JP5751953B2 - Image forming apparatus and image forming method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method.

  An image forming apparatus separates shape data indicating the shape of an object such as a character and color data from an image with a predetermined resolution, performs color conversion processing after converting color data to a low resolution, and performs color conversion processing. Image data having the original resolution is generated from the subsequent color data and shape data, halftoning processing is performed on the generated image data, and printing is performed based on data obtained by the halftoning processing (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ).

JP 2009-124615 A

  In the above-described technique, although the memory size required for color conversion is reduced, the image data generated from the color data and the shape data after the color conversion processing is the original resolution, and thus the image data of that resolution is used. Resources (such as memory) required for processing (such as halftoning) are not limited.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus and an image forming method that require fewer resources for the resolution of a print image.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is configured as follows.

An image forming apparatus according to the present invention relates to an image including an object from a light source that emits a light beam irradiated on a photoconductor , a scanning device that scans the photoconductor with the light beam , and print data supplied from a host device. screen processing performed raster data at a predetermined resolution of the color data, and the image including the object, and a data generation unit for generating a high-resolution shape data from color data resolution, screen processing on color data of its An exposure control unit that generates an exposure control signal that designates a pixel to be exposed by the light source based on the color data after the screen processing, and a driver circuit that drives the light source according to the exposure control signal . Shape data of the above mentioned, for each pixel, having a 1-bit value indicating whether or not pixels belonging to the object. Further, the screen processing unit specifies the edge of the object based on the shape data, and executes the screen processing while removing the edge. The screen processing unit further includes a storage device that stores dither matrix data for one dither matrix, a first screen processing unit that executes multi-value processing using a first dither matrix obtained from the dither matrix data, A second dither matrix, which is different from the dither matrix, is obtained from the dither matrix data, and a multi-value processing is executed with the second dither matrix, and the edge pixels are multi-valued by the first screen processing unit. The pixel value after multi-value conversion is determined based on the conversion result and the multi-value conversion result by the second screen processing unit, and for the pixels other than the edge, the multi-value conversion result by the first screen processing unit is converted to multi-value And a pixel value determining unit that sets the pixel value of The screen processing unit outputs pixel values after multi-value determination determined by the pixel value determination unit for pixels belonging to the object, and outputs color data without performing screen processing for pixels not belonging to the object. The exposure control unit can specify the exposure period by the light source in the scanning period for one pixel at the resolution of the color data in the main scanning direction by the exposure control signal, and corresponds to one pixel at the resolution of the color data. The exposure period is designated based on the number of pixels belonging to the object indicated by the shape data and the pixel value after multi-value output outputted by the screen processing unit.

As a result, a print image is formed with a resolution higher than the resolution of the color data to be subjected to image processing such as screen processing. Therefore, fewer resources are required for the resolution of the print image. Further, since the edge is trimmed and the inside of the edge is screen-processed, the image quality of the edge in the printed image is improved. Further, since a plurality of dither matrices are generated from the dither matrix data for one dither matrix, the storage area of the storage device can be reduced even when a plurality of dither matrices are used.

  In addition to the image forming apparatus described above, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention may be configured as follows. In this case, the exposure control unit designates the start and end of the exposure period in units of a period obtained by dividing the scanning period for one pixel into a predetermined number by the exposure control signal. The ratio between the resolution of the shape data and the resolution of the color data is the same as the predetermined number.

The image forming method according to the present invention is higher than color data of a predetermined resolution, which is raster data for an image including an object, and color data for an image including an object, from print data supplied from a host device. generating a resolution shape data, and a screen processing step of performing screen processing on color data of its, based on the color data after the screen processing, and generates an exposure control signal for specifying the pixel to be exposed by a light source An exposure control signal generating step; and a light source driving step of driving the light source in accordance with the exposure control signal . Shape data of the above mentioned, for each pixel, having a 1-bit value indicating whether or not pixels belonging to the object. Further, in the screen processing step, the edge of the object is specified based on the shape data, and the screen processing is executed while the edge is trimmed. Further, the screen processing step includes a first screen processing step for executing multi-value processing with a first dither matrix obtained from dither matrix data for one dither matrix, and a second dither matrix different from the first dither matrix. A second screen processing step that is obtained from the dither matrix data and executes the multi-value processing by the second dither matrix, and for the edge pixels, the multi-value result by the first screen processing step and the multi-value by the second screen processing step. A pixel value determining step that determines a pixel value after multi-value conversion based on the result of the binarization, and uses the multi-value conversion result obtained by the first screen processing step as a pixel value after multi-value conversion for pixels other than the edge; Have In the screen processing step, the pixel value after multi-value determination determined in the pixel value determination step is output for pixels belonging to the object, and color data is output without screen processing for pixels not belonging to the object. The exposure control signal can specify the exposure period by the light source in the scanning period for one pixel at the resolution of the color data in the main scanning direction. In the exposure control signal generation step, exposure is performed based on the number of pixels belonging to the object indicated by the shape data, corresponding to one pixel at the resolution of the color data, and the pixel value after multilevel output output by the screen processing unit. The period is specified in the exposure control signal.

