JPH03107197A - Information processor having reduction display function for copresent image of binary and multi values - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow the display of high-quality images which are sharp and are easy to see and to enhance the operability at the time of edition by subjecting the image data which is many-valued to a pseudo medium contrast to a prescribed reduction processing. CONSTITUTION:Flag information is read from an image data storage section 21 and whether the information is a photographic information or not is judged at the time of a reduction display. The information is subjected to the reduction processing by simple thinning via a simple thinning reduction processing section 24 and is then transferred to a display memory 7 if the information is the photographic image. The information is subjected to an AND reduction processing via an AND reduction processing section 25 and is then transferred to the memory 7 when the information is not the photographic image. The similar processing is executed with the ensuing image block when the processing of all the image blocks ends. The part of the photographic image many-valued to the pseudo medium contrast by a dither method, etc., is subjected to the reduction processing by the simple thinning and the part of the binary images, such as characters and graphics, is subjected to the reduction processing by the AND processing.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Hand on the Beam 1 This invention is applicable to personal computers, word processors, image workstations, DTP (Desktop Publishing), CAD (Computer Aided Design), and various other binary and multivalued This relates to the improvement of an information processing device equipped with a mixed image processing function and a reduced display function, and in particular, for image editing, etc., image data containing a mixture of binary and multivalued image data can be reduced and displayed on a display device. The present invention relates to an information processing device that improves operability during editing by providing clear, easy-to-see, high-quality images when displayed on a screen.

Information processing devices such as personal computers and image workstations that are equipped with a function to process pseudo-halftone images, so-called multi-value images, that have been converted into multi-valued images using a dither method, etc. have been known for a long time. Enlargement/reduction processing is also performed on halftone images.

In such an information processing device, when displaying image data on the screen of a display device, for example, the resolution of the scanner is 40.
If the resolution of one display device is 100 dpi at 0 dpi, the original image data needs to be reduced and displayed in order to be displayed so as to appear at the same size.

Conventionally, simple thinning processing and logical sum processing have been used as reduction methods.

However, when there is a mixture of binary images such as characters and figures, and images that have been converted into pseudo-halftones using dithering methods, such as photographs, and are reduced and displayed using simple thinning, the binary images In images, lines may disappear or text may be blurred, making the image difficult to read.

In order to avoid such inconveniences, if reduction processing is performed using the logical sum method, the binary image will become clearer, but on the other hand, the parts of the photographic image that have been multivalued into pseudo-halftones using the dither method etc. will be completely black. and becomes almost invisible.

Here, the configuration of a personal computer will be described as an example of a conventional information processing system equipped with a binary and multivalue mixed image processing function and a reduced display function.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the configuration of main parts of a conventional personal computer. In the drawing, 1 is a keyboard, 2 is a CPU, 3 is a memory, 4
is an IPU (image processor), 5 is a scanner controller (scanner control unit), 6 is an image scanner, and 7 is an image scanner.
Reference numeral 8 indicates a display memory, 8 indicates a CRT controller (display IIJ control unit), 9 indicates a CRT display, 10 indicates an HDC (hard disk controller), and 11 indicates an HD (hard disk).

The functions of each part in FIG. 4 are outlined as follows.

The keyboard 1 is an input means.

The CPU 2 controls the operation of programs and the like that perform system processing.

The memory 3 is a memory that stores image data and the like.

The IPU 4 is an image processor that performs logical sum operations, reduction processing, and the like.

The scanner controller 5 is a scanner control section that has a function of controlling the image scanner 6 that reads image data.

The display memory 7 is a memory that stores image data for display.

The CRT controller 8 is a display control section that has a function of controlling the display operation of the CRT display 9.

HDClo is a hard disk controller that has a function of controlling writing/reading of image data to/from an HD (hard disk) 11, which is an external storage means.

A conventional information processing apparatus with a reduced number of image processing functions including enlarging/reducing processing of halftone images has a configuration as shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a reduced display of a binary and multivalue mixed image to be edited on a conventional personal computer. In the drawings, ■ is a photographic image.

■ and ■ indicate binary data such as characters and figures.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, when a photographic image ■ and binary data ■ and ■ are mixed.

If you perform simple thinning processing to reduce the image, the lines and characters in the binary data (Z, ■) will disappear and become invisible.

