JP2019190984A - Information processing device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To improve the accuracy of detecting an error when a patch is mistakenly read when measuring a color patch by a colorimeter.SOLUTION: The present invention comprises: a measured value acquisition unit for acquiring colorimetric data obtained by measuring a color patch by a colorimeter; a reference value holding unit for holding reference data that serves as reference for colorimetric data for each color patch; and a determination unit for determining whether or not the colorimetric data acquired by the measured value acquisition unit is the colorimetric data of a patch of interest, on the basis of a color difference between the colorimetric data acquired by the measured value acquisition unit in accordance with the motion of moving the colorimeter to the position of a path of interest (a patch of patch No. 5 in a patch group 310) which is the color patch to be measured and the reference data of the patch of interest, and a color difference between the colorimetric data and the reference data of each peripheral patch (patches of patch Nos. 1-4, 6-9 in the patch group 310) that are color patches located on the periphery of the patch of interest.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a program.

  In order to inspect the color reproduction accuracy of the image forming apparatus, a measurement chart in which color patches of a predetermined color are arranged by the image forming apparatus to be inspected is output, and the output measurement chart is measured with a colorimeter Is done. When the color measurement is performed manually by the user, if the measurement abnormal value is mixed due to an erroneous reading of the color patch, the inspection accuracy is lowered. Therefore, it is required to detect errors during measurement in order to improve the accuracy of inspection.

  Patent Document 1 discloses an information processing apparatus that determines the presence or absence of a measurement error when measuring the color characteristics of a plurality of patches arranged on a chart, and a measurement value acquisition unit that acquires measurement values of the plurality of patches And the color difference acquisition means for acquiring the color difference by comparing the measured values of the plurality of patches acquired by the measurement value acquisition means and the reference values of the plurality of predetermined patches, respectively, and the color difference acquired by the color difference acquisition means And a determination means for determining the presence / absence of a patch measurement error.

JP 2013-57667 A

  Since color patches of various colors are arranged on the measurement chart, if approximate colors are adjacent to each other, an error may not be detected correctly even if the patch is misread. In addition, in order to improve the accuracy of error detection, when there is a mistake in reading a patch, there is a case in which it is requested to know in which direction a mistake has been made in reading a correct patch.

  An object of the present invention is to improve the accuracy of error detection when there is a mistake in reading a patch, as compared with a configuration in which a measurement value obtained by a colorimeter and a reference value are simply compared for each color patch.