  As a result, a print image is formed with a resolution higher than the resolution of the color data to be subjected to image processing such as screen processing. Therefore, fewer resources are required for the resolution of the print image.

  According to the present invention, an image forming apparatus and an image forming method that require less resources for the resolution of a print image can be obtained.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a part of a mechanical internal configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the exposure apparatus in FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the controller in FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a correspondence relationship between vertical 600 dpi horizontal 600 dpi RGB color data and vertical 600 dpi horizontal 1800 dpi shape data. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of shape data of 600 dpi vertical and 1800 dpi horizontal corresponding to 600 dpi vertical and 600 dpi horizontal color data. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the screen processing unit in FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of input / output characteristics of the first conversion unit and the second conversion unit in the edge amount calculation unit illustrated in FIG. 6. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing edges at the resolution of the color data obtained from the shape data shown in FIG. 5 by the edge determination unit in FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing shape data pixels that are ignored when the edge determination unit in FIG. 6 detects an edge at the resolution of the color data from the shape data shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a dither matrix based on the dither matrix data in FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a dither matrix used by the second screen processing unit in FIG. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of an edge portion of an object. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a result of binarization processing on color data by the first screen processing unit in FIG. 6. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of image data obtained by binarization using the second dither matrix. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of color data output from the output unit in FIG. FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating another example of the second dither matrix. FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating another example of the second dither matrix.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a side view showing a part of a mechanical internal configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus is an apparatus having an electrophotographic printing function, such as a printer, a facsimile machine, a copying machine, or a multifunction machine.

  The image forming apparatus of this embodiment has a tandem color developing device. The color developing device includes photosensitive drums 1a to 1d, exposure devices 2a to 2d, and developing units 3a to 3d. The photoconductor drums 1a to 1d are four-color photoconductors of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. The exposure apparatuses 2a to 2d are apparatuses that form electrostatic latent images by irradiating the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d with laser light. The exposure apparatuses 2a to 2d include a laser diode that is a light source of laser light and optical elements (lenses, mirrors, polygon mirrors, etc.) that guide the laser light to the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d.

  Further, around the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d, a charger such as a scorotron, a cleaning device, a static eliminator and the like are arranged. The cleaning device removes residual toner on the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d after the primary transfer, and the static eliminator neutralizes the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d after the primary transfer.

  To the developing units 3a to 3d, toner cartridges filled with toners of four colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black are respectively mounted. The toner is supplied from the toner cartridge, and constitutes a developer together with the carrier. The developing units 3a to 3d form toner images by attaching the toner to the electrostatic latent images on the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d.

  The photosensitive drum 1a, the exposure device 2a, and the developing unit 3a develop magenta, and the photosensitive drum 1b, the exposure device 2b, and the developing unit 3b develop cyan, the photosensitive drum 1c, and exposure. Yellow development is performed by the apparatus 2c and the development unit 3c, and black development is performed by the photosensitive drum 1d, the exposure apparatus 2d, and the development unit 3d.

  The intermediate transfer belt 4 is an annular image carrier that contacts the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d and primarily transfers the toner images on the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d. The intermediate transfer belt 4 is stretched around the driving roller 5 and circulates in the direction from the contact position with the photosensitive drum 1d to the contact position with the photosensitive drum 1a by the driving force from the driving roller 5.

  The transfer roller 6 brings the conveyed paper into contact with the intermediate transfer belt 4 and secondarily transfers the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 4 to the paper. The sheet on which the toner image has been transferred is conveyed to the fixing device 9 and the toner image is fixed on the sheet.

