JPH04330857A - Transmission processing method for picture data - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically transmit picture data in the optimal mode of a superfine mode, fine mode, or normal mode, according to the fineness of picture information of a transmitted original, in a facsimile terminal equipment. CONSTITUTION:The picture data of each line of the transmitted original are read in the superfine mode (100), encoded, stored (101), and the coded data length of each line is successively multiplied by the number of lines (102). Then, at the time of the completion of the reading of pictures in a prescribed section (103), the average coded data length is calculated (104) from the multiplied coded data length and the number of lines, compared with a prescribed reference value, and the stored coded data are transmitted to a telephone line side as they are, or after thinned-out to the fine mode or the normal mode (107), according to this compared result.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method for transmitting and processing image data, and more specifically, the present invention relates to a method for transmitting and processing image data, and more specifically, depending on the fineness of image information drawn on a transmission document, one of ultra-fine mode, fine mode, and normal mode is selected. The present invention relates to a device characterized in that image data in an optimal mode is automatically transmitted.

0002

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Facsimile machines that transmit and receive image information via telephone lines have been developed and come into use. A device has been developed in which the reading accuracy can be switched and set depending on the image information, and if the image information is fine, if the fine mode is selected, the image information can be read and transmitted at a finer pitch than the normal mode. Models equipped with an ultra-definition mode have also been developed to transmit even more detailed image information.

However, in such a facsimile machine, the user has to select and set a normal mode, a fine mode, or an ultra-fine mode depending on the fineness of the image information of the transmitted document, making mode selection cumbersome. For this reason, even if the image information is detailed, the normal mode is often used, and if the mode setting is inappropriate, the receiving side may not be able to read the content printed on the recording paper. The actual situation was that the function that had been provided was not fully utilized because it had to be retransmitted.

0004

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention, proposed in view of the above circumstances, is to provide an image in an optimal mode among ultra-fine mode, fine mode, or normal mode, depending on the fineness of the image information of the transmitted document. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image data transmission processing method that automatically transmits data and thereby enables efficient image transmission.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention proposed to achieve the above object reads, encodes and stores image data for each line of a transmission document in an ultra-fine mode, and encodes each line. The encoded data length and the number of lines are accumulated sequentially, and when the image reading of a predetermined section is completed, the average encoded data length is calculated from the accumulated encoded data length and the number of lines, and the average encoded data length is compared with a predetermined reference value. Depending on the result, the stored encoded image data is sent to the telephone line side as is or after being thinned out to fine mode or normal mode.

[0006] In the method of the present invention, a first reference value and a second reference value smaller than the first reference value are determined in advance;
If the average encoded data length exceeds the first reference value,
Encoded image data that has already been read and stored in ultra-definition mode is transmitted as is, and if the average encoded data length exceeds the second reference value and is less than or equal to the first reference value,
The stored encoded image data is thinned out into fine mode image data and transmitted, and if the average encoded data length is less than or equal to the second reference value, the stored encoded image data is thinned out and transmitted. The configuration is such that normal mode image data is thinned out and transmitted.

[0007]

[Operation] In the present invention, the image data for each line of the transmission document is sequentially read in ultra-fine mode, encoded, and stored, and the encoded image data length and number of lines for each line are sequentially accumulated. This process is repeated until the end of image reading for the section. When the image reading for a predetermined section is completed, the average encoded data length is calculated from the accumulated encoded image data length and the number of lines, and is compared with a predetermined reference value. The encoded image data is sent as is or after being thinned out to fine mode or normal mode and sent to the telephone line side. Therefore, image data in the optimal mode is automatically transmitted according to the fineness of the image information of the transmitted document, without having to switch modes.
It is possible to prevent inconveniences in which characters cannot be read on the receiving side due to inappropriate mode settings.

[0008]

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of the image data transmission processing method of the present invention, and the operation will be explained according to the diagram. ■Read one line of image data in ultra-fine mode,
The processing operation of encoding and storing the encoded image data and adding up the length and number of lines of the encoded image data is repeated until reading of one page of image data is completed (see steps 100 to 103 in FIG. 1). ■When reading one page of image data is completed, calculate the average encoded data length from the accumulated encoded image data length and the accumulated number of lines (steps 103 and 1 in Figure 1).
(See 04). ■Compare the calculated average encoded data length with a predetermined reference value, select the normal mode, fine mode, or ultra-fine mode corresponding to the average encoded data length and store it together with the page number (step 105 in Figure 1). reference). (2) The above operations (1) to (4) are repeated until the reading of the image data is completed, and when the reading of the image data is completed, the image data in the mode stored for each page is transmitted to the telephone line side. That is, when the ultra-fine mode is selected, the stored encoded image data is sent as is to the telephone line, while when the fine mode or normal mode is selected, the stored encoded image data is transmitted to the fine mode or the normal mode. The data is thinned out to normal mode and sent to the telephone line (see steps 106 and 107 in FIG. 1).

