JPH03219773A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To select a halftone picture processing means with a separate operation from the transmission operation by providing an operation means to select one of halftone picture processing means in addition to the communication operation and a means storing the selected means. CONSTITUTION:The operator uses an operation panel 6 to apply the selection of a halftone picture processing mode and a central control section 1 reads the selected result. When the operator selects the error spread mode, the error spread mode flag is set to 1 and in other cases, that is, when the dither pattern method is selected, the processing is immediately finished. Through the processing above, the error spread mode flag stores which halftone picture processing mode is selected. In the case of executing the transmission processing, the operator uses the panel 6 to apply the transmission operation such as destination dialing and original type designation or the like and the control section 1 reads the setting content. When an original is a character original, since no halftone picture processing is required, the other processing is transited.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a facsimile machine having a function of processing halftone images such as photographs.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, the dither pattern method and the error diffusion method are known as processing power formulas for halftone images in facsimile machines. Table 1 shows a comparison of the characteristics of these two processing methods.

Table 1 In other words, the error diffusion method is better in terms of image quality, and the difference in image quality of text is particularly significant in images containing both text and photographs.

However, the error diffusion method has a disadvantage that the compression rate of the encoded code is lower than that of the dither pattern method, and the amount of transmitted image data is large, requiring a large amount of memory and requiring a long communication time. be.

Therefore, facsimile machines that can perform processing using either of the above two methods are already known.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in conventional facsimile machines that have halftone image processing functions using two methods, it is necessary to select which method to perform processing each time a document is sent. ,
There was a problem with poor operability. In other words, if the user is the same, one or the other medium-full J image processing power method is used in most cases, and it is troublesome to specify the method every time a transmission operation is performed. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in view of this point, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile machine that has a plurality of halftone image processing functions and has improved operability.

(Means for Solving Problem #) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a facsimile machine having a plurality of types of halftone image processing means for processing halftone images, in which the halftone By providing an operation means for selecting one of the image processing means and a means for storing the selected one, and performing image processing by the selected halftone image processing means at the time of a transmission operation. , the halftone image processing means can be selected by an operation other than the transmission operation.

Further, in a facsimile machine having a plurality of types of halftone image processing means for processing halftone images, means for setting a serviceman use mode separately from a user use mode, and a means for setting a serviceman use mode in the serviceman use mode. means for selecting one of the halftone image processing means and means for storing said selection; said selected halftone image processing means is always selected when the power is turned on in the user use mode; By automatically selecting and performing image processing, the halftone image processing means is selected in the serviceman use mode, and the ``11-frame image processing means'' is automatically selected in the user use mode. This is what I did.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile device connected to an I5DN according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, the reference numeral ``]'' indicates a central control section consisting of a CI) UIOI, a program ROM+02, and a RAM+03, and the central control section 1 centrally controls the entire facsimile apparatus based on a program.

The central control unit l includes a reading unit used for transmission, that is, F
Reader controller 2I for reader 2 that reads X81
, at the time of reception, a printer controller 31 for the printer 3 that prints the received original, an image memory controller 41 for the image memory 4, and a mode setting I10 controller 81 to be described later are connected via the system bus 9, and at the time of transmission, The reader 2 reads the transmitted image and outputs original image data.

The output original image data is encoded and sent to the 15DN line. The image memory controller 41 compresses the transmitted image when transmitting, expands the received image information when receiving,
This is transferred to the printer 3.

The printer 3 has a recording mechanism section, and uses image data input in page units, that is, decoded and expanded image data, to draw an original image on the sending side on recording paper. The recording mechanism may be of any appropriate type, such as a thermal recording type or a laser beam type.

Transmission and reception as described in item 1 above are performed via the communication controller 51. The communication controller 51 is a control unit that controls communications including facsimile communications and calls using RR1 talk.

In addition to the reader system, printer system, etc. as described above, the present facsimile apparatus includes an operation panel 6 and an operation controller 61 for operating the apparatus, as well as a telephone 7 and a telephone controller 71 for making telephone calls.

The operation panel 6 is provided with various switches operated by an operator. The switches include switches such as a communication start switch and a stop key, which are required as operation units in general facsimile machines.

Since this device has a telephone function, a numeric keypad, or dial key, is used to enter the number of the other party.
This can be provided on the operation panel 6. Further, the operation panel 6 is configured so that an operation for selecting a halftone image processing method (hereinafter referred to as "halftone image processing mode J") can be performed separately from the transmission operation.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the reader controller 21. The original image data read by the reader 2 is sent in parallel to a character mode binarization circuit 211 and two halftone binarization circuits 212 and 213. 0 character mode 2 supplied to
The digitization circuit 211 converts original image data that does not include a halftone image into binary data, and the first halftone binarization circuit 212 converts original image data that does not include a halftone image into binary data. The halftone binarization circuit 213 uses the error diffusion method to
Each original image data including a halftone image is converted into binary data. The outputs of these binarization circuits 211 to 213 are connected to the system bus 9. On the other hand, the command controller 214 is connected to the system bus 9 from the central control unit 1.
A command is input through the circuit, and in response to the command, an on signal a, b, or C is output to turn on any one of the three binarization circuits. Therefore, the binarization Jj method corresponding to the command from the central control unit 1 is selected, and the binarization of the original image data is executed.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the internal configuration of the mode setting I10 controller 81. In the figure, power line 81
n (for example, 4) resistors R+ to R between 2 and ground
n and n switches S W + to SWn are connected in series, and the connection points of the resistors R1 to Rn and the switches SWs to SWn are connected to the I10 control board 811. I10 control boat 811 is system bus 9
It is connected to the.

