JPH03164255A - Photographic printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable optimum photographic printing to be automatically performed according to a video input signal in a photographic printer even though a number of scan lines of an input signal and a horizontal scan frequency are different by a method wherein a photographic printing range corresponding to an image signal is established automatically by an output signal of a control circuit. CONSTITUTION:A photographic printer has a control circuit 24 equipped with a means which measures a horizontal scan frequency and the number of scan lines of an inputted image signal, a means 18 which calculates the sampling frequency of the image signal based on the horizontal scan frequency, and a means which calculates the feed pitch of a printing element 20 which prints an image signal based on the number of scan lines. A photographic printing range corresponding to the image signal is established automatically by an output signal of the control circuit 24. The photographic printer becomes under a multi-scan state only by selecting an operation button for automatic scan. The photographic printer counts a number of scan lines of a video input signal and a horizontal scan frequency according to a plurality of different video input signals to be inputted, judges an optimum ratio to be photographically printed, and performs automatically photographic printing. Therefore, an optimum photographic printing can be performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a printing device suitable for use in a multi-scan video printer for printing different types of video input signals.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention relates to a printing device suitable for use in a multi-scan video printer for printing different types of video input signals, and a means for measuring the horizontal scanning frequency and number of scanning lines of a manually input video signal, and A control circuit includes means for calculating the sampling frequency of the video signal based on the scanning frequency, and means for calculating the feeding pitch of the printing element for printing the video signal based on the number of scanning lines, and the output of the control circuit includes: By automatically setting the printing range corresponding to the video signal based on the signal, the printing device can automatically perform optimal printing in response to different types of video input signals. be.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, different types of video input signals, such as an NTSC video input signal and a high-definition video input signal, have been input into one printing device, and images corresponding to these video input signals are printed on recording paper using a thermal head or the like. Multi-scan video printers that can print images are known.

In a multi-scan video printer such as the one mentioned above, the scanning line dispersion and horizontal scanning frequency of the input signal when printing various biological images for medical use are affected by the aspect ratio as well as the number of scanning lines and horizontal frequency of the video signal for television. It was very different compared to the others.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

As mentioned above, when the number of scanning lines and horizontal scanning frequency of the video input signal input to the multi-scan video printer changes,
In conventional multi-scan video printers, values for various items as described below had to be manually set.

(b) Setting the horizontal printing area value of the memory in the multi-scan video printer.

(mouth) Setting the vertical printing area value of the memory in the multi-scan video printer.

(c) Setting the number of sampling dots within one horizontal period, that is, the sampling frequency.

(2) Setting the horizontal print size value (horizontal print size).

(e) Setting the vertical print size value (print vertical dimension).

There has been a problem in that such various values cannot be inputted unless a person fully understands the nature of the video signal input to the multi-scan video printer.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to ensure that even if the number of scanning lines and horizontal scanning frequency of input signals to the printing apparatus are different, The system is designed to automatically perform optimum printing according to the input signal.

[Means to solve the problem]

An example of the printing apparatus of the present invention is shown in FIG. 1, which includes means (15) for measuring the horizontal scanning frequency and number of scanning lines of an input video signal, and a means (15) for measuring the horizontal scanning frequency and the number of scanning lines of an input video signal, and means to calculate the sampling frequency of the video signal (
18) and means for calculating the feed pitch of the printing element (20) for printing the video signal based on the number of scanning lines, and the output signal of the control circuit (24) This printing device automatically sets a printing range corresponding to a video signal.

[Effect]

In the printing apparatus of the present invention, simply by selecting the auto scan operation button, the printing apparatus enters the multi-scan state, and the number of scanning lines of the video input signal is adjusted according to a plurality of different video input signals input to the printing apparatus. The horizontal scanning frequency is measured, the optimum printing ratio is determined, and the printing is automatically carried out, so that the optimum printing can be carried out.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the printing apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7.

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of the printing apparatus of the present invention. Prior to explaining FIG. 1, the overall panel structure will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

Figure 2 shows the front view of the panel of this example, where (1) is the panel of the housing of the printing device (hereinafter referred to as multi-scan video printer), and (2) is the panel for inserting unrecorded photographic paper. The lid (2) is opened by pressing the press button (3) on the lid. (4) is the control panel, which will be described later in Figure 3.
It has an LCD (liquid crystal display) (5) and various operation buttons.

(6) indicates the power supply sum, and turns on the power by pressing it. Turn it off. (7) is a discharge port through which printed photographic paper is discharged.