As described above, according to the method of the present invention, when the frequency of black and white inversion of pixel signals is high and the image information is detailed, the encoded data length becomes long; conversely, when the frequency of black and white inversion of pixel signals is low and the image information If the coded data length is coarse, the encoded data length will be short, so it is possible to automatically select ultra-fine mode, fine mode, or normal mode based on the average encoded data length obtained by averaging the encoded data length for each page. It becomes possible,
Since the optimal image data is transmitted according to the fineness of the image information, it is possible to prevent inconveniences such as the receiving side being unable to read the printed image information due to inappropriate mode settings.

[0010] In the above explanation, the average encoded data length is calculated for each page and the mode selection is performed. It is also possible to adopt a simplified configuration in which the length is calculated, the mode is selected, and each subsequent page is transmitted in the mode selected for the first page.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of a facsimile machine for carrying out the method of the present invention.
10 is a signal processing unit that performs signal processing in each part; 11 is a line buffer that temporarily stores image data in line units; and 12 is a signal processing unit that performs MH encoding (one-dimensional encoding) and MR encoding (two-dimensional encoding) of image data. 13
1 is an image memory that stores encoded image data;
Reference numeral 4 indicates a data integration section that integrates the data length and number of lines of encoded image data for each line, and 15 indicates a thinning processing section that thins out the encoded image data line by line. Further, 16 is a mode switching unit for switching between auto mode and manual mode, as will be described later;
18 is a line control unit for switching and connecting the telephone line L; 19 is a modem for transmitting and receiving image data, etc. via the telephone line L; 20 is a key operation unit having various operation keys;
2 is a system memory having a ROM 20a and a RAM 20b; 21 is an image reading unit that reads image information of a transmission document (not shown) and converts it into image data; 22 is a printout of the image data received by the modem 19 on recording paper; This is the print output section.

When the image reading section 21 is set to the auto mode, the image reading section 21 reads the image data of the transmission document at a line density of the ultra-fine mode (15.4 lines/mm) and sequentially stores it in the line buffer 11. The encoding circuit section 12 is
When the auto mode is set, as shown in FIG. 3(A) or FIG. 4(A), image data read by the image reading unit 21 and stored in the line buffer is sequentially received.
The first line is MH encoding (one-dimensional encoding, shown as a solid line), and the second to eighth lines are MR encoding, which encodes the current line by referring to the image data of the previous line. By sequentially repeating the operation of (two-dimensional encoding, indicated by a broken line), two-dimensional encoded image data obtained by extending the one-dimensional encoding method is stored in the image memory 13.

The thinning processing unit 15 thins out the image data read and encoded in the ultra-fine mode line by line to equivalently obtain image data in the fine mode or normal mode. When obtaining image data in fine mode, as shown in FIG. By thinning out the data, encoded image data in fine mode with a resolution of 50% ((B) in FIG. 3) is obtained. In this thinning process,
When one MR encoded line is thinned out, it is necessary to convert the next line of MR encoded image data into MR encoded data by referring to the previous line after thinning. After the previous line and the current line are once decoded into image data, processing is performed again to obtain MR encoded image data of the current line. In addition, when obtaining image data in normal mode, as shown in FIG.
The encoded image data ((A) in FIG. 4) read in the ultra-fine mode and stored in the image memory 13 is shown in FIG.
Through the same processing as in the case of , three lines are subtracted every four lines to obtain normal mode encoded image data with a resolution of 25% ((B) in FIG. 4).

