JP2545295B2 - Image processing device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image processing device using a spatial light modulator.

[Prior Art] As a device for creating, editing, and copying full-color images,
Color copiers are known.

Color copiers are generally classified into analog type and digital type, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

An analog color copier exposes an optical image,
Since a color copy is created by development, it is difficult to add image processing such as color correction and gradation processing.

On the other hand, in a digital color copier, an original image is converted into a digital signal by an image scanner, and a color copy is made by a printer in accordance with the digital signal. Image processing and the like can be easily performed.

Comparing the color copies made, analog color copiers have smooth image quality (resolution is
Although it is about 800 DPI), color masking (separation of black and chromatic colors) is not easy and color reproducibility is not very good.
Specifically, a black line drawing may be colored. On the other hand, a digital color copying machine is easy to color mask and has excellent color reproducibility, but it is difficult to achieve high definition.
When the resolution is increased and the number of read pixels is increased, the amount of data increases and a high-speed processor and a large-capacity memory are required, which is significantly disadvantageous in cost compared with the analog method.

From this point of view, the analog type color copier is advantageous when a large amount of copy processing is to be performed, and the digital type color copier is suitable for the production of design manuscripts where color reproducibility is important and simple printing. Be advantageous.

As described above, since the analog method and the digital method have advantages and disadvantages, respectively, the image type, the processing purpose,
It is used properly according to the purpose.

However, there is no device capable of executing a combination of excellent processing by the analog method and excellent processing by the digital method, and in order to create a high definition image quality with good color reproducibility, it is very expensive due to the digital method. It was necessary to use the device.

Furthermore, there is no device capable of mixing analog images and digital images in one screen.

Therefore, the present applicant has already proposed an image processing apparatus that can handle an image in which analog images and digital images are mixed and fused and that has high resolution and excellent color reproducibility (Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 10 (1999) -135242). No. 1-335304, filed on December 25, 1991).

This image processing apparatus is an analog writing system for writing a reflected image obtained by illuminating an original with a light source in an analog writing system on a spatial light modulating element using liquid crystal, and a spatial light modulating element by two-dimensionally scanning a laser beam. A digital reading system that digitally reads the image written in the image, a processing unit that performs image processing on the read image data, and the image data that has been subjected to the above-described processing by two-dimensionally scanning the laser beam to the spatial light modulator. It is provided with a digital writing system for writing digitally and an analog reading system for reading out the image written in the spatial light modulator in an analog manner.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In this type of image processing apparatus, when a reflection image from a document is written in a spatial light modulation element in an analog manner, spatial nonuniformity of a light source for document illumination, an imaging lens The brightness of the image written in the spatial light modulator may become spatially non-uniform due to variations in the optical characteristics of the system or the spatial characteristics of the spatial light modulator.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus capable of obtaining a high-quality image by compensating the brightness of the image written in the spatial light modulator so as to be spatially uniform.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The gist of the present invention for achieving the above object is to provide a spatial light modulator having an image writing plane and an image obtained by irradiating an original with light to the spatial light modulator. An analog writing system that writes in an analog manner, a digital reading system that digitally reads the image written in the spatial light modulation element by two-dimensionally scanning a laser beam on the spatial light modulation element, and an image of the read image data A processing unit that performs processing, a digital writing system that digitally writes an image in the spatial light modulation element based on the image data that has been subjected to the above-described processing by two-dimensionally scanning a laser beam, and a digital writing system that writes in the spatial light modulation element. And an analog reading system that reads the image in an analog manner, and the spatial light modulator is an image writing plane. And a pair of electrodes sandwiching the photoconductor and the liquid crystal layer, at least one of which is capable of being driven separately from each other. It is divided into areas.

[Operation] By irradiating a document with light, an image of the document is imaged on the image writing plane of the spatial light modulator and written in an analog manner. At this time, in order to write an image having uniform brightness in the spatial light modulation element, a plurality of divided regions of the electrodes of the spatial light modulation element are separately driven to partially control the writing characteristics.

The image written in the spatial light modulator in this manner is digitally read out for each pixel by the two-dimensionally scanned laser beam. Then, the read image data is digitally rewritten in the spatial light modulator by the two-dimensionally scanned laser beam after the desired image processing. Finally, the image is read out from the spatial light modulator in an analog manner.