The various operation buttons of the control panel (4) described above will be explained with reference to the enlarged view of FIG. 3. The current operating state is displayed on the LCD (5), and a menu of various items is displayed by pressing the print adjustment plane group (9) and the preset button (10). Among the printer operation button group (8) is the printer 1 button (
8a), copy io (8b), feed phase (8c), cut button (8d), and skip button (8e). When the print button (8a) is pressed, the video input signal image is stored in the memory in single picture mode (a mode in which one image is printed on one sheet of photographic paper), and a printed video input signal image is obtained. . Furthermore, in multi-picture mode (a mode in which multiple images are printed on one sheet of photographic paper), video input signals are stored in memory.

When the copy button (8b) is pressed, the same printed photographic paper can be obtained in single picture mode. Also, in multi-picture mode, multiple video input signals stored in memory are printed out.

Press the feed button (8c) to stop printing,
The photographic paper is ejected from the ejection port (7), and the paper is cut off (8d).
) to cut the photographic paper. Note that pressing Skip SO (8e) allows you to move one of the memory locations.

The print adjustment button group (9) is used to adjust or set predetermined items of various print modes displayed on the LCD (5).
) includes a scan ast button (9a), a picture mode SO (9b), and a format button (9c), the functions of each of which will be described later.

Press the preset button (10) to switch to picture mode (
The values selected in the mode (the mode in which the picture mode button (9b) was pressed) and the scan mode (the mode in which the scan Asiast SO (9a) was pressed) are saved, and the saved values are loaded.

The cursor button (11) is used to select the value of the item indicated by the operation of the print 3J1 adjustment button group (9) and the preset button (lO).

(l2) is a mode selection button group, and this mode selection button group (l2) includes manual select io (12a), multi-picture button (12b), auto cut phase (12c),
) and auto scan io (12d), and by pressing the input select button (12a), you can select manual signals such as composite video or R (red), G (green), B (blue) video, etc. . Press multi-picture go (12b) to turn multi-picture mode on or off.
It will be turned off. When the auto cut button (12c) is pressed, the auto cut mode is turned on or off.When the auto scan io (12d) is pressed, the auto scan mode is turned on or off. .

(l3) indicates a mode indicator group, and various LEDs
flashes. If you press the input select button (12a) and select the composite video signal, the input video L
E D (13a) lights up and when R, G, B video signal is selected, input R, G, B LED (13b)
lights up. Similarly, if you press the multi-picture i date (12b), the multi-picture LED (13c) will light up, and if an error is detected in the printer, the alarm light will turn on.
E D (13d) lights up and the auto cut phase (12
If c) is selected, the auto-cut LED (13e) lights up, and if the auto-scan button (12d) is selected, the auto-scan LED lights up.

In order to print, that is, print out using the above-mentioned configuration, basically first press the source button (6) to turn on the power.
Next, press the input select button (12a) to select composite video or R, G, B video signal. Next, auto scan L E D in the mode indicator (13)
Check that (13f) is lit, and if it is off, press Auto Scan i Day (12d), then Multi Picture i
Press o (12b) to select whether to print in single picture mode or multi-picture mode. When single picture mode is selected, pressing the print button (8a) will print out the appropriate image, and when multi-picture mode is selected, pressing the print button (8a) will print out the data in memory. When the copy button (8b) is further pressed, a multi-picture in which four images are printed on an appropriate sheet of recording paper, for example, is printed out.

Next, a system diagram within the multi-scan video printer as described above will be explained with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1, an NTSC composite video signal or an R, G, B video signal or the like is manually input to the input terminal (14). These selected video signals are supplied to a video signal processing circuit (15) via an input terminal (14), and in this video signal processing circuit (15), a manual terminal (1
For example, the composite video signal supplied to 4) is subjected to various video processing and separated into a video signal (15b) and a synchronization signal (15a), and the synchronization signal (15a) is sent to the clock generation circuit (17) and the first computer. (Hereinafter referred to as CPU
, written> (18).

Video signal (15) separated by video signal processing circuit (15)
b) is supplied to an analog-to-digital conversion circuit (hereinafter referred to as A/D) (16), converted into a digital signal, and stored in a memory (22). The clock generation circuit (17) is configured as a PLL, and the first CPU (18) calculates the number of scanning lines and horizontal scanning frequency of the video input signal based on the synchronization signal (15a) from the video signal processing circuit (15). etc., and based on the measurement results, the clock generation circuit (
17), set the sampling frequency to horizontal synchronization signal (
A sampling clock that is synchronized with H sink) is outputted from the clock generation circuit (17). The A/D (16) is sampled at the timing of this sampling clock, and the video signal (15b) is written into the memory (22). The video input signal written in the memory (22) in this way is passed through the memory control circuit (23) to the
(18) reads the data of the video signal (15b) in the memory and supplies it to the print control circuit (19). The print control circuit (19) prints the photographic paper (21) using the thermal head (20).
The print data to be printed is developed and transferred to the thermal head (20). The second computer (hereinafter referred to as cpu.) (24) is the first CPU
+(+8) and the data hash, and the second CPU2
(24) operates like a host computer. That is, the second CPUZ (24) is a memory control circuit (24).
3), printing control circuit (19), motor control circuit (25)
etc., displays various items on the above-mentioned LCD (5), and generates signals corresponding to various operations from the control panel (4).