  The roller 7 has a cleaning brush, and the cleaning brush is brought into contact with the intermediate transfer belt 4 to remove the toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 4 after the transfer of the toner image onto the paper.

  The sensor 8 is a sensor used for toner density adjustment, and irradiates the intermediate transfer belt 4 with a light beam and detects the reflected light. When adjusting the toner density, the sensor 8 irradiates a predetermined region of the intermediate transfer belt 4 with a light beam, detects reflected light (measurement light) of the light beam, and outputs an electrical signal corresponding to the light amount.

  FIG. 2 is a view showing a configuration example of the exposure apparatuses 2a to 2d in FIG. Note that the exposure apparatus shown in FIG. 2 is an exposure apparatus 2a for the photosensitive drum 1a, and the exposure apparatuses 2b to 2d for the photosensitive drums 1b to 1d have the same configuration.

  In FIG. 2, the exposure apparatus 2 a includes a laser diode 11, an optical system 12, a polygon mirror 13, a PD sensor 14, and a driver circuit 15.

  The laser diode 11 is a light source that emits a laser beam. The optical system 12 is various lens groups disposed between the laser diode 11 and the polygon mirror 13 and / or between the polygon mirror 13 and the photosensitive drum 1a and the PD sensor 14. For the optical system 12, an fθ lens or the like is used.

The polygon mirror 13 is an element having an axis perpendicular to the axis of the photosensitive drum 1a, a cross section perpendicular to the axis being a polygon, and a side surface being a mirror. Polygon mirror 13 is rotated about its axis, it is scanned along the photosensitive drum 1a with light beams emitted from the laser diode 11 in the axial direction of the photosensitive drum 1a (main scanning direction).

  The PD sensor 14 is a sensor that receives light scanned by the polygon mirror 13 to generate a main scanning synchronization signal. When light is incident, the PD sensor 14 induces an output voltage corresponding to the amount of light. The PD sensor 14 is disposed at a predetermined position on a line where light is scanned, and is used to detect the timing at which the light spot passes through the position.

  The driver circuit 15 controls the laser diode 11 according to the exposure control signal while synchronizing the main scanning direction using the output signal of the PD sensor 14.

  The controller 16 shown in FIG. 2 generates exposure control signals for the exposure apparatuses 2 a to 2 d for the respective colors and supplies them to the driver circuit 15. The controller 16 is configured by a computer, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or the like.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the controller 16 in FIG.

  In FIG. 3, a data generation unit 21 analyzes print data supplied from a host device (not shown), and generates color data and shape data as raster data at different predetermined resolutions. The print data is described in a page description language, for example. The shape data is generated with a resolution higher than that of the color data in the main scanning direction. For example, the data generation unit 21 generates RGB color data of 600 dpi (dot per inch) and 600 dpi horizontal, and generates shape data of 600 dpi vertical and 1800 dpi horizontal. Here, “vertical” indicates the sub-scanning direction, and “horizontal” indicates the main scanning direction. For example, the color data has an 8-bit value for each pixel for each color of RGB, and the shape data has a 1-bit value indicating whether the pixel belongs to an object for each pixel. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a correspondence relationship between RGB color data 31R, 31G, and 31B of 600 dpi vertical and 600 dpi horizontal and shape data 32 of 600 dpi vertical and 1800 dpi horizontal. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of shape data of 600 dpi vertical and 1800 dpi horizontal corresponding to 600 dpi vertical and 600 dpi horizontal color data. The shape data shown in FIG. 5 is the shape data of the character object.

  The color data and shape data generated by the data generation unit 21 are stored in a memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) (not shown) in the controller 16. The data generation unit 21 may generate the color data and the shape data for each page of the print image and store them in the memory, or the color data and the shape data for each band consisting of a predetermined number of lines. It may be generated and stored in the memory.

  The color conversion processing unit 22 converts the RGB color data generated by the data generation unit 21 into CMYK color data corresponding to the toner color.

  The screen processing unit 23 performs screen processing on color data having a predetermined resolution for an image including an object. In this embodiment, the screen processing unit 23 specifies the edge of the object based on the shape data, and executes screen processing while trimming the edge of the color data of each color.