Embodiments Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the basic structure of a color image editing / outputting device as an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 10 is a spatial light modulation element having an image writing plane, 11 is an analog writing system of an image to the spatial light modulation element 10, 12 is an analog reading system, 13 is a digital reading system, and 14 is a digital writing system. Shows.

The digital read system 13 and the digital write system 14 are
It is electrically connected to a processing unit 15 that performs various image processing. A display 16 and a control unit 17 are connected to the processing unit 15.

The control unit 17 is mainly composed of a computer, and has the above-mentioned analog writing system 11 and analog reading system.
12, digital read system 13, and digital write system 14
Is electrically connected to In FIG. 2, white arrows represent an optical image by analog, black arrows represent an optical image by digital, and a broken line represents an electrical signal.

An input sensitivity control unit 20 that partially controls the input sensitivity of the spatial light modulator 10 is also connected to the spatial light modulator 10 and the controller 17.

The spatial light modulation element 10 changes the transmittance distribution, the reflectance distribution, or the phase distribution according to the spatial intensity distribution (optical image) of the input light, so that the intensity distribution of the light, that is, the image Can be stored temporarily. When the spatial light modulation element storing the image is irradiated with other light, the transmitted light, the reflected light, the reflected light, or the like depending on the stored two-dimensional (spatial) image information.
Alternatively, the scattered light is modulated.

By detecting or exposing the modulated transmitted light, reflected light, or scattered light, the written image is read.

The spatial intensity distribution of the light input to the spatial light modulator 10 may be an analog image which is an optical image, or a digital image which is obtained by two-dimensionally scanning a modulated laser beam. . Further, when reading from the spatial light modulation element 10, uniform light may be applied to the spatial light modulation element 10 to obtain an analog image, or a laser beam having a constant intensity may be two-dimensionally scanned and applied. It may be a digital image obtained by

The analog writing system 11 has a function of writing the optical image of the original image on the original document 18 into the spatial light modulation element 10.
It is mainly composed of a light source for irradiating the light source and an optical system for forming an optical image of an original image obtained by the light source on the spatial light modulator 10.

The analog reading system 12 has a function of projecting an optical image written in the spatial light modulation element 10 onto a recording paper 19 such as a photosensitive paper, and is obtained by a light source that illuminates the spatial light modulation element 10 and the same. An image of the spatial light modulator 10 is recorded on the recording paper 19
It is mainly composed of an optical system for forming an image on the top.

The digital reading system 13 has a function of reading the image written in the spatial light modulator 10 two-dimensionally with a laser beam and irradiating the image, thereby reading the image signal in time series. It is mainly composed of a scanning system and a light receiving system.

The digital writing system 14 has a function of writing a digital image in the spatial light modulation element 10 based on an image signal given from the processing unit 15, and is mainly composed of a laser light source, a laser beam scanning system, and a laser beam modulation unit. Has been done.

The processing unit 15 performs digital image processing on the image signal applied from the digital reading system 13 and outputs the processed image signal to the digital writing system 14. This processing unit 15
The result processed by is displayed on the display 16.

An image editing / outputting function can be obtained by combining all the above-mentioned configurations. Furthermore, an image editing function can be obtained by combining the spatial light modulator 10, the digital reading system 13, the processing unit 15, and the digital writing system 14. Also, the analog writing system 11, the spatial light modulator 10,
An image scanner function can be obtained by combining the digital reading system 13 and the digital reading system 13. Furthermore, the printer function can be obtained by combining the digital writing system 14, the spatial light modulator 10, and the analog reading system 12. Then, by combining the analog writing system 11, the spatial light modulator 10, and the analog reading system 12, an analog copying function can be obtained. Each of these functional modes is realized by the computer of the control unit 17.

An input sensitivity control unit 20 is connected to the spatial light modulator 10, and its input sensitivity is controlled as described later.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the embodiment of FIG. 2 more concretely.

The analog writing system 11 shown in FIG. 2 has R (red),
Three light sources of G (green) and B (blue) (eg fluorescent lamp)
11a, 11b, 11c and the optical system represented by the lens 11d. The original 18 is sequentially illuminated with light from the light sources 11a, 11b, and 11c, so that an optical image of the original image is formed by a lens.
The image is reduced and projected onto the writing plane of the spatial light modulator 10 by 11d.

Color separation of a color image is performed in a frame sequential manner. For one original image, first, the R light source 11a is turned on, the optical image is written to the spatial light modulator 10, the image is read out, and then the G light source 11b is turned on to scan the optical image in space. After writing to the light modulation element 10 and reading the image, the same processing is performed on the B light source 11c.

