JPH03284055A - Picture processor unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form a picture with high accuracy at a high speed by providing plural storage devices storing a picture signal onto a recording medium and reading picture signal simultaneously from the plural storage devices. CONSTITUTION:Storage devices 1-3 have, e.g. three disks, and an R signal from a common transmission line 6 is buffered by a buffer 22 via an interface 21 of a red storage device 1 and stored on the disks 11-13. When the R signal is read out of the disks 11-13, the R signal is read simultaneously from the three disks 11-13. Thus, in comparison with reading the R signal by one from one disk, the signal is read at a speed three times. Then the write/read operation of the disks is implemented similarly even in red and green storage devices 2, 3. Then the R, G, B signals are simultaneously outputted from the devices 1-3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image processing device such as a laser printer or an LED printer that forms an image based on an image signal sent from a host device, etc. The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus suitably implemented when performing image formation.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, multicolor recording devices have been widely used as computer output devices and the like. For example, the basic configuration of the laser beam printer 50, as shown in FIG. The printer controller 56 receives the code data, generates page information consisting of dot data based on the code data, and sequentially sends the dot data to the printer engine 57. Further, the host computer 52 loads one application software from the floppy disk 55 having various kinds of application software, and starts the program. For example, if the application software performs color image processing, the user can create and store a large number of multicolor information.

FIG. 14 shows the signal processing circuit 58 of the printer engine 57.
62 is a timing chart showing the transfer order of 62 to 62. Referring also to FIG. 14, the dot data from the printer controller 56 is an R (red) signal, a G (red) signal, which is a color image signal.
The signal is supplied to the color conversion processing circuit 58 as a green) signal and a B (blue) signal, and is converted into an M (magenta) signal, a C (cyan) signal, and a Y (yellow) signal, which are color image signals for printing. A Bk generation circuit 60 extracts a Bk (black) signal from the Y, M, and C signals, and a masking processing circuit 59 extracts a Bk (black) signal from the Y, M, and C signals.
Perform various signal processing including masking processing on the signal. Y from the masking processing circuit 59 and the Bk generation circuit 60
, M.

The C and Bk signals are stored in the memory 6I, and the switching control circuit 6
2, the signals are sequentially output to the OR gate 63. The output 65 of the OR gate 63 is output by, for example, a binarization circuit 66.
A binarization process such as a dither method is performed, and the output is output to a laser driver in the printing section 67.

In addition, image signals representing characters such as letters made of combinations of toner primary colors and Y, M, C, Bk signals from the host computer 52 are converted into Bi multiplied signals such as Y, M,
It is combined with the C and Bk signals and output to the laser driver as described above.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

As shown in FIG. 14, in the conventional technology, memory 6 for four colors is
1, the R, G, and B signals of the same image must be input three times from the host computer 52 or printer controller 56 in order to generate the Y, M, and C signals. Host computer, 52 etc. are R, G,
While the B signal is being output, the next process cannot be performed, resulting in a decrease in processing speed. Moreover, the host computer 5
2nd prize goes to 3 R and G.

It is necessary to hold the R, G, and B signals until the output of the B signal is completed. R, G, using semiconductor memory
When retaining the B signal, for example, size: A4 size, resolution: 300 dpi, gradation level: 256 gradations for each color, 24 Mbytes of memory is required1, resulting in a significant increase in cost. .

Therefore, in order to hold the R, G, and B signals, methods have been devised to use auxiliary storage devices such as hard disk drives, but for example, A4 size, 300 dpi.

In order to print 8 pages/minute, a stable 1.5 Mbyte is required.
The image signal must be read out at tes/second and applied to a laser diode or the like. Normally, the data read speed of the auxiliary storage device is 700 to 800 bytes.
/second, so even if such an auxiliary storage device is used, high-definition, high-speed printing cannot be performed.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve the technical problems of the above-mentioned prior art,
An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing device capable of forming high-definition, high-speed images.

