JPH04256186A - Picture processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a picture processing system where time for transmitting picture data is shortened by executing the transmission and transmission control of picture data at high speed. CONSTITUTION:A picture printer 2 being a picture output equipment inputs a compressed picture signal from a control part 1 being a central equipment so as to elongate, display and output it. A picture scanner 10 being a picture input equipment compresses an original picture signal and outputs it to the control part 1. When the picture signal which should be outputted to the picture printer 2 is more than specified quantity, the control part 1 compresses it by a picture data compression circuit 16 and outputs it. Compressed picture data from the picture scanner 10 can be elongated by a picture data elongating circuit 17.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image processing system, and more particularly to an image processing system equipped with an image input device for inputting a document image and an image output device capable of displaying and outputting image information to form an image. be.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of system, in an image forming apparatus such as a printer, one dot of an image to be recorded is expressed by one bit of data, so image data is sent to the printer. In this case, it is necessary to output image data representing all the images to be recorded as bit information to the printer. For example, resolution 400
In the case of an A4 size document image in dpi, the amount of information of the document image data is about 2 MB. or,
Similarly, in the case of an image input device that photoelectrically reads a document image and outputs the image data, one pixel of the read image data is usually represented by one bit, so it is different from the case of the above-mentioned image forming device. Similarly, the amount of data transferred between these image input/output devices and the image processing device will increase significantly.

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, in the conventional system as described above, for example, the resolution is 4.
In order to output 00 dpi, A4 size image data to a printer or input it from an image input device such as a scanner, approximately 2 Mbytes of data is required to be transferred. Therefore, it takes a lot of time to transfer such image data and control the transfer. This also requires a higher resolution (e.g.
When an image input/output device with a high resolution (00 dpi) is used, the amount of image data increases, and the time required to transfer and control the transfer increases. In order to reduce the transfer time for such large amounts of image data, a high-speed circuit that can transfer data at high speed is required, but such circuits are generally very expensive, so system This may lead to an increase in cost and an increase in error rate due to the influence of noise.

[0004] Also, during the transfer of output image data, the CP
Transfer is performed through the U bus, but when the amount of image data to be transferred becomes large, the time that the data bus is occupied by this data transfer increases. Therefore, while the image is being output, other operations (e.g. image creation, communication operations, etc.)
There was a risk that it would not be possible to process the data in parallel.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional example, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image processing system that can transfer and control the transfer of image data at high speed and shorten the time required to transfer the image data. do.

Further, the present invention provides that when the amount of image data created by the CPU is larger than a predetermined amount of image data,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing system that compresses and transfers the image data, and otherwise transfers the image data to an output device without compressing it.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the image processing system of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, an image processing system including at least a central device, an image output device that displays and outputs an image signal from the central device, and an image input device that reads a document image and outputs it to the central device, The output device has a decompression means for inputting and decompressing the compressed image signal,
The image input device has compression means for compressing the original image signal, and the central device has compression means for compressing the image signal to be output to the image output device, and expansion means for expanding the image signal from the image input device. and has.

[0008]

[Operation] With the above configuration, the image output device inputs a compressed image signal, decompresses it, and displays/outputs it, and the image input device compresses the original image signal and outputs it to the central device. Further, the central device can compress the image signal output to the image output device and expand the image signal from the image input device.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. <Description of Image Processing System (FIG. 1)> FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image processing system in this embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a control unit that performs creation of document data, creation of image data for editing and printing, output control to the printer 2, and control of input of image data from the scanner 10. Reference numeral 2 denotes an image printer that decompresses compressed image data (image data) sent from the control section 1 and records an image on a recording medium such as recording paper according to the image data. Examples of such image printers include laser beam printers, inkjet printers, and thermal transfer printers. Reference numeral 10 denotes an image scanner that photoelectrically reads an image of a document using an imaging device such as a CCD, converts it into digital image data, compresses the data, and outputs the data to the control section 1. Reference numeral 3 denotes a CRT display section into which image data and document data from the control section 1 are input as dot images and displayed.

Next, the configuration of the control section 1 will be explained. Reference numeral 5 denotes a CPU such as a microprocessor, which executes a control program for the CPU 5 stored in the ROM 6 to perform various controls. 6 is a ROM that stores the control program for the CPU 5 and various data as described above. 7
is a RAM, which is used by the CPU 5 as a work area and temporarily stores various data. The RAM 7 also temporarily stores document data (character code data) input from the keyboard (KBD) 4 or the like before being developed for printing. A floppy disk (FD) 8 stores various document files and the like as an external storage device. 4 is a keyboard (KBD), which is operated by the operator;
In addition to creating and editing document data, various control commands are input. 13 is a CRT interface (CRT・I/
In F), the CRT display section 3 is controlled to display the image data from the control section 1. 15 is a video RAM (VR) for storing image data to be displayed on the CRT display unit 3;
AM).