The present invention according to claim 1
In response to an operation of moving the colorimeter on a medium on which color sample images are printed side by side, the colorimeter acquires colorimetric data obtained by measuring the moved area of the medium. Acquisition means;
Holding means for holding, for each color sample image, reference data serving as a reference for colorimetric data of the color sample image;
A color difference between the colorimetric data acquired by the acquisition unit in response to an operation of moving the colorimeter to the position of the target image that is the color sample image to be measured, and the reference data of the target image; and The colorimetric data acquired by the acquisition unit based on the color difference between the colorimetric data and the reference data of each surrounding image that is the color sample image located around the image of interest is the colorimetric data of the image of interest. Determination means for determining whether or not,
An information processing apparatus comprising:
The present invention according to claim 2
The determination unit is configured such that a color difference between the color measurement data acquired by the acquisition unit in response to an operation of moving the colorimeter to the position of the target image and the reference data of the target image is the color measurement data. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the color difference between the surrounding image and the reference data is greater, the color measurement data is determined not to be color measurement data of the target image.
The present invention according to claim 3 provides:
The determination unit is configured such that a color difference between the color measurement data acquired by the acquisition unit in response to an operation of moving the colorimeter to the position of the target image and the reference data of the target image is the color measurement data. The colorimetric data is determined not to be colorimetric data of the target image when it is smaller than a color difference between the surrounding image and the reference data and larger than a predetermined threshold. 2. The information processing apparatus according to 2.
The present invention according to claim 4 provides:
The determining unit determines a shift direction in colorimetry by the colorimeter based on a position of the surrounding image corresponding to the reference data having the smallest color difference from the colorimetric data with respect to the target image. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2.
The present invention according to claim 5 provides:
For each column of the color sample images, the determination unit is configured to detect a colorimetric shift by the colorimeter in the column based on a determination result obtained by performing each of the color sample images included in the column as the target image. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a generation position is specified.
The present invention according to claim 6 provides:
The determination means includes
At the occurrence position of the colorimetric deviation by the colorimeter,
Between the color sample images corresponding to the color measurement data determined not to be the color measurement data of the image of interest,
When there is the color sample image corresponding to the color measurement data determined to be the color measurement data of the target image,
6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a determination result that the color sample image is colorimetric data of the target image is changed to a determination result that the target image is not colorimetric data. .
The present invention according to claim 7 provides:
Computer
In response to an operation of moving the colorimeter on a medium on which color sample images are printed side by side, the colorimeter acquires colorimetric data obtained by measuring the moved area of the medium. Acquisition means;
Holding means for holding, for each color sample image, reference data serving as a reference for colorimetric data of the color sample image;
A color difference between the colorimetric data acquired by the acquisition unit in response to an operation of moving the colorimeter to the position of the target image that is the color sample image to be measured, and the reference data of the target image; and The colorimetric data acquired by the acquisition unit based on the color difference between the colorimetric data and the reference data of each surrounding image that is the color sample image located around the image of interest is the colorimetric data of the image of interest. As a determination means for determining whether or not
It is a program to make it function.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the accuracy of error detection when there is a mistake in reading a patch is improved as compared with a configuration in which a color meter measurement value and a reference value are simply compared for each color patch. Can do.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to perform an accurate determination even when there are patches of approximate colors in comparison with a configuration in which the measured value of the color patch to be measured is simply compared with the reference value.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to suppress erroneous determination when the measured value and the reference value are significantly different from those in the configuration in which only the comparison with the surrounding image is performed.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to specify the shift direction in the color measurement operation in units of columns as compared with the configuration in which only the determination is performed in units of color patches.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to identify the occurrence position of the measurement position deviation in the color measurement operation in units of columns, as compared with the configuration in which only the determination is performed in units of color patches.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, compared to a configuration in which the determination result is output as it is, the influence of erroneous determination due to a sudden factor can be suppressed in the color measurement operation in units of columns.
According to the invention of claim 7, there is an error in reading the patch in the computer that executes the program of the present invention as compared with the configuration in which the measured value by the colorimeter and the reference value are simply compared for each color patch. The accuracy of error detection can be improved.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the system containing the information processing apparatus by this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of a colorimeter. It is a figure which shows the structure of information processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows the function structural example of a colorimeter. It is a figure which shows the example of the color chart used as the object which acquires a measured value with a colorimeter. It is a figure which shows the function structure of information processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows the structure of a patch group. It is a flowchart which shows the error determination process with respect to the patch row | line for 1 row | line. It is a flowchart which shows the determination process with respect to each color patch by a determination part. It is a figure which shows the example of the calculated value and determination result of color difference (DELTA) E (1)-(DELTA) E (9). It is a flowchart which shows the deviation direction determination process by a deviation direction evaluation part. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the relationship between the surrounding patches having the largest and smallest color difference and the shift direction, and FIG. 12A is a diagram showing a case where the surrounding patches having the patch number “2” have the largest and smallest color difference. FIG. 12B shows a case where the number of surrounding patches with the patch number “4” is the largest and has the smallest color difference, and FIG. 12C shows a case where the surrounding patches with the patch number “6” have the largest and the smallest color difference. FIG. 12D is a diagram showing a case where the number of surrounding patches with the patch number “8” is the largest and has the smallest color difference, and FIG. 12E is the largest number of surrounding patches with the patch number “1” having the smallest color difference. FIG. 12F shows the case where the number of surrounding patches with the patch number “3” is the largest and the smallest color difference, and FIG. 12G shows the number of surrounding patches with the patch number “7”. FIG. 12H shows a case where the minimum color difference is reached, and FIG. Surrounding patches 9 "is a diagram showing a case where the most often minimum color difference. It is a flowchart which shows the shift generation position determination process by a shift generation position evaluation part. It is a flowchart which shows the interpolation process by an interpolation process part. FIG. 15A is a diagram showing an example of determination for one patch row, FIG. 15A is a diagram showing calculation results and judgment results of color differences for individual color patches constituting the patch row, and FIG. It is a figure which shows the determination result of each color patch of a row | line | column. It is a figure which shows the movement path | route of the colorimeter estimated from the determination result. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a determination result.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
<System configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a system including an information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The system shown in FIG. 1 includes a colorimeter 100 and an information processing apparatus 200. The colorimeter 100 is a device that measures the color of an image recorded on a recording medium in response to an operation of sliding on a recording medium such as paper. Here, the colorimeter 100 may be of a filter type that measures color by receiving reflected light with respect to light irradiated from the light source to the recording medium through a plurality of color filters, or light irradiated from the light source to the recording medium. A spectroscopic type may be used in which the color is measured by splitting and receiving the reflected light with respect to each wavelength component by a diffraction grating.