[Means and operations for solving the problem] According to the present invention, an image signal for one page is divided and stored in a plurality of storage means for each predetermined amount of data, and the image signal is stored in parallel from the plurality of storage means. The image signal is read out and the image signal for one page is sequentially outputted via the buffer.

Therefore, it is possible to output one page's worth of image signals at a speed that exceeds the reading speed of one storage means.

[Examples] Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of a laser printer 50 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a red storage device, 2 is a blue storage device, and 3 is a green storage device. These storage devices 1 to 3 have similar configurations, and the drawing shows a red storage device. Only the internal configuration of device 1 is shown.

In the laser printer 50, the host computer 52
The code data from is dot-developed into image data by the printer controller 56.

This printer controller 56 is built in the laser printer 50, but may also be built in the host computer 52.
The G and B signals may be output in field sequential, line sequential, or dot sequential order.

The R, G, and B signals from the printer controller 56 are stored in the aforementioned storage devices 1 to 3 provided for each color signal via the common transmission line 6. In this embodiment, the storage device 1
-3 uses a fixed disk device. 4 is a storage control circuit that outputs the R signal from the printer controller 56 to the storage device 1, the C signal to the storage device 2, and the B signal to the storage device 3 (controls the connection mode of the transmission line). .

As a feature of the present invention, each storage device 1 to 3 has, for example, three disks. That is, the storage device l includes a buffer 22, a disk controller 14, a switch circuit 23,
and disks 11 to 13. Then, the R signal from the common transmission line 6 is transferred to the interface (17
F) After being buffered in the buffer 22 via the buffer 21, the data is stored on the disks 11-13. The buffer 22 has a predetermined storage capacity, for example, the capacity to store one line of R signals, and the disk controller 14 controls the switching mode of the switch circuit 23 to store the one line stored in the buffer 22. R for the line
The signal is divided into three parts and written to disks 11-13.

FIG. 2(1) to FIG. 2(3) are diagrams showing the storage areas of the disks 11 to 13 in the red storage device 1. In the figure,
R1, R2, R3, . . . each represent an R signal for 1/3 line. i-th line (i=1.2°3,...
) is R(3i-2), R(3i-1), R(3i)
It is divided into three parts and stored on disks 11, 12, and 13. Note that the blue storage device 2 and the green storage device B signal (are stored).

When reading the R signals from the disks 11-13, the R signals are read from the three disks 11-13 simultaneously. Therefore, the R signal for one line is read out at three times the speed compared to when reading out from one disk. Note that in the blue storage device 2 and the green storage device 3, disk writing and reading operations are performed in exactly the same way as in the case of the red storage device 1 described above. Then, from the three storage devices 1 to 3, R, G,
B signals are output to I/Fs 15 and 25.35, respectively.

5 is a switching control circuit that double buffers the R, G, and B signals from 1/F 15 and 25.35.
In addition to controlling the operation when buffering to 6,
It controls the switching operation of a multiplexer (MIX) 37, which will be described later.

The double buffer 16, 26, 36 has a similar configuration, and the double buffer 16 has two buffers 31, 32 and two changeover switches 33, . 34, and the switching control circuit 5 controls the switching operations of the changeover switches 33 and 34.

58 is a color conversion processing circuit, a double buffer 16°26
, 36 are logarithmically converted into Y, M, and C signals, which are color signals for printing. 60 is a black generation circuit that receives Y and M signals from the color conversion processing circuit 58.