In order to obtain a color separated image, there is a color filter system in addition to the above-mentioned light source switching system.

This color filter system is a system in which R, G, and B color filters are provided between the lens 11d and the spatial light modulator 10, and these are sequentially switched to obtain a color separation image. Specifically, the R, G, and B color filters are attached to, for example, a rotator and rotated to sequentially switch the color filters. In the color filter method, a white light source such as a halogen bulb is used as a light source.

In the light source switching method and the color filter method, three colors of cyan, yellow, and magenta may be used instead of the three colors of R, G, and B.

The input sensitivity control unit 20 partially adjusts the input sensitivity of the spatial light modulator 10 by controlling the voltage applied to each divided region of the electrodes of the spatial light modulator 10 by changing the voltage for each region. is there.

That is, the image input to the spatial light modulator 10 is the light source 11
Spatial variations in the amount of light from a, 11b, and 11c and lens 11d
There may be uneven brightness depending on the characteristics of. Further, the spatial light modulator 10 itself may have spatial sensitivity characteristic variations. Therefore, by partially adjusting the voltage applied to the electrodes of the spatial light modulator 10, the nonuniformity based on the above factors is compensated (shading correction), and as a result, the brightness information is transmitted to the spatial light modulator. It writes in 10 spatially and uniformly.

The spatial light modulation element 10 has increased sensitivity to incident light when the voltage applied between its electrodes increases, and decreases its sensitivity to incident light when the voltage decreases. Therefore, in the spatial light modulator 10, the input sensitivity of the area is controlled by the applied voltage.

The digital readout system 13 includes a laser light source 13a and a lens 13
b, perforated mirror 13c, holographic scanner 13d,
It has a galvanometer mirror 13e, a lens 13f, and a light receiving element 13g.

The laser beam having a constant light intensity emitted from the laser light source 13a is guided to the holographic scanner 13d through the lens 13b and the perforated mirror 13c. The holographic scanner 13d scans the laser beam in the main scanning direction. After passing through the holographic scanner 13d, the laser beam is applied to the galvanometer mirror 13e and scanned in the sub-scanning direction. As a result, the laser beam scans the spatial light modulator 10 two-dimensionally.

By irradiating the spatial light modulator 10 with the laser beam, the transmitted light, reflected light, or scattered light at that point is modulated according to the image information of the pixel corresponding to the laser beam scan. This transmitted light, reflected light, or scattered light is received by the light receiving element 13g.
And is photoelectrically converted. In this embodiment, reflected light is used. This reflected light follows the opposite path of the incident laser beam. That is, the light passes through the galvanometer mirror 13e and the holographic scanner 13d, is reflected by the perforated mirror 13c, is condensed by the lens 13f, and reaches the light receiving element 13g. In this case, the holographic scanner 13d acts as a condenser lens.

In this way, the image information written on the spatial light modulator 10 can be read out in time series.

The digital writing system 14 includes a laser light source 14a and a lens 14
b, Holographic scanner 14c, Galvano mirror 14d
And a laser modulation circuit 14a.

A signal is applied from the processing unit 15 to the laser modulation circuit 14e, and the intensity of the laser beam generated from the laser light source 14a is modulated according to this signal.

When a semiconductor laser is used as the laser light source 14a,
The laser modulation circuit 14e can be directly modulated by configuring it as a circuit that modulates the drive current. When a gas laser is used as the laser light source 14a, a modulator (not shown) that externally modulates the emitted laser beam is required.
In this case, the laser modulation circuit 14e is configured as a drive circuit for the external modulator.

The modulated laser beam is applied to the laser 14b to become parallel light, and then applied to the holographic scanner 14c and the galvanometer mirror 14d to be deflected in the vertical and horizontal directions. As a result, the laser beam scans the spatial light modulator 10 two-dimensionally. Laser modulation circuit 14e
The holographic scanner 14c and the galvano mirror 14d are driven in synchronization with each other.

In this way, the image corresponding to the image data from the processing unit 15 is written in the spatial light modulator 10. The laser beam spot on the spatial light modulator 10 corresponds to one pixel, and its light intensity represents the gradation of the pixel.

The analog reading system 12 has three light sources of R, G, and B (for example, fluorescent lamps) 12a, 12b, 12c and an optical system indicated by a lens 12d. The image written in the spatial light modulator 10 is sequentially illuminated with uniform light from the light sources 12a, 12b, 12c, so that the recording paper 19 is recorded by the lens 12d.
Projected on top.

