JPH0232850A - Video printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a boundary portion of division blocks from being a conspicuous eyesore even when a printed image is warped by distortion of a CRT and a printing lens, by exposing in an overlapping manner an edge portion connecting divided areas of an original picture, giving a density gradient in accordance with said distortion of the CRT and printing lens to said edge portion, so that said edge portion has approximately the same density as the other portions. CONSTITUTION:An inputted picture signal is converted to a digital signal, stored in a total image memory unit 22, and read out by an area selecting circuit 23. For example, when an area corresponding to a division block F11 is to be read out, the area added with an additional area AD11 at an edge portion thereof is read out. Therefore, a rectangular area indicated by an exposing CRT is longer in a lateral direction by the length of the additional area AD11 than the area obtained when the total image is divided into matrix. A density compensating circuit 23A of an edge portion changes, in accordance with the ratio of length in a connecting direction between the overlappingly-exposed portion due to the distortion of the CRT 10 and a printing lens 14 of the additional area AD11 among the read image data and the additional area AD11, the image density of the additional area AD11. The density gradient is changed by the shape of distortion of the CRT 10 and printing lens 14.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a video printer for dividing an original picture into a plurality of areas and printing each of these areas separately. This invention relates to a video printer in which the border portion is not conspicuous.

(Prior Art) Conventional photographs are recorded on photographic film using various printers such as photo printers and video printers.
It is created by enlarging and printing 100 pages (1 frame) or a single screen displayed on a CRT onto photographic paper.

In this way, when printing one screen of photographic film or the like on large-sized photographic paper, a large printing area is required. Therefore, the apparatus becomes large and the cost of the apparatus itself becomes high, and since large-sized photographic paper is required, the printing cost becomes relatively high. Therefore, the original image is divided into a matrix, and each divided area is printed and exposed on a sheet of photosensitive material so that they are sequentially lined up. After photographic processing, the printed image of each area (hereinafter referred to as a sectioned frame) is created in a continuous manner. It has been proposed to form substantially one enlarged photograph by arranging divided printed photographs in rows or columns according to their positions on the original image.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, when creating divided print photographs of rows or columns, each area is printed continuously on a single sheet of photosensitive material. A problem occurs.

That is, when the printing exposure of each area is performed, if the peripheral part of the section frame F to be printed exposed is distorted into a pincushion shape as shown in FIGS. 6(a) and (bl) due to distortion of the CRT or printing lens, , when connected at the corner of the partition piece F, the result is shown in Fig. 6 (5
), an unexposed area Z is created near the center of the connecting part, and this creates a white gap between each section frame F after the development process, making the boundary between each section frame F conspicuous. There is a problem. In addition, if the connecting edges are connected at the center, an overexposed area due to the overlapping exposure part W will be created near the corner of the dividing piece F, as shown in FIG. In addition, there is a problem that different images are overlapped in the overlapping exposure area W, so the image is missing in this area.Similarly, in the case of barrel-shaped distortion, as shown in Fig. 7(a). .

As shown in (b), there is an unexposed part Z in the connected part of each division piece F! There is a problem in that double exposure portions W are generated, which makes the boundary portions of each section frame F conspicuous.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a video printer in which the boundaries between continuously printed partitioned frames are made less noticeable.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention connects each area @
In addition to overlappingly exposing the edges, a density gradient is applied to this overlappingly exposed area according to the distortion of the CRT and the printed lens, so that the density of the overlappingly exposed area is almost the same as the density of other parts. It is. When printing and exposing each area, the connecting edge of the other area is added to the connecting edge of each area with a predetermined width, and each area and the additional area are displayed on the CRT. Each area is continuously printed and exposed so that the additional area is overlappingly exposed when the next area is exposed.
It is also preferable to change the density of the image data of the additional area in accordance with the length ratio in the connecting direction between the overlapping exposed portion of the print image due to distortion of the printing lens and the additional area.