A Bk signal is generated from a C signal. 59 is a masking processing circuit that performs black removal (UCR) processing and masking processing on the Y, M, and C signals to generate Y, M, and C signals with good color reproducibility in accordance with color image signals. . MPX3
7 sequentially selects one of the Y, M, C, and Bk signals from the masking processing circuit 59 and the black generation circuit 60 and outputs it to the OR gate 63. The OR gate 63 is Y
, M, C, Bk signals and Ei from the host computer 52
The logical sum of the Y, M, C, and Bk signals sent as double signals is calculated and output. FIG. 3 shows the order of image information transfer. As shown in the figure, output signals Y, M, C, and Bk are sequentially output in response to one R, G, and B signal from the host computer 52 or printer controller 56. The output of the OR gate 63 is subjected to a binarization process such as a dither method by a binarization circuit 66, and outputted to a printing unit 67 to form an image. Note that if the Y, M, C, and Bk signals are 200 million signals, the binarization circuit 66 is not necessary.

The printing unit 67 performs image formation using an electrophotographic method using, for example, a laser diode, and after forming an image based on the Y signal, it superimposes it on the yellow image and performs image formation based on the M signal. Similarly, image formation based on the C9Bk signal is performed sequentially to form a color image for one page.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure by the storage control circuit 4. The write operation to the disks 11 to 13 will be described in detail below.

(1) Check whether there is a request for a print signal in step Sl.

(2) As a result of checking in step Sl, if there is no request for a print signal, the process ends (step 5
23). If there is a request for a print signal, it is first checked to see if it is an R signal (step S2).

■If the result determined in step S2 is an R signal,
First, a specific data amount of the R signal (R(3i-2)) is stored in the disk 11 of the red storage device 1 (steps S3 and S4).

■In step S4, it is checked whether the storage of the specific data amount of the R signal is completed on the disk 11. If the storage is completed, the data is similarly stored on the disk 12 of the red storage device L until the storage of the specific data amount is completed. (Step S5.
S6).

- In step S6, it is checked whether the storage of the specific data amount on the disk 12 is finished, and if the storage is finished, the data is similarly stored on the disk 13 of the red storage device 1 until the storage of the specific data amount is finished (steps S7 and S8). ).

(3) In step S8, it is checked whether the specific amount of data has been stored on the disk 13, and if the storage has been completed, the process returns to step S2.

(4) Next, the process advances from step S2 to step S9 to check whether it is a G signal. If the result of determination in step S9 is a G signal, processing from step 89 to step S15 is performed. Steps 89 to S15 perform the same processing procedure for the G signal as steps 82 to S8 for the R signal.

(5) If it is not a G signal in step S9, step 81
6 and checks whether it is a B signal or not. If the result determined in step S16 is a B signal, steps S16 to S22 are performed. Step S1
6 to S22 are steps 82 to S8 for the R signal.
The same processing procedure as above is performed for the B signal.

(6) If it is not the B signal in step S16, step S
Move to 23. In step S23, it is checked whether the data has ended, and if it has, the process ends; if it has not, the process moves to step S2.

In this way, the R, G, and B signals are transferred to the storage device 1.
．． 2.3, the switching control circuit 5 sequentially reads out the data from the storage device 1.2.3 into each of the double buffers 16, 26, and 36 while processing the color conversion processing circuit 58 and black generation. Y in circuit 60.

Convert to M, C, Bk signals. Y, M, C, Bk signal 4
The R, G, and B signals are read out four times for each transmission, and the image forming process is completed. FIG. 5 shows write/read timing in the red storage device 1 and double buffer 16 by the switching control circuit 5, and FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of the processing procedure by the switching control circuit 5. Hereinafter, the red storage device l will be explained with reference to these drawings.
The operation of reading the R signal from the will be explained in detail.

(1) First, in step S31, the storage devices l to R are
Check if the signal was sent. That is, when the R signal of the first line is stored in the buffer 22, the R signal is outputted to the double buffer 16.

(2) If the R signal is not sent out as a result of checking in step S31, the process ends. If the R signal is to be sent, the process moves to step S32.

(3) In step S32, writing of the R signal from the storage device 1 to the buffer 31 of the double buffer 16 is started. Then, until the R signal becomes full in the buffer 31 (1
line) Repeat. (Step 533) (4) When writing of the R signal for one line is completed in step S33, the process moves to step S34. Step S3
At step 4, reading of the R signal written into the buffer 31 is started.

