normal mode reading and energy saving mode reading. Whether to perform smoothing may be determined by switching a smoothing filter or selecting whether to perform smoothing or not. In FIG. 4, series 1 represents original data, series 2 is a smoothing filter with low smoothing intensity, series 3 is a smoothing filter with medium smoothing intensity, and series 4 is smooth with high smoothing intensity. An example of a digitizing filter is shown. For example, the image processing unit 60 uses a smoothing filter having a high smoothing strength in the energy saving mode, and uses a smoothing filter having a moderate smoothing strength in the normal mode, thereby reducing the energy saving mode. In this case, the noise component of the image may not be noticeable. Further, the image processing unit 60 uses a smoothing filter having a predetermined intensity in the energy saving mode and does not use the smoothing filter in the normal mode, thereby making the noise component of the image in the energy saving mode inconspicuous. Good. The image processing unit 60 may determine whether or not to perform smoothing filter switching or smoothing so as to satisfy the relationship between the smoothing filter and the reading condition illustrated in FIG.

(Resolution and light intensity)
Next, the relationship between the resolution and the amount of light according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 6A. FIG. 6A is a graph showing the relationship between the resolution and the amount of light according to the present embodiment for each mode. In the example shown in FIG. 6A, the light quantity is set to A when the energy saving mode is set and the reading resolution is 300 dpi. In the energy saving mode and the reading resolution is 600 dpi, the light amount B is set.

  On the other hand, in the normal mode and the reading resolution is 300 dpi, the light amount C is set. In the normal mode and the reading resolution is 600 dpi, the light amount D is set. These set light amounts are stored in a built-in memory 106 such as a ROM, and are read when the light amount is set.

  The amount of light that is set when the normal mode is selected is determined in advance so that the amount of light that does not cause saturation exceeds the limit light reception amount of the photoelectric conversion element. Since the light receiving area and light receiving time per dot differ depending on the reading resolution, the energy required to enter the light receiving element differs. Therefore, the optimum amount of light varies depending on the resolution of reading. Also, the higher the resolution, the greater the optimal amount of light.

  The set light amount when the energy saving mode is selected is calculated by Expression (1) by multiplying the set light amount when the normal mode is selected by a preset coefficient (energy saving mode light amount coefficient).

Light quantity set when energy saving mode is selected = Light quantity set when normal mode is selected x Light quantity coefficient for energy saving mode (1)
Here, the energy saving mode light quantity coefficient is a constant larger than 0 and smaller than 1.

  When the reading resolution is 300 dpi, when the energy saving mode is set, the illumination light amount is set to be smaller by the difference indicated by the light amount (C−A) than in the normal mode. Similarly, when the reading resolution is 600 dpi, when the energy saving mode is set, the illumination light amount is set to be smaller by the difference indicated by the light amount (D−B) than in the normal mode. This difference in the amount of light becomes an energy saving effect at the time of reading when the energy saving mode is set.

  FIG. 6B is a graph showing the relationship between the resolution and the amount of light during color or monochrome reading according to this embodiment for each mode. Compared to the color mode, the amount of data to be read is small in the monochrome mode, so that the energy required to enter the light receiving element is small. Therefore, in the monochrome mode, the set light amount can be smaller than that in the color mode. In FIG. 6B, in addition to the relationship of FIG. 6A, the light amount can be set more finely by switching and setting the light amount in the color mode or the monochrome mode. Thereby, it is possible to perform energy-saving reading that can save power consumption.

  Next, the operation panel 104 operated by the user will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display on the operation panel. The user can set the reading size, resolution, reading color (color / monochrome), and can set whether to perform reading in the energy saving mode (ON / OFF) from the operation panel 104. When the user presses the ON button, reading is performed in the energy saving mode. When the user presses the OFF button, reading is performed in the normal mode.

  As described above, according to the image reading apparatus according to the present embodiment, the white correction data for image processing is switched between reading in the normal mode and reading in the energy saving mode. According to this, since the amount of illumination light differs between reading in the normal mode and reading in the energy saving mode, it is possible to prevent image deterioration by performing white correction suitable for each.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, whether or not image processing is smoothed or whether a smoothing filter is switched is executed in each of reading in the normal mode and reading in the energy saving mode. According to this, since the amount of illumination light differs between reading in the normal mode and reading in the energy saving mode, it is possible to prevent image degradation by performing smoothing using a smoothing filter suitable for each.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the user can select reading in the energy saving mode with reduced power consumption. Thereby, the user can consciously select reading with energy saving without changing the reading mode such as reading resolution.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the amount of illumination light is adjusted according to the setting of the reading resolution of the document and the setting of whether to read in the energy saving mode. According to this, in the case of reading with energy saving, the amount of illumination light is less than in the case of reading in the normal mode. For this reason, when the amount of illumination light is small, finer light amount setting can be performed by setting the illumination light amount suitable for setting the document reading resolution.

  Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the amount of illumination light is set according to the setting of the reading color (color or monochrome) of the document and the setting of whether to read in the energy saving mode. According to this, even in the case of reading in the energy saving mode where the amount of illumination light is smaller than in the case of reading in the normal mode, by setting the illumination light amount more suitable for the setting of the document reading color (color or monochrome), More fine light intensity can be set.