When the R image is written in the spatial light modulator 10, the R light source 12a is turned on to illuminate the spatial light modulator 10, and the recording paper 19 is exposed by the reflected light. The same processing is sequentially repeated for the G and B color separated images. The recording paper 19 on which the R, G, and B images have been exposed in this way is
A color hard copy is obtained by being developed.

As with the analog writing system 11, the analog reading system 12 may use a color filter system in addition to the light source switching system. Further, three colors of cyan, yellow and magenta may be used instead of R, G and B.

To handle color image information, the analog writing operation, digital reading operation, digital writing operation, and analog reading operation as described above are sequentially performed for each of the colors R, G, and B. That is, each operation is repeated for R, G for G, and B for three times.

The laser light sources 13a and 14a are semiconductor lenses or He-Ne.
A gas laser such as (helium-neon) is used. Since the semiconductor laser is small, the entire device can be made compact. Further, since the gas laser has a drastic interference, it is possible to reduce the spot diameter of the laser beam, which can further improve the reading resolution.

The light receiving element 13g can be composed of a high speed photodiode. If the laser beam has a slit shape extending in the sub-scanning direction in order to read image information for several lines (sub-scanning direction) at one time, a diode array or CCD is used as the light receiving element.
(Charge-coupled device) may be used.

A rotary polygon mirror, an ultrasonic deflector, or a galvanometer mirror may be used instead of the holographic scanners 13d and 14c.
A holographic scanner may be used instead of the galvano mirrors 13e and 14d.

The processing unit 15 is mainly composed of a computer including a microprocessor, a memory, etc., and has a light receiving element 13e.
The image signal photoelectrically converted in is received and subjected to image processing, that is, gradation processing (gamma correction, shading correction), sharpening (sharpness enhancement), area designation (trimming,
Part or all of digital processing such as masking), color processing (color reproduction, paint function, cutout by color), movement (rotation), and editing processing (embedding composition, character composition) are performed. Note that the processing unit 15 does not necessarily have to perform special processing.

The processing result is displayed on the display 16, and the processing can be performed interactively while confirming the result. The processed image signal is output to the laser modulation circuit 14e.

Note that in FIG. 3, the controller 17 shown in FIG. 2 is omitted.

FIG. 4 shows a spatial light modulator which is a main constituent element of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing one configuration example of 10.

In the figure, 10a and 10b are glass plates arranged on both side ends, an electrode 10c is laminated on the entire inner surface of one glass plate 10a, and a photoconductor 10d and a light shielding film are further provided inside the electrode 10c. 10e are sequentially stacked. The other glass plate 10b
An electrode 10f is laminated on the entire inner surface of the electrode.

A spacer 10g is inserted between the electrode 10f and the light shielding film 10e, and a liquid crystal 10h is injected and sealed in a space formed by the electrode 10e, the light shielding film 10e, and the spacer 10g.

The input sensitivity control unit 20 described above is connected to the electrodes 10c and 10f, and one or both of the electrodes 10c and 10f are divided into a plurality of regions.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the pattern of the divided electrodes. As shown in the figure, the electrode 21 is divided into nine electrically independent regions 21a, 21b, ..., 21i. The divided areas 21a, 21b, ..., 21i have terminals 22a, 22b,
, 22i are respectively connected to a plurality of power supply lines (not shown) from the input sensitivity control unit 20 described above,
Each is configured to be able to supply an arbitrary voltage. The interval between the electrode regions is set smaller than the distance between the electrodes 10c and 10f so as not to create a dead zone in the liquid crystal 10h. The area of the divided electrodes is a 3 × 3 pattern in the above example, but it may be a 4 × 4 pattern or another number of combination patterns. The regions of the electrodes do not have to have the same shape or the same area as each other.

The electrodes 10c and 10f are transparent electrodes, and are preferably composed of an indium tin oxide (ITO) film.

As the photoconductor 10d, cadmium sulfide (CdS), cadmium telluride (CdTe), selenium (Se), zinc sulfide (Zn
S), bismuth silicate crystal (BSO), amorphous silicon, or organic photoconductor is used. When handling color images, it is best to use amorphous silicon as the photoconductor. This is because the wavelength sensitivity of amorphous silicon is flat over the entire visible light.