  The information processing apparatus 200 is a device that performs a calibration process for adjusting a color output by an image forming apparatus (not shown) based on a color measurement result received from the colorimeter 100. As the information processing apparatus 200, for example, a personal computer (PC) may be used, or an image processing unit constituting a part of the image forming apparatus may be used.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the colorimeter 100. The colorimeter 100 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 101, a random access memory (RAM) 102, a read only memory (ROM) 103, a light emitting circuit 104, a light source 105, a light receiving element 106, and an A / D. A conversion circuit 107 and a communication interface controller (hereinafter referred to as “communication I / F controller”) 108 are provided. The CPU 101 implements various functions to be described later by reading various programs stored in the ROM 103 and the like into the RAM 102 and executing them. The RAM 102 is a memory used as a working memory for the CPU 101. The ROM 103 is a memory that stores various programs executed by the CPU 101. The light emitting circuit 104 is a circuit that supplies a current for causing the light source 105 to emit light. The light source 105 is a lamp that irradiates the recording medium with light. The light receiving element 106 is an element that receives reflected light with respect to the light irradiated on the recording medium and converts the reflected light into an analog electric signal. In the present embodiment, the light receiving element 106 is provided as an example of the color measuring unit. The A / D conversion circuit 107 is a circuit that converts an analog electric signal output from the light receiving element 106 into a digital electric signal. The communication I / F controller 108 is a controller that controls transmission of various types of information to other devices and reception of various types of information from other devices. In particular, in this embodiment, the A / D conversion circuit 107 outputs The digital electric signal thus transmitted is transmitted to the information processing apparatus 200 as a color measurement result.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the information processing apparatus 200. Here, an example in which the information processing apparatus 200 is realized by a PC is shown. The information processing apparatus 200 includes a CPU 201, a main storage device (main memory) 202 that is a storage unit, and an external storage device 203. The CPU 201 implements each function to be described later by reading a program stored in the external storage device 203 into the main storage device 202 and executing it. For example, a RAM (Random Access Memory) is used as the main storage device 202. As the external storage device 203, for example, a magnetic disk device, an SSD (Solid State Drive), or the like is used. The information processing apparatus 200 includes a display mechanism 204 for performing display output on a display device (display) 207 and an input device 205 for performing an input operation. For example, a keyboard or a mouse is used as the input device 205. In addition, the information processing apparatus 200 includes an interface 206 for connecting to the colorimeter 100.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the colorimeter 100. The colorimeter 100 includes a measurement value acquisition unit 110, an information output unit 120, and a control unit 130. The measurement value acquisition unit 110 acquires a digital electrical signal output from the A / D conversion circuit 107 (see FIG. 2) as a measurement value. The measured value is an example of colorimetric data. The information output unit 120 transmits the measurement value obtained by the measurement value acquisition unit 110 to the information processing apparatus 200. The control unit 130 controls the operations of the measurement value acquisition unit 110 and the information output unit 120.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a color chart (measurement chart) that is a target for obtaining measurement values by the colorimeter 100. The color chart 300 is an image recorded on a recording medium, and is configured by continuously arranging color patches for measurement. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the color chart 300 is configured by arranging seven patch rows (horizontal direction) in which twelve color patches are arranged. A color patch is an example of a color sample image. The colorimeter 100 sequentially reads and measures the color patches constituting one patch row as indicated by the arrows in FIG. And the measured value of each patch row | line | column is obtained like the white arrow shown in FIG. The configuration of the color chart 300 is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. The number of patch rows constituting the color chart 300 may be a number other than seven, and the number of color patches constituting one patch row may be a number other than twelve. Further, the measurement direction by the colorimeter 100 indicated by an arrow in FIG. 5 is merely an example, and a configuration in which color measurement is performed while moving in a direction different from that in FIG. 5 may be used. Hereinafter, the case where the color chart 300 shown in FIG. 5 is measured in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 5 will be described as an example.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information processing apparatus 200. The information processing apparatus 200 includes a measurement value acquisition unit 210 and a reference value holding unit 220. Further, the information processing apparatus 200 includes a color difference calculation unit 230, a determination unit 240, a deviation direction evaluation unit 250, a deviation occurrence position evaluation unit 260, and an interpolation processing unit 270. Furthermore, the information processing apparatus 200 includes an output unit 280.

  The measurement value acquisition unit 210 acquires a measurement value from the colorimeter 100, for example, via the interface 206 (see FIG. 3). The measurement value acquisition unit 210 is an example of an acquisition unit. The acquired measurement value is held in, for example, the main storage device 202 (see FIG. 3).

  The reference value holding unit 220 is realized by, for example, the external storage device 203 (see FIG. 3), and holds the reference value of each color patch constituting the color chart 300 (see FIG. 5) that is a measurement target. The reference value is a value serving as a reference for determining whether or not the measured value is appropriate. As the reference value, for example, a value determined in consideration of a measurement error or the like based on a measurement value obtained by measuring each color patch of the color chart 300 in advance may be used or generally used. A printing reference value may be used. The reference value holding unit 220 is an example of a holding unit. The reference value is an example of reference data.

  The color difference calculation unit 230 compares the measured value of each color patch constituting the color chart 300 with a reference value, and calculates a color difference. In the present embodiment, the color difference calculation unit 230 compares the reference values of nine color patches including the color patch from which the measurement value is obtained with the measurement value of one color patch, and calculates each color difference. Nine color patches to be compared with the measured values are called a patch group.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the configuration of the patch group. The patch group 310 is configured by arranging nine color patches in three vertical rows and three horizontal rows. Among these, the color patch located at the center is called a target patch, and the eight patches positioned around the target patch are called peripheral patches. The attention patch is a color patch that is a target of color measurement by the colorimeter 100. A surrounding patch is a color patch adjacent to a target patch. The attention patch is an example of an attention image. A surrounding patch is an example of a surrounding image. For the color patches constituting the patch group 310, patch numbers are set from the upper left to the lower right as shown in the example. Therefore, the color patch with the patch number “5” is the patch of interest, and the color patches with the patch numbers “1” to “4” and the patch numbers “6” to “9” are the surrounding patches.

  Referring to the patch group 310 shown in FIG. 7, the patch number “1” is the color patch located at the upper left of the target patch, the patch number “2” is the color patch located above the target patch, and the patch number “3” is the target. The color patch located on the upper right side of the patch, the patch number “4” is the color patch located on the left side of the target patch, the patch number “6” is the color patch located on the right side of the target patch, and the patch number “7” is the target patch. The color patch positioned at the lower left, patch number “8” is the color patch positioned below the target patch, and patch number “9” is the color patch positioned at the lower right of the target patch.