[Effect]

When dividing an original picture into multiple sections and printing and exposing each of these areas sequentially on a sheet of photosensitive material to create a printed photograph with continuous rows or columns of sections, first one end of the original picture is Perform the first exposure by printing and exposing the area located on the side as one frame. Next, advance the photosensitive material by one frame,
A second exposure is performed to print and expose the next area so that it is continuous with the printed section frame. At this time, the connecting edge of each area is overlapped and the overlapped exposed portion is Since the density gradient is applied according to the distortion of the CRT and the printed lens so that the density is almost the same as the degree of the pond part, the boundary between each partition piece can be made unnoticeable.

〔Example〕

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

FIG. 2 shows an example of a photo display 1 created using the video printer of this embodiment.

In this photo display 1, each section piece Fil to F13,
F21-F23. Line division print photographs 2 to 4, in which F31 to F33 are printed and exposed consecutively in line units, are pasted on a mount 5 at positions corresponding to the original images. In addition, between each row of printed photos 2 to 4 attached to the mount 5,
A gap 6 is formed.

FIG. 1 shows a video printer embodying the invention. This video printer is a CRTI for black and white exposure.
The image displayed on O is passed through three color filters 11 to 13, a printing lens 14, and a shutter 15 to a color paper 16.
The well-known sequential exposure of three color planes is performed.

Further, this video printer divides the original picture input from the image input unit 20 into matrix-like areas, and sequentially arranges the print images of these areas on the color paper 16 so that the line-divided print photos 2 to 4 and is configured to print and expose the image.

Specifically, the image signal of a negative image of a negative film or a positive image of a printed photograph, etc., inputted by the image input section 20 is inputted by the A/
The D converter 21 converts the analog signal into a digital signal and stores it in the entire image storage section 22. The image signal stored in the entire image storage section 22 is stored in the area selection circuit 2.
3 reads out the required area.0For example, as shown in FIG.
After reading out the area corresponding to the area corresponding to F13 in the first row and third column in the upper right corner, read out the area corresponding to the area corresponding to F13 in the second row and first column in the middle left.
Move to the area corresponding to 21, and read out the areas corresponding to each partition piece in the second row and then the third row one after another. Note that instead of reading out each row, each area is read out one after another column by column. Good too.

Specific reading of each area is performed by specifying the central coordinate position of the area to be burned and reading out the image signal of each pixel included in a fixed rectangular area centered on this. For example, when reading out the area corresponding to the division piece Fil in the first row and first column,
As shown in a+, there is an additional area AD on the connecting edge.
II is added, and the image data of this area ADII is also read out. Note that the reference numeral 39 in the figure indicates an opening of a paper mask 38, which will be described later.

The additional area ADII is obtained by reading out the image data of the connecting end gutter portion of the next area adjacent to the area to be read by a predetermined width, for example, several dots. Therefore, the rectangular f+page area displayed on the exposure CRTIQ is larger than the additional area AD than each area where the entire image is partitioned into a matrix.
It becomes horizontally long by the amount of II. To read each of these areas,
Is it done for each color and connects the edges? ;It is stored in the frame memory 24 provided for each color via the sentence correction circuit 23A.

The connected edge density correction circuit 23A is the area selection circuit 23.
Among the image data of each area read out, each image data of the additional area ADII, ... is multiplied by a correction coefficient X to adjust the density of this connected edge, and the overlap of this connected edge is After exposure, the density of this overlapped exposed part is made to be approximately the same as the density of other parts. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, additional areas ADII,
. . , the overlapping exposure portion W of the print image due to distortion of the CRTIO and the printing lens 14 and the additional area AD11,
... according to the length ratio in the connecting direction with the additional area AD11. For example, for pincushion distortion, the density of the image data of...
Create a density gradient where the density gradually decreases toward the outside in the width direction of the color paper, as shown in . This concentration gradient is changed depending on the strain shape of the CRTIO or the baked lens 14.

