JP2023160892A - Information processing device, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an information processing device capable of efficiently generating highly accurate device characteristics.SOLUTION: The information processing device has acquisition means, detection means, and display control means. The acquisition means is for acquiring a measurement value corresponding to each of a plurality of colors obtained by measuring color patches corresponding to the plurality of colors arranged in different positions in a color chart including the color patches that correspond to a plurality of colors. The detection means is for detecting as an abnormality that a color difference calculated using the plurality of measured values on a color patch of the same color of the acquired measurement values is larger than a threshold value. The display control means is for displaying on a display unit a screen for accepting an instruction for remeasuring color after the color measurement when the detection means detects the abnormality.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

The present invention relates to information processing that generates device characteristics from colorimetric data of a color chart.

In order to confirm whether the color reproduction characteristics of an output device are sufficient, it is necessary to obtain the color reproduction characteristics of the output device. To obtain the color reproduction characteristics of an output device, for example, color patches of a color chart displayed or output by the output device are measured (colorimetry). The color chart is composed of, for example, color patches of RGB data (729 colors) sliced into 9 slices (divided into 9 levels of gradation) in the range of 0≦R, G, B≦255. When measuring color patches on a color chart, for example, a two-dimensional measuring device is used to measure a color chart including a plurality of color patches at once. When measuring color patches on a printer's color chart, multiple types of color charts may be measured. The color reproduction characteristics of an output device are called device characteristics.

Measurement data in measuring color patches of such a color chart is affected by in-plane unevenness of the output device and changes over time of the output device. In order to obtain accurate output device characteristics, it is necessary to remove the effects of in-plane unevenness of the output device and changes over time of the output device. In-plane unevenness refers to color unevenness in colors output by an output device (for example, density unevenness on the same paper surface).
Patent Document 1 discloses an apparatus that reduces the influence of color unevenness when creating a printer profile (device characteristics). In Patent Document 1, first, a color chart printed matter is created in which a plurality of color charts including color patches for profile creation and color patches for checking color unevenness are arranged. Then, a color chart including a color patch for checking color unevenness that has a large color difference from other color patches for checking color unevenness is determined to be a color chart including an abnormal color patch. After that, color charts containing abnormal color patches are eliminated, and the remaining color charts are used to create a printer profile.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2013-42418

However, in Patent Document 1, since the entire color chart including abnormal color patches is excluded, non-abnormal color patches included in the excluded color chart are also excluded. For this reason, even color patches (color patches that are not abnormal) that are originally effective for acquiring device characteristics are excluded. Furthermore, in Patent Document 1, in order to detect abnormal color patches based on the determination of color unevenness using the color unevenness confirmation patch, it is necessary to create the color unevenness confirmation color patch separately from the profile creation color patch. be.
In view of the above points, it is an object of the present invention to provide information processing that can more efficiently generate highly accurate device characteristics.

The information processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes the plurality of color patches obtained by colorimetrically measuring color patches corresponding to the plurality of colors arranged at different positions in a color chart including color patches corresponding to the plurality of colors. an acquisition means for acquiring measurement values corresponding to each color; and an abnormality that a color difference calculated using a plurality of measurement values for color patches of the same color among the acquired measurement values is larger than a threshold value. and display control means for causing a display unit to display a screen for receiving an instruction for re-measuring the color after the color measurement when the detecting means detects the abnormality.

According to the present invention, highly accurate device characteristics can be generated more efficiently.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment; FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a correspondence table between patch numbers and RGB values. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of color patches of a color chart. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a message displayed by a patch characteristic exclusion result display section. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an information processing device according to a second embodiment. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in Embodiment 2. FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating another example of a message displayed by the patch characteristic exclusion result display section. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a color chart created by a chart re-creation unit.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiment described below is an example of means for realizing the present invention, and should be modified or changed as appropriate depending on the configuration of the device to which the present invention is applied and various conditions. It is not limited to the embodiment.

