JPH0115859B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

The present invention is capable of extracting equal density or density difference from an original image recording medium such as a negative film or positive film having a desired image by just photographic processing, and further extracting density differences if necessary. This is an image processing method that makes it possible to perform both at the same time. Attempts to extract image information from photographic images using the surface distribution of reflection density or transmission density are
Many methods have already been devised and used.
These methods are being used not only in the field of photometry but also in fields of real life such as displays and advertising, but currently the field of photometry is the main field. For example, geology, topography, especially fault planes, underground resource development, vegetation distribution in natural or agricultural land, land use, residential distribution and classification and defense in urban areas, road network information and its organization, lake and river management, water quality management, deep water. All fields of photometry and scientific photometry used as information extraction methods for human living areas, such as measurements, ocean current surveys and fishing, snow/ice distribution and water resource management, cloud distribution, etc., and medical image processing. and so on. Although it is small in Japan, worldwide, a considerable proportion of the field of use is for national defense purposes. The purpose of the present invention is to perform image processing that is used for multiple purposes as described above, using only photo processing, at low cost and with excellent workability, and to perform necessary equal-density extraction or density-difference extraction, which cannot easily be performed with photo processing. If so, it is important to submit a processing method that makes it possible at the same time. The conventional techniques are listed below, along with their advantages and disadvantages. (1) Film sandwich method and tone line method A negative film (hereinafter referred to as N) and its positive film (hereinafter referred to as P) are placed at a certain distance (specifically, a transparent film is inserted between N and P). ),
RNWeller calls the method of extracting density differences as a linear image by receiving the light transmitted between N and P when parallel oblique rays are given in a certain direction the "Film Sandwich method". I'm here. In this case, if the silver image surfaces of each film are stacked one on top of the other, a transparent film must be inserted, but by placing the silver image surfaces oppositely, the transparent base of each film can be used as an aperture window for light. In this superposition, there is no need to insert a transparent film, and if you want to widen the aperture window for transmitted light, you can insert a transparent film. The disadvantage of this method is that since the light rays are oblique from a certain direction, it can only be extracted as a linear image on one side of the image. The width of the extracted line is determined by the incident angle of the light beam and the width of the interval between N and P, which forms the aperture window, and taking a correlation therewith impairs work efficiency. It is easy to apply to image areas with density differences, but the light irradiation conditions are difficult when extracting constant density from continuous tone images. Weller also proposed a method of applying the above method to create a close-contact negative film of underexposed positive film and overexposed positive film from N, and superimposing them to extract the density difference as a "tone line". ing. The advantage of this is that if you can create a negative film with underexposed positive film and overexposed positive film in close contact, you can easily obtain density difference line drawings, but the disadvantage is that this underexposed positive film and overexposed positive film are in close contact with each other. It involves making negative film. (2) Kodak Tone Line Method A transparent film is inserted between N and a recording sensitive film, and when the recording sensitive film is irradiated with scattered light and developed and fixed, an out-of-focus P is obtained. This P
If N and N are superimposed and exposed on a high-contrast sensitive material, only the boundary between the density differences of N will be extracted as a line image. This method is generally called the “bokeh mask method”
It is called. The advantages are how to make out-of-focus P (bokeh mask),
For example, it is possible to extract a predetermined density part of a continuous tone image as a line image depending on the degree of blur by changing the thickness of the transparent film or by irradiating it with parallel light.The disadvantage is that it requires precision in creating the blur mask. The point is that it is difficult to judge what kind of image will be obtained until after the blur mask is completed. (3) Rotating tone line method By placing a set of aligned N and P on a rotating plate and applying exposure from a certain diagonal direction while rotating, the end result is a line with a certain density difference from all diagonal directions. This is a method of extracting the image as a shape image, and is also described in the Kodak tone line method in (2). This method also describes a method of rotating a light source instead of a rotating plate. N-P
Of course, an opening window between the two is necessary. The disadvantage of the rotating tone line method is that it is difficult to mechanically remove uneven rotation, whether it is the rotating plate or the light source, and the line drawings are thin where the rotational speed is high and thick where the rotational speed is slow. It is extracted as . (4) Relief method A method in which a corresponding pair of N and P are overlapped with relative shifts in a certain direction, and a linear image is obtained using light that passes through the shift interval as an aperture window. The disadvantage is that it is difficult to shift N and P relatively in a certain direction, that is, if you do not keep the vertical and horizontal shifts constant, you will not be able to determine which direction the image processing is being performed on. It cannot be determined from this, and only line images in the direction of the shift or in the opposite direction of the shift can be obtained. (5) Utilization of high spatial frequency filter This is a method in which N or P is