JP3087773B2 - Image information output device and image information output method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image information output device and an image information output method connected to an information processing device or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an image information output apparatus (printer) connected to various information processing apparatuses for displaying and outputting image information has been proposed.
With the advancement of technology, there has emerged one that handles conventional binary data (monochrome) and one that handles 64 gradations or more multi-valued data (gray scale) according to its use. As for color images, an apparatus for displaying and outputting high-resolution and high-gradation images has been realized, and the image quality of silver-lead photographs has been approached.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional output device, the amount of data handled by improving the quality of the output image to obtain a high-resolution or high-gradation image increases, and the output device becomes large. In addition, there is a problem in that the processing time is increased due to the huge amount of data to be handled, and the throughput becomes an output device which is much worse than that of a conventional printer which handles binary data. Further, in pursuit of high image quality, a special recording medium is required, and as a result, there is a problem that a running cost is higher than a conventional binary printer.

For this reason, for example, even if a color printer is introduced to display and output color data in a general office, the use of a color printer in a frequently used black-and-white document output increases the running cost. And much output time has been taken. Alternatively, even if a color printer is introduced because it is exclusively for color output, the part that requires color output is extracted and the part is output to a color printer, and the black and white print part of the document only is output to a binary printer. It is specified separately for each case. In some cases, the part for color printing and the part for black and white printing are created with different application software, output separately, and the output results are finally combined to complete the document. May be applied.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided an image information output apparatus for outputting image data based on image data including a control command input from a host. And from the host
Image formation is controlled by input image data control commands.
Image that specifies whether to perform
Image data or image data for which no image forming color is specified
Specifies determining means and the designation determining means for determining whether it is
Determined that the image data does not specify the image forming color
If it is, by analyzing the data portion of the image data, a data determining unit that the image data to determine whether a monochromatic image or a color image on a page unit, the designated
The image data designated to form a color image is determined by the determining means.
Pages determined to be data, or the relative data determination means pages that are determined to be color image, the image data expansion generated image data in accordance with the characteristics of the color, the specified determination means Due to single color image shape
Is determined to be the specified image data
The page or the by the data determination means is judged to be monochrome image page, in accordance with the single color characteristics to produce developing the image data into image data, and generation means for storing the drawing memory, by the generation unit Output means for reading out the generated image data from the drawing memory and outputting it to an output unit. The image processing apparatus further includes an input unit that inputs image data from the host via a network, and the input of the image data by the input unit and the analysis of the image data by the data determination unit operate as independent tasks. It is preferred to do so. It is also preferable that the output unit outputs the image data read from the drawing memory to an output unit connected to a color printing unit that prints out a color image and a monochrome printing unit that prints out a single color image. It is. It is also preferable to further include a printing unit including both a color printing system and a black and white printing system in the same housing. Further, a method according to the present invention is an image information output method for outputting image data based on image data including a control command input from a host , wherein the image information is output from the host.
Image formation is controlled by input image data control commands.
An image that specifies whether to perform in single color or color
Data or image data for which no image forming color is specified
A designation judging step of judging whether the image data is present, and if the image judging step judges that the image data does not have an image forming color designated, the data portion of the image data is analyzed and the image data is analyzed in page units. Is a color image or a single-color image, a data determination step of determining whether the image is a color image or a monochrome image. For the page, the image data is developed and generated into image data according to the color characteristics, and the image data is designated to form a single-color image in the designation determination step or is a single-color image in the data determination step. For the determined page, generate the image data by developing the image data into image data according to the characteristics of the single color and storing the image data in the drawing memory. And extent, characterized in that it comprises an output step of outputting the image data generated in the generation step to an output unit reads from the drawing memory.

[0006]

In the above arrangement, an output means corresponding to the received data is selected and functions to display and output an image without considering color image data and monochrome image data.

[0007]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a connection configuration diagram of an image information output device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, an image information output device 101 includes a color printer 1.
02 is connected to a monochrome printer 103, and the image information output apparatus 101 transmits and receives data to and from an information processing apparatus such as a host computer (not shown) serving as a data supply source. (Registered trademark).

A controller 101a in the image information output device 101 receives an output image from a data supply source via the LAN 100, interprets the data content, and generates predetermined image data according to the data. I do. The generated image data is transmitted after selecting a plurality of printer engines. The color printer 102 receives the color image data input from the controller 101a,
It is fixed on a medium such as paper and output. The monochrome printer 103, like the color printer 102, is connected to the controller 101a, receives monochrome data input from the controller 101a, and fixes and outputs the data on a medium such as paper.