Embodiment 1
The information processing device in this embodiment is a device that generates color reproduction characteristics of an output device. In the following description, the color reproduction characteristics of the output device are referred to as device characteristics.
The configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram shown in FIG. The information processing apparatus of the first embodiment includes a CPU 101, a ROM 102, a RAM 103, an operation unit 104, an image processing unit 105, a monitor 106, an input device 107, an output device 108, and a measuring instrument 109. . The above components of the information processing device are interconnected by a bus 110.
The ROM 102 stores software (computer programs) such as an operating system, information processing application programs, and device drivers necessary for the information processing apparatus.

The CPU 101 controls the RAM 103, the operation unit 104, the image processing unit 105, the monitor 106, the input device 107, and the output device 108 according to the operating system stored in the ROM 102.
The RAM 103 functions as a work area and a temporary save area for data handled by various control programs and data input from the operation unit 104.
The operation unit 104 inputs data to the input device 107, output device 108, and the like. Data input is performed, for example, by a user of the information processing device. Further, the operation unit 104 receives, for example, an instruction from a user to start an information processing application program stored in the ROM 102 or the image processing unit 105.

The image processing unit 105 includes an HDD, and executes arithmetic processing for performing image processing in this embodiment. The image processing unit 105 also stores software necessary for this calculation process. The image processing unit 105 also has a function as an image processing device in this embodiment.
The monitor 106 displays processing results of the image processing unit 105, data input through the operation unit 104, and the like. Processing results and the like displayed on the monitor 106 may be displayed in a state that can be operated by the user. In other words, monitor 106 can function as a user interface. The monitor 106 includes, for example, a liquid crystal display device.
In this embodiment, the output device 108 is a printer that outputs (prints) an image. The measuring device 109 measures the Lab value of the color patch output by the output device 108. The measuring device 109 includes, for example, a spectral radiance meter. If the measuring device 109 measures the Lab value of the color patch in advance, or if the Lab value of the color patch is provided to the information processing apparatus from outside the information processing apparatus, the measured value is held in the image processing unit 105 ( stored).

In the following description, various processes realized by the CPU 101 operating various software stored in the ROM 102 and the image processing unit 105 will be described.
First, the CPU 101 starts an information processing application stored in the ROM 102 or the image processing unit 105 in response to a user's instruction on the operation unit 104 . Then, the CPU 101 can develop the information processing application in the RAM 103 and display on the monitor 106 items necessary for the user (for example, error messages to be described later) among the developed contents. The CPU 101 functions as a display control unit that causes the monitor 106 to display predetermined items. When displaying the developed content of the information processing application on the monitor 106, the monitor 106 functions as a user interface as described above. Subsequently, various data stored in the image processing unit 105 are transferred to the RAM 103 based on instructions from the CPU 101. The various data transferred to the RAM 103 are subjected to predetermined arithmetic processing according to instructions from the CPU 101. The results of the arithmetic processing are then displayed on the monitor 106 or stored in the image processing unit 105.

Next, a process in which an information processing application generates device characteristics of the output device 108 based on a command from the CPU 101 in the information processing apparatus having the above configuration will be described.
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the information processing device of this embodiment. The information processing device includes a patch measurement value acquisition unit 201, a patch abnormal value detection unit 202, a patch abnormal value exclusion unit 203, a patch average value calculation unit 204, a device characteristic generation unit 205, and a patch abnormal value exclusion result display. 206. The measured value of the color patch is the Lab value. The Lab value here is, for example, a value using CIE (Commission internationale de l'eclairage) L*a*b* coordinates.

In FIG. 2, a patch measurement value acquisition unit 201 acquires measurement values of color patches from the image processing unit 105 or the measuring device 109. Since the measured value of a color patch can also be called a patch characteristic, the patch measured value acquisition section 201 can also be called a patch characteristic acquisition section.
The patch abnormal value detection unit 202 detects whether the patch measurement value is an abnormal value by determining whether the patch measurement value is an abnormal value. Patch abnormal value exclusion section 203 excludes abnormal values detected by patch abnormal value detection section 202.
The patch abnormal value exclusion result display section 206 determines whether a predetermined number of patch measurement values remain after removing abnormal values from the patch measurement values, and then displays the patch abnormal value exclusion result in a message. If the number of patch measurement values is less than a predetermined number, it is considered that the patch measurement accuracy is insufficient, so the patch abnormal value exclusion result display unit 206 displays a message saying, for example, "Patch measurement accuracy is outside the guaranteed range." Display. This message is an error message and is displayed on monitor 106 (FIG. 1).