optically Fourier-transformed, and only the high-frequency part (the part with density difference gradation on the original image recording medium) is inversely Fourier-transformed and recorded. Usually used to extract gradation difference parts. It is also possible to record the low frequency part. The disadvantages of this are that it is necessary to assemble an optical system, that it is difficult to find out what frequency band the image area of the required original image recording medium has, and after finding out, it is necessary to use a cut filter. The manufacturing precision is also required. In addition, this method is extremely difficult to handle for straight image areas of the original image record, such as the periphery of a house, straight lines of railroad tracks or roads, and repetitive image areas, such as roof tiles, geometric images, etc. Have difficulty. (6) Use of electro dosing projector (flying spot tube) N is illuminated with a flying spot, the N transmitted light intensity by the spot light is sequentially received by a phototube, and the phototube output is passed through an amplifier circuit to the tube as negative feedback. When returned, P corresponding to N is obtained on the fluorescent surface of the spot tube. At this time, if the distance between the fluorescent surface of the tube and N is set appropriately, the effect of the spot area and the spacer function in the blur mask will occur, and the boundary will be emphasized and recorded. A similar method for changing the degree of emphasis is a speed-varying method in which the scanning speed of the tube is changed, and this method has also been commercialized as a method for electrically processing images (LoGetronic's Electronic
Printer). The advantage is that the degree of emphasis can be adjusted by the degree of amplification of the amplifier circuit, and if the degree of emphasis is strong, only the boundaries of the image are emphasized, and if the degree of emphasis is weak, the boundaries are emphasized while an image that retains the tones of the entire photograph is obtained. (Photographic processing methods that produce images with retained tones are considered difficult.) The disadvantages are first that they are expensive, and that there are limitations on the size of the processed images. When performing equal-density extraction or density-difference extraction of an image using the conventional photographic processing methods described above, it generally takes a lot of time and cannot be called a simple image processing method. The width is limited by the thickness of the pair of N and P transparent base films used (although it is possible to avoid this limit by inserting a transparent object), and parallel light is required for faithful processing. This seems to be a common practical drawback. The above conventional method (6) has been used to compensate for or solve these drawbacks, but it requires special equipment and is an expensive image processing method. This method, which was developed to compensate for the shortcomings of the conventional method, is an inexpensive and simple image processing method that allows you to easily and freely control the line width of the processed extracted image and can be used with existing photo processing equipment as is. It is. A description of the invention follows. Here, for convenience of explanation of the principle, the original image recording medium and the reverse image recording medium used are silver salt photographs having on-off images, and the radiation is light. Specifically, the original image recording medium referred to here refers to a coloring material image forming body such as a silver halide photograph, a thermal photograph, a pressure-sensitive recording medium, etc., which has a colored image obtained by a chemical reaction, and a coloring material such as a pigment or a dye. Color material image forming bodies such as pressurized printed materials, electronic printed materials, and printed materials in which an image is physically formed on the image support surface using a transparent film, and bubble images such as Culver film in which fine bubble images are formed within a transparent film. In a recording medium such as a formed body, each image has an appropriate transmission density that can be confirmed under transmitted light. In addition, a reversal image recording medium is one in which the image is the same as the image in the original image recording medium.
It is a recording medium that has a positive relationship. Therefore, if the original image recording medium is negative type, the reversal image recording medium will be positive type, and if the original image recording medium is positive type, the reversal image recording medium will be negative type. In FIG. 1, 1 is a first layer (uppermost layer) consisting of either an N or P original image recording medium on which a desired on-off image is recorded, and 3 is a reverse density film of the first layer 1; This is the third layer (reversal image recording body) consisting of one layer of P or N. Therefore, when the first layer 1 is N, the third layer 3 is the P of the first layer 1, and when the first layer 1 is P, the third layer 3 is the N. 4 is a fourth layer consisting of a recording material (with no image formed) such as an image forming material that forms a colored image through a chemical reaction, and an image forming material that physically forms a coloring image using a coloring material such as a pigment or dye; It is. A pair of N and P is (1) when the silver image film surfaces are facing each other, (2) when they are opposite, (3) both are facing upward, or (4) both are facing downward. In this case, there are four ways of superposition. In any case, when the first layer 1 and the third layer 3 are aligned and superimposed, even if the light is irradiated perpendicularly to the surface of the superimposed film using the normal method, the intensity of the transmitted light will be the same at each point. There is almost no difference, and the light intensity is determined by the transmission density of the N-P pair, and is usually extremely small. Therefore, the fourth layer 4
Even if a recording medium (unexposed photographic paper, film, etc.) is placed on the substrate and light is irradiated from the first layer 1 side, no information can be obtained. In the conventional cases (2), (3), and (4) above, if exposure is applied from an oblique direction, it can be used in the same manner as the film sandwitch method described above. Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 (enlarged view of FIG. 2).