In other words, in the case of simple thinning processing, the dots to be thinned out are either black dots or white dots.
Since it is missing regardless of the relationship, in images such as letters and figures, "
This is because if the line portion consisting of "black" dots is thinned out, the image will become white.

In addition, when performing logical sum processing, the photographic image, which is a multivalued image, becomes
However, this causes the inconvenience that the image becomes completely black and cannot be seen.

The reason for this is that in the case of logical sum processing, if one of the dots to be thinned out is a "black" dot, the dot after reduction is treated as a "black" dot, so it is inevitably a multivalued image. This is because the number of black dots increases in the portion of the photographic image (■).

In this way, conventional information processing devices equipped with a reduced display function for binary and multilevel mixed images display binary images such as characters and figures,
When an image mixed with a multivalued pseudo-halftone image such as a photograph is displayed after being reduced by simple thinning, lines may disappear or text may appear in the binary image. The image becomes blurred and difficult to read, and when it is reduced and displayed using logical sum processing, the photographic image, which is a multivalued image, becomes pitch black and cannot be seen, resulting in a decrease in the display quality. there were.

This invention aims to solve these problems in the conventional reduced display of binary and multivalue mixed images, namely, when simple thinning processing is performed, the lines and characters of the binary data disappear and become invisible. When the OR processing is performed, a photographic image that is a multivalued image such as a dither image becomes completely black and cannot be seen. It is an object of the present invention to solve this problem and to provide an information processing device with good operability by enabling reduced display of a clear, easy-to-see, high-quality binary and multivalued mixed image.

In this invention, an image scanner, a key input means, a display means, a memory means for storing image data, a reduction processing means for image data, and a central processing unit such as a CPU are provided. In an information processing system having a processing function for a binary and multivalued mixed image and a reduced display function.

A simple thinning means for performing simple thinning processing of image data, a logical sum processing means for performing a logical sum processing of image data, flag information indicating a range of multivalued data, and flag information indicating a range of binary data are stored. and an image data flag information storage means.

flag information discriminating means for discriminating the flag information stored in the flag information storage means; when reducing and displaying image data in which binary and multivalued image data are mixed, the flag information discriminating means The flag information stored in the image data flag storage means is determined, the image data of the flag information indicating the range of multivalued data is reduced by simple thinning, and the image data of the flag information indicating the range of binary data is reduced by logical processing. The image is reduced by sum processing and displayed on the display means.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention having a reduced display function for binary and multivalued mixed images will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a detailed example of the configuration of essential parts of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention having a function of reducing and displaying a binary and multivalued mixed image. Reference numerals in the drawing are the same as in FIG. 4, and 21 is an image data flag storage section, 22 is an image data storage section, 23 is an image editing processing section, 24 is a simple thinning/reduction processing section, and 25 is a logical OR reduction processing section. Show part.

In the block diagram shown in FIG. 1, the image data flag storage section 21, the image data storage section 22, and
, the image editing processing section 23, the simple thinning/reduction processing section 24, and the logical OR reduction processing section 25 are the parts that perform the main functions in the information processing apparatus of the present invention, and the other parts are basically the same as those of the conventional information processing apparatus. The same is true.

The image editing process is activated by the keyboard 1 shown in FIG.

In normal image processing, image data is read from the image scanner 6 and stored in the image data storage section 22.

In normal display, this image data is transferred as is to the display memory 7 and displayed on the CRT display 9 via the CRT controller 8 which is a display control section.

On the other hand, in the information processing apparatus of the present invention having a reduced display function for binary and multivalue mixed images, when reading image data from the image scanner 6 to the image data storage section 22, the image data is stored in the image data flag storage section 21. , flag information for distinguishing between a photographic image and a binary image is stored.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the storage format of the image data flag storage section 21 in the information processing apparatus of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the image data flag storage unit 21 stores five image numbers, flags, and X and Y coordinates for indicating positions.
Information on X@ and 7 widths for indicating coordinates and size are stored respectively.

For example, if there is image data as shown in FIG. 5, the "image number" in the image data flag storage section 21 shown in FIG.
In the "r flag" area of ■, put a flag "1" indicating that it is a photographic image, and in the "image number" ■ and "flag" area of ■, put a flag "2" indicating that it is binary data. Store each.

Further, position information (x, y coordinates) of the image data and information on the size of the image (X width, Y radius) are stored in each corresponding area.

During normal display, each image data stored in the image data storage section 22 is transferred to the display memory 7 as is, as in the conventional case.