  The exposure control unit 24 generates an exposure control signal for designating each pixel to be exposed by the laser diode 11 based on the color data after the screen processing. The exposure control unit 24 can specify the exposure period by the laser diode 11 in the scanning period for one pixel by the exposure control signal, and can convert the shape data having a resolution higher than the resolution of the color data for the image including the object. The exposure period is designated based on this.

  In this embodiment, the exposure control unit 24 designates the start and end of the exposure period in units of periods obtained by dividing the scanning period for one pixel into a predetermined number by the exposure control signal. The ratio between the resolution of the shape data and the resolution of the color data is the same as the predetermined number. For example, in the case of the exposure apparatuses 2a to 2d that can specify the exposure period by dividing the scanning period for one pixel into three, if the resolution of the color data in the main scanning direction is 600 dpi, the resolution of the shape data in the main scanning direction is 1800 dpi.

  Here, a detailed configuration of the screen processing unit 23 will be described. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the screen processing unit 23 in FIG. Note that the screen processing unit 23 shown in FIG. 6 processes color data for one color of CYMK. That is, the screen processing unit 23 shown in FIG. 6 is provided for each of the toner colors CMYK.

  In the screen processing unit 23 illustrated in FIG. 6, the minimum value detection unit 41 detects a minimum pixel value in a local region around the target pixel. For example, the minimum value detection unit 41 reads the value of each pixel in a 3 × 3 pixel region centered on the target pixel, and specifies the minimum pixel value among them.

  The edge amount calculation unit 42 calculates an edge amount based on the minimum pixel value calculated by the minimum value detection unit 41 and the pixel value of the target pixel. In this embodiment, the edge amount calculation unit 42 includes a first conversion unit 51, a second conversion unit 52, and a multiplication unit 53. The first conversion unit 51 outputs a value corresponding to the pixel value of the target pixel. For example, the first conversion unit 51 reads and outputs a value corresponding to the pixel value of the target pixel with reference to a first lookup table (not shown). The second conversion unit 52 outputs a value corresponding to the minimum pixel value in the local region around the target pixel. For example, the second conversion unit 52 reads and outputs a value corresponding to the pixel value of the target pixel with reference to a second lookup table (not shown). The multiplier 53 outputs the product of the output value of the first converter 51 and the output value of the second converter 52.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of input / output characteristics of the first conversion unit 51 and the second conversion unit 52 in the edge amount calculation unit 42 illustrated in FIG. 6. 7A shows an example of input / output characteristics of the first converter 51, and FIG. 7B shows an example of input / output characteristics of the second converter 52.

  Due to such input / output characteristics, the edge amount calculated by the edge amount calculation unit 42 increases as the minimum pixel value decreases, and increases as the pixel value of the target pixel increases.

  The edge determination unit 43 reads the shape data and detects an edge at the resolution of the color data. For example, if all of the values of the plurality of pixels of the shape data corresponding to one pixel at the resolution of the color data are values that are pixels belonging to the object, the edge determination unit 43 determines that at the resolution of the color data. The pixel is determined to be a pixel belonging to the object. Otherwise, it is determined that the pixel at the resolution of the color data is not a pixel belonging to the object, and belongs to the object among the pixels at the resolution of the color data. Detect pixel edges. Based on the edge detection result, the edge determination unit 43 supplies a value indicating whether or not the target pixel is a pixel in the edge portion to the selector 45, and whether or not the target pixel is a pixel outside the edge portion. A value indicating this is supplied to the selector 44.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing edges at the resolution of the color data obtained from the shape data shown in FIG. 5 by the edge determination unit 43 in FIG. Note that since the objects in the shape data shown in FIG. 5 have a small size for explanation, in FIG. 8, most of the objects are edge pixels. In addition, there is a wide pixel area to be screened.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating pixels of shape data that are ignored when the edge determination unit 43 in FIG. 6 detects an edge at the resolution of the color data from the shape data illustrated in FIG. Of the shape data pixels shown in FIG. 5, the shape data pixels shown in FIG. 9 are not regarded as edges.

  The selector 44 outputs either the output value of the output unit 49 or the pixel value of the color data for the target pixel as the output value of the screen processing unit 22 in accordance with the value from the edge determination unit 43. Further, the selector 45 supplies either the output value of the edge amount calculation unit 42 or zero to the second screen processing unit 48 in accordance with the value from the edge determination unit 43.

