JP5086981B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus configured to store image data obtained by reading an image of a document and to perform image formation based on the stored image data, for example, a digital copying machine.

  Usually, in a digital copying machine, image data obtained by reading with an image sensor such as a CCD is compressed and stored in a memory in order to save memory. For this reason, in this type of copying machine, image data read from a set of originals consisting of a plurality of pages is compressed and stored in a memory, and the image data is read from the memory and the image is expanded. Yes.

However, when the document is a photograph or the like, the image is irreversible depending on the compression method and image degradation occurs. Therefore, it is preferable that compression ON / OFF can be selected depending on the image.
Regarding a digital copying machine, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-292267 (Patent Document 1), image data obtained by reading an image of a document is stored, and image formation is performed based on the stored image data. There is disclosed an image forming apparatus configured to be able to do this. In this image forming apparatus, the read image data is divided into an image to be stored in a compressed state and an image to be stored in an uncompressed state. The purpose is to reduce the waiting time so that the image data can be output immediately.
JP-A-5-292267

  However, in Patent Document 1, since the time until reading is shortened by not compressing the image, there is a problem that the memory capacity to be stored must be increased instead of shortening the waiting time of the user.

  The present invention provides an image forming apparatus capable of realizing a reduction in memory capacity by determining whether or not to compress a photograph and an image that does not cause a problem even if the image is deteriorated and then compressing the image. For the purpose.

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus configured to store image data obtained by reading an image of a document by a reading unit and to perform image formation based on the stored image data.
A feature extraction unit that extracts a feature related to a determination criterion as to whether or not compression is necessary for the image data from the image data read by the reading unit;
A compression determination unit that determines whether the image data needs to be compressed based on the features extracted by the feature extraction unit;
A first storage unit that stores the read image data in an uncompressed state;
A second storage unit for storing the read image data in a compressed state;
A compression unit that compresses the image data and stores the compressed image data in the second storage unit when the determination result of the compression determination unit requires compression of the image data;
When the determination result of the compression determination unit does not require compression of the image data, the image data is stored in the first storage unit without being compressed,
Further, the image forming apparatus includes an operation unit for giving an instruction to compress image data, and at least a display unit for displaying an image, and an uncompressed image stored in the first storage unit based on an instruction from the operation unit An image related to the data can be displayed on the display unit, and the image data related to the display can be converted into a compressed state by an instruction from the operation unit,
In the case where the image data is composed of a plurality of pages and the uncompressed image data stored in the first storage unit exists in the plurality of pages, the display unit displays each page of the image data. An image forming apparatus that displays a list .

  In the present invention, when the image data is composed of a plurality of pages, it is preferable to perform a series of image data processing to be compressed and stored from feature extraction in units of pages.

In the present invention, the feature extraction unit extracts a photographic image in the image related to the read image data as a feature that the image data does not need to be compressed, and the compression determination unit extracts the photographic image. If so, it is determined that compression of the image data is not necessary,
It is preferable that the compression unit stores the image data including a photographic image in the image in the first storage unit without compressing the image data.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the image related to the image data displayed on the display unit is a thumbnail display.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the list display is a page number or a thumbnail display.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that one or more of the page numbers displayed in the list or thumbnail display can be selected and converted into a compressed state.

According to the image forming apparatus of the first to sixth aspects of the present invention, the feature extraction unit extracts a feature related to a criterion for determining whether or not the image data needs to be compressed from the image data read by the reading unit. And a first determination unit that determines whether or not the image data needs to be compressed based on the feature extracted by the feature extraction unit by the compression determination unit, and stores the read image data in an uncompressed state, And a second storage unit that stores the compressed image data in a compressed state, and when the determination result of the compression determination unit requires compression of the image data, the compression unit compresses the image data. If the determination result of the compression determination unit does not require compression of the image data, the first storage unit is not compressed. Therefore, image data that does not require image quality (for example, image data for each page) is stored in a compressed state, and image data that requires image quality is stored in an uncompressed state, so that the memory capacity can be reduced without degrading image quality. it can.
In the present invention, the image forming apparatus further includes an operation unit for giving an instruction to compress the image data to the image forming apparatus, and a display unit for displaying at least an image, based on an instruction from the operation unit. Since the image related to the image data stored in the first storage unit can be displayed on the display unit, and the image data related to the display can be converted into a compressed state by an instruction from the operation unit, By displaying image data and compressing the image data according to a user (user) instruction, the image data desired by the user can be obtained, and the memory capacity can be reduced by the user selecting compression. Can do.
Further, in the present invention, the display unit is a case where the image data is composed of a plurality of pages, and when the uncompressed image data stored in the first storage unit is present on the plurality of pages, Since each page of the image data is displayed as a list, wasteful operations such as page feeding are suppressed by displaying the list, and a required page can be easily selected.