The patch average value calculation unit 204 calculates, for each same color, the average value of patch measurement values remaining after excluding patch measurement values having abnormal values (patch average measurement value).
The device characteristic generation unit 205 generates device characteristics of the output device 108 by saving patch average measurement values of each color in a predetermined format. For example, a column for L values, a column for a values, and a column for b values are provided on the right side of the column "B" in FIG. 3, which will be described later. Then, the device characteristic generation unit 205 stores the patch average measurement value of the Lab value calculated by the patch average value calculation unit 204 in the L value, a value, and b value columns. The reason for using patch average measurements is to cancel or suppress small variations in patch measurements (variations between patch measurements) caused by output device 108 .

As described above, the output device 108 of this embodiment is a printer. In the following description, a case will be described in which the color characteristics (device characteristics) of the printer are generated by averaging the measured values of the arranged color patches included in each of five color charts output by the printer.
In this embodiment, in order to obtain device characteristics by excluding the effects of in-plane unevenness and aging of the output device (printer) 108, the measurement values of color patches of the same color output multiple times (5 times) are used. to exclude patch measurements that are significantly different from other color patches. Then, the average value of the patch measurements other than the excluded patch measurements is calculated. By excluding patch measurements that have significantly different values than other color patches, the effect of large variations, such as in-plane unevenness of the output device 108, is reduced (or eliminated). Outputting five times means printing five color charts using a printer.

In this embodiment, the five color charts are color charts A, B, C, D, and E. Each of the color charts A to E includes a plurality of color patches arranged in nine slices of RGB data (729 colors) in the range of 0≦R, G, B≦255 within each color chart. FIG. 3 shows the correspondence between patch numbers and RGB values of color patches. The patch number is No. 1~No. It is 729. Further, each of the RGB values is 0 to 255.

The five color charts A to E differ in the arrangement of color patches (patch configuration) on the color chart. FIG. 4 shows the arrangement of color patches of color charts A to E in this embodiment. The numbers assigned to the color patches in each color chart A to E are patch numbers. Each color chart has 729 color patches arranged in a predetermined order. Specifically, color chart A includes patch numbers No. Starting from 1, the patch numbers go from the top left to the bottom right. Up to 729, 729 color patches are arranged. Color chart B includes patch numbers. Starting from 151, the patch numbers go from the top left to the bottom right. Up to 150 patches are placed. Color chart C has patch number No. Starting from 301, patch numbers go from top left to bottom right. Up to 300 patches are placed. Color chart D includes patch numbers starting from patch number 451 in order from top left to bottom right. Up to 450 color patches are arranged. Color chart E has patch number No. Starting from 601, patch numbers go from upper left to lower right. Up to 600 color patches are arranged.

Color patches having the same patch number in the five color charts A to E are color patches of the same color. As shown in FIG. 4, the positions where color patches with the same number appear are different in color charts A to E.
The processing executed by the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. 2 will be described below using the flowchart shown in FIG.

In S501, the patch measurement value acquisition unit 201 acquires patch measurement values (Lab values) of color charts A to E. The Lab values of color chart A are (L _Ai , a _Ai , b _Ai ), the Lab values of color chart B are (L _Bi , a _Bi , b _Bi ), and the Lab values of color chart C are (L _Ci , a _Ci , b _Ci ). Further, the Lab values of color chart D are (L _Di , a _Di , b _Di ), and the Lab values of color chart E are (L _Ei , a _Ei , b _Ei ). Here, i is 1≦i≦729 and is the same as the number of the patch number.
If the image processing unit 105 already holds the Lab values of color charts A to E, the patch measurement value acquisition unit 201 may acquire the Lab values from the image processing unit 105. Otherwise, the patch measurement value acquisition unit 201 directly acquires the Lab value from the measuring device 109.