  Here, when the target pixel of the color data belongs to the edge portion detected by the edge determination unit 43, the output value of the edge amount calculation unit 42 is supplied to the second screen processing unit 48, otherwise , Zero is supplied to the second screen processing unit 48. When zero is supplied to the second screen processing unit 48, the output value of the second screen processing unit 48 is also zero, so that the output value of the first screen processing unit 47 is a pixel after multi-leveling for the target pixel. A value is output from the output unit 49. When the pixel of interest in the color data is a pixel outside the edge portion detected by the edge determination unit 43, the pixel value of the color data is output from the selector 44 as it is without screen processing, and the color data When the target pixel is the edge portion detected by the edge determination unit 43 or a pixel inside the edge portion, the output value of the output unit 49 is output from the selector 44.

  The dither matrix data 46 is data for one dither matrix (that is, a threshold matrix) and is stored in advance in a nonvolatile memory 46a such as a flash memory as one table. The storage device for storing the dither matrix data 46 is not limited to the nonvolatile memory 46a, and a volatile memory such as SRAM may be used. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a dither matrix based on the dither matrix data 46 in FIG. FIG. 10 shows a 4 × 4 dither matrix for 16 gradation image data.

  The first screen processing unit 47 reads the dither matrix data 46 and executes a multi-value process on the target pixel using the first dither matrix obtained from the dither matrix data 46. The second screen processing unit 48 reads the dither matrix data 46, obtains a second dither matrix different from the first dither matrix from the dither matrix data 46, and performs multi-value processing on the target pixel with the second dither matrix. Run.

  The dither matrix data 46 may be read once to a RAM (not shown) in the controller 16 and read from the RAM by the first and second screen processing units 47 and 48, or the non-volatile memory 46a. You may make it read directly from.

  The first screen processing unit 47 applies multi-value processing by applying the first dither matrix to the pixel value of the target pixel, and the second screen processing unit 48 applies the second dither matrix to the edge amount of the target pixel. Then, multi-value processing is executed.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a dither matrix used by the second screen processing unit 48 in FIG. For example, the first screen processing unit 47 uses the dither matrix shown in FIG. 10 as the first dither matrix, and the second screen processing unit 48 uses the dither matrix shown in FIG. 11 as the second dither matrix.

  In this embodiment, the second dither matrix is obtained by inverting the value of each element in the first dither matrix. For example, when the value range of the element is 0 to 15, if the value of the element (i, j) of the first dither matrix is X, the value of the element (i, j) at the same position of the second dither matrix is , 15-X.

  When the target pixel of the color data belongs to the above-described edge portion, the output unit 49 selects the target pixel based on the multi-value conversion result by the first screen processing unit 47 and the multi-value conversion result by the second screen processing unit 48. If the pixel value after multi-value conversion is determined and the pixel of interest of the color data does not belong to the above-described edge portion, the result of multi-value conversion by the first screen processing unit 47 is the pixel after the multi-value conversion of the pixel of interest Value.

  When the target pixel belongs to the border edge portion, the output unit 49 calculates, for example, the sum of the multi-value conversion result by the first screen processing unit 47 and the multi-value output result by the second screen processing unit 48. The pixel value after the digitization is used. If this sum exceeds the maximum value that can be taken by the pixel value after multi-value conversion (for example, 15 for a 4-bit pixel), the maximum value is the pixel value after multi-value conversion of the target pixel. And Further, for example, when the target pixel belongs to the edge portion, the output unit 49 determines the maximum value of the multi-value conversion result by the first screen processing unit 47 and the multi-value conversion result by the second screen processing unit 48 as the target pixel. The pixel value after multi-value conversion is used.

  Here, an example of the screen processing with edge bordering will be shown.

  The edge determination unit 43 obtains the edge portion of the object as shown in FIG. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of an edge portion of an object. The edge determination unit 43 outputs 1 to the selector 45 in the case of the pixel of the edge portion and 0 in the case of other pixels for each pixel at the resolution of the color data.

  The color data obtained by binarizing the color data with the first dither matrix by the first screen processing unit 47 is as shown in FIG. 13, for example. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a result of binarization processing on color data by the first screen processing unit 47.