(5) In step S35, writing of the next line's R signal to the buffer 32 is started.

(6) Step 83 to finish reading the buffer 31
6) When writing to the buffer 32 is completed (step 537), the process moves to step S38 and reading of the R signal written to the buffer 32 is started.

(7) In step S39, writing of the R signal of the next line to the buffer 31 is started.

(8) When the reading of the buffer 32 is finished, step 54
0), when the writing of the buffer 31 is completed (step 541), it is checked whether the R signal has been input for one page (step 542), and if the input for one page has not been completed, the process returns to step S34. .

(9) If the R signal for one page is input, the R signal from the buffer 31 is read out in step S43 (steps S43, 544).

(10) When the output of the R signal for one page is completed (that is, the G and E signals are also output at the same time as the R signal, and the R, G
, Y every time the B signal is output for one page.

One of the M, C, and Bk signals is generated sequentially), and retransmission of the R, G, and B signals is requested for the next color component generation (step 545), and the process returns to step 531.

As described above, in this embodiment, image signals for pages are stored, so image signals can be input and output at arbitrary timing and order (dot sequential, line sequential, etc.). Generally, when performing image formation using an electrophotographic method using a laser beam, the output timing of the image signal is regulated by the BD multiplication signal, but in this embodiment, the host computer sends out the image signal asynchronously with the BD multiplication signal. will be held. Moreover, since the R, G, and B signals for one page are stored in multiple storage devices (including disks) and read out simultaneously, the so-called access time is significantly improved, making it possible to form high-definition, high-speed images. It can be performed.

In addition, in this embodiment, the buffer 22 and the double buffer 16 are
．． 26.36, but if a double buffer equivalent to buffer 22 (in which multiple data can be input simultaneously) is used, double buffer 16.36 is provided. 26. 36 can be omitted. Furthermore, the capacity of these buffers does not need to be 1 line (it may be multiple lines or less than 1 line).

[Other Examples]

Another embodiment is shown in FIG. In this figure, the same reference numerals are used for parts corresponding to those in FIG.

In the first embodiment described above, the R, G, and B signals from the host computer 52 or the printer controller 56 are stored in the storage devices 1 to 3, respectively, and are read out from the storage devices 1 to 3 while sequentially performing color conversion. In the second embodiment, first, the host computer 52 or printer controller 5
The specific amount of data of the R, G, and B signals from 6 is stored in the buffer 41.
-43 and store it. Next, color conversion processing is performed on the RGB signals in the buffers 41 to 43, and the converted Y,
The M, C, and Bk signals are stored in the storage device 1 by the storage control circuit 4, and such storage processing is sequentially repeated. Said Y.

After storing the M, C, and Bk signals, the switching control circuit 5 sequentially outputs the Y, M, C, and Bk signals from the storage device 1 to form an image.

FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of the processing procedure by the storage control circuit 4 in the second embodiment.

If there is a print signal request in step S45, it is checked whether a specific amount of data has been stored in the buffers 41 to 43 (step 846). When it is determined that the data has been stored, the process moves to step S47, and in step S47, Y, M
, C, and Bk signals, and are stored on the disks 11 to 13 in the storage device 1 as described later. Then, check that the conversion of the R, B, and B signals and the storage of the Y, M, C, and Bk signals in the buffers 41 to 43 are completed, and step 848) is repeated until the conversion is completed. Next, in step S49, it is checked whether conversion of R, G, B signals and storage of Y, M, C, Bk signals for -page have been completed, and steps S45 to S4 are continued until storage is completed.
Repeat step 9.

9(1) to 9(3) show the storage areas of the disks 11 to 13 in the storage device l, and FIG. 10 shows the timing of writing from the buffers 41 to 43 to the disks 11 to 13. Show chart.