  Therefore, when measuring the color chart 300, as shown in FIG. 5, when measuring the patch row for one row from the color patch in the upper left corner to the right, The surrounding patches of the numbers “1” to “3” correspond to the color patches on the patch row measured one before on the color chart 300. The surrounding patch with the patch number “4” corresponds to the color patch measured immediately before. The peripheral patch with the patch number “6” corresponds to the color patch to be measured next. Further, the surrounding patches with patch numbers “7” to “9” correspond to color patches on the patch row to be measured after one.

  It should be noted that among the color patches that make up the color chart 300, when measuring the color patches at the edges and corners of the color chart 300, some of the eight surrounding patches that make up the patch group correspond. The color patch does not exist in the color chart 300. For example, when the color patch in the upper left corner of the color chart 300 is measured, there is no color patch at the position on the color chart 300 corresponding to the patches with the patch numbers “1” to “4” and “7”. When the uppermost patch row of the color chart 300 is measured, there is no color patch at a position on the color chart 300 corresponding to the patches with the patch numbers “1” to “3”. In such a case, according to the measurement position in the color chart 300, information indicating that there is no color patch corresponding to the surrounding patch is registered in advance, and only the surrounding patch having the corresponding color patch is used. The color difference may be calculated and determined as described later, and the shift direction and shift occurrence position may be evaluated. Further, assuming that the color patch of the background color of the recording medium exists around the color chart 300, the reference value of the color of the recording medium is registered in advance, and the surrounding patch at the position where the color patch does not exist is registered. The reference value of the color of the recording medium may be applied to calculate and determine the color difference, which will be described later, and to evaluate the shift direction and shift occurrence position.

  The color difference calculation unit 230 calculates the color difference ΔE (5) between the measurement value acquired by the measurement value acquisition unit 210 and the reference value of the target patch. The number in parentheses of the color difference ΔE (5) is the patch number of the target patch. Similarly, the color difference calculation unit 230 performs color differences ΔE (1) to ΔE (4), ΔE between the measured value and each of the surrounding patches (patch numbers “1” to “4”, “6” to “9”). (6) to ΔE (9) are respectively calculated.

  The determination unit 240 determines the color difference ΔE (5) between the measurement value and the reference value of the target patch and the color differences ΔE (1) to ΔE (4) and ΔE (6) to the reference value of the measurement value and the surrounding patches. Based on ΔE (9), it is determined whether or not there is an error in reading the color patch in the colorimetry by the colorimeter 100. As described above, the target patch is a color patch that is a target of color measurement, and the surrounding patches are patches around the target patch. Therefore, if the colorimeter 100 correctly measures a color patch to be measured, the color difference ΔE (5) is equal to the color difference ΔE (n) (where n = 1 to 4) even if measurement errors are taken into consideration. 6-9) should be smaller. In other words, if there is a color difference ΔE (n) that is smaller than the color difference ΔE (5), it means that the position at which the colorimeter 100 has read the measurement value has shifted from the color patch to be measured. .

For example, in the color difference comparison by the determination unit 240,
ΔE (5)> ΔE (1)
It shall be. That is, the color patch with the patch number “1” is closer to the measured value than the target patch. In this case, as described with reference to FIG. 7, since the patch number “1” is the color patch located at the upper left of the target patch, the colorimeter 100 is not the color patch to be measured, but the upper left. It can be seen that the color patch located at is measured. Therefore, the determination unit 240 regards the color difference ΔE (n) related to any of the surrounding patches.
ΔE (5) ≧ ΔE (n)
Is satisfied, it is determined that there is an error in reading the color patch. When there are a plurality of surrounding patches having ΔE (n) smaller than the color difference ΔE (5), the surrounding patch having the smallest color difference ΔE (n) may be used as the measured color patch.

The determination unit 240 regards the color difference ΔE (n) related to all the surrounding patches.
ΔE (5) <ΔE (n)
Is established, the color difference ΔE (5) is further compared with a predetermined threshold Th1. And
ΔE (5) ≧ Th1
If it is, it is determined that there was an error in reading the color patch. That is, when the value of the color difference ΔE (5) itself is large, it is determined as an error that the color patch to be measured is not correctly measured regardless of the relationship with the surrounding patches.

  The deviation direction evaluation unit 250 identifies the direction of deviation of the colorimetric position that has occurred in the colorimetry by the colorimeter 100 with respect to one patch row. This shift is caused by the movement of moving the colorimeter 100 along the patch row. The shift direction evaluation unit 250 checks the determination result of the determination unit 240 regarding the individual color patches constituting the patch row, and when there are many reading errors that occur when the colorimetric position deviates in a specific direction, the shift direction is determined as the shift direction. Is determined. Here, when there are a plurality of directions in which the colorimetric position is out of the determination results determined to be out of the colorimetric position, the shift direction may be specified based on the number of determination results out of each direction. good.