The switches SW+ to SWn are used to set the operating mode of the apparatus, and in this embodiment, the switch SWs is used as a serviceman use mode switch. That is, when the power of this device is turned off, the switch SWl is turned off.
When the power is turned on, the operating mode of the device becomes serviceman use mode. Moreover, when the switch SW+ is turned off when the power of the device is turned off and the power is turned on, the operating mode of the device becomes the user use mode, and the device is normally used in the user use mode.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are flowcharts showing the steps of halftone image processing mode selection processing and transmission processing according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

In step Sl in FIG. 4, the operator selects a halftone image processing mode using the operation panel 6, and the central control unit 1 reads the selected result. When the error diffusion mode is selected by the operator (when the answer to step S2 is affirmative (Yes)), the error diffusion mode flag is set to the value 1 (step S3). When the pattern method is selected, this process is immediately terminated.

As described above, by the process shown in FIG. 4, which halftone image processing mode has been selected is stored in the error diffusion mode flag.

In this embodiment, the serviceman use mode switch (SW+) is not used, and the halftone image processing mode is selected in the user use mode.

In FIG. 5, where the transmission process is executed, the operator first uses the operation panel 6 to perform transmission operations such as dialing the destination and specifying the document type (text only, text and photos mixed, or photos), and then the central control The unit 1 reads the setting contents (step 311). When the document is a text document (when the answer to step SI2 is affirmative (Yes)), halftone image processing is not necessary, and the process shifts to another process.

When it is not a text manuscript (the answer to step S12 is negative (No)
), the value of the error diffusion mode flag is ! It is determined whether or not (step 513). If the answer is affirmative (Yes), that is, the error diffusion mode is selected, the intermediate m? An A difference diffusion designation command is output to the reader controller 21 (step 514). On the other hand, step S
If the answer to step 13 is negative (No), that is, the dither pattern method is selected, a halftone dither designation command that designates halftone image processing by the dither pattern method is output (step 515).

In the reader controller 21, the command controller 214 interprets the command and outputs an on signal (8 or b) corresponding to the designated processing mode. As a result, halftone image processing is executed by the selected binarization circuit, and transmission is executed according to a predetermined communication procedure (step 816).

As described above, according to this embodiment, the selection operation of the halftone image processing mode and the transmission operation can be performed separately, so there is no need to specify the processing mode every time the transmission operation is performed, and the device It is possible to improve operability.

Figure 6 shows Kibatsu 11! ] Flowchart 1 showing the procedure for selecting a halftone image processing mode according to the second embodiment.
It is. In this embodiment, t) η mode setting I10 controller)
・Roller 81 serviceman use mode switch (SW
t) is used to select the halftone image processing mode in the serviceman use mode, and when the device is turned on, the status of the serviceman use mode switch (rat) is first read (on/off). (step 521). When the serviceman use mode switch is on (when the answer to step S22 is 1!7 constant (Yes)), the halftone image processing mode selected by the operator is read (step 323), and the error diffusion mode is set. It is determined whether it is selected (step 524).

As a result, when the error diffusion mode is selected (when the answer to step S24 is affirmative), the system default error diffusion flag is set to the value 1 (step 525), and the dither pattern mode is selected. (when the answer to step S24 is negative (No)),
Immediately end this process.

On the other hand, when the mode is user use mode rather than serviceman use mode (when the answer to step S22 is negative (No)), it is determined whether the system default error diffusion flag is the value l (step 826). ). the result,
When the system default error diffusion flag is the value l (when the answer to step 326 is affirmative), the error diffusion flag is set to the value l (step 327), and the system default error diffusion flag is set to the value 0. (When the answer to step 326 is negative (No)), this process is immediately terminated.

Note that the transmission process is the same as in the first embodiment, and if the error diffusion flag has a value of 1, then flE
If o, halftone image processing is performed by the dither pattern method.

Further, the value of the system default error diffusion flag is retained even when the power of the device is turned off.

As described above, according to this embodiment, by selecting the halftone image processing mode in the serviceman use mode, the image at the time of transmission δ is automatically changed to the selected processing mode in the user use mode. Since the processing is executed, there is no need to specify the processing mode at the time of transmission, and the operability of the device can be improved.

(Effects of the Invention) As detailed above, the present invention provides the following effects.

According to the facsimile apparatus of nrj requirement 1, one of the halftone image processing means can be selected separately from the sending operation, so that the operability of the apparatus can be improved.

According to the facsimile apparatus of claim 2, one of the halftone image processing means is selectively stored in a serviceman use mode;
Since the halftone image processing means is automatically selected in the user use mode, it is possible to improve the operability of the apparatus.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the reader controller shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the mode setting I of FIG. 1.
10 is a diagram showing the internal configuration of the controller, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure for selecting the halftone image processing mode according to the first embodiment, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the procedure for transmission processing, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for selecting a halftone image processing mode according to a second embodiment. l... Central control unit, 2... Reader, 6... Operation panel, 21... Reader controller, 81
...Mode setting I10 controller.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a facsimile machine having a plurality of types of halftone image processing means for processing halftone images, an operation for selecting one of the halftone image processing means separately from a communication operation. 1. A facsimile apparatus, comprising: means for storing the selected image; and means for storing the selected image, and image processing is performed by the selected halftone image processing means during a transmission operation. 2. In a facsimile machine having a plurality of types of halftone image processing means for processing halftone images, a means for setting a serviceman use mode separately from a user use mode, and a means for setting a serviceman use mode in the serviceman use mode. means for selecting one of the halftone image processing means and means for storing said selection; said selected halftone image processing means is always selected when the power is turned on in the user use mode; A facsimile machine characterized by automatically selecting and performing image processing.