The image processing unit 25 performs the saturation correction and gradation correction.Furthermore, when a positive image is input to the image input unit 20,
The image signal from this image processing section 25, which also performs positive/negative conversion, is converted into an analog signal via a D/A converter 26 and sent to a CRT %M movement section 27 for exposure. C for n-light
The RT driving unit 27 drives the CRTIO to sequentially display monochrome images in a predetermined area. Further, the image signal from the image processing section 25 is converted into an analog signal via the D/A converter 28 and sent to the monitor CRT drive section 29.

The monitor CRTS11 section 29 is a color monitor CRT3.
0 to display the color image of the area displayed on the CRTIO for exposure.

When red, green, and blue monochromatic images are displayed on the exposure CRTIO, filters 11 to 13 corresponding to these monochromatic images are installed in the printing optical path by the filter switching unit 31.
Either is inserted.

Further, in conjunction with the insertion of the filters 11 to 13 into the optical path, the shutter 15 is driven by the shutter drive unit 32 and controlled to provide a predetermined exposure amount. In this way, sequential exposure of three color planes is performed.

The color paper 16 is wound up into a roll and stored in a magazine 33, and is pulled out by a pair of transport rollers 34 to a length required for exposure and placed on an exposure stage 35. The n-light stage 35 includes a pressure plate 37 and a paper mask 38 for maintaining the flatness of the color paper 16. The paper mask 38 includes an opening 39 corresponding to the print size.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

First, the image input section 2o inputs an original image recorded on a negative film or the like, and stores this image signal in the entire image storage section 22 via the A/D converter 21.

The area selection circuit 23 selects the area according to the burning order of each area.
Specify the center coordinate position of the area to be printed, read out the image signal of each pixel included in a fixed rectangular area centered on this, and connect this image signal to the edge density correction circuit 2.
3A to the frame memory 24 provided for each color, this rectangular area is written in the frame memory 24 provided for each color through the additional area ADI1. . . . is added, and the area becomes horizontally longer than the area in which the original painting was divided by this amount.

The connected edge density correction circuit 23A uses a density correction diagram as shown in FIG.
Perform density correction for..., that is, color paper from the center of the area! A frame memory that multiplies the image data at an address spaced apart by y toward the outside in the width direction of the frame memory 24 by a density correction coefficient The image signal stored in 24 is subjected to saturation correction and gradation correction, as well as color balance and density correction as necessary, in an image processing unit 25. Based on this corrected image signal, the CRT
The exposure CRT 10 is driven via the %lX moving section 27. As a result, for example, the first row
In order to print-expose the area of the column, each monochromatic image of the rectangular area is displayed in sequence, and a first exposure is performed by three-color plane sequential exposure, as shown in FIG. 3 Ta). Therefore, the partition frame itl in the first row and first column is recorded on the color paper. Note that since the printing light is cut off by the paper mask 38 at the edge of the area opposite to the connecting edge, it is made straight regardless of the distortion of the CRTIO or the printing lens 16.

Next, the area selection circuit 23 specifies the center coordinates of the area in the first row and second column, and as described above, the three-color image signals of the rectangular area corresponding to the area are read out from the entire image storage unit 22. The data is written into the frame memory 24, and the CRTIO for exposure is driven based on this. At this time,
As shown in FIG. 3 (bl), since a horizontally elongated rectangular area with additional areas AD12 and AD13 added to both connecting edges than the divided area is displayed on the exposure CRTIO, the additional area ADI 1.ADI 2 will be exposed overlappingly. Figure 4 (aJ shows an enlarged view of the overlappingly exposed area W). For the sake of explanation, Figures 4 and 5 show the distortion of each section frame. Although this is an extreme example, the actual distortion is not this extreme.

Therefore, each additional area ADI1. The width of ... is several dots, which is narrower than the length of each division piece. For this reason, these overlappingly exposed portions W become linear and are not noticeable in actual printing.