  The deviation occurrence position evaluation unit 260 specifies the deviation occurrence position with respect to the deviation of the colorimetric position generated in the colorimetry by the colorimeter 100 with respect to the patch row for one row. This shift is caused by the movement of moving the colorimeter 100 along the patch row. The deviation occurrence position evaluation unit 260 examines the determination result of the determination unit 240 regarding the individual color patches constituting the patch row, and the consecutive number CN of errors at the places where the reading errors continuously occur is based on a predetermined threshold Th2. If there are too many, the continuous error range is determined as the position where the colorimetric position shift has occurred. If the number of consecutive errors CN is less than or equal to the threshold Th2, the error is abrupt and is not caused by the movement of moving the colorimeter 100 along the patch row. Is not specified.

  If there is a determination result that is not partly an error at the position where the shift is specified by the shift position evaluation unit 260, the interpolation processing unit 270 replaces the determination result with an error determination. Specifically, if there is a single color patch that has been judged to be normal (judgment that the color patch subject to colorimetry has been measured correctly) among the color patches that have been judged as error, this color patch The determination result is an error determination. This is because the measured value of the color patch determined to be normal is the color patch to be measured correctly due to a sudden factor, and the color measurement resulting from the movement of the colorimeter 100 as a whole. This is because a position shift is considered to have occurred.

  The determination unit 240, the deviation direction evaluation unit 250, the deviation occurrence position evaluation unit 260, and the interpolation processing unit 270 are examples of determination units.

  The output unit 280 is realized by, for example, the display mechanism 204 and the display device 207 (see FIG. 3), and the determination unit 240, the deviation direction evaluation unit 250, the deviation occurrence position evaluation unit 260, and the like for each color patch constituting the color chart 300. The determination result by the interpolation processing unit 270 is displayed. The determination result is displayed by, for example, expressing the color patch determined to be normal and the color patch determined to be error identifiable in an image showing the color chart 300. Further, in the output of the determination result, the content of the error determination may be notified by means such as a message display regarding the color patch determined to be error. Further, in the output of the determination result with the color patch determined to be in error, the error part may be urged to be measured again by means such as message display.

<Judgment process>
Hereinafter, determination processing for the color patches and the patch row of the color chart 300 by the determination unit 240, the shift direction evaluation unit 250, the shift occurrence position evaluation unit 260, and the interpolation processing unit 270 will be further described with reference to flowcharts.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an error determination process for one patch row. The information processing apparatus 200 executes the determination for each color patch by the determination unit 240 for one (one line) patch sequence (S801). If there is no error determination in the determination result for one column (No in S802), a determination result indicating that there is no error in the measurement by the colorimeter 100 is output (S803), and the determination process is terminated. The color measurement result obtained in this way is used for calibration of an image forming apparatus (not shown) that outputs the color chart 300.

  If there is an error determination in the determination result for one column (Yes in S802), then a shift direction determination process (S804) by the shift direction evaluation unit 250, and a shift occurrence position determination process by the shift occurrence position evaluation unit 260 (S804). In step S805, the interpolation processing unit 270 performs interpolation processing (S806). Then, the information processing apparatus 200 outputs a determination result indicating that there is an error in the measurement by the colorimeter 100 (S807), and ends the determination process. In addition to the determination result, information indicating error contents obtained by the shift direction determination process and the shift occurrence position determination process may be output. If there is an error in the determination result, color measurement of the color chart 300 by the colorimeter 100 is performed again, and the measurement value is acquired again. It should be noted that, based on the information on the position where the shift has occurred obtained by the shift position determination process, only a part of the color chart 300 (where the error occurred) is re-measured to correct the previous color measurement result. May be.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing determination processing for individual color patches by the determination unit 240. First, the determination unit 240 identifies a patch group 310 (see FIG. 7) corresponding to a determination target color patch (target patch from which a measurement value has been acquired) (S901). In the identified patch group 310, the target patch with the patch number “5” corresponds to the determination target color patch. Then, the determination unit 240 calculates the color differences ΔE (1) to ΔE (9) between the measurement value of the determination target color patch and the reference value of each patch of the identified patch group (S902).

  Next, the determination unit 240 compares the value of the color difference ΔE (5) related to the patch of interest with the value of the color difference ΔE (n) (where n = 1 to 4, 6 to 9) related to each surrounding patch. Then, it is determined whether or not the color difference ΔE (5) is minimum. When the color difference ΔE (5) is the minimum (Yes in S903), the determination unit 240 then compares the value of the color difference ΔE (5) with the threshold value Th1. If the value of the color difference ΔE (5) is smaller than the threshold value Th1 (Yes in S904), it is determined that there is no error (S905).

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of calculated values and determination results of the color differences ΔE (1) to ΔE (9). In the example shown in FIG. 10, the calculated values of the color differences ΔE (1) to ΔE (9) between the measured value and the reference value of each patch of the patch group 310 are shown, and the color difference ΔE (5) is 0.8 and the minimum. is there. Therefore, the patch number “5” of the patch with the smallest color difference is shown as the determination result. Here, when the value “0.8” of the color difference ΔE (5) is smaller than the threshold value Th1, it is determined that there is no error.

  Returning to FIG. 9, when the color difference ΔE (5) related to the patch of interest and the color difference ΔE (n) related to each surrounding patch are not the smallest (No in S903), the determination unit 240 The patch number of the surrounding patch having the smallest color difference ΔE (n) is specified, and it is determined that there is an error (S906). That is, in the example shown in FIG. 10, the determination result is the patch number (any one of “1” to “4” and “6” to “9”) that is the minimum color difference.