Especially c p U. (24) is configured to control the speed of the photographic paper feeding motor (26) so that a predetermined aspect ratio is obtained.

The operation of this example of the multi-scan video printer constructed as described above will be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7. This example is designed to automatically perform optimal printing for video input signals with different numbers of scanning lines and horizontal scanning frequencies supplied to the input terminal (14). As shown in the flowchart, in the first step ST, the power source is turned on by pressing the power button (6) shown in FIG. In the next second step SL, CPU2
(24) uses the final set value as the set value, and in the third step STi it is determined whether or not there is no input. If there is no input, LC as shown in the fourth step ST4
Display no input in D(5) and move to ◎ described later. If a video signal is input in the third step ST3, the aspect ratio is manually selected in the fifth step STS. This aspect ratio can be changed by pressing the picture mode button (9b).
:1, 4:3, 16:9, select the aspect ratio you want to select from these aspect ratios by pressing the cursor button (11
) to suggest aspect ratio selection. After such aspect ratio selection is performed, the second C PUK (24) enters a sixth step STh of calculating an autoscan value. In this sixth step, the autoscan value is calculated based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

That is, in the first step STP6-1 in FIG. 5, the horizontal scanning frequency (hereinafter referred to as fH) of the video input signal measured by the first CPU (18) is transmitted to the second CPU. (24
) is received, and the sampling clock frequency fs is calculated by multiplying this fH by a value of 1482, for example. This value of 1482 is the 6th
The horizontal size (28
) is determined from the number of horizontal elements of the thermal head (20). The number of elements in the horizontal direction of a normal thermal hend (20) is 1280 dots + W degrees, but if the effective number of dots is 1216 dots and the horizontal effective ratio of this value is 0.82, then 12l6/l480'=. A value of 0.82 or 1480 is obtained. Once the sampling clock frequency fs has been determined in this way, in the second step STP6-2 in FIG. (2
4) determines whether this sampling frequency fs is greater than 40 MHz. This value of 40 MHz is determined by the limit value of the driving frequency of the A/D (16) and memory (22) explained in FIG. In this second step STP6-2, the sampling frequency fs is 40M.
If it is not larger than llz, the next 4th step STP6
- Set the horizontal size (28) to 1216 in 4. Moreover, if the sampling frequency fs is larger than 40 MHz in the second step STP6-2, the second CPU
．． If (24) is determined, the third step STP6 -
3, the sampling frequency fs is set to 40 MHz, and based on this sampling frequency fs, the horizontal size (28) is determined in the next fifth step ST'P6-5.

In this fifth step STP6-5, horizontal size =
Calculate 40MHz/fllX0.82, i.e.
1 Calculate the value of 82% of the number of dots in the horizontal line. In this way, the horizontal size (28) is calculated corresponding to the video input signal. In the next sixth step STP6-6, the vertical size is calculated. This vertical size (29) is determined by the first CPU as shown in FIG.
, the number of scan lines d of the current IV measured in (l8)
Of these, excluding at least the e-line for blanking, the number of scanning lines is multiplied by the most appropriate vertical effective ratio, for example, 0.92, in order to print during the r-line period, and the vertical size is Desired.

In this way, when the calculation of the auto scan value in the sixth step ST6 shown in FIG. 4 is completed, the second CPU. (24) At the seventh step ST, it is determined whether or not the auto scan mode is set. If it is not the auto scan mode, the 8th step ST. In this eighth step ST [1], the auto scan phase (12d) is said to be in the "off" state, but in this case, when the sampling frequency of the video input signal is extremely high, the multi-scan video printer has The value may exceed the drive frequency limit value, and if the number of lines is less than the set value, the printed image will be uncertain even if the auto scan button (12d) is turned off. Therefore, in the 8th step ST., the current setting value is compared with the limit of the setting value by the video input signal, and if it is in the "NG" state, the process proceeds to the 9th step ST. C D (5
) is instructed to press the auto scan button (12d). After the end of the ninth step ST9, the eighth step ST. If the state is ○K, both go to ◎. Furthermore, the seventh step ST. If the printer is in auto scan mode in step ST, . Proceed to. In this 10th step ST+o, the 6th step ST.
Change to the auto scan value calculated in . That is, the set value for import into the memory (22) is rewritten. After completing this 10th step ST+o, proceed to ◎. ◎
is shown in the upper left of the flowchart in FIG. 4, and from ◎ to the 11th step ST. Proceed to. 11th step STz
Then it is determined whether the video input signal has changed. When the video input signal changes, the third step ST. The auto scan value will be calculated again.