Thereafter, in the same manner, as shown in FIG. 3(C), a third exposure is performed to expose the next sectioning frame F13. In addition,
In this case as well, the edge opposite to the connecting edge is the first edge of the first row.
In the same way as the edge processing of the column division pieces Fil, the edges are straightened by the paper mask 38. In this way, line-divided print photographs 3 and 4 are successively created. The created line-divided print photographs 2 to 4 are pasted onto the mount 5 at the position corresponding to the original picture, as shown in Figure 2. A photographic display 1 showing an enlarged view of Hara Nishi is formed.

Moreover, in this embodiment, each division piece Fil.

...The upper and lower edges of F33 are covered with a paper mask 38 without providing an additional area with a density gradient like the connecting edges.
Accordingly, the peripheral distortion of the printed image due to the distortion of the CRTIO and the printing lens 14 is cut in a straight line. Therefore, between each row of printed photos 2 to 4,
A gap 6 is provided on the mount 5 during pasting, so that the missing part of the cut part can be corrected using the visual information reading ability, that is, the ability to compensate for the missing part of the image.

In addition, in the above example, line divided print photos 2 to 4
was made to be pasted on the mount 5, but instead of this,
A photo display may be formed using a mount (not shown) having a transparent pocket into which a line-divided printed photograph is inserted.Also, instead of a line-divided printed photograph, a column-divided one in which partitioned pieces are consecutively arranged in the column direction may be used. A photographic display may be formed from a printed photograph.Also, in the above embodiment, the original picture is divided into a matrix, but the present invention is not limited to this, and only the main parts of the original picture are divided into rows or columns. It may also be a divided print photograph that is divided in different directions and made continuous.

Furthermore, the upper and lower edges of each section frame may also be subjected to the same overlapping exposure process as the connecting edges. In this case, there is no need for gaps when pasting the line-divided print photographs on the mount. , Attach each row of divided print photos closely together.

Furthermore, in the above embodiments, the explanation has been given using a pincushion-shaped distortion as an example; however, the present invention is not limited to this; the present invention can also be applied to a barrel-shaped distortion.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 5(b), the density correction coefficient
Performs density correction on image data such as AD12.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the continuous @edge portion of each area is exposed overlappingly, and a density gradient is applied to the overlappingly exposed portion according to the distortion of the CRT and the printing lens, so that the overlappingly exposed portion is Since the density is made almost the same as the density of other parts, even if each printed image is distorted due to distortion of the CRT, printing lens, etc., the boundary parts of each connected section frame can be made inconspicuous.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a video printer embodying the great invention. Figure 2 shows one of the photo displays created in the same example.
It is a front view showing an example. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing sequentially the overlapping exposure of each section frame. FIG. 4 Ta) is an explanatory diagram showing an enlarged overlap-exposed portion;
The same figure (bl is a diagram showing the correction coefficients used in the same example. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing correction coefficients used in the same embodiment. FIG. 6 (al, (bl) is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which sectioning pieces with pincushion distortion are connected. FIG. (a) and (b) are explanatory diagrams showing a state in which partitioning pieces with barrel-shaped distortion are connected.To-・-H light CRT 16...Color paper 38...Paper masked...・Photo display 2-4... line print photo Fil-F13.F21-F23.F31-F33...
-Division pieces ADII to AD14...additional area. Figure 5(b)

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Divide the original image into multiple areas, display each divided area sequentially in columns or rows on a CRT, and print each area consecutively in each column or row through a printing lens onto a photosensitive material. In a video printer that exposes, the connected edges of each area are exposed overlappingly, and a density gradient is applied to the overlappingly exposed portion according to the distortion of the CRT and the printing lens, so that the density of the overlappingly exposed area is changed from that of the other areas. A video printer characterized in that it finishes to a density that is almost the same as that of the video printer. (2) When printing and exposing each area, the connecting edge of the other area is added to the connecting edge of each area with a predetermined width, and each area and the additional area are displayed on the CRT. , each area is exposed continuously by printing so that the additional area is exposed overlappingly when the next area is exposed, and the overlapping exposed portion of the printed image due to distortion of the CRT and printing lens in the additional area and the additional area are 2. The video printer according to claim 1, wherein the density of the image data of the additional area is changed depending on the length ratio in the connecting direction.