Now, when a light scattering layer as the second layer 2 is inserted between the first layer 1 and the third layer 3 and light irradiation is applied, the light that has passed through the transparent part of the first layer 1 will pass through the scattering layer of the second layer 2. scattered. The scattered light passes through the transparent portion of the third layer 3, reaches the recording medium of the fourth layer 4, and exposes the recording medium. At this time, most of the light reaching the fourth layer 4 reaches the outer periphery of the image forming portion of the third layer 3. When the fourth layer 4 is developed, information is extracted as a line image. In addition, since the light reaching the fourth layer 4 is scattered around the outer side of the developed silver layer of the third layer 3, the third layer 3 is N (in this case,
The first layer 1 is P) or P (in this case the first layer 1
The information emphasis degree of the obtained line image can be made different depending on whether N) is used or not. The above has been explained using an example of an original image recording medium having an on-off image as the first layer 1 (therefore, the image in the third layer 3 is also an on-off image), but the image actually used is are images with various optical densities. Such cases are described below. The image in the first layer 1 in Figure 1 or Figure 2 is not an on-off image; the OFF area (non-image area) in the figure also has a certain optical density, and the ON area (image area) is somewhat low. The diagram will be reread and explained based on the case of optical density. Therefore, the on-off portion of the third layer 3 is also the same as that of the first layer 3.
It is assumed that this layer is similar to Layer 1, and that the transmission density when aligned and superimposed has a certain optical density that is constant at each point. In such a case, the second layer 2 is replaced by the first layer 1 - third layer 3.
When the first layer 1 is inserted between the first layer 1 and irradiated with light, the amount of light transmitted through the first layer 1 causes a difference in the optical density of the transmitted portion.
The scattered light distribution in the second layer 2 of the light with the difference corresponds to the difference. At this time, as in the case of the on-off image, the scattered light is limited by the optical density of the third layer 3 and is directed toward the fourth layer 4. Therefore, the light reaching the fourth layer 4 depends on (1) the total optical density of the first layer 1 and the third layer 3, (2) the difference in optical density between the first layer 1 and the third layer 3,
(3) The scattering power of the second layer 2 (scattering layer) varies. When extracting the density difference as a line image, a scattering layer with low scattering power is used and control can be achieved by controlling the light-sensitive material used and the exposure amount corresponding to it. In this case, it can be seen from the above explanation that the amount of light reaching the fourth layer (sensitive material) is larger at the boundary where the density difference is large than at the boundary where the density difference is small. By appropriately controlling the sensitivity of the photosensitive material and/or the amount of irradiated light, it is possible to extract only the portion with the desired density difference as a line image. Furthermore, when the isodensity region is also extracted at the same time as the line image, similar control is performed using a scattering layer with relatively large scattering power. When a phosphorescent layer is inserted in place of the scattering layer of the second layer 2, the light emitted by the phosphorescent stimulation light has the same effect as the scattering layer, so that the same image processing effect can be obtained. Next, examples will be shown. Embodiment In FIG. 2, Kodak Separation Negative Film is used so that the on-off density difference between the set of black and white images used for the first layer 1 and the third layer 3 is 1.8 and 0.
Using Type 1 and 4131, we created a test chart by controlling the amount of light. As a result of measuring the transmission density of the on-off part after fabrication using Macbeth TD-504 densitometer,
One was 1.82 and 0.02, and the other was 0.02 and 1.79.