The photoconductor 10d changes the molecular orientation of the liquid crystal according to the input light, and other materials of the photoconductor whose resistance changes with light can be used. For example, a material that generates a voltage by light (for example, a solar cell), a material that generates heat by light, a material that changes its structure by light (for example, a photochromic compound), and the like. The material that generates heat by light and the material whose structure is changed by light have a function of directly changing the molecular orientation of liquid crystal without using electricity.

The light shielding film 10e is provided to prevent laser light or white light from entering the photoconductor 10d when reading image information from the spatial light modulator 10. That is, when the laser light or the white light reaches the photoconductor 10d, the written information is erased by the light. As the light-shielding film 10e, an electrically insulating opaque film, for example, a dielectric mirror such as silicon monoxide (SiO) is used.

The glass plates 10a and 10b are transparent and function as substrates for sealing the liquid crystal 10h. Therefore, a transparent plastic plate or a transparent ceramic plate may be used instead of the glass plate.

In this embodiment, a liquid crystal having a hybrid electric field effect is used as the liquid crystal 10h. This liquid crystal has no memory function.

A DC voltage is applied from the input sensitivity control unit 20 between the electrodes 10c and 10f to charge the electrodes 10c and 10f. Then, the electrodes 10c and 10f and the input sensitivity control unit 20 are shut off from each other. In this state, an optical image is incident on the photoconductor 10d by projecting a planar image light or irradiating an intensity-modulated laser beam.

This causes a distribution of resistance in the photoconductor 10d according to the light intensity distribution. That is, the photoconductor 10 in the exposed part
The resistance of d decreased, and the photoconductor 1 in the part that was not exposed to light
0d remains high resistance. As a result, a voltage according to the light intensity distribution is applied to the liquid crystal 10h, the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules is changed,
The input light image is written.

A factor that determines the degree of alignment of liquid crystal molecules is the voltage applied to the liquid crystal at each point. This voltage depends on the intensity of light incident on the photoconductor 10d and the voltage supplied from the input sensitivity control unit 20. That is, for example, if the electrode 10c is a divided electrode as shown in FIG.
Since the applied voltage can be changed like a, 21b, ..., 21i, the input sensitivity can be adjusted for each divided region 21a, 21b ,.

As a result, it is possible to compensate for the non-uniformity of the illumination system of the document or the non-uniformity of the brightness of the input image to the spatial light modulation element 10 based on the optical characteristics of the imaging lens system. Furthermore, it is possible to compensate for variations in the input sensitivity within the element due to the nonuniformity of the photoconductor 10d.

To erase the image written in the spatial light modulator 10, uniform light is incident on the photoconductor 10d or the electrode 10c.
And 10e should be short-circuited.

A liquid crystal having a memory function (accumulation function) may be used as the liquid crystal 10h.

As a liquid crystal having a memory function, for example, a dynamic scattering type (D
S) Liquid crystals, phase transfer type liquid crystals, smectic A liquid crystals, ferroelectric liquid crystals and the like.

As an example, writing and reading operations of a spatial light modulator using a dynamic scattering (DS) liquid crystal will be described below.

When a direct current voltage or a low frequency alternating current voltage of about 100 Hz is applied to the dynamic scattering type liquid crystal, the liquid crystal undergoes dynamic scattering and becomes a white turbid state. This state is maintained and stored even if the voltage is removed. And high frequencies above the cutoff frequency (eg
When a voltage of 700 Hz) and uniform relatively strong light are applied,
The stored image is erased. This phenomenon is applied to a spatial light modulator.

Writing to the spatial light modulator 10 is performed by applying a DC voltage or a low-frequency AC voltage of about 100 Hz from the input sensitivity control unit 20 between the electrodes 10c and 10f, and at the same time, planarizing the photoconductor 10d forming the image writing plane. An optical image is made incident by projecting image light or irradiating an intensity-modulated laser beam.

This causes a distribution of resistance in the photoconductor 10d according to the light intensity distribution. That is, the photoconductor 10 in the exposed part
The resistance of d decreased, and the photoconductor 1 in the part that was not exposed to light
0d remains high resistance. As a result, a voltage according to the light intensity distribution is applied to the liquid crystal 10g, and the liquid crystal in the portion to which the voltage is applied causes a scattering phenomenon.

For reading from the spatial light modulator 10, when uniform light is applied to the entire surface of the spatial light modulator 10, scattered light or reflected light that is modulated according to the information written in each point is obtained, An analog image can be read out by forming an image with a lens. Further, when spot light such as a laser beam is emitted, the pixel information of the spot can be read.