If there is no change, in the 12th step ST+z, the second CPU.(
24) will judge. In this print operation, print setting values are stored in memory and a print operation is performed.

If the print button (8a) is pressed, the process will proceed to (2), which will be described later. If the print phase (8a) is not pressed, the first
Proceeding to Step 3 STI3, the second CPU (24) similarly determines whether or not the copy 60 (8b) has been pressed, and if "YES", the process proceeds to (2) described later.

If "NO" in the 13th step ST+3, the 14th step ST. will proceed to.

Judgment as to whether or not to print is made in the 12th step ST, ?
If the answer is "YES", then step ST2 starts from ■ in the flowchart shown on the upper right side of FIG. Proceed to the second CPU. (24) determines whether there is an error or not.

This error occurs in the fourth step ST. Like L C
D When no input is displayed in (5), the ninth step ST. This is when the LCD (5) is instructed to press the auto scan button, and if there is no error, it returns to ◎, but if there is an error, it changes to the memory as in the 21st step ST■. The setting value is imported and the next 22nd step ST. Change the print setting values in the memory in step (3), and proceed to the next 23rd step ST. , the feed pitch is calculated. This feed pitch is calculated as follows.

The number of dots in the horizontal direction of the thermal head is 1. The feed pitch is determined in this way and the 24th step STz
Printing is performed as shown in a. Also, Coby phase (8b)
If has been pressed, the feed pitch is calculated based on the previous image data stored in the print setting value memory in the 23rd step STz3, and printing is performed.

Again, the 14th step ST shown on the left side of FIG.
+4 will be explained. In the 14th step, it is determined whether the auto scan mode has changed from "off" to "on". If it has changed from "off" to "on", the setting is changed to the auto scan value in the 10th step ST+o. If it is “NO”, it is determined whether the auto scan mode is “ON” in the 15th step ST+s, and “YE” is determined.
If S'', the process returns to the 11th step ST++, and “N
o'', the process proceeds to the 16th step ST, ., where it is determined whether the settings are in the edited state.

That is, in this case, data values to be printed can be set by manual operation. In the 16th step STl6 “
If it is N○''', the process returns to the 1st step ST., but if it is ``YES'', the change setting is performed by manual operation in the 17th step. This state is shown in Figures 6 and 7.
This will be explained using figures. The format button (9C) is the operation button for manual operation in this settings edit.
, a picture mode button (9b) and a scan ast button (9a). Among these operation buttons, the format button (9C) is for setting post feed, page size, caption, baud rate, parity, etc., and the picture mode button (9b) is for contrast, brightness, aspect ratio, height, etc. medium, low filter,
Although it determines the negative state, positive state, linearity, etc., these are not directly related to this example, so detailed explanations will be omitted.

When the scan Asiast button (9a) is pressed, various items are displayed on the LCD (5) as shown in FIG.

In display (5a), by selecting whether the video input signal is a frame or a field using the cursor io (11), the frame or field signal is input to the printout memory. The display (5b) represents the horizontal shift amount in dot units, and the horizontal shift amount in FIG. filt (30) is adjusted, and 0 dot represents a position that has not shifted in the horizontal direction from the position set in auto scan mode. In other words, if you want to shift 20 dots to the right using the auto scan mode as a reference, press the cursor in SO (11) until the display shows "20 dots right". For example, as shown by the broken line in FIG. 7, the printing area (27) on the right side will be horizontally shifted 1.times. by 20 dots. The next display (5c) is used to manually set the horizontal size (28) in dots, and the horizontal length, that is, the horizontal size, is C as calculated earlier.
= 1216 dots, and for example, the total horizontal length is a (III) = 1480 dots. Display (5d
) is a vertical shift in units of lines! (31) is adjusted, and the O line represents a position that has not been shifted in the vertical direction from the position set in auto scan mode. That is, if you want to shift 10 lines upward based on the auto scan mode as a reference, press the cursor button (11) and the display will read ``10 lines up.''
Just press it until it appears. In this way, the printing area (27) will be vertically shifted upward by 10 lines within the range shown by the vertical shift in FIG. Display (5e
) is used when the vertical size (29) in units of lines is manually set, and the measured vertical direction d=I
The number of lines of V is 525 in the NTSC system, but at least the blanking part e is excluded, for example f = 478 lines. The display (5f) is used to adjust the aspect ratio, and when changing the aspect ratio, pressing the cursor button (11) will enlarge the image in the horizontal direction.
If you press the button, the image will be reduced in the horizontal direction.