For the sake of simplicity, a case will be described in which one page of image information is divided into four parts. First, the image information of the first % hundred R1, Gl
, Bl are output from the buffers 41, 42, and 43,
A Y1 signal is generated and stored on disk 11. Image information for the next four pages R2, G2. Y generated from B2
The Y3 signal is stored on the disk 13, and the Y4 signal is stored on the disk 11. Next, R1, Gl again.

Ml is generated from Bl, and the disk! 2.

When the Y, M, C, and Bk signals are all stored in the storage device 1 in this way, the switching control circuit 5 then converts the Y, M, and C signals from the storage device 1 into the Y, M, and C signals as described later.

Bk is read out and sent out sequentially, and the image forming process is completed.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the procedure for reading image information from the storage device I in the second embodiment, and will be described below with reference to the same figure.

First, in step S51, it is checked whether there is data in the storage device 51, and if there is data, the process moves to step S52. In steps S52-555, disks 11-1
The Y, M, C, and Bk signals of 3 are sequentially written into the buffers 47 and 48, and the signals in the buffers are sequentially read out. In S55, it is checked whether the transmission has been completed. If not, steps S51 to S55 are repeated.

FIG. 12 shows read/write timing for the disks 11-13 and buffers 47 and 48 in the storage device 1 by the switching control circuit 5. Note that this read/write timing is the same as in the first embodiment.

As explained above, the input image signals R and G.

By converting the color of the B signal, sequentially storing it while controlling the storage areas of multiple storage means, reading data from the multiple storage means at the same time and sequentially outputting the data, the data can be input from the host computer 52 or printer controller 56 at any timing. Image formation is performed based on the R, G, and B signals received, and even in response to a large amount of data from the host computer 52, the host computer 52 outputs image information depending on the image formation processing time of the printer engine 57. This is not necessary, and even though a fixed disk device with slow access time is used, processing throughput can be significantly improved.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, by providing a disk controller that controls the storage areas of a plurality of storage devices, a storage control circuit, and a readout control circuit that continuously reads images from the storage devices, (1) the host or printer The R, G, and B signals are sent out once from the controller.

(2) The R, G, and B signals may be serial signals or parallel signals.

(3) The reading timing from the storage device is equal to the image forming timing.

Therefore, the host or printer controller does not depend on the image forming processing time of the printer engine, which has the effect of increasing processing throughput.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a laser printer 5o according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the storage area of disks 11-13 in the storage device l of the laser printer 5o, and FIG. A timing chart showing the order of image information transfer in the laser printer 5o, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure by the storage control circuit 4 of the laser printer 5o, and FIG. 5 is a timing chart of writing/reading in the double buffer 16 of the laser printer 5o. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure by the switching control circuit 5 of the laser printer 5o, FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is the storage control circuit shown in FIG. 7. 9 is a diagram showing the storage area of the disks 11 to 13 shown in FIG. 7, and FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure according to No. Timing chart, 1st
1 is a flowchart of the processing procedure for reading data from the disks 11 to 13 shown in FIG. 7, FIG. 12 is a timing chart of read/write operations in the buffers 47 and 48 shown in FIG. 7, and FIGS. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a conventional technique. 1-3...Storage device 4...Storage control circuit 5...Switching control circuit 11-13...Disks 16, 26. 36...Double buffer 56...
printer controller

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) An image processing device comprising a plurality of sets of storage means for storing image signals in a recording medium, and capable of simultaneously reading out image signals from the plurality of sets of storage means. (2) Processing the input image signal sent from the outside,
An image processing apparatus that forms an image based on a processed image signal, comprising: a plurality of storage means for storing either the input image signal or the processed image signal on a recording medium; and a plurality of storage means for storing either the input image signal or the processed image signal in parallel. a buffer for buffering an image signal to be read out; the recording medium of the plurality of storage means stores one page's worth of image signals divided into predetermined amounts of data; and the image stored in the buffer An image processing device characterized in that signals are sequentially read out. (3) The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a double buffer for deriving the image signal read from the buffer at a predetermined timing.