  In addition, the non-compressed image data is stored in the first storage unit, and the compressed image data is stored in the second storage unit. It is possible to prevent a useless (continuous small free space) free space from being generated in the internal memory space, to efficiently use the memory space, and to save the memory.

  In the present invention, when the image data is composed of a plurality of pages, a series of image data processing to be compressed and stored from the feature extraction is performed in units of pages, whereby a document for each of the plurality of pages is processed. Even when an image is read, it is possible to select compression or non-compression according to the characteristics of the image data, and it is possible to save image data that saves memory space without degrading image quality.

In the present invention, the feature extraction unit extracts a photographic image in an image related to the read image data as a feature that the image data does not need to be compressed, and the compression determination unit extracts the photographic image. If it is determined that the image data is not required to be compressed, the compression unit stores the image data including the photographic image in the image in the first storage unit without compressing the image data. Then, once a photographic image is compressed, the image quality deteriorates. Therefore, the image quality can be prevented from being deteriorated by not performing compression.

  In addition, an uncompressed image list is displayed on the display unit on the screen of the image forming apparatus, so that the user can determine whether or not to compress. As a result, it is possible to eliminate image degradation caused by batch compression and unnecessary use of memory due to unnecessary non-compression as in the prior art.

  Further, in the present invention, if the image related to the image data displayed on the display unit is a thumbnail display, the thumbnail image is displayed so that the user does not reduce the image data or move the image data. It is possible to grasp the entire data, and it becomes easy to select compression or non-compression.

  In the present invention, if the list display is a page number or thumbnail display, the user can easily recognize and select a page.

  Further, in the present invention, if one or more of the page numbers displayed in the list or the thumbnail display can be selected and can be converted into a compressed state, selection of compression after selecting a plurality of pages is possible. Can be achieved, and the user's operability can be improved.

  An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7 as follows.

FIG. 1 is a schematic external view of an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus is provided with a display screen 11 with a touch panel and an operation panel 12 on the upper front part, and an automatic document reader 13 can be opened and closed on the upper part. The image forming apparatus main body 14 is mainly composed of an image forming apparatus main body 14 that is installed in a box and is externally configured in a box.

  The display screen 11 with a touch panel is a display unit (display screen: display examples are shown in FIGS. 5 to 5) for various information related to the image forming apparatus controlled by a scanner control unit 25 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) described later. FIG. 7) is an information display device, and an electrostatic switch is provided on the surface of the liquid crystal panel of the display unit, and various inputs are made by pressing a predetermined region (predetermined location) on the surface of the display unit. It has a touch panel function. This touch panel function allows the user to input information.

  The operation panel 12 is an information input unit for a user provided by arranging a plurality of push buttons and keys. Specifically, the operation panel 12 includes 10 keys (ten keys), a start button for inputting image storage start information, It consists of a clear button for clearing input information such as the number of copies, a clear all button for clearing all information, a function key for switching the input mode, and the like. The forming apparatus is operable.

  The automatic document reader 13 feeds a sheet-like document of each page to a scanner by setting a sheet-like document of a plurality of pages (a plurality of sheets) on the input plate, and automatically reads each document for each page by the scanner. It is something that can be done.

  The image forming apparatus main body 14 prints the stored and processed image data on a sheet of paper (sheet), a paper transport unit that feeds and discharges the paper to the electrophotographic apparatus, and an electrophotographic apparatus ( Photoconductor, charging unit, exposure unit, developing unit, cleaning unit, and fixing unit). Details thereof are the same as those of the well-known paper transport unit and electrophotographic apparatus of the image forming apparatus.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a control system of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the display screen 21 with a touch panel, the operation panel 22, the automatic document reader 23, and the image forming apparatus main body 24 are respectively the display screen 11 with a touch panel, the operation panel 12, and the automatic document reader 13 shown in FIG. The same as the image forming apparatus main body 14 is shown.