  On the other hand, color data obtained by binarizing the same color data with the second dither matrix is as shown in FIG. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of image data obtained by binarization using the second dither matrix. For pixels that do not belong to the edge portion, a value of zero is supplied from the selector 45 to the second screen processing unit 48 instead of the edge amount. Therefore, the color data output from the second screen processing unit 48 is shown in FIG. The pixel value of the pixel belonging to the edge portion is the pixel value shown in FIG. 14, and the pixel value of the pixel not belonging to the edge portion shown in FIG. 12 is zero.

  And the output part 49 produces | generates and outputs the color data after a screen process by synthesize | combining the color data from the 1st screen process part 47, and the color data from the 2nd screen process part 48. FIG. Color data after the screen processing shown in FIG. 15 is obtained from the pixel values shown in FIG. 12 and the pixel values of the edge portion shown in FIG. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of color data output from the output unit 49.

  Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus will be described.

  When print data is supplied to the image forming apparatus together with the print request, the data generation unit 21 generates low-resolution RGB color data and high-resolution shape data from the print data.

  Next, the color conversion processing unit 22 converts the RGB color data into CMYK color data without changing the resolution. Then, the screen processing unit 23 for each color of CMYK specifies an edge at the resolution of the color data based on the shape data, and further performs screen processing on the color data while trimming the edge.

  In this way, color data after screen processing is generated for each color. The exposure control unit 24 for each color irradiates the photosensitive drums 1a, 1b, 1c, and 1d with light rays from the laser diode 11 based on the color data after screen processing (that is, pixels that form dots). Is specified, an exposure period in the main scanning direction is specified based on the shape data, and an exposure control signal designating the exposure period is output to the driver circuit 15. For example, when the value of M pixels among N pixels of shape data corresponding to one pixel of color data is 1, the pixel value of the color data and the maximum value of the pixel values are set to C, Cmax. (For example, in the case of 16 gradations, the pixel value C is 0 to 15 and Cmax is 15.) The ratio of the exposure period in the scanning period for one pixel is (M / N × C / Cmax), the exposure period is determined.

  Thereby, electrostatic latent images are formed on the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d at the locations designated by the exposure control signals in order line by line by the exposure devices 2a to 2d. The electrostatic latent images are developed with toner by the developing units 3a to 3d, and the developed toner images are primarily transferred from the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d to the intermediate transfer belt 4 and then transferred from the intermediate transfer belt 4 to the printing paper. Next transferred and fixed on printing paper.

  As described above, according to the embodiment, the screen processing unit 23 performs screen processing on color data having a predetermined resolution for an image including an object. The exposure control unit 24 generates an exposure control signal for designating pixels to be exposed by the light source based on the color data after the screen processing. Furthermore, the exposure control unit 24 can specify the exposure period by the light source in the scanning period for one pixel by the exposure control signal, and can convert the shape data having a resolution higher than the resolution of the color data for the image including the object. The exposure period is designated based on this.

  As a result, a print image is formed with a resolution higher than the resolution of the color data to be subjected to image processing such as screen processing. Therefore, fewer resources are required for the resolution of the print image.

  For example, as described above, even if the resolution of the print image is 600 dpi vertical by 1800 dpi horizontal, the color conversion processing unit 22 and the screen processing unit 23 need only process color data of 600 dpi vertical by 600 dpi horizontal. The color data buffer used by the unit 22 and the screen processing unit 23 can be small.

  The above-described embodiments are preferred examples of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to these, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. is there.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the second dither matrix may be obtained by shifting the phase of the row and / or column index with respect to the first dither matrix. For example, the second dither matrix shown in FIG. 16B is obtained by shifting the phase of the column index as shown in FIG. 16A with respect to the first dither matrix shown in FIG.

  In the above embodiment, the second dither matrix may be obtained by inverting the index of the row and / or the column with respect to the first dither matrix. For example, with respect to the first dither matrix shown in FIG. 10, as shown in FIG. 17A, the phase of the column index is shifted and the row index is inverted as in FIG. 16A. Thus, the second dither matrix shown in FIG. 17B is obtained.

  The present invention is applicable to an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a multifunction peripheral.