Therefore, the densities after alignment of the first layer (original image recording medium) 1 and the third layer (reverse image recording medium) 3 having the two on-off images were 1.84 and 1.81. After aligning these two recording bodies with their silver film surfaces facing each other, a light scattering layer (second layer 2) was inserted. As the scattering layer used, Culver film was used as an example in which various scattering abilities can be produced (easily). The conditions for producing the scattering layer were as follows. Exposure device: Sharp printer Tz (Takahashi Precision Machinery Co., Ltd.) Light source: Mercury lamp G-MERC-750A Exposure conditions: In normal work, a sufficient scattering layer can be obtained on the diazo-coated surface of Culver film with 10 seconds of exposure, but here They were prepared under various conditions and exposed to light over the entire surface. (a) Exposure for 30 seconds No heat development (becomes a transparent film) Density 0.09-0.19 (b) 2 seconds Perform heat development Density 0.09-0.195 (c) 4 seconds Perform heat development. Density 0.2-0.45 (d) 8 seconds 〃 Perform heat development. Density 0.30-0.60 (e) 30 seconds 〃 Perform heat development. Density 0.35 to 0.675 (a) to (e) are the diffused densities for visible light measured using the Macbeth densitometer in combination with Kodatsu filter UV 106, and are the same for Culver films with different performances as described below. The minimum and maximum values obtained under each condition are shown respectively. Development temperature...Canon Culver developer (Canon Inc.)
The temperature was kept constant at about 120°C, and the heating time was kept constant at about 1 second. Note that the light-scattering layers (b) to (e) obtained by foaming were re-exposed for 30 seconds after heat development in order to erase the yellow color caused by undecomposed diazo. Culver film used...T-334, T-335, T
-337, T-154, T-157, T-334B (all made by Culver) The differences in each density of (a) to (e) above are due to the Culver film used, and the same exposure Under thermal development conditions, each Culver film has a common density. The extracted line image was recorded using an e-mail machine manufactured by Oriental Photo Industry.
I went directly to Guru F-4 photographic paper. The photographic paper is processed using Kodatsu's developing solution and fixing solution.
Developing at 19-21℃ for 90 seconds, fixing at 19-21℃ for 5 minutes,
Each was kept constant after washing with water for 10 minutes. A
Light irradiation was applied for a second, but no line information was obtained. For light irradiation, we used Fujimoto Photo Industry's Ratsky Enlarger 60M-C, and the built-in 12V-
The light emitted from a 75W halogen lamp was passed through frosted glass as diffused light. Next, the scattering layer (Culver film) was inserted between N and P with the foamed layer surface facing downward, and the light intensity was measured using the same irradiation conditions (9.6 lux, irradiation for 10 seconds, using a Tokyo Kogaku Kikai model SP1-6A photovoltaic illuminance meter). As a result of the investigation, line images were obtained in all of the above-mentioned scattering layers. However, when a film that was not subjected to the heat development described in (a) above was used, it served as a mere spacer and no information was obtained. For the same type of Culver film, the line width of the obtained line image was thicker as the amount of irradiation light was larger (30 seconds) during foam layer preparation, and thinner as it was smaller (2 seconds). Furthermore, even if the processing conditions during foam layer production are the same, the larger the effective diffusion capacity of Culver film (T-334), the thicker the film (T-334), and the smaller the film (T-334).
334B) A thin line image was obtained. (B) The light irradiation conditions were changed from those in (A), the light intensity was increased approximately three times (30 lux), and the irradiation time was 10 seconds. At the same time, the total density difference (0.03) between the image area and the non-image area of the test chart was obtained. That is, an image was obtained in which the color tone of the entire photograph remained while the boundaries of the image were emphasized. This result is similar to the processing result obtained by using the above-mentioned method 6, and is something that has not been possible with conventional photographic processing. (C) When the N-P performed in (B) was turned upside down (that is, the P image was the top surface of the first layer, and the N image was the bottom surface of the third layer), the experiment was conducted under the same light irradiation conditions. The obtained image is the opposite, that is, the white part in (B) emphasizes the border, but the overall tone remains, and (B)
The black image area became white. If something similar is done using a normal photographic processing method, the part of the image that becomes black when density is extracted from the N image becomes white when density is extracted from the P image, which is a time-consuming process. Boundary emphasis cannot be performed at the same time. Of course, similarity processing is easy for computer-processed images. In comparison, this method can be easily performed by simply replacing the upper and lower parts of NP. (D) In order to confirm the results of (A) to (C) more specifically, P was created from LANDSAT-N, which is actually used, and the same processing as in (B) was performed. , the same results as in (B) were obtained, and when the same processing as in (C) was performed, it was confirmed that the same results as in (C) could be obtained in this case as well. (E) Culver films prepared under various conditions were used as the diffusion layers in (A) to (D), but what other objects are suitable for the purpose of this method? In order to confirm that this method can be used with diffusing objects, we conducted experiments with various diffusing objects.