Next, the configuration of the controller (101a) will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the controller. In the figure, an input I / O unit 201
Information is exchanged with the data supply source via the LAN 100, and image data is input. The buffer 20
Reference numeral 2 denotes a buffer for temporarily storing data such as a command input through the input I / O unit 201. The data input to the buffer 202 is interpreted by the control unit 206. Thereafter, the image data generated according to the interpretation is stored in the bit map memory 203.

Output I / Os # 1 (204) and # 2 (2
05), a color printer 102 or a black-and-white printer 103 is connected, and the bit map memory 2
The image data as an output image stored in 03 is sent to each printer. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a controller 1 from a data source such as a host computer via the LAN 100.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data format of data input to an input I / O unit 201a of FIG. FIG.
When the data supply source sends data without paying particular attention to the printer connected to the controller 101a, the controller 101a responds to how to select a printer connected to the controller itself. Data format. In the same format, the command header part (301) indicates the content of the instruction,
A position designation unit (302) indicates a position of an image to be drawn. The color / scale section (303) indicates what color and density data is to be drawn at the position specified by the position specifying section (302).

On the other hand, FIG.
a indicates, as information, what kind of image output printer is currently connected to the controller 101a (in this embodiment, a printer capable of color output and monochrome output is connected). To the information processing apparatus such as a host computer, and responds to the case where the data supply source specifies which printer connected to the controller 101a to use and then transmits the output image data. This is an example of a data format to be used. This format includes a printer selection section (311), a command section (312), and a data section (3
13). Basically, the difference between the two formats is whether or not there is a printer selector unit (311).

Next, the image output processing in this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to a flowchart. FIG.
9 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of an image output process in the controller unit 101a. In FIG. 1, in step S1, the LAN 100 and the input I / O unit 2 are sent from an information processing apparatus such as a host computer as a data supply source.
01 to receive data. Here, if the received data has the data format shown in FIG. 3A, in step S1, the data is further transmitted to the controller 101a via the input I / O unit 201 and the LAN 100.
Is notified to the information processing apparatus such as a host computer, which is a data supply source, of the configuration of the printer connected to. Then, the control unit 206 of the controller 101a receives the input I /
Data from the data supply source input from the O unit 201 is stored in the buffer 202.

Next, in step S3, the controller 10
The control unit 206a reads out output image data from the data supply source stored in the buffer 202 and analyzes the contents. Note that the above steps S1 and S2
In step S2, after receiving all the output image data from the data supply source in step S1,
, The configuration of the reception data format, the storage capacity of the buffer 202, and the input I / O
In accordance with the communication speed of the O section 201 or the LAN 100, the respective sections may be operated as independent tasks.

In step S3, whether the result of analyzing the input data in step S2 is color output image data or black-and-white output image data is determined by one page output unit (however, in the case of a page printer). To judge.
As a result of the determination, if the image data is color output image data, the process proceeds to step S4. If the image data is monochrome output image data, the process proceeds to step S7.

Here, regarding the judgment in step S3,
This will be specifically described with reference to the data format shown in FIG. In the analysis at step S2, the data format of the data input to the input I / O unit 201 is as shown in FIG.
When the control unit 206 reads the command header (301) and the position designation (302) and reads the next color and scale value (303), if it is a color scale, the control unit 206 outputs a color output. If the data is grayscale or binary data, it can be determined that the data is monochrome output data.

On the other hand, if the received data has the format shown in FIG.
According to 1), it is possible to determine whether the printer is designated as a color printer or a black and white printer, and a series of processing is performed using the following command (312) and data (313). As described above, if it is determined in step S3 that the image is an output image for a color printer, the process proceeds to step S4, in which the control unit 206 controls the buffer 20 according to the characteristics of the color printer 102.
The output image data stored in the second
The image is developed in the memory 203 to generate output image data. When the output image data for one page is completed in step S4, the controller 101a
In the next step S5, as a procedure for predetermined data transmission, the output I / O unit to which the color printer 102 housed in the image information output device 101 is connected is selected (204 or 205). , Selected I / O
, The output image data stored in the bit map memory 203 is transmitted. As a result, in step S6, a color image output is obtained by the color printer 102.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S3 that the image data is black-and-white output image data, the control unit 206 converts the output image data stored in the buffer 202 into a black-and-white The output image data is generated on the bit map memory 203 according to the characteristics of the output 103. That is, if the output image data for one page is completed in step S7, the control unit 206 of the controller 101a connects the monochrome printer 103 as a predetermined data transmission procedure in step S8. Output I / O section (20
4 or 205) and the selected output I / O
The output image data stored in the bit map memory 203 is transmitted through the section. Then, in step S9, an output image is obtained by a monochrome printer.