In S502, the patch abnormal value detection unit 202 first performs preprocessing before detecting patch abnormal values. As preprocessing, the average value (L _avei , a _avei , b _avei ) (1≦i≦729) of patch measurement values of the same color, that is, the same patch number in color charts A to E is calculated using Equation 1. In Equation 1, i is the patch number.
L _avei = (L _Ai + L _Bi + L _Ci + L _Di + L _Ei )/5
a _avei = (a _Ai + a _Bi + a _Ci + a _Di + a _Ei )/5
b _avei = (b _Ai +b _Bi +b _Ci +b _Di +b _Ei )/5 (Formula 1)
In S503, the patch abnormal value detection unit 202 detects, as an abnormal value, a patch measurement value that is considered to have been affected by changes over time or in-plane unevenness of the output device (printer). _{Specifically ,} the patch abnormal _{value detection} unit 202 _calculates the _average value (L _avei , a _avei , b _avei ) with a large color difference ΔE is detected as an abnormal value. In this embodiment, when the color difference ΔE is equal to or greater than the threshold value ΔEt, it is determined that the color difference ΔE is large. In other words, it is assumed that the patch measurement value is an abnormal value when the color difference ΔE is greater than or equal to the threshold value ΔEt. Further, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the threshold value ΔEt is one value that does not depend on the color of the color patch. The threshold value ΔEt can be referred to as a predetermined value.

First, for each of (L _Ai , a _Ai , b _Ai ) ~ (L _Ei , a _Ei , b _Ei ) (1≦i≦729), the color difference ΔE _Ai ~ with (L _avei , a _avei , b _avei ) ΔE _Ei is calculated using the following formula.
ΔE _Ai = ((L _Ai − L _avei ) ² + (a _Ai − a _avei ) ² + (b _Ai − _{b avei} ) ² ) ^1/2
ΔE _Bi = ((L _Bi - L _avei ) ² + (a _Bi - a _avei ) ² + (b _Bi - b _avei ) ² ) ^1/2
ΔE _Ci = ((L _Ci - L _avei ) ² + (a _Ci - a _avei ) ² + (b _Ci - b _avei ) ² ) ^1/2
ΔE _Di = ((L _Di - L _avei ) ² + (a _Di - a _avei ) ² + (b _Di - b _avei ) ² ) ^1/2
ΔE _Ei = ((L _Ei - L _avei ) ² + (a _Ei - a _avei ) ² + (b _Ei - b _avei ) ² ) ^1/2
(Formula 2)

Next, ΔE _Ai , ΔE _Bi , ΔE _Ci , ΔE _Di , ΔE _Ei are compared with ΔEt, and patch measurement values where ΔE _Xi >ΔEt (X=A to E, 1≦i≦729) are determined as abnormal values. . The patch measurement values detected as abnormal values here are values affected by in-plane unevenness of the printer or changes over time, and are not used to generate device characteristics, which will be described later.
In S504, the patch abnormal value exclusion unit 203 sets a flag f _Xi (X=A to E, 1≦i≦729) for each patch measurement value, indicating whether or not it is an abnormal value. The flag value of the patch measurement value determined to be an abnormal value in S503 is set to 0, and the flag value of the other patch measurement values is set to 1.

In S505, the patch abnormal value exclusion result display unit 206 determines whether there are a predetermined number or more of patch measurement values for each color. In this embodiment, in order to cancel or suppress variations between patch measurement values caused by the output device, the average value of patch measurement values is calculated to generate device characteristics. However, if the number of patch measurements is less than a predetermined number, it may not be possible to cancel or suppress variations between patch measurements. That is, if the number of patch measurement values becomes smaller than a predetermined number as a result of excluding patch abnormal values in S504, it may not be possible to cancel or suppress variations among patch measurement values. Therefore, in S505, it is determined whether the number of patch measurement values for each color is equal to or greater than a predetermined number.

For each patch number i, the patch abnormal value exclusion result display unit 206 determines whether there is a necessary number of patches to cancel or suppress variations in patch measurement values using the following equation.
Σ(f _Xi )<N(X=A~E) (Formula 3)
Here, N is the number of patches assumed to be necessary to cancel variations in patch measurement values. When formula 3 is satisfied, the number of patch measurement values is less than the predetermined number. In this embodiment, the value of N is 4. That is, in this embodiment, the device characteristics are generated using the patch measurement values of four or more color charts (four or more patch measurement values) out of the five color charts A to E.