[Modification]
Next, Modification Examples 1 to 3 will be described with reference to FIGS.

(Modification 1 / Mode selection process considering image quality)
First, a mode selection process in consideration of the read image quality according to the first modification will be described. Examples of cases where it is determined that the read image quality is not so good include the following examples (1) to (3).
(1) Reading in the preview mode In the case of the preview, the reading image is generally at a level that can be roughly understood, and the reading image quality is not so limited.
(2) At the time of image copying when the back paper is selected as the transfer paper Generally, when the back paper is selected, the read image quality is not so much.
(3) At the time of image copying when the toner save mode is selected for image formation When the toner save mode is selected, a lighter color is output than when the toner save mode is not selected. Therefore, generally, when the toner save mode is selected, the read image quality is not so much.

  When at least one of the above conditions (1) to (3) is satisfied, reading in the energy saving mode is performed. In other cases, reading in the normal mode is performed instead of reading in the energy saving mode. Hereinafter, a mode selection process in consideration of image quality will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 8 showing image processing according to the first modification. In this process, when it is determined that the reading image quality is not so good, reading is performed in the energy saving mode.

  First, in step S301, the reading condition setting unit 20 determines whether any of the above conditions (1) to (3) is satisfied. If it is determined that any one of the above conditions (1) to (3) is satisfied, it is determined that the read image quality is not so good, the process proceeds to step S302, and the reading process in the energy saving mode is performed.

  At this time, the light amount changing unit 30 reduces the light amount when illuminating the reading surface of the document than in the normal mode. In this way, the reading process in the energy saving mode is performed.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that none of the above conditions is satisfied, it is determined that it is important that the read image quality is good. Read process.

  As described above, in the first modification, (1) when reading in the preview mode is selected, the reading image is generally at a level where it is only necessary to know the reading image, so the reading process is executed in the energy saving mode. The As described above, when reading in the preview mode, the user can save time and effort to select the reading in the energy saving mode by automatically reading in the energy saving mode based on the determination that the reading image quality is not so good. The amount of power can be reduced.

  In addition, (2) the reading process is executed in the energy saving mode also at the time of image copying when the backing paper is selected as the transfer paper. Usually, for copying requiring high image quality, the backing paper is not selected. Therefore, in general, when the backing paper is selected, the read image quality is not so much. Also in this case, when the transfer paper is the back paper, the reading process is automatically executed in the energy saving mode based on the determination that the reading image quality is not so good. This also saves the user from having to select reading in the energy saving mode and can reduce the amount of power consumption.

  In addition, (3) when image copy / image copy is selected when toner save mode is selected for image formation, and when image formation is performed in toner save mode, that is, the user uses the operation unit 104 to Even when the toner save mode is selected, the reading process is executed in the energy saving mode. When the toner save mode is selected, the color is output lighter than when the toner save mode is not selected. Therefore, the toner save mode is not selected for copying that requires image quality. Therefore, generally, when the toner save mode is selected, the read image quality is not so much. Also in this case, when the image formation is performed in the toner save mode, the reading process is automatically executed in the energy saving mode based on the determination that the reading image quality is not so good. This also saves the user from having to select reading in the energy saving mode and can reduce the amount of power consumption.

(Modification 2 / User confirmation in energy saving mode)
Next, image processing according to Modification 2 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a process in which when the reading in the energy saving mode is selected, the read image is displayed in a preview, and the printing process is not performed until the user confirms.

  When this process is started, it is determined whether or not the reading is performed in the energy saving mode (step S401). If reading in the energy saving mode is not selected, reading processing in the normal mode is performed (step S406), and this processing ends.

  On the other hand, when reading in the energy saving mode is selected, reading processing in the energy saving mode is performed (step S402). In this case, the light amount changing unit 30 reduces the light amount when illuminating the reading surface of the document than in the normal mode. In this way, the reading process in the energy saving mode is performed.

  Next, the display unit 90 displays the image read in the energy saving mode on the operation panel 104 as a preview image (step S403). Thus, the image read in the energy saving mode is displayed on the preview screen, so that the user can confirm whether the image is read as expected before printing even in the energy saving mode.

  Next, the display unit 90 determines whether the user has permitted printing as a result of the display on the preview screen (step S404). A button (OK or NG) for user confirmation is prepared on the operation panel 104, and when the user presses the OK or NG button, OK (permitted) / NG (not permitted) is determined.

  As a result, when the user permits printing, the display unit 90 executes a preview image printing process (step S405). When the user does not permit printing, the display unit 90 cancels the preview image printing process. (Step S407), the process is terminated.

  Thereby, if the read image is not as expected by the user, it is possible to avoid performing a useless printing operation.

  As described above, in the second modification, when reading in the energy saving mode is selected, the read image is displayed on the preview screen, and the printing operation is not performed until the user confirms the image. Thereby, even in the reading in the energy saving mode, the user can confirm that the reading can be performed as expected. Also, if the user confirms the image and the read image is not as expected, useless printing operation can be avoided.