  When the color difference ΔE (5) is the smallest of the color differences ΔE (1) to ΔE (9) but is equal to or greater than the threshold Th1 (No in S904), the determination unit 240 determines that there is an error ( S907). However, in this case, unlike S906, since the value of the color difference ΔE (5) relating to the patch of interest is the smallest, the patch number of the surrounding patch having the smallest value of the color difference ΔE (n) is not specified. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 10, when the value of the color difference ΔE (5) is equal to or greater than the threshold value Th1, no patch number is entered in the determination result.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a deviation direction determination process (FIG. 8, S804) by the deviation direction evaluation unit 250. The deviation direction evaluation unit 250 checks the patch with the smallest color difference for each color patch in the patch row for one row, and identifies the patch with the largest number other than “5” (S1101). The patch number “5” is a patch of interest and is excluded because it is determined that there is no error (normal determination) in S905 of FIG. 9, and the minimum color difference is determined when it is determined that there is an error (error determination) in S906 of FIG. The surrounding patches with the highest number of times determined are identified.

  Next, the deviation direction evaluation unit 250 identifies the deviation direction based on the identified patch number (S1102). As described with reference to FIG. 7, when the patch having the minimum color difference is a surrounding patch, the color patch to be measured and the color patch actually measured by the colorimeter 100 are determined according to the position of the surrounding patch. The positional relationship (shift direction) is specified. Therefore, the direction specified by the surrounding patches having the largest and smallest color difference in the patch row for one row is set as the shift direction in the movement of moving the colorimeter 100 along the patch row.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the surrounding patches that have the largest and smallest color difference and the shift direction. FIG. 12A shows a case where the number of surrounding patches having the patch number “2” is the largest and has the smallest color difference. FIG. 12B shows a case where the number of surrounding patches having the patch number “4” is the largest and has the smallest color difference. FIG. 12C shows a case where the number of surrounding patches having the patch number “6” is the largest and has the smallest color difference. FIG. 12D shows a case where the number of surrounding patches having the patch number “8” is the largest and has the smallest color difference. FIG. 12E shows a case where the number of surrounding patches having the patch number “1” is the largest and has the smallest color difference. FIG. 12F shows a case where the number of surrounding patches having the patch number “3” is the largest and has the smallest color difference. FIG. 12G shows a case where the number of surrounding patches having the patch number “7” is the largest and has the smallest color difference. FIG. 12H shows a case where the number of surrounding patches having the patch number “9” is the largest and has the smallest color difference.

  In each of FIGS. 12A to 12H, dark hatching is applied in order from the patch having the largest number of color differences. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 12A, the patch with the largest number of times of the minimum color difference in the patch row for one row is the target patch with the patch number “5”. The patch having the second most frequent color difference is the surrounding patch with the patch number “2”. Then, with a smaller number of times, the peripheral patch with the patch number “1” and the peripheral patch with the patch number “3” have the minimum color difference. In this case, since the shift direction is specified based on the largest number of patch numbers other than “5”, in the case of FIG. 12A, the upward direction specified by the patch number “2” is defined as the shift direction. To do. Similarly, in the case of FIG. 12B, the left direction, in the case of FIG. 12C, the right direction, in the case of FIG. 12D, the downward direction, in the case of FIG. 12E, the upper left direction, FIG. F) is the upper right direction, FIG. 12G is the lower left direction, and FIG. 12H is the lower right direction.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the deviation occurrence position determination process (FIG. 8, S805) by the deviation occurrence position evaluation unit 260. The deviation occurrence position evaluation unit 260 examines the patches having the smallest color difference for each color patch in the patch row for one row, and determines that there is an error at a position where patch numbers other than “5” are consecutive (that is, S906 in FIG. 9). Are identified, and a continuous number CN is counted (S1301). Then, the deviation occurrence position evaluation unit 260 determines whether or not the continuous number CN is larger than a predetermined threshold Th2. When the continuous number CN is larger than the threshold Th2 (Yes in S1302), the shift occurrence position evaluation unit 260 moves the colorimeter 100 along the patch row to a position where patch numbers other than “5” are consecutive. In step S1303, the position where the deviation occurs is identified. Note that when the patch of interest has a minimum color difference between one patch and the range specified as the position where the deviation occurs (that is, the measurement by the colorimeter 100 is correct for the color patch to be measured). If it is determined that there is no error in step S905 in FIG. 9), it is assumed that the position where the deviation has occurred continues beyond the patch.

  On the other hand, when the continuous number CN is equal to or less than the threshold value Th2 (No in S1302), the deviation occurrence position evaluation unit 260 attaches to the color patch the position where the patch with a patch number other than “5” has the smallest color difference. It is determined that this is a sudden error due to dirt or irregular movement of the colorimeter 100 (S1304).

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the interpolation processing by the interpolation processing unit 270 (FIG. 8, S806). When the deviation occurrence position is specified by the deviation occurrence position evaluation unit 260 (Yes in S1401), the interpolation processing unit 270 determines the location where the target patch has the minimum color difference at the specified deviation occurrence position (S905 in FIG. 9). It is determined whether or not there is a part determined as having no error in step 1). The case where there is a part determined to have no error at the specified deviation occurrence position means that one piece is sandwiched by the range identified as the deviation occurrence position in S1303 in the deviation occurrence position determination process shown in FIG. This is a case where it is determined that the patch of interest has the minimum color difference with respect to this patch, and the position where the deviation occurs is continuous beyond that patch. When there is such a patch (Yes in S1402), the interpolation processing unit 270 replaces the determination result that there is no error made by the determination unit 240 regarding the patch with the determination result that there is an error (S1403).