In the case of reduced display, which is a feature of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention having a reduced display function of a binary and multivalued mixed image, before transferring from the image data storage section 22 to the display memory 7, the image data flag storage section 21, and determines whether the image data to be transferred is photo data or binary data.

In the case of photo data, the data is reduced by simple thinning through the simple thinning/reducing processing unit 24, and then 1
Transfer to display memory 7.

Furthermore, in the case of binary data, the data is transferred to the 5-display memory 7 after performing a logical sum reduction process through the logical sum reduction processing section 25.

Through such processing, all image data stored in the image data storage section 22 is transferred to the display memory 7.

Through the above operations, the photographic image is simply thinned out, the binary image is reduced by logical sum processing, and a binary and multivalued mixed image is displayed on the CRT display 9.

In addition, an HD (hard disk) 11 which is an external storage device
etc., the image control information (flag information of the image data) is stored from the image data flag storage section 21 as a header ladder of the image data, and when reading it out, the header section is stored again in this image data flag storage section. Part 2
By transferring and storing the image data in the external storage device 1, it becomes possible to display the image data in a reduced size even when the image data has been previously stored in the external storage device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart 1 showing the flow of processing at the time of reduced display in an information processing apparatus having a reduced display function of a binary and multivalued mixed image according to the present invention. In the drawing, #1~
#6 indicates a step.

In step #1, it is determined whether the display is a reduced display. If the display is not reduced, the flow shown in FIG. 3 is terminated and normal display is performed.

If it is a reduced display, the process proceeds to the next step #2, and flag information (image control information) is read from the image data flag storage section 21 shown in FIG.

In step #3, it is determined whether the image is a photographic image.

If it is a photographic image, the process proceeds to step #4, where the image is reduced by simple thinning through the simple thinning/reducing processing section 24, and then transferred to the display memory 7.

On the other hand, if it is not a photographic image in the judgment in step #3 above, the process proceeds to step #5, and after performing logical sum reduction processing through the logical sum reduction processing section 25, Transfer to display memory 7.

In step #6, it is determined whether processing of all image blocks has been completed.

If the processing of all image blocks has not been completed, the process returns to the previous step #2 and extracts the primary image block, and repeats the same processing.

When all image blocks have been processed as determined in step #6, the flow shown in FIG. 3 ends.

Through the above processing, the parts of the photographic image that have been multivalued into pseudo-halftones by the dither method etc. are reduced by simple thinning, and the parts of the binary image such as single characters and figures are processed by logical sum processing. is reduced by .

According to this invention, image data that has been converted into a pseudo-halftone multivalued image using the dither method or the like is reduced to a non-blackish image by simple thinning, and binary images such as characters and figures are The data is reduced to an image with no omissions by OR processing.

Therefore, it is possible to display a clear, easy-to-see, high-quality image on the screen, resulting in the excellent effect that the operability during editing is significantly improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a detailed embodiment of the main structure of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention having a reduced display function for binary and multi-value mixed images, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the storage format of the image data flag storage unit 21 in the information processing apparatus. FIG. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the main configuration of a conventional personal computer, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of a conventional personal computer. The figure which shows an example of a reduced display. In the drawing, 1 is a keyboard, 5 is a scanner controller, 6 is an image scanner, 7 is a display memory, and 8 is a C
RT controller, 9 is CRT display, 10 is H
DCll is an HD, 21 is an image data flag storage unit, 2
2 is an image data storage section, 23 is an image editing processing section, 24 is a simple thinning/reduction processing section, and 25 is a logical OR reduction processing section.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An image scanner, a key input means, a display means, a memory means for storing image data, an image data reduction processing means, and a central processing unit such as a CPU. An information processing system equipped with a value mixed image processing function and a reduced display function includes: a simple thinning means for performing a simple thinning process on image data; a logical sum processing means for performing a logical sum processing on the image data; Image data flag information storage means for storing flag information indicating a range and flag information indicating a range of binary data; and flag information discrimination means for discriminating flag information stored in the flag information storage means. , When reducing and displaying image data in which binary and multi-value image data are mixed, the flag information discriminating means discriminates the flag information stored in the image data flag storage means, and the multi-value data is Information characterized in that image data of flag information indicating a range is reduced by simple thinning, image data of flag information indicating a range of binary data is reduced by logical sum processing, and the resulting image data is displayed on the display means. Processing equipment.