The operation of the facsimile machine having such a configuration for carrying out the method of the present invention will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. ■When the auto key (not shown) of the key operation section 17 is operated, the mode switching section 16 switches to auto mode, and the signal processing section 10 starts the auto mode processing program stored in the ROM 20a and transmits the data. The device enters a standby state for setting the original (see steps 200 and 201 in FIG. 5). ■ A transmission original (not shown) is set in the image reading section 21,
When the fax number of the calling party is input using the key operation unit 17 and a start key (not shown) is operated, image reading processing is started. However, if a key other than the auto key is operated, the mode shifts to the operated mode (step 20 in Figure 5).
1 to 204). - After resetting the line parameter n to 0, the signal processing unit 10 performs MH encoding (one-dimensional encoding) on one line of image data read from the image reading unit 21 and stored in the line buffer 11. , this MH encoded image data is stored in the image memory 13 (see steps 205 to 207 in FIG. 5). ■The signal processing unit 10 performs MR encoding (two-dimensional encoding) on the next line of image data stored in the line buffer 11 by referring to the image data of the previous line, and converts the MR encoded image data into It is stored in the image memory 13 (see steps 208 and 209 in FIG. 5). ■At the same time, the signal processing unit 10 integrates the MR encoded image data length and the number of lines in the data integration unit 14, increments the value of line parameter n, and returns to process until n=7. This process is repeated, and when n=7 is reached, the process returns to ■ until one page's worth of image data has been read, thereby reading one page's worth of image data in ultra-fine mode (
(See steps 205 to 213 in FIG. 5). ■When the reading of image data for one page is completed, the signal processing unit 10 divides the encoded image data length accumulated in the data accumulation unit 14 by the accumulated number of lines, and calculates the average encoding of one line. The data length M is calculated (see step 214 in FIG. 5). ■The obtained average encoded data length M is the system memory 2
0, the reduction ratio (resolution) of the image data is set to 100% and is stored in the RAM 20b together with the page number, and the obtained average encoded data length M becomes the first standard. If the value exceeds the second reference value, the reduction ratio (resolution) of the image data is set to 50.
If the obtained average encoded data length M is less than or equal to the second reference value, the reduction ratio (resolution) of the image data is set to 25% and is stored in the RAM 20b together with the page number ( (See steps 215 to 219 in FIG. 5). ■After this, if the reading of the image data is not completed, the process returns to the above process (■) and the same operation is repeated. When the reading process of the image data of all pages is completed, the signal processing unit 10 connects the line. When the recipient receives the call, the image data for each page stored in the image memory 13 is transmitted while being reduced at the reduction rate (resolution) stored in the RAM 20b. When finished, the line is cut off and the transmission standby state is resumed. However, if the destination does not receive a call for a predetermined period of time, the line is forcibly cut off and the state returns to the transmission standby state (Step 22 in Figure 5).
0 to 225).

As described above, according to the facsimile apparatus for carrying out the method of the present invention, if the automatic mode is set, the fineness of the image information is determined based on the length of the average encoded data, and the fineness of the image information is determined. Since the image data is sent in the optimum mode depending on the detail, it is possible to prevent inconveniences such as the receiving side being unable to read the printed image information.

In addition, in the facsimile device 1 described above, when calculating the average encoded data length, the data length of the MH encoded line is not taken into account, but the data length of the MH encoded line is also taken into account. It is also possible to have the encoded data length calculated. Furthermore, although the above explanation does not mention the details of the MH encoding method and the MR encoding method,
The system is based on the recommendations of the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee (CCITT).

[0017]

[Effects of the Invention] According to the image data transmission processing method of the present invention, image data is automatically transmitted in ultra-fine mode, fine mode, or normal mode depending on the fineness of the image information drawn on the transmitted original. This eliminates the need to configure mode settings according to the detail of image information, and also prevents inconveniences in which the printed image cannot be read on the receiving side due to inappropriate mode settings. I can do it,
Can improve reliability.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating an image data transmission processing method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of a facsimile machine for implementing the method of the present invention.

[Fig. 3] (A) and (B) show image data read and encoded in ultra-fine mode in the facsimile machine shown in Fig. 2, which is thinned out by a thinning processing unit to create encoded image data in fine mode. FIG.

[Fig. 4] (A) and (B) show image data read and encoded in ultra-fine mode in the facsimile machine shown in Fig. 2, which is thinned out by a thinning processing unit, and then encoded image data in normal mode is obtained. FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the facsimile machine shown in FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Signal processing section 12 Encoding circuit section 13 Image memory 14 Data integration section 15 Thinning processing section

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: While reading, encoding and storing image data for each line of a transmission document in ultra-fine mode, the encoded data length and number of lines for each line are sequentially integrated, and image reading for a predetermined section is completed. Sometimes, the average encoded data length is calculated from the accumulated encoded data length and the number of lines and compared with a predetermined reference value, and depending on the comparison result, the stored encoded data can be used as is, in fine mode, or in normal mode. A transmission processing method for image data, characterized in that image data is thinned out in a mode and then sent to a telephone line side.