  The scanner control unit 25 controls the display screen 21 with a touch panel, the operation panel 22, and the automatic document reading device 23.

  The image processing unit 26 receives the image data read by the automatic document reading device 23 via the scanner control unit 25 and performs image processing for printing on the image forming apparatus main body 24.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control system of the image processing unit 26. In the image processing unit 26, each block such as the CPU 301 indicates a unit that performs various processes. Each unit is not limited in configuration as long as the function can be exhibited by either hardware configuration or software configuration.

  The CPU 301 is a central processing unit and controls the entire image processing unit 26. The system controller 302 accesses each unit constituting the image processing unit 26 and writes / reads data in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 301.

  A ROM (storage-only medium) 303 stores a program, and the CPU 301 reads the program and operates according to the contents of the program. The scanner signal I / F unit 304 receives image data from the scanner control unit 25.

  A RAM (write / read storage medium) 305 is a work memory, and is used as a work area for writing image data received by the scanner signal I / F unit 304 or executing a program.

  The region separation processing unit 306 is based on the feature extraction function that extracts the feature related to the determination criterion as to whether or not the image data needs to be compressed from the image data read by the reading unit, and the feature extracted by the feature extraction unit. And a compression determination function for determining whether or not the image data needs to be compressed.

  Specifically, as a feature that the image data need not be compressed, a photographic image (region) is extracted from the image related to the read image data (feature extraction unit), and the photographic image is included. If it is determined (compression determination unit), the image data is not subjected to compression processing.

  Extraction of photographic images from image data classifies each pixel of image data into a plurality of regions (character region, halftone dot region, photographic region, etc.) based on region identification values, and whether or not photographic images are included Judging. JP-A-11-27517 (image processing apparatus) can be referred to.

  The compression unit 307 performs JPEG compression on the image data in accordance with the compression rate setting from the CPU 301. Note that JPEG compression of image data can be performed by JIS X 4301 processing using a JIS number.

  The decompression unit 308 decompresses the compressed image data and returns it to raw image data. The decompression process can be performed by the process of JIS X 4301 with the JIS number.

  The first storage unit 309 is a memory that stores uncompressed image data.

  The second storage unit 310 is a memory that stores the image data compressed by the compression unit 307.

  The image forming apparatus I / F unit 311 is an interface unit for transmitting image data to the image forming apparatus main body 24.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart of processing executed by the image forming apparatus of this embodiment.

  First, image data is read by the automatic document reader 13 (S400).

Detailed image data (photographs, etc.) is separated from the read image data by the region separation processing unit 306 of the image processing unit 26 (S401).
Then, the presence or absence is determined based on whether or not detailed image data has been separated (S402).

  If there is no detailed image data (photograph or the like) as a result of the determination (S402: NO), the compression unit 307 compresses the image data and stores it in the second storage unit 310 (S403), and proceeds to S405.

  On the other hand, if there is detailed image data (such as a photograph) (S402: YES), the image data is stored in the first storage unit 309 without being compressed (S404), and the process proceeds to S405.

  Next, it is determined whether there is image data to be read next (S405). If there is such image data, the process returns to S400 and the subsequent processing is repeatedly executed (S405: YES).

  On the other hand, if there is no data to be read (S405: NO), the user selects whether to display an uncompressed image data list (S406).

  If display is selected (S406: YES), an uncompressed image data list is displayed on the display screen with touch panel 21 (S407). The user confirms the uncompressed image data list displayed on the display screen 21. On the other hand, if display is not selected (S406: NO), the image data processing is terminated.

  Then, which of the image data in the list is to be compressed is selected (S408). When there are a plurality of pages, it is selected whether or not the other image data is compressed in the same manner (compression processing under the same conditions) (S409).

  If the batch processing is selected (S409: YES), the other image data is also compressed in a batch and the processing is terminated (S410). On the other hand, when batch processing is not performed (S409: NO), it is selected whether or not to repeat the processing from S408 in order to process another image data (S411). If the process is repeated, the process returns to S408 (S411: YES), and the process is repeated. On the other hand, if the process is not performed (S411: NO), the image data process is terminated.

  FIG. 5 is a display example of the display screen 21 with a touch panel of the present embodiment.