If the above image output has been completed, it is determined in step S10 whether or not a job to be processed next has occurred. If a job has occurred, the process proceeds to step S1 again, and If this does not occur, this processing ends. As described above, according to the present embodiment, the LAN
Based on an analysis result of data sent from a data supply source such as a host computer via the CPU, it is determined whether the image signal requesting the printer to output is a color output image or a monochrome output image, and the determination is made. , A color printer or a black-and-white printer is selected, so that an image can be output by a printer that matches the type of data to be displayed and output.

Thus, it is possible to avoid the necessity of high running cost and a long output time by outputting a black-and-white image by a color printer, and to avoid performing job management separately for a color printer and a black-and-white printer. This makes it possible for a user to display and output an image on a single printer without distinction between color and black and white.

In the above embodiment, the bit map memory 203 has a memory capacity of one page. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, steps S4 to S4 of the flowchart shown in FIG. S6 or step S7 ~
By executing the processing in S9 in parallel, the processing can be performed using a banding buffer. Further, in the above-described embodiment, a color printer and a black-and-white printer have been described as examples of printers for display output.
The printer may be a black and white binary printer and a gray scale printer. This is because a gray scale printer requires a large amount of data and requires a long processing time, so that the use of a binary printer and a multi-level printer can save time.

When the output image data is single, that is, only in black and white or only in color and the size of the display output image is different, a printer having paper matching the image size is connected, and the printer is connected to the requested paper size. May be used to select a printer. Further, in the above embodiment, an independent color printer and a black-and-white printer were used as the image output devices.However, for example, an image output printer having both a color printing system and a black-and-white printing system in the same housing, If an image output printer that requires different input data for each printing system is used, there is no need to insert and remove pages.

If the controller can be connected to a plurality of black-and-white binary printers, and the color printing process and the black-and-white printing process in the above embodiment can be executed independently, printing can be performed. Even when the controller recognizes the active printer and accepts multiple jobs, the user can reduce the waiting time for display output by selecting the idle printer at that time and performing printing processing. Becomes The present invention may be applied to a system including a plurality of devices or an apparatus including a single device. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to a case where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By selecting and outputting a color image display output printer and a black and white image display output printer based on the analysis result of the received data, the running cost can be reduced and the display output throughput can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a connection configuration diagram of an image information output device according to an embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of a controller.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a format of data input to an input I / O unit;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of image output in a controller unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Image information output device 102 Color printer 103 Black-and-white printer 203 Bit map memory

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image information output device for outputting image data based on image data including a control command input from a host , wherein the image information output device outputs a control command for the image data input from the host.
The image is formed in single color or color
Is the image data specified by
Designation determining means for determining whether there is no image data, and image data for which no image forming color is designated by the designation determining means.
If it is determined that the over data, of the image data data
By analyzing the data portion, a data determining unit that the image data in units of pages to determine whether a monochromatic image or a color image, by the specified determination means, a designation of the color image forming
Page is determined to be image data, or the de
For a page determined to be a color image by the data determining means , the image data is developed and generated into image data according to the color characteristics, and the designation determining means simply generates the image data.
If the image data is specified to form a color image,
Generating means for expanding the image data into image data according to the characteristics of a single color for a cut page or a page determined to be a single-color image by the data determining means, and storing the image data in a drawing memory; An output unit that reads out the image data generated by the generation unit from the drawing memory and outputs the image data to an output unit. 2. An image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: input means for inputting image data from the host via a network, wherein the input of the image data by the input means and the analysis of the image data by the data determination means are performed. 2. The image information output device according to claim 1, wherein the image information output device operates as independent tasks. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the output unit is configured to output the image data read from the drawing memory to an output unit connected to a color printing unit that prints a color image and a monochrome printing unit that prints a single color image. The image information output device according to claim 1, wherein the image information is output. 4. The image information output apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a printing unit including both a color printing system and a monochrome printing system in the same housing. 5. An image information output method for outputting image data based on image data including a control command input from a host, the image information output method comprising:
The image is formed in single color or color
Is the image data specified by
A designation judging step of judging whether there is no image data, and if it is judged in the designation judging step that the image data has no designation of the image forming color, the data portion of the image data is analyzed, A data judging step of judging whether the image data is a color image or a monochromatic image; and image data designated to form a color image in the designation judging step or a color image in the data judging step. The image data is developed into image data in accordance with the color characteristics for the page determined to be the image data, and the image data is designated to form a single-color image in the designation determination step, or is monochrome in the data determination step. For a page determined to be an image, the image data is developed into image data according to the characteristics of a single color, and a drawing memo is generated. And an output step of reading out the image data generated in the generation step from the drawing memory and outputting it to an output unit.