14 is a system bus of the CPU 5. 9
is an image memory, and this image memory 9 stores image data read by the image scanner 10, and also stores image data developed into a bit image for printing by the CPU 5. Reference numeral 16 denotes an image data compression circuit, which compresses the image data in the image memory 9 and outputs it to the output interface section 18 when the amount of image data exceeds a predetermined amount when outputting the image data in the image memory 9 to the printer 2. do. On the other hand, image memory 9
When the amount of image data expanded into is less than a predetermined amount, the image data is output directly to the interface section 18 without passing through the image data compression circuit 16. Note that this predetermined amount is set to a value that allows efficient parallel processing with other operations. 18 is an output I/F unit that outputs the image data compressed by the image data compression circuit 16 to the image printer 2.
It is output to. Reference numeral 19 denotes an input I/F unit which inputs image data read by the image scanner 10, compressed and transferred. 17 is an image data decompression circuit;
The compressed data inputted from the image scanner 10 by the input I/F section 19 is decompressed and written into the image memory 9.

<Description of image printer (Fig. 2)> Fig. 2
1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image printer 2 according to an embodiment. In the figure, 22 is an input I/F section, and the control section 1
The compressed image data transferred from the computer is being input. In the image printer 2, before image formation is performed, the control section 1 transmits data indicating whether or not the image data output from the output interface section 18 is compressed. As a result, when compressed image data is input, the image data decompression circuit 21 decompresses the image data, and when uncompressed image data is input, the image data decompression circuit 21 decompresses the image data. be done. Reference numeral 21 denotes an image data decompression circuit, which decompresses the compressed image data when it is input to the input I/F section 22. Reference numeral 20 denotes an image forming section such as a laser beam printer, which forms an image on a recording medium such as recording paper based on the image data expanded by the image data expansion circuit 21.

<Description of image scanner (Fig. 3)> Fig. 3
1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image scanner 10. FIG. Reference numeral 30 denotes an image reading section, in which an image of a document is read by an image pickup device such as a CCD. Reference numeral 31 denotes an image data electrical signal conversion circuit, which converts the image data read by the image reading section 30 into electrical digital data pixel by pixel. An image compression circuit 32 compresses the image data generated by the image data electrical signal conversion circuit 31. 33 is an output I/F section, which outputs the image data compressed by the image data compression circuit 32 to the control section 1.

The operation of printing image data using the image printer 2 in the system having the above configuration will be explained.

In the control section 1, image data created by an operator using a keyboard (KBD) 4 or the like is first expanded into an image memory 9. When the amount of image data developed in the image memory 9 is more than a predetermined amount, the image data is compressed by the image data compression circuit 16 and then transferred to the image printer 2 via the output I/F section 18. As a result, the image printer 2 inputs the transferred compressed image data through the input I/F section 22. This input image data is data expanded in the image data expansion circuit 21, and 1
The data is 1 bit per pixel. Image forming section 20
performs image formation based on this expanded image data.

On the other hand, when the amount of image data in the image memory 9 is less than a predetermined amount, the image data is directly outputted to the image printer 2 without passing through the image data compression circuit 16. This results in
The image printer 2 outputs the input image data as is to the image forming section 20 for printing. In this way, when the amount of image data to be transferred from the control unit 1 to the image printer 2 is large, by transferring compressed image data, the amount of data transferred from the control unit 1 to the image printer 2 is reduced, and the data The time required for transfer and transfer control can be shortened. Furthermore, the transfer rate of this data transfer can be kept low.

Next, the process of transferring image data read by the image scanner 10 will be explained. When a document image is read in the image reading section 30 of the image scanner 10, the read image signal is converted into image data (image data) of 1 bit per pixel by the image data electrical signal conversion circuit 31. Ru. The image data generated in the image data electrical signal conversion circuit 31 is compressed in the image data compression circuit 32, and the compressed image data is transferred to the control unit 1 via the output I/F unit 33. The control unit 1 sequentially receives compressed image data transferred from the image scanner 10 through the input I/F unit 19. The image data input by the input I/F section 19 in this way is transferred to the image data decompression circuit 17.
After the data is expanded by , the data is sequentially written into the image memory 9.

In this way, by compressing the image data output from the image scanner 10 to the control section 1, the amount of image data transferred between the image scanner 10 and the control section 1 can be reduced and transferred. can do. Thereby, the time required for image data transfer and transfer control can be shortened. <Explanation of data transfer process to image printer 2 (Figure 4
)> FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit 1 when printing an image, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image printer 2 when printing an image.
3 is a flowchart showing the operation of FIG. Figures 4 and 5 below
The image printing operation in the image printer 2 will be explained with reference to FIG.