<Judgment example>
FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a determination example for one patch row. FIG. 15A is a diagram showing calculation results and determination results of color differences for individual color patches constituting the patch array, and FIG. 15B is a diagram showing determination results for each color patch in the patch array. Referring to FIG. 15A, regarding the N color patches constituting the patch row, the calculation results of the color differences ΔE (1) to ΔE (9) by the color difference calculation unit 230 and the determination result by the determination unit 240 are the minimum. The color difference patch number is shown. In FIG. 15A, only the color difference calculation results and determination results for the first color patch and the Nth color patch in the patch row are described, and the color difference calculation results and determination results for the other color patches are described. Is omitted.

  FIG. 15B shows the patch number of the minimum color difference compared with the reference value of each patch of the patch group 310 for each color patch constituting the patch row. In the example shown in FIG. 15B, the leftmost color patch is the first and the rightmost color patch is the Nth. In the example shown in FIG. 15B, twelve patch numbers are arranged with N = 12. Referring to FIG. 15B, the first to sixth color patches and the ninth color patch have the minimum color difference patch number “5”. Therefore, it is determined that the target patch has the minimum color difference and there is no error (measurement by the colorimeter 100 is correctly performed on the color patch to be measured) (normal determination). The seventh, eighth, tenth, and eleventh color patches have a minimum color difference patch number of “8”. Therefore, the surrounding patch positioned below the target patch has the minimum color difference and is determined to have an error (error determination). The twelfth color patch has a minimum color difference patch number of “9”. Therefore, the surrounding patch located at the lower right of the target patch has the minimum color difference and is determined to have an error (error determination).

  Next, consider a case where the deviation direction determination processing by the deviation direction evaluation unit 250 is performed on the determination result shown in FIG. In this case, the smallest color difference patch number is “8” except “5”. Accordingly, in the movement of moving the colorimeter 100 along the patch row shown in FIG. 15B, the shift direction evaluation unit 250 shifts the movement direction downward (the direction of the surrounding patch with the patch number “8”). It is determined that

  Next, consider a case where a shift occurrence position determination process by the shift occurrence position evaluation unit 260 is performed on the determination result shown in FIG. Here, the value of Th2 is 1. In this case, a position where two or more patch numbers other than “5” are arranged is determined to be a position where a deviation occurs. In the example shown in FIG. 15B, the patch number of the minimum color difference is “8” in the seventh and eighth consecutive two color patches, which exceeds Th2. Therefore, this position is determined as a position where a shift has occurred. In the tenth to twelfth consecutive three color patches, the tenth and eleventh minimum color difference patch numbers are “8”, and the twelfth minimum color difference patch number is “9”. , Th2 is exceeded. Therefore, this position is determined as a position where a shift has occurred. Further, the ninth color patch has a minimum color difference patch number of “5” and is a color patch for normal determination. However, since the color patch is one color patch sandwiched between the shift occurrence positions, the shift occurrence position is It is determined to continue beyond the ninth color patch. Therefore, the deviation occurrence position evaluation unit 260 determines that the seventh to twelfth color patches correspond to the deviation occurrence position.

  Furthermore, the interpolation processing unit 270 determines that one color patch, that is, the ninth color patch is a color patch that has been determined to be normal at the shift occurrence position specified by the shift occurrence position evaluation unit 260. Replace with error judgment. As described above, the determination result of the patch row shown in FIG. 15 is determined that the shift direction is the direction of the patch number “8” in the patch group 310 and the shift occurrence position is the seventh to twelfth color patches. .

  FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a movement path of the colorimeter 100 estimated from the determination result obtained as described above. When the patch row b is measured, no error occurs if the colorimeter 100 is measured while moving as indicated by the solid line arrow. However, since the measurement is performed while the colorimeter 100 is moved as indicated by the dashed arrow, the color patch of the patch row b is measured from the middle, and the surrounding patch of the patch number “8” in the patch group 310 has the minimum color difference. An error occurred. When the patch group 310 deviates in the direction including the patch number “2” or the patch number “8”, it can be seen that the moving direction of the colorimeter 100 is not along the patch row as shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, when the patch group 310 is shifted in the direction including the patch number “4” or the patch number “6”, the moving direction of the colorimeter 100 is along the patch row, but the color patch to be colorimetric is selected. It can be seen that the color patch one before (when shifted in the direction of patch number “4”) or one after (when shifted in the direction of patch number “6”) has been measured. One possible cause of the latter error is that a portion that is not a color patch at the end of the patch row is measured as a color patch of the color of the recording medium on which the color chart 300 is recorded. As a method for detecting such an error, for example, it is determined whether or not the following condition is satisfied.