When the manual scanning of various items is completed, the second CPU 2 (24)
Proceeding to step ST+e, a limit comparison between the current set value and the set value based on the video input signal is performed in the eighth step ST8.
Do the same thing. This is auto scan So (12c)
11th step STz to 17th step STI? If the comparison output is "NG", it returns to the 11th step STz, but if it is "OK I+", it is displayed in the press auto scan message, that is, L C D (5) by the 19th step STI9. Erase the instruction to press the auto scan button that is displayed and proceed to the 1st step STz
It is designed to return to .

As mentioned above, the wood example has an auto scan mode that automatically performs optimal printing for video input signals with different numbers of scanning lines and horizontal frequencies. Based on the number of scanning lines and horizontal scanning frequency of the signal, the printing area in the horizontal and vertical directions is determined based on the ratio of the standard video signal. That is, in the vertical direction, out of the number of scanning lines in the vertical period (1■), as shown in Figure 7, line e is omitted for blanking, only line f is printed, and line e and line f are the number of measured lines d. It is calculated by multiplying by a predetermined ratio. Further, the horizontal direction is determined in dot units, and the printing area (2
When printing as in 7), the optimum image size is determined from the number of elements in the thermal head (20), and if the optimum size is determined from the g-dot elements, then
The length C dots of the horizontal size (28) of the diagram should be equal to the g dots, and the total number of dots in 1H is calculated from this number of dots and the standard ratio of the printing area (27) in one horizontal period (IH). , the sampling frequency fs is determined from the horizontal scanning frequency measured by the first CPU (18) and the total number of dots. In reality, the sampling frequency fs is set at 40MIIz as the upper limit due to the drive frequency limitations of the A/D (16) and memory (22) in the printer, and the number of dots is calculated backwards from this maximum operable sampling frequency fs. This is done to obtain a normal image. Furthermore, in the vertical direction, the printing pitch per 1 line is calculated so that the printing range has a certain fixed aspect ratio, and the speed of the paper feed motor (26) is controlled to perform printing at this printing pitch. Therefore, even if a plurality of different video input signals are input manually, it is possible to print images with a predetermined aspect ratio of 1 in the optimum size and within the optimum range.

Furthermore, for video manual input signals that are not optimal with a standard printing ratio, if the image is missing when printed, it is not far from the auto scan mode setting, so this can be adjusted using the scan asiast. Manual operation is performed using buttons, and each item to be finely adjusted is changed relative to the auto scan value, so it is easy to make adjustments even if you do not have a correct understanding of the signal specifications of the video input signal as in the past. It has the effect of being able to perform the following tasks.

It is clear that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and can be modified in various ways without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the conventional printing apparatus, each time the video input signal changes, it is necessary to correctly understand the specifications of the video input signal and manually input various items, but according to the present invention, the video input signal changes. Since the signal is constantly measured and the optimal print is made based on the information of the video human input signal, it is possible to automatically print at the optimal size and within the optimal range, and even with slightly shifted images in auto scan mode. You can obtain effects that can be easily adjusted manually.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a system diagram showing one embodiment of the printing device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a panel front view showing one embodiment of the printing device of the invention, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged front view of the button operation section of Fig. 2. 4 is a diagram showing a flowchart of the printing apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a flowchart diagram showing a method of calculating the auto scan value shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. The explanatory diagram, FIG. 7, is an explanatory diagram of the operation function of the scan/asiast button. (1) is the panel, (2) is the lid, (4) is the control panel, (5) is the LCD, (8) is the printer operation button group, (9)
is the print adjustment button group, (10) is the precent button, (l1
) is the cursor button group, (12) is the mode select button group, (
13) is the mode indicator, (18) is the first C P
U. , (22) is the memory, (24) is the second CPU
．． It is.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] Means for measuring the horizontal scanning frequency and number of scanning lines of the input video signal; means for calculating the sampling frequency of the video signal based on the measured horizontal scanning frequency; and means for calculating a feed pitch of a printing element that prints the video signal based on the number, and a printing range corresponding to the video signal is automatically set by the output signal of the control circuit. A printing device that is characterized by being able to do as it does.