First, in step S1 in FIG. 4, printing is started by, for example, being instructed to print by KBD4. In step S2, image data to be printed is expanded into the image memory 9. Next, in step S3, it is checked whether the amount of developed image data is more than a predetermined amount, and if it is more than the predetermined amount, the process proceeds to step S4, and the image data compression circuit 1
6 and compresses the image data (step S5). In step S6, the image data compressed by the image data compression circuit 16 is output to the image printer 2 via the output I/F section 18. Then, in step S7, it is determined whether all the image data in the image memory 9 has been output, and if all the image data in the image memory 9 has not been output, the process returns to step S4 and the above-described operations are repeated. When all the image data in the image memory 9 has been output in this way, the process advances to step S8, and the output process to the image printer 2 is finished.

On the other hand, if the amount of image data is less than the predetermined amount in step S3, the process advances to step S9, and the data in the image memory 9 is output as is via the output interface section 18. In step S10, it is checked whether the output of all image data has been completed, and when the output has been completed, the process proceeds to step S8, and the image output process is ended. <Explanation of Operation in Image Printer (FIG. 5)> Next, referring to FIG. 5, image forming processing in the image printer 2 will be described.

In step S10, when printing of image data is instructed, the process proceeds to step S11, in which it is first determined whether or not compressed data is transferred, and if compressed data is transferred, the process proceeds to step S132, Compressed image data transferred from the control section 1 is input through the input I/F section 22. In step S13, the input image data is output to the image data decompression circuit 21,
Performs data expansion of image data. In step S14,
Based on the expanded image, the image forming section 20 prints out the image data. In step S15, it is determined whether the printout of all images has been completed. If the printout of all images has not been completed, the process returns to step S12 and the above-described operations are repeated. When the printing of all images is completed in step S15, the process advances to step S16, and the image printing operation in the image printer 2 is ended.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S11 that the data is not compressed data, the process advances to step S17, and the input image data is printed as is. In this way, when the formation of all image data is completed, the process proceeds from step S10 to step S16, and all operations are completed.

<Description of image reading process (FIG. 6)>
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of reading image data in the image scanner 10 of the embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control section 1 that reads the image data and stores it in the image memory 9. The image reading operation from the image scanner 10 will be described below with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 6 and 7.

In step S20 of FIG.
When the image reading operation starts, the image reading section 30 reads the original image in step S21. In step S22, the image signal read by the image reading section 30 is output to the image data electrical signal conversion circuit 31 and converted into an electrical signal. Next, the process proceeds to step S23, where the image data converted into an electrical signal is compressed by the image data compression circuit 32. Then, the process proceeds to step S24, and the compressed image data is sent to the control unit 1 via the output I/F unit 33.
Output to. In step S25, it is determined whether the output of all image data has been completed, and if the output of all image data has not been completed, the process returns to step S21 and the above-described operation is repeated. When the output of all image data is completed in step S25, the reading operation of the original image is completed in step S26.

On the other hand, in the control section 1, when the image data output from the image scanner 10 is started, step S3 in FIG.
0 and starts input processing of the image data.

First, in step S31, compressed image data is input through the input I/F section 19. Next step S32
Then, the input compressed image data is expanded in the image data expansion circuit 17. The image data decompressed in step S32 is written to the image memory 9 in step S33. Next, the process advances to step S34, where the image scanner 10
It is determined whether all of the image data has been written to the image memory 9, and if writing of all the image data to the image memory 9 has not been completed, the process returns to step S31 and the above-described operations are repeated. In this way, when writing of all the image data to the image memory 9 is completed in step S34, the process advances to step S35, and the process of inputting image data from the image scanner 10 is completed.

As explained above, according to this embodiment, when printing an image, the time required for data transfer and transfer control can be shortened by compressing and transferring the image data from the control unit to the image printer. effective. Similarly, when reading image data, by compressing and transferring the image data from the image scanner to the control unit, it is possible to reduce the time required to transfer the image data and control the transfer.

Furthermore, by compressing the image data only when the amount of image data is greater than or equal to a predetermined amount, it is possible to improve the processing efficiency of the image data.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to transfer and control the transfer of image data at high speed, thereby reducing the time required for transferring image data.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image processing system implementing the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image printer according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image scanner according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit when printing an image.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image printer when printing an image.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image scanner when reading an image.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit when reading an image.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Control section 2 Image printer 3 CRT display section 5 CPU 9 Image memory 10 Image scanner 16 Image data compression section 17 Image data expansion circuit 20 Image forming section 21 Image data expansion circuit 30 Image data reading section 31 Image data electrical signal circuit 32 Image data compression circuit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An image processing system comprising at least a central device, an image output device that displays and outputs an image signal from the central device, and an image input device that reads a document image and outputs it to the central device, , the image output device has decompression means for inputting and decompressing a compressed image signal, the image input device has a compression means for compressing a document image signal, and the central device outputs the image signal to the image output device. An image processing system comprising: compression means for compressing an image signal; and expansion means for expanding the image signal from the image input device. 2. The image processing system according to claim 1, further comprising switching means for switching between compressed transfer output and non-compressed transfer output according to the amount of image signal to be output. system.