The patch abnormal value exclusion result display unit 206 performs the determination using Equation 3 for all patch numbers i, and if there is a patch number i that satisfies Σ(f _Xi )<N, it holds (memorizes) that patch number i. If there is a patch number i that satisfies Σ(f _Xi )<N, the determination in S505 is No, and the process proceeds to S506. If there is no patch number i that satisfies Σ(f _Xi )<N, the determination in S505 is Yes, and the process advances to S507.

In S506, the patch abnormal value exclusion result display unit 206 displays a message regarding the patch abnormal value exclusion result. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the patch abnormal value exclusion result display unit 206 displays a table 601 of patch numbers i for which Σ(f _Xi )<N held in S505 and RGB information corresponding to the patch numbers i. Display. Further, the patch abnormal value exclusion result display section 206 displays a message indicating that the calculation accuracy of the patch measurement value is outside the guaranteed range. The patch abnormal value exclusion result display section 206 also displays an OK button 602 below the table 601. After confirming the message shown in FIG. 6, the printer user presses the OK button 602. When the OK button 602 is pressed, the patch abnormal value exclusion result display section 206 erases the displayed contents (the message, table 601, and OK button 602 in FIG. 6).
After S506, the process advances to S507. That is, in this embodiment, whether the determination in S505 is Yes or No, the process reaches S507.

In S507, the patch average value calculation unit 204 calculates the patch average measurement value of each color using Equation 4. Specifically, the patch average value calculation unit 204 calculates the patch average measurement value of each color by averaging the measurement values of color patches of the same color, excluding the color patches excluded by the patch abnormal value exclusion unit 203. .
L _i =Σ(L _Xi *f _Xi )/Σ(f _Xi )
a _i =Σ(a _Xi *f _Xi )/Σ(f _Xi )
b _i =Σ(b _Xi *f _Xi )/Σ(f _Xi )
(X=A~E, 1≦i≦729) (Formula 4)
In step S508, the device characteristic generation unit 205 stores the patch average measurement value (L _i , a _i , b _i ) (1≦i≦729) in the image processing unit 105 as a device characteristic (printer characteristic) in a predetermined format. The device characteristics are generated and the flowchart of FIG. 5 ends.

As described above, in this embodiment, among the measured values of color patches of the same color that have been output multiple times (5 times), patch measured values that have values that are significantly different from other color patches (abnormal values) are excluded, and the remaining Calculate the average value of the patch measurements. In other words, the measured value of a color patch that is affected by the printer's in-plane unevenness and changes over time is considered to have a significantly different value from other color patches; Exclude color patches from device characteristics generation. Then, color characteristics of the printer (printer characteristics) are acquired and generated using measured values of color patches that are not affected by in-plane unevenness of the printer. In this embodiment, only patch measurement values having abnormal values are excluded. That is, the entire color chart containing patch measurements with abnormal values is not excluded. Therefore, the color characteristics of the printer (output device) can be generated without excluding patch measurement values that are not affected by in-plane unevenness of the output device or changes over time. In this embodiment, it can be said that abnormal color patches are efficiently excluded. Furthermore, in this embodiment, when detecting color patches affected by in-plane unevenness, color patches for checking in-plane unevenness are not used.

In this embodiment, the influence of small fluctuations during continuous output is suppressed (or eliminated) by averaging the measured values of color patches. In other words, for patch measurement values that are not so different that they are determined to be abnormal values, but have a certain degree of difference, the accuracy of the patch measurement values is increased by using the average value of those patch measurement values.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, if the number of measured values after excluding patch measured values having abnormal values is less than a predetermined number, the reliability of the above average value is low (measurement accuracy is outside the guaranteed range). Therefore, an error message is displayed to the user. A user who sees the error message can recognize that the average value of the measured values of the color patch was calculated using fewer than the predetermined number of measured values.