  On the display screen 21 with a touch panel, a plurality of display areas and touch switch areas are formed on the display screen, a high compression OFF page list display area 501 for displaying an uncompressed image data list in units of pages, and a high compression A preview display area 502 for displaying a preview of the image content of the selected page, a display area 503 for displaying a screen to be compressed, and compression ON (Yes) / An OFF (No) button area 504, and a switch button area 505 for returning the operation screen to the previous display ("Back" button), setting the next display ("Next" button), and ending ("Exit" button). Is provided.

  By the processing of S407 described above, the high compression OFF page list display area 501 displays a page list of uncompressed image data. The preview display area 502 displays an image of the page selected in the high compression OFF page list display area 501.

  The user confirms the screen data displayed in the display unit 501 in units of pages, determines whether or not to compress the screen data, and touches and selects in units of pages (thick frame display in the figure).

  In the compression ON / OFF button area 504, touch the “Yes” button to compress. When not compressing, touch the “No” button.

  FIG. 6 is a display example when thumbnails are displayed on the display screen with a touch panel 21 of the present embodiment.

  The high compression OFF page list (thumbnail display) 601 is an example in which the display performed in the high compression OFF page list display area 501 shown in FIG. 5 is displayed as a thumbnail, and the selected page (page 8 in FIG. 6) is thick. A frame is displayed. With this configuration, it is possible to save the trouble of confirming the contents of the uncompressed page for each page and confirm the contents of each page collectively.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a modification of FIG. 6, and is an example in which a plurality of pages displayed as thumbnails, that is, pages 8, 76, 84, and 99 are selected (the thick frame display in FIG. 7). The user's operability can be improved by instructing compression after selecting a plurality of pages.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an appearance of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control system of an image processing unit provided in the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1. 5 is a flowchart performed by the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. 6 is a display example of a display screen with a touch panel of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. 7 is a display example when thumbnails are displayed on a display screen with a touch panel of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. This is an application example when thumbnails are displayed on a display screen with a touch panel of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

11 Display Screen with Touch Panel 12 Operation Panel 13 Automatic Document Reading Device 14 Image Forming Device Main Body 21 Display Screen with Touch Panel 22 Operation Panel 23 Automatic Document Reading Device 24 Image Forming Device Main Body 25 Scanner Control Unit 26 Image Processing Unit 302 System Controller 304 Scanner Signal I / F unit 306 Area separation processing unit 307 Compression unit 308 Expansion unit 309 First storage unit 310 Second storage unit 311 Image forming apparatus I / F unit 501 High compression OFF page list display area 502 Preview display area 503 Compressed screen Display area 504 Compression ON / OFF button area 505 Switching button area

Claims (6)

In an image forming apparatus configured to store image data obtained by reading an image of a document by a reading unit and to perform image formation based on the stored image data,
A feature extraction unit that extracts a feature related to a determination criterion as to whether or not compression is necessary for the image data from the image data read by the reading unit;
A compression determination unit that determines whether the image data needs to be compressed based on the features extracted by the feature extraction unit;
A first storage unit that stores the read image data in an uncompressed state;
A second storage unit for storing the read image data in a compressed state;
A compression unit that compresses the image data and stores the compressed image data in the second storage unit when the determination result of the compression determination unit requires compression of the image data;
When the determination result of the compression determination unit does not require compression of the image data, the image data is stored in the first storage unit without being compressed,
Further, the image forming apparatus includes an operation unit for giving an instruction to compress image data, and at least a display unit for displaying an image, and an uncompressed image stored in the first storage unit based on an instruction from the operation unit An image related to the data can be displayed on the display unit, and the image data related to the display can be converted into a compressed state by an instruction from the operation unit,
In the case where the image data is composed of a plurality of pages and the uncompressed image data stored in the first storage unit exists in the plurality of pages, the display unit displays each page of the image data. An image forming apparatus that displays a list .   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the image data is composed of a plurality of pages, a series of image data processing to be compressed and stored from feature extraction is performed in units of pages. The feature extraction unit extracts a photographic image in the image related to the read image data as a feature that the image data does not need to be compressed, and the compression determination unit, when a photographic image is extracted, Judgment that image data compression is not required,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the compression unit stores image data including a photographic image in the image in the first storage unit without being compressed. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein an image related to the image data displayed on the display unit is a thumbnail display. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the list display is a page number or a thumbnail display. The list displayed page number, or a one or more of the thumbnail display can be selected, the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that it is converted into a compressed state.

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