(Modification 3 / User confirmation in energy saving mode)
Next, image processing according to Modification 3 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 10 is a flow diagram showing that when the reading in the energy saving mode is selected, the white reference is read, and when the reading value is darker than a predetermined value, the mode is switched to the normal mode.

  The white reference reading is used to correct the brightness of the image. If the value read from the white reference is darker than the specified value, even if the brightness is corrected, it is determined that a normal image cannot be obtained and an abnormal image is obtained, and the image can be read by switching to the normal mode. The aim is to avoid not.

  When this process is started, it is determined whether or not the reading is performed in the energy saving mode (step S501). If reading in the energy saving mode is not selected, reading processing in the normal mode is performed (step S505), and this processing ends.

  On the other hand, when reading in the energy saving mode is selected, white reference reading processing is performed with the amount of illumination light in the energy saving mode (step S502). In this case, the light amount changing unit 30 reduces the light amount when illuminating the reading surface of the document than in the normal mode. The white reference reading process is executed with the illumination light quantity in the energy saving mode (step S502).

  Next, it is compared whether or not the white reference read value is equal to or greater than a predetermined set value (threshold value) (step S503). As a result of the comparison, if the white reference read value is equal to or greater than the set value (brighter than the set value), read processing in the energy saving mode is performed (step S504). On the other hand, as a result of the comparison, if the white reference read value is less than the set value (darker than the set value), the read process in the energy saving mode is not performed and the read process is switched to the normal mode (step S506).

  As described above, in the third modification, when reading in the energy saving mode is selected, when the white reference is read and the read value is darker than a predetermined value, switching to the read in the normal mode is performed. . According to this, when the amount of light decreases due to deterioration in the life of the illumination or the like, if the amount of light is further reduced in the energy saving mode, the image quality may not be maintained. In that case, the image can be read normally by switching to the normal mode.

  The image reading apparatus according to the present embodiment and various modifications has been described above. According to this, the amount of illumination light can be reduced when the energy saving mode is set, and the power consumption can be suppressed as compared with the case of the normal mode.

<Conclusion>
The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to such examples. It is obvious that a person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field of the present invention can come up with various changes or modifications within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims. Of course, it belongs to the technical scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image reader 20 Reading condition setting part 30 Light quantity change part 40 Original illumination part 50 Photoelectric conversion part 60 Image processing part 80 Storage part 90 Display part 104 Operation panel

JP 2001-245111 A JP 2001-217993 A JP 2005-117255 A

Claims (10)

An illumination unit that illuminates a reading surface of a medium that is an image reading target;
A condition setting unit capable of setting an energy saving mode as a reading condition;
When the reading condition is set to the energy saving mode, a light amount changing unit that reduces the light amount when illuminating the reading surface of the medium than in the normal mode;
A photoelectric conversion unit that receives light from the reading surface and converts the light into an electrical signal;
An image reading apparatus comprising:   The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the condition setting unit sets the energy saving mode as the reading condition in accordance with a user operation.   When the reading condition is set to the energy saving mode, white correction data for correcting variations in the light receiving state of the read image data, and white correction data different from that for the normal mode is used for the energy saving mode. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an image processing unit that corrects image data that has been created and read by receiving light from the reading surface using the white correction data for the energy saving mode. The image reading apparatus described in 1. One or more smoothing filters for smoothing the read image data;
The image processing unit determines whether or not to perform switching of the smoothing filter or image processing by the smoothing filter according to the energy saving mode or the normal mode, and reads the read image data according to the determined result. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein image processing for smoothing is performed. The condition setting unit sets at least one of the resolution at the time of reading the image and the presence / absence of the color of the image reading,
The light amount changing unit changes a light amount when illuminating the reading surface of the medium according to a reading condition of at least one of the image reading resolution and the color of the image reading and the set mode. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image reading apparatus is an image reading apparatus.   When the image data is output, the light amount changing unit is designated when a preview mode before output is set, when a backing paper is designated for outputting the image data, or a toner save mode for saving toner is designated. 6. The image according to claim 1, wherein, in any case, the amount of light when the reading surface of the medium is illuminated is smaller than that in the normal mode. Reader.   7. The display device according to claim 1, further comprising: a display unit configured to display the output image data on a preview screen before outputting the image data when the reading condition is set to the energy saving mode. The image reading apparatus according to one item.   8. The image reading apparatus according to claim 7, wherein after the image data is displayed on the preview screen, the image data is not printed until a print permission operation is performed by a user.   9. When the reading condition is set to the energy saving mode, when the white reference is read, if the reading value falls below a predetermined threshold, the reading is switched to the normal mode reading. The image reading apparatus according to any one of the above. Illuminating the reading surface of the medium from which the image is to be read;
Setting the reading condition to either a normal mode or an energy saving mode;
If the energy saving mode is set, reducing the amount of light when illuminating the reading surface of the medium than in the normal mode;
Receiving light from the reading surface and converting it into an electrical signal;
An image reading method comprising:

Images