In order to erase the entire surface of the image written in the spatial light modulation element 10, it is necessary to irradiate the entire surface of the photoconductor 10d with uniform and relatively strong light while applying a high-frequency AC voltage between the electrodes 10c and 10f. Good.

When a liquid crystal having a memory function is used as the liquid crystal 10h, writing is not performed unless both light and voltage are applied to the photoconductor at the same time. That is, the written image does not change even when the reading laser beam or uniform light is applied to the photoconductor 10d. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide the light-shielding film 10e as described above between the liquid crystal 10h and the photoconductor 10d so that light is not applied to the photoconductor 10d at the time of reading, and the reading optical system should be a transmission type. You can Moreover, the laser beam for reading is the glass plate 10a.
It may be applied from the side or from the glass plate 10b side. Alternatively, a light shielding film 10e may be provided to make it a reflective type.

In particular, if the reading laser beam is applied from the same side as that for writing, most of the optical systems in the digital writing system and the digital reading system, that is, the laser light sources 13a and 14a, the holographic scanners 13d and 14 are used.
c, Galvano mirrors 13e and 14d, and lenses 13b and 14b can be shared.

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, a spatial light modulator having an image writing plane and an image obtained by irradiating a document with light are analogized to the spatial light modulator. An analog writing system for writing, a digital reading system for digitally reading an image written in the spatial light modulator by two-dimensionally scanning a laser beam on the spatial light modulator, and image processing for the read image data. A processing unit, a digital writing system that digitally writes an image in a spatial light modulator based on image data that has been subjected to the above-described processing by two-dimensionally scanning a laser beam, and an image written in the spatial light modulator. And an analog reading system for reading in an analog manner, and the spatial light modulator constitutes an image writing plane. It includes a photoconductor, a liquid crystal layer laminated on the photoconductor, and a pair of electrodes sandwiching the photoconductor and the liquid crystal layer, and at least one of these electrodes is divided into a plurality of regions that can be driven independently of each other. Therefore, it is possible to compensate for the brightness of the image written in the spatial light modulator to be spatially uniform by changing the voltage applied to each divided region.

In addition, it is possible to compensate for variations in input sensitivity within the spatial light modulator. As a result, a high quality image can be written in the spatial light modulator.

In particular, when the image processing apparatus is used as an analog copying machine, the present invention is very effective because there is no other means for correcting the image.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of electrodes of a spatial light modulator according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a configuration of a color image editing / outputting device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing the embodiment of FIG. 2 in more detail, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an example of the configuration of the spatial light modulator. 10 ... Spatial light modulator, 10a, 10b ... Glass plate, 10c, 1
0f ... electrode, 10d ... photoconductor, 10e ... light-shielding film, 10g ...
... Spacer, 10h ... Liquid crystal, 11 ... Analog writing system, 11a, 11b, 11c, 12a, 12b, 12c ... Light source, 11d, 12
d, 13b, 13f, 14b, 20b, ... lens, 12 ... analog readout system, 13 ... digital readout system, 13a, 14a ...
Laser light source, 13c …… Perforated mirror, 13d, 14c …… Holographic scanner, 13e, 14d …… Galvano mirror,
13g, 20a …… photodetector, 14 …… digital writing system, 14
e ... Laser modulation circuit, 15 ... Processing unit, 16 ... Display, 17 ... Control unit, 18 ... Original, 19 ... Recording paper, 20 ...
... Input sensitivity control section, 21a, 21b, ..., 21i ... Division area.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A spatial light modulation element having an image writing plane, an analog writing system for writing an image obtained by irradiating an original with light to the spatial light modulation element in an analog manner, and on the spatial light modulation element. A digital reading system for digitally reading an image written in the spatial light modulator by two-dimensionally scanning a laser beam;
A processing unit that performs image processing on the read image data; a digital writing system that digitally writes an image in the spatial light modulator based on the processed image data by two-dimensionally scanning a laser beam; An analog reading system for reading an image written in a spatial light modulation element in an analog manner, wherein the spatial light modulation element constitutes an image writing plane, a photoconductor, and a liquid crystal laminated on the photoconductor. An image processing apparatus comprising a layer and a pair of electrodes sandwiching the photoconductor and the liquid crystal layer, at least one of the electrodes being divided into a plurality of regions which can be driven independently of each other.