1a to 1d Photosensitive drum (an example of a photosensitive member)
11 Laser diode (an example of a light source)
13 Polygon mirror (an example of a scanning device)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 Driver circuit 23 Screen processing part 24 Exposure control part 46 Dither matrix data 46a Non-volatile memory (an example of a memory | storage device)
47 First screen processing unit 48 Second screen processing unit 49 Output unit (an example of a pixel value determination unit)

Claims (3)

A light source that emits a light beam to be irradiated on the photoreceptor;
A scanning device that scans the photoreceptor with the light beam;
From the print data supplied from the host device, color data having a predetermined resolution, which is raster data for an image including an object, and shape data having a resolution higher than the resolution of the color data for an image including the object are generated. A data generator;
A screen processing unit for performing screen processing on the color data;
An exposure control unit that generates an exposure control signal for designating a pixel to be exposed by the light source based on the color data after the screen processing;
A driver circuit for driving the light source according to the exposure control signal ,
The shape data has, for each pixel, a 1-bit value indicating whether the pixel belongs to the object,
The screen processing unit identifies an edge of the object based on the shape data, performs screen processing while performing edge trimming,
The screen processing unit
A storage device for storing dither matrix data for one dither matrix;
A first screen processing unit for performing multi-value processing with a first dither matrix obtained from the dither matrix data;
A second screen processing unit that obtains a second dither matrix different from the first dither matrix from the dither matrix data, and executes multi-value processing by the second dither matrix;
For the edge pixel, a pixel value after multi-value quantization is determined based on the multi-value quantization result by the first screen processing unit and the multi-value quantization result by the second screen processing unit, and pixels other than the edge for a multi-value result of the first screen processing unit have a pixel value determining unit that the pixel value after multi-level,
The screen processing unit outputs the pixel value after the multi-value quantization determined by the pixel value determination unit for the pixels belonging to the object, and the screen processing is not performed for the pixels not belonging to the object. Outputting the color data;
The exposure control unit can specify an exposure period by the light source in a scanning period for one pixel at the resolution of the color data in the main scanning direction by the exposure control signal, and 1 at the resolution of the color data. Designating the exposure period based on the number of pixels belonging to the object indicated by the shape data, corresponding to the pixels, and the multivalued pixel values output by the screen processing unit;
An image forming apparatus. The exposure control unit designates the start and end of the exposure period in units of a period obtained by dividing the scan period for one pixel into a predetermined number by the exposure control signal,
The ratio of the resolution of the shape data and the resolution of the color data is the same as the predetermined number;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. In an image forming method by an image forming apparatus, comprising: a light source that emits a light beam irradiated on a photoconductor; and a scanning device that scans the photoconductor with the light beam.
From the print data supplied from the host device, color data having a predetermined resolution, which is raster data for an image including an object, and shape data having a resolution higher than the resolution of the color data for an image including the object are generated. Steps,
A screen processing step for performing screen processing on the color data;
An exposure control signal generating step for generating an exposure control signal for designating a pixel to be exposed by the light source based on the color data after the screen processing;
A light source driving step of driving the light source according to the exposure control signal ,
The shape data has, for each pixel, a 1-bit value indicating whether the pixel belongs to the object,
In the screen processing step, the edge of the object is specified based on the shape data, and the screen processing is executed while edge edging,
The screen processing step includes
A first screen processing step for executing multi-value processing with a first dither matrix obtained from dither matrix data for one dither matrix;
A second screen processing step of obtaining a second dither matrix different from the first dither matrix from the dither matrix data and executing a multi-value process on the second dither matrix;
For the edge pixel, a pixel value after multi-value quantization is determined based on the multi-value quantization result by the first screen processing step and the multi-value quantization result by the second screen processing step, and the pixels other than the edge for, it has a pixel value determining step of the pixel value after multi-value multi-value result of the first screen processing step,
In the screen processing step, for the pixels belonging to the object, the pixel values after the multi-value quantization determined in the pixel value determination step are output, and for the pixels not belonging to the object, the screen processing is not performed. Outputting the color data;
The exposure control signal can specify an exposure period by the light source in a scanning period for one pixel at the resolution of the color data in the main scanning direction,
In the exposure control signal generation step, the number of pixels belonging to the object indicated by the shape data corresponding to one pixel at the resolution of the color data, and the multi-valued output output by the screen processing unit Designating the exposure period in the exposure control signal based on a pixel value;
An image forming method.

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