Condition 1: The error of S907 in FIG. 9 occurred at the end (left end or right end) of the patch row.
Condition 2: The error of S906 in FIG. 9 occurs at the end (left end or right end) of the patch row, and the value of the minimum color difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold Th3 (provided that condition 2 is the color measurement target) The value of the threshold Th3 is set to a relatively large value with respect to the threshold Th1.
Condition 3: The error of S906 or S907 in FIG. 9 occurred, and the color difference between the measured value and the reference value of the color of the recording medium prepared in advance was a very small value.

  When any one of the above conditions 1 to 3 is satisfied, it can be determined that the error is caused by measuring the ground portion of the recording medium that is not a color patch as a color patch.

<Display example of judgment result>
FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the determination result. When the determination result for each patch row is repeated as described above and the determination for the color chart 300 is completed, the output unit 280 of the information processing device 200 generates an output image indicating the determination result, for example, the display device 207 (see FIG. 3). ). Referring to the display example shown in FIG. 16, the entire color chart 300 is displayed on the display screen of the display device 207. The color patches determined as errors among the color patches constituting the color chart 300 are displayed in an identifiable manner. In FIG. 17, the color patch on which the cross mark “×” is displayed is a color patch for which an error has been determined.

  Although not described in FIG. 17, a message corresponding to the determination result may be output together with the output image indicating the determination result of the color chart 300. For example, when the deviation direction is specified by the deviation direction evaluation unit 250, a message indicating the deviation direction may be output. In addition, when the number of color patches that have been determined to be error is greater than or equal to a certain value among the number of color patches constituting the patch row, a message that prompts remeasurement may be output by designating the patch row.

  As mentioned above, although this embodiment was described, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to said embodiment. For example, in the present embodiment, the colorimeter 100 and the information processing apparatus 200 are configured separately, but may be configured as an integrated apparatus. In the present embodiment, the CPU 201 of the information processing apparatus 200 executes the functions of the measurement value acquisition unit 210, the color difference calculation unit 230, the first determination unit 240, the second determination unit 250, and the determination result output unit 260. It may be provided as a program to be realized. Various modifications and substitutions of configurations without departing from the scope of the technical idea of the present invention are included in the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Colorimeter, 110 ... Measurement value acquisition part, 120 ... Information output part, 130 ... Control part, 200 ... Information processing apparatus, 210 ... Measurement value acquisition part, 220 ... Reference value holding part, 230 ... Color difference calculation part, 240 ... determination unit, 250 ... deviation direction evaluation unit, 260 ... deviation occurrence position evaluation unit, 270 ... interpolation processing unit, 280 ... output unit, 300 ... color chart, 310 ... patch group

Claims (7)

In response to an operation of moving the colorimeter on a medium on which color sample images are printed side by side, the colorimeter acquires colorimetric data obtained by measuring the moved area of the medium. Acquisition means;
Holding means for holding, for each color sample image, reference data serving as a reference for colorimetric data of the color sample image;
A color difference between the colorimetric data acquired by the acquisition unit in response to an operation of moving the colorimeter to the position of the target image that is the color sample image to be measured, and the reference data of the target image; and The colorimetric data acquired by the acquisition unit based on the color difference between the colorimetric data and the reference data of each surrounding image that is the color sample image located around the image of interest is the colorimetric data of the image of interest. Determination means for determining whether or not,
An information processing apparatus comprising:   The determination unit is configured such that a color difference between the color measurement data acquired by the acquisition unit in response to an operation of moving the colorimeter to the position of the target image and the reference data of the target image is the color measurement data. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the color difference between the surrounding image and the reference data is larger, the color measurement data is determined not to be color measurement data of the target image.   The determination unit is configured such that a color difference between the color measurement data acquired by the acquisition unit in response to an operation of moving the colorimeter to the position of the target image and the reference data of the target image is the color measurement data. The colorimetric data is determined not to be colorimetric data of the target image when it is smaller than a color difference between the surrounding image and the reference data and larger than a predetermined threshold. 2. The information processing apparatus according to 2.   The determining unit determines a shift direction in colorimetry by the colorimeter based on a position of the surrounding image corresponding to the reference data having the smallest color difference from the colorimetric data with respect to the target image. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2.   For each column of the color sample images, the determination unit is configured to detect a colorimetric shift by the colorimeter in the column based on a determination result obtained by performing each of the color sample images included in the column as the target image. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the generation position is specified. The determination means includes
At the occurrence position of the colorimetric deviation by the colorimeter,
Between the color sample images corresponding to the color measurement data determined not to be the color measurement data of the image of interest,
When there is the color sample image corresponding to the color measurement data determined to be the color measurement data of the target image,
6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a determination result that the color sample image is colorimetric data of the target image is changed to a determination result that the target image is not colorimetric data. Computer
In response to an operation of moving the colorimeter on a medium on which color sample images are printed side by side, the colorimeter acquires colorimetric data obtained by measuring the moved area of the medium. Acquisition means;
Holding means for holding, for each color sample image, reference data serving as a reference for colorimetric data of the color sample image;
A color difference between the colorimetric data acquired by the acquisition unit in response to an operation of moving the colorimeter to the position of the target image that is the color sample image to be measured, and the reference data of the target image; and The colorimetric data acquired by the acquisition unit based on the color difference between the colorimetric data and the reference data of each surrounding image that is the color sample image located around the image of interest is the colorimetric data of the image of interest. As a determination means for determining whether or not
A program to make it work.