【table】

[Table] Note: Blue printed lines are not allowed. Objects that are not allowed as a result of ...
It was the red and blue text printed on the page. It is currently unclear whether this is caused by light intensity, absorption light, or scattering ability, but it is thought that most film-like objects can cause this. The minimum time required for the above light irradiation is 10 seconds, but this is related to the intensity of the irradiated light, and if irradiated with a strong light intensity, most cases can be done in less than 10 seconds ( (This is because a fairly thick line image can be obtained, and the time was determined to compare with Culver film.) Above, we have described an example of using a light-scattering object as an object with light-diffusing properties. It is also possible to use a refractive object or a fluorescent object as a sexual object.
Since a refracting object has the property of refracting the optical path direction of the irradiated light beam in a certain specific direction, if this object is used as the second layer 2 in Fig. 2, the fourth layer will be
Light reaches the sensitive material of layer 4. An example of an object that can be easily applied here is a thermoplastic transparent plastic sheet with regular irregularities on its surface. Examples include lenticular lens sheets, honeycomb lens sheets, and Fresnel lens sheets. Furthermore, the phosphorescent material can be used as the second layer 2 because it has a self-luminous property when excited by the irradiation light and the emitted light has a diffusive property. However, when using this object, the irradiated light will not reach the photosensitive material of the fourth layer 4 as it is, but the light with a different wavelength will reach it, so the photosensitive material must be sensitive to the emission wavelength. You need to choose. An example of an object that can be easily applied here is a phosphorescent plastic sheet. Next, an image processing method for adding or subtracting a sub information image to a main information image in an original image recording medium will be explained with reference to FIG. In this case, as shown in the drawing, a layer 5 is sandwiched between the light diffusing layer of the second layer 2 and the reverse image recording member of the third layer 3, and light is irradiated toward the photosensitive material of the fourth layer 4. This layer 5
is a layer that partially has a light shielding portion 6 as a sub information image. Since the light does not pass through the light shielding portion 6, it does not reach the photosensitive material of the fourth layer 4, and an image obtained by subtracting the sub-information image portion is obtained on the fourth layer 4.
It is also possible to provide the auxiliary information image on the second layer 2 itself. That is, it is also possible to use an object that partially has light diffusing properties. In short, as mentioned in (E), this method allows you to freely make the line image thick or thin depending on the combination of the diffusion layer, the amount of light, and the recording medium (sensitive material), especially the type of material used for the diffusion layer. It has many advantages, such as being able to process the overall color tone if necessary, not requiring special new equipment, and being able to save processing time as long as the diffusion properties of the diffusion layer are determined. be. Also, instead of recording on a sensitive material (recording medium),
It may also be scanned with a scanner. In addition to visible light, the radiation used here can be ultraviolet light, infrared light, X-rays, gamma rays, etc., but the recording medium must be one that is sensitive to the radiation used. Needless to say.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional explanatory diagram showing one step of image processing;
FIG. 2 is an explanatory cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention. 1...first layer, 2...second layer, 3...third layer,
4... Fourth layer, 5... Layer, 6... Light shielding portion.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An object layer having radiation diffusivity between an original image recording body (negative or positive) and a reversal image recording body (positive or negative) obtained from the original image recording body.
An image is formed by inserting a seed or two or more seeds, superimposing them, bringing them into close contact with a recording medium that is sensitive to radiation, applying radiation from the original image recording medium side, and printing the transmitted radiation onto the recording medium. image processing method. 2. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein a light-scattering object layer is used as the diffusing object layer. 3. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein a phosphorescent object layer is used as the diffusive object layer. 4. The image processing method according to claim 1, characterized in that a refractive object layer is used as the diffusive object layer. 5 Claims characterized in that an original image recording medium is used as a main information image, and by superimposing another original image recording medium as a sub information image on this, an image obtained by adding or subtracting the sub information image is obtained. The image processing method according to item 1.