Note that in the embodiment described above, the output device 108 is a printer, but the output device 108 is not limited to a printer. For example, output device 108 may be a display device. Since the display device does not print the color charts A to E, the color charts A to E are displayed on the display of the display device, patch measurement values are obtained, abnormal values are detected and excluded, and device characteristics are generated.
In the present embodiment described above, the color difference ΔE used to detect abnormal values from patch measurement values is a unique value (fixed value) regardless of the color of the color patch. The color difference ΔE may be changed. Furthermore, the color difference used when detecting an abnormal value is not limited to ΔE, and ΔL, Δa, and Δb may also be used. The color difference ΔL in this case is (L _Ai - L _avei ).

In the embodiment described above, the patch measurement values are Lab values, but XYZ values, RGB values, etc. may also be used. Further, although N in Equation 3 is set to 4, it may be a value other than 4 (for example, 3 or 5).
For a color patch whose number of patch measurement values is less than a predetermined number, the patch average measurement value may be calculated using (substituting) patch measurement values in the vicinity of the relevant patch. For example, after excluding color patches with abnormal values, patch number No. When the number of patches of color chart A is 3, patch number No. 2 of color chart A is 3. The measured value of patch No. 3 is assigned to patch number No. It may also be used as a measurement value for the second patch. In other words, as a result of excluding color patches having abnormal values from the color chart, the patch average value calculation unit 204 also calculates, for colors for which the number of color patches is less than a predetermined number, measured values of color patches of colors close to the color concerned. may be used to calculate the average measured value.

Embodiment 2
In the first embodiment, if as a result of excluding patch measurement values that are abnormal values, there is a color for which the number of patch measurement values is less than a predetermined number, a message indicating that the patch measurement accuracy is outside the guaranteed range is displayed, Even if the number of patch measurements was less than a predetermined number, a patch average measurement value was calculated. The invention is not limited to such embodiments. For example, if there is a color for which the number of patch measurements is less than a predetermined number as a result of excluding patch measurement values that are abnormal values, a color chart consisting of color patches of that color is generated, and the color chart is re-output. A patch average measurement value may be calculated using the results of re-measurement. Such an information processing device will be described below as a second embodiment.

An information processing apparatus according to a second embodiment will be explained using FIG. 1 and FIGS. 7 to 10. The configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment is the same as the configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. In the second embodiment as well, it is assumed that the output device 108 is a printer. In the following description, differences from the first embodiment will be explained. The same reference numerals as in the first embodiment are used for the same components as in the first embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of the information processing device according to the second embodiment. The difference from the first embodiment (FIG. 2) is that the information processing apparatus of the second embodiment includes a chart re-creation unit 701. The chart re-creation unit 701 creates a color chart composed of color patches of colors for which the number of patch measurement values is less than a predetermined number. Components similar to those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the processing executed in the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. 7 will be explained using the flowchart shown in FIG. Steps S801 to S805 each perform the same processing as steps S501 to S505 in FIG. 5 used in the description of the first embodiment.
If the determination in S805 is No, the process advances to S806. In S806, the patch abnormal value exclusion result display unit 206 displays a message regarding the patch exclusion result. Specifically, the patch abnormal value exclusion result display section 206 displays a message regarding a color patch whose number of patch measurement values is less than a predetermined number. That is, the patch abnormal value exclusion result display unit 206 displays a message regarding the color patch of patch number i where Σ(f _Xi )<N in S805. In this embodiment, the patch number i for which Σ(f _Xi )<N in S805 is No. 28, No. 91, No. 163 and no. Suppose that it is 649.

FIG. 9 shows an example of a message displayed by the patch abnormal value exclusion result display section 206. In the example of FIG. 9, the patch abnormal value exclusion result display unit 206 displays the patch number i that satisfies Σ(f _Xi ) < N held in S805 and the table 901 that displays the RGB information corresponding to the patch number i. , displays a message recommending re-output and re-measurement of the color patch. The patch abnormal value exclusion result display unit 206 also displays a “Yes” button 902 and a “No” button 903. Note that the message in FIG. 9 may include a message indicating that the patch measurement accuracy is outside the guaranteed range, like the message shown in FIG. 6 .

In S807, the chart re-creation unit 701 determines whether to re-output the color patch. Specifically, the chart re-creation unit 701 determines whether the "No" button 903 displayed accompanying the message in FIG. 9 has been selected by the user. If the "No" button 903 is selected by the user (S807: No), the process advances to S810, and the same processes as S507 and S508 of the first embodiment are executed in S810 and S811. If the user selects the "Yes" button 902 in FIG. 9 (S807: Yes), the process advances to S808.
In S808, the chart re-creation unit 701 once again creates a color chart composed of the color patches with the patch number i where Σ(f _Xi )<N held in S805, and outputs it from the printer that is the output device 108. FIG. 10 shows an example of a color chart 1000 created in S808. As shown in FIG. 10, in this embodiment, five color patches having the same patch number are arranged in a horizontal row (P, Q, R, S, T). Let M be the number of color patches (5).

In S809, the measured values of the color patches of the color chart created in S808 are acquired. The measurement value of the color patch may be obtained from the image processing unit 105 or directly from the measuring device 109, as in S801. Patch number is No. 28, No. 91, No. 163, No. The measured values of 649 color patches are (L _Pj , a _Pj , b _Pj ), (L _Qj , a _Qj , b _Qj ), (L _Rj , a _Rj , b _Rj ), (L _Sj , a _Sj , b _Sj ), (L _Tj , a _Tj , b _Tj ). Here, j=28, 91, 163, 649.
In S810, the patch average value calculation unit 204 calculates an average measurement value for each color by averaging the measurement values of color patches of the same color. The process at S810 is executed when the determination at S805 is Yes, when the determination at S805 is No and the determination at S807 is No, and when the determination at S805 is No and the determination at S807 is Yes. In this embodiment, the process in S810 that is executed when the determination in S805 is Yes and the process in S810 that is executed when the determination in S805 is No and the determination in S807 is No are the same. This process is different from the process executed when the determination in S805 is No and the determination in S807 is Yes. First, the processing in S810 that is executed when the determination in S805 is Yes will be described.

For a color patch whose patch number is Σ(f _Xi )≧N in S805 (that is, if the determination in S805 is Yes), the patch average measurement value is calculated using the following equation, as in the first embodiment.
L _i =Σ(L _Xi *f _Xi )/Σ(f _Xi )
a _i =Σ(a _Xi *f _Xi )/Σ(f _Xi )
b _i =Σ(b _Xi *f _Xi )/Σ(f _Xi )
(X=A to E, 1≦i≦729 and i≠28, 91, 163, 649) (Formula 5)
On the other hand, if the determination in S805 is No and the determination in S807 is Yes (that is, in S805, Σ(f _Xi ) < N and the patch measurement value is newly acquired in S809), the patch average measurement value is , calculated using the following formula.
L _j =Σ(L _Xj *f _Xj )/M
a _j =Σ(a _Xj *f _Xj )/M
b _j =Σ(b _Xj *f _Xj )/M
(X=P~T, j=28, 91, 163, 649) (Formula 6)

In S811, the device characteristic generation unit 205 saves the patch average measurement values (L _i , a _i , b _i ) (1≦i≦729) calculated by the patch average value calculation unit 204 in a predetermined format as a device characteristic. By doing so, the device characteristics are generated, and the flowchart of FIG. 8 ends.
As described above, in the second embodiment, among the measured values of color patches of the same color that have been output a plurality of times, patch measured values having values that are significantly different from those of other color patches are excluded (S804). As a result, if there is a color for which the number of patch measurement values is less than a predetermined number (S805: No), a color chart composed of color patches of the color can be generated again as necessary (S807). . Then, the color chart is re-outputted (S808) and re-measured (S809) so that the patch average measurement value can be calculated (S810).

In the second embodiment as well, when acquiring (generating) device characteristics, only patch measurement values having abnormal values are excluded. That is, the entire color chart containing patch measurements with abnormal values is not excluded. Therefore, the color characteristics of the output device can be generated without excluding patch measurement values that are not affected by in-plane unevenness of the output device or changes over time. It can be said that this embodiment also efficiently excludes abnormal color patches.
Note that although the patch average measurement value was calculated in S809 using all the patch measurement values included in the color chart re-created in S808, the abnormal value correction performed on these patch measurement values in S803 and S804. Detection and exclusion may also be performed. Furthermore, in FIG. 10, five color patches having the same patch number are arranged (P, Q, R, S, T), but the number M of color patches to be arranged is not limited to five.

Variation In Embodiment 1, in the flowchart of FIG. 5, the patch abnormal value exclusion result display unit 206 displays a patch exclusion result message (S506) only when the determination in S505 is No, but the determination in S505 A message may also be displayed if the answer is Yes. When the determination in S505 is Yes, the message displayed by the patch abnormal value exclusion result display unit 206 is not an error message, but a message indicating to the user that the number of patch measurement values is not insufficient. Similarly, a message may be displayed even if the determination in S805 of the second embodiment is Yes.

The message in FIG. 6 is not limited to "The color patch measurement accuracy for the colors in the table below is outside the guaranteed range." For example, the message in FIG. 6 may be, "Regarding the colors in the table below, we recommend re-outputting and re-measuring color patches."
The present invention provides a system connected to an information processing device or an information processing device with a recording medium recording a software program code that implements the functions of the above-described embodiments (for example, the steps shown in the above flowchart). This can also be achieved by In this case, the computer (CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or information processing device reads and executes a program code stored in a computer-readable recording medium, thereby realizing the functions of the embodiments described above. Further, the program may be executed by one computer, or may be executed by multiple computers in conjunction with each other.

108... Output device, 201... Patch measurement value acquisition section, 202... Patch abnormal value detection section, 203... Patch abnormal value exclusion section, 204... Patch average value calculation section, 206... Patch abnormal value exclusion result display section, A to E …color chart

Claims (13)

Obtaining measurement values corresponding to each of the plurality of colors obtained by colorimetrically measuring color patches corresponding to the plurality of colors arranged at different positions in a color chart including color patches corresponding to the plurality of colors. acquisition means,
Detection means for detecting as an abnormality that a color difference calculated using a plurality of measurement values for color patches of the same color among the acquired measurement values is larger than a threshold value;
Display control means for causing a display unit to display a screen for receiving an instruction for re-measurement of color after the color measurement when the detection means detects the abnormality;
An information processing device comprising: 2. The display control means causes the display unit to display the screen including a button for receiving an instruction for re-measurement after the colorimetry, based on the acquired measurement value. The information processing device described in . The display control means causes the display unit to display the screen including the acquired measurement value corresponding to the color to be remeasured among the plurality of colors and the button. The information processing device according to claim 2. A claim further comprising calculation means for calculating a value indicating a device characteristic of an output device that outputs the color chart, using the obtained measurement value and the measurement value obtained by the re-measurement. The information processing device according to any one of Items 1 to 3. 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the calculation means stores the value indicating the device characteristic in a predetermined format. 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the calculation means calculates the value indicating the device characteristic without using an abnormal value among the plurality of measured values. The calculation means calculates a value indicating the device characteristic using the acquired measurement value when the detection means does not detect the abnormality, and calculates the value indicating the device characteristic using the acquired measurement value when the detection means detects the abnormality. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein a value indicating the device characteristic is calculated using the measured value obtained by the colorimetry and the measured value obtained by the remeasurement. The calculation means indicates the device characteristic by using an average value of a plurality of measured values among the obtained measured value and the measured value obtained by the re-color measurement for a certain color among the plurality of colors. 8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the information processing apparatus calculates as a value. The calculating means calculates an average value of the measured values from the acquired measured values and the measured values obtained by the re-measurement, excluding the measured values that are not suitable as values indicating the device characteristics. 9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the information processing apparatus calculates the value as a value indicating a characteristic. 10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control means causes the display unit to display a warning when the detection means detects the abnormality. 11. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the color patches of the same color are color patches printed to have the same color. A program for causing a computer to function as the information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 11. Obtain measurement values corresponding to each of the plurality of colors obtained by measuring color patches corresponding to the plurality of colors arranged at different positions in a color chart including color patches corresponding to the plurality of colors. ,
Detecting as an abnormality that a color difference calculated using a plurality of measurement values for color patches of the same color among the acquired measurement values is larger than a threshold value,
displaying a screen on a display unit for receiving an instruction for re-measurement of color after the color measurement when the abnormality is detected